Prom 2010

Many of you know by now that I went to all-girls Catholic school most of my life. This either means prom consisted of a group of girls getting dressed up to dance with each other OR taking your friend's, dad's, co-worker's son as your date (which is what I did for senior prom, my friend and I took a set of brothers...awkward!). So last Thursday night was an unanticipated prom night done right, for adults.

SG#1 picked me up in cab for a fancy schmancy dinner at Wild Ginger and when I opened the door I couldn't believe my eyes! I was in a little black dress with red pashmina and he was wearing a black suit with red button-up - the only thing we were missing was a matching coursage/boutineer duo! (And, no, we did NOT plan our outfits!)

After a few laughs about our fabulous taste in attire, we headed to the restaurant. We were promptly seated right in the middle of the room in the largest dining room chairs I have ever sat in (not good for a short dress!), but we laughed it off and decided they must have wanted to show off their best dressed guests. The food was amazing, you must order the sea bass and don't let the waitress con you into ordering vegetables, they are delicious, but there are so many things to choose from on the menu there's no need to waste the stomach space (which is most likely limited due to said little black dress). I also recommend the Cracked Coconut Martini, which SG#1 claims isn't a martini at all since it lacks Vodka, but is delicious nevertheless. Anyway, after too many hours of conversation, according to Erin & the Fiance, we walked over to the DList Magazine Party (AKA Prom for adults).

You must remember, this is really the first date SG#1 and I have had to sit and chat. It was much needed and appreciated, so nice work SG#1 for taking the initiative to schedule dinner before our double date with Erin & the Fiance (They are the matchmakers, you can find their comments after previous posts about SG#1).

On our way over to the party, we were stopped by a fellow party goer:

Fellow Party Goer: "Hey, are you guys on your way to the DList Party?"

SG#1: "Yeah, you too?"

Fellow Party Goer: "Da-ang, you guys are lookin' goood!"

So, yes, we were lookin' dang good and the DList party was what every prom was and is: a place to be seen looking dang good. There were photographers circling the room like ninja's just waiting to get a shot of you spilling on your dress, doing last year's dance move or getting in a cat fight with Seattle's top socialite (do we have one?!). I imagine this might be what real prom is like minus the bar and maybe with more dancing. Erin & the Fiance skipped out early, so we called it a night shortly thereafter, but it was most definitely a night to remember.

So far I've learned there's never a dull moment with SG#1. He's here to live life to the fullest and, really, there isn't a better trait in my book. Keep your eyes peeled for our dang good prom picture!

A day of savings...with an expensive finale!

Being raised by a Jewish mother and having lived in Africa for 2 1/2 years, my frugality should come as no surprise! I get excited about sales at the grocery store and I have signed up as a member of both Groupon and Living Social (you should look into them, if you're not already signed up!).

When we checked in at the aforementioned helicopter ride, I noticed that my date handed over a folded sheet of paper. I sneakily peeked over his shoulder and realized that it was a groupon coupon. Nice! After the helicopter ride, he wanted to grab lunch--and had coupon for Red Robin. So, we went to the location on the water to grab some burgers. Ching-ching! A little more money saved!

Later that evening, I had agreed to meet up with a guy friend (though he called it a date...). Turns out, he had been given a $100 gift certificate to Boat Street Cafe, a yummy French restaurant! We ordered dinner and drinks--but the drinks never came. When we casually mentioned it, the server was so apologetic! She brought them immediately and assured us that they'd be taken off our bill. To try to spend more money, we ordered a second dessert--but the server took this as a sign that we didn't like the first, and took that off the bill too! No matter how we tried, we could not reach the $100 mark, and ended up leaving with credit for another time. Not so bad!

And then, driving home, all the money I had "saved" throughout the day was reversed. We were going through a funky intersection and another car plowed into my driver's side. And then left the scene. And they had a Prius! Who does that?! Needless to say, it was a pricey and distressing ending to a great day!

Soaring through the clouds

Keeping with the "touching the sky" theme...

I received the following message one day:

"I got us a helicopter and pilot--Where do you want to go?"

I had gone out with this guy a couple times, but from the text, I couldn't tell if he was serious or not. I immediately responded by saying I wanted to go to Hawaii. (If someone asks where I want to go, I might as well think big, right?!)

"Nope, gas is expensive right now. I was thinking somewhere closer."

I thought some more--the San Juan Islands?

"Nah, how about around Seattle?"

I'm never one to turn down an opportunity! And, I had never been in a helicopter before. So, we met early in the day to depart on our adventure with Classic Helicopter Corp. As we flew over the Space Needle, Green Lake, the Ballard Locks, and other Seattle attractions, I noticed:

(1) what a beautiful, clear day it was

(2) what a romantic date I was on and

(3) what a lack of feelings I had for the person sharing the helicopter experience with me

This was, by far, the most unique date I had been on! With each building we passed over, however, I began to question how I felt about this guy. A couple weeks prior, I let him know that I was feeling a little smothered--and things had improved a bit. But, sitting in the helicopter, he kept awkwardly reaching through the tangle of headsets to hold my hand and snuggle. I realized it wasn't what he was doing, it was what I was feeling.

And, so, on this amazing and extravagant date, soaring through the clouds, all I could think about was that I didn't "click" with this wonderful guy.

Death defying circus tricks and dating faux pas

Planning a date is not for the faint of heart. It is by far one of the most nerve-wracking activities of life - especially when the date involves death defying circus tricks.

I picked up SG#1 on Friday (only five minutes late!) dressed in work-out wear, heart pounding in anticipation of what we were about to do and hoping he would enjoy the date. We headed to SODO and SG#1 quickly spotted the bright yellow, "Emerald City Trapeze Arts" sign glowing under the black rain clouds. That's right, I took SG#1 on our second date to a flying trapeze class!

We learned how to jump off a teeny tiny platform and fly through the air on the trapeze. SG#1 totally rocked the backflip dismount and I got to swing into the arms of a tall, bald, circus-man wearing extremely tight black leggings (Yikes!). Although possibly a slightly inappropriate 2nd date activity, it was nice to see how adventurous SG#1 is, especially when he didn't even know what we were doing AND he was chosen to be the first person to climb the wobbling ladder to the teeny tiny platform and risk his life on the flying trapeze.

So, since this was the date I planned I must admit I committed a serious date faux pas: I forgot my wallet! So embarrassing!! The trapeze class was prepaid, so it wasn't really that big of a deal, but lesson learned for future date planning. We had to stop at my house before the much needed post-trapeze margarita.

All in all, I think the date went pretty well and SG#1 said he would be calling for a future date - yep, he said calling, not texting! We'll all be eagerly anticipating his official date report.

One more thing: a shout out to my friend TS for sponsoring the fantastic birthday Groupon Coupon for Emerald City Trapeze that made this date possible.

Date No. 2 with Special Guest #1

I thought I should do a mini-post to follow up on everyone's questions regarding date number two with Special Guest #1 (SG#1). And, well...it's a SURPRISE! SG#1 didn't want to know where we're going so all you get to know is what he knows:

-We may touch the clouds
-Wearing tights is good
-Peeing your pants is an option, but not recommended

The date is this Friday, so just hold your horses for a few more days!

Chivalry is alive and well

Before I say anything about last night’s date, it’s important to remember that Special Guest #1 read the whole blog, and, if you haven’t been reading, he posted comments after The Cat’s out of the Bag. This is a blogging first for One Hundred Dates for sure!

He picked me up at 7:15, – every man should know that every woman needs that extra fifteen minutes to get ready, especially when transforming oneself from labor & delivery scrubs and pony tail to date attire – he opened my door for me, we hopped in the car and I still had only one clue about the evening’s activities: it’s a mix of paleontology and vinification. As we drove down the hill toward the Space Needle we chatted about our day’s activities and I got to find out more about what he does for work – and I think he found out more than he needed to know about what I do.

Then we rounded the corner to the Pacific Science Center and a tall, beaming billboard called out the future of our evening: Science with a Twist: Dinos and Wine-OH! And I must say not only did he pick out a perfectly nerd-a-licious event, he already had tickets reserved (like a responsible date) and when he didn’t know where he was going he said so (he had never been to the Pacific Science Center before), 10 points for Special Guest #1.

So we spent the night tasting wine, learning about dinosaurs, touching gooey critters in the touch tank, eating weird chocolates and strategizing about who had the strongest wine pour. He also impressed me with his vast knowledge about the cosmos in the planetarium (did he research this before the date?!), lightened the mood by asking silly questions during a hoity toity wine presentation, and we made each other a wine charm keepsake to tie the night together.

During the festivities, he said, “So I’m assuming you have a family, you went to school, you know, the typical first date questions...do we really need to have that conversation?” (That’s not a direct quote; I had already had three glasses of dino wine at this point). But he brought up an interesting point: how much of the connection you feel with a person comes from just simply hanging out, and how much of it comes from the connection you feel when you have something in common? Well, no matter how hard we tried, these first date facts trickled into conversation anyway. However, besides his work and a few details about life in Kansas City, he’s a pretty reserved guy, so it may take a few more first date conversations to really get to the good stuff (we decided ex’s and politics was out...we did touch on religion, but mostly because we coincidentally both attended single-sex Catholic schools).

I’m afraid to even say it (especially because he’s reading and I’m supposed to remain pleasantly aloof at this point), but it was a beautifully executed date. Well thought out, fun and a good balance of pre-planned activity and time to get to know each other. Well, there it is Special Guest #1, my whole psyche on a plate for you! We're all eagerly awaiting your comments about the date, which really isn’t fair because you can see exactly what I think already! We’re going to have to think of some better rules moving forward.

Matchmaker, matchermaker, make me a match...

I missed a call today and found a rather interesting voice message waiting for me (listen above). Long and short, my great aunt is trying to hook me up with her sister's girlfriend's grandson (and he sounds really "neat")!

The only catch is, I have to contact him and set up a date without alluding to the fact that his grandparents are giving out his number. My aunt suggested that I say a "friend" gave me his number. Huh? Is he not going to wonder who this "friend" is?!

Any suggestions/recommendations on how to proceed are more than welcome! (Reader participation, please!)