Hello. My name is Meagan and I'm a serial dater.*
Let's just get this out of the way: my
current dating status. Never you mind, there will be plenty of opportunity for my past dating experience to rear its ugly head. I was summing up my summer o' dating to my one of my [fabulously engaged] friends who claimed, "Oh, Meagan, your love life is always so interesting!"
Interesting, yes. Satisfying, sometimes. Enviable, no.
Please feel free to enjoy the soundtrack to this post, brought to you by Don Henley
http://youtu.be/UsqcDXizFmE?t=1sSo, without further adieu, here is a recap of my summer of awkward moments and quasi-flirting**:
Derby Day 2011I'm from Kentucky, so isn't Derby Day the first official day of summer, anyway?! Okay, so this guy, Jay***, was a coworker of a coworker's wife, and we were put in the same Mexican restaurant booth on Cinco de Mayo. We spent the latter part of the evening talking outside in the parking lot which is generally a good sign. We decided to get together for the Kentucky Derby at the local horse track to watch. This date was fun and I am the first to admit that I pretty much say yes to any date with a guy who does not appear to have a felony record because as my friend Lauren says, "Sometimes it's one date that changes your life ... Sometimes it's five."
Mistake numero uno, don't go on a first date with someone you hardly know and therefore might be iffy about for 8.5 hours. That's a work day, people. This was a very llllooonnnnggg date: Ellis Park, dinner, drinks/live music (3 p.m. - 11:30 p.m.). And it was a fun date, don't get me wrong, but it was long and mama doesn't always get a second wind.
Mistake numero dos, don't meet the guy there. Technically it was his fault because he should have offered to pick me up (which he did not nor did he do so in the future). The problem with this is that you don't feel like it's a date from the beginning. I meet my guy friends at restaurants, I meet my parents at restaurants, I meet my coworkers at restaurants, but someone that I might kiss by the end of the night - they pick me up. Call me old fashioned, but I believe that the boy gets the door, he picks you up, and he gets the check every time (at least at first). This may explain why I'm still single, but as my father would say, "She's worth more than a $5 sandwich!"
Great guy - nice, put together, talkative - but no sizzle on this end. There were some other [shallow] deal breakers for me and after a couple of dates and some broken-off plans for drinks I think he got the idea that we were better off as friends. Friends who
meet for dinner and who don't care if the other one wears white tennis shoes.
Memorial Day 2011Chi-town bound!! Okay, so the train ride from Effingham, IL to Chicago was not nearly as sexy as I had pictured in my head but it sure as hell was efficient! While in Chicago, my wonderful friends made sure that I was once again rubbing elbows with one tall, dark, handsome man that I've had chemistry with in the past. (No innuendo - just good old fashioned chemistry). Great guy, seems to think I'm nice, and though nothing has materialized with this guy he's a single girl's holy grail - smart, successful, down to earth, handsome, funny, interesting, and interested in me. We'll put this one one the back burner until my next Chicago trip!
June 2011I always pencil in one trip to Indianapolis per season to visit my law school friends and participate in some general debauchery. The weekend started with photos taken at a Black Keys concert where my ex's roommate did some serious FB stalking to discover I was in town (no judging, we've all been there). The next day one of my nearest and dearest threw a lawn party where we pre-gamed and then hit the college bar scene. It was a great time with great people but ultimately there was an ex-encounter. Not too much drama, just letting you know that the past will inevitably always be 2 steps behind you. That is, until NATO approves the deserted island reserved for ex-boyfriends that I've been pitching for awhile.
The middle of June was marked by a three-day trip to Lexington to attend a conference. I love traveling for work so no complaints here that I was let loose for three days to eat, drink, and be merry (and, oh yeah, attend CLE classes! ;)) in the most charming and nostalgic town in my memory. So, I ran into a friend of a friend at the conference and we met his friends to play trivia at a country club turned pub (note: I hate trivia. I thought that I probably did, and it turns out that I really do. Don't get me wrong, I'm good at it (ask my friends - this brain is chock full of useless knowledge), I just don't like the vibe at one of those places.). Then, the next night, I organized a dinner/reunion with my sorority sisters and inevitably ran into the friend of a friend. Let's call him Tim. What started out as a mild-mannered dinner on a Thursday night with the world's greatest friends, may or may not have turned into a mini bar crawl with Tim. And it may or may not have ended with a nasty, NASTY hangover and a walk of shame by Tim. But the only shame was that we fell asleep on top of the covers discussing the difference between the Lutheran and Methodist faiths and watching 20/20. I'm a great date, what can I say?!
This is as good as time as any to let you know that most single girls (and all single men, I believe) have that pseudo-boyfriend/girlfriend, and I am no exception. At no point were we exclusive but on and off (when it was on it was ON and when it was off it was OFF) for about 8 months. You know how this goes - you see each other when its convenient, you say things that you mean in the moment but probably not 30 minutes after that, and you call/text a lot because you need that right now. And this deal will work out just fiiinnneee, if you're both on the same page. If you're not, there might be some fireworks. Keep this mind for there will be fireworks after the Fourth of July.
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I hope you've enjoyed this little trip into my fascinating love life. Let's face it, it's not that juicy but kinda entertaining, nonetheless. Alright, that gets you through the first half of the Summer 2011. Fourth of July through Labor Day will be posted mid-week!
*For the sake of this article, "serial dater" = a girl who has random encounters with gentlemen that sometimes turns into a few awkward dates that I'll eventually ignore their calls until they don't call and/or other random occurrences. Rarely does it arise to the level of "dating."** Emphasis on the quasi.***All names of males have been changed to protect their identity and throw them off the trail so if they come across this they won't hate me.
