The awkward part of the date

So now that I've told you about my weekend dates, I need to share the most awkward part about the date with JohnBoy, which was the end.

For me, the end of dates is the most uncomfortable. Not the uncomfortable pauses in conversation during dinner or after I realize this guy isn't going to work out, it's the end, after the conversation is over, dinner is paid and it's time to say goodnight.

There is always that moment when it comes time to say goodbye of...now what? Do I hug, do I kiss, what is appropriate?

I don't give up or do anything I don't want to, but I never know if I should lead or initiate something. For someone (aka me) who is rather aggressive when she wants things, I get very timid and "traditional" when it comes to dating.

Back on point, when JohnBoy drove me home after our date, there was definitely an awkward moment of...what happens now? Outside of me getting out of the car and going home.

So we're sitting in his car, talking, I'm exhausted and ready to pop out one of my contacts ASAP and we're just...staring at each other.

Finally after crickets started chirping, I said thank you for the millionth time (I meant it too), I didn't think he was going to do anything (other than say thank you) so I go in for a hug. Not totally awkward, but the car isn't the best place for a proper one, and then.....oh what the h*ll, I planted a slightly drunken kiss on his cheek and got one in return. I mean, he did pay for dinner and acted like a total gentleman all night.

This may be sad to admit, but it's been a while since I had a nice kiss from a guy and if I had one or two more drinks, I would have definitely have "nicely" pushed him against the car door and gone in for some tongue action, but I didn't.

And after his "surprise" half-kiss, I hopped out of the car. I know, I wish I would have lingered a little bit too. I don't want to "peak" too early in hopefully our string of upcoming dates.

What part of the date do you usually fine the most awkward, or what do you do at the end of the date to avoid the awkwardness of saying goodbye?

Note: Thank you for the great comments on the date post yesterday :) I so appreciate all the kind words. And after reading everyone's comments, I agree, I think it's time to vote Dayton off of "Match Island." I just can't get over that wearing the same shirt thing either! You guys give great dating advice ;)

A tale of two dates

Yesterday I mentioned that I went on two dates with guys from Match, and because I'm not a tease, I will deliver on my promise to tell you about it.

But before we get there, two dates in two days with two guys? I know, let's say it, "holla playa! Heyyyyyyyy. Big pimpin. Oh yeahhhhhh."

Okay, moving on, I went out with JohnBoy for the first time and Dayton for a second time. Check out my mention of my first date with Dayton here. And if you follow me on Twitter, you'll know that Dayton has been sending some odd signals lately by saying, "yes I want to get together with you, but I need to keep my schedule flexible so I can go sailing if I want to." Not the best thing to share, but whatevs, we still got together to see if there is a spark.

Now, let's dish about the dates.

Date #1: JohnBoy, we'll always have tacos

I won't lie, I was really looking forward to meeting JohnBoy. We've e-mailed and chatted on the phone a few times, and he was always really sweet and funny. Raised in Atlanta and now living in Chicago, I smelled "southern gentleman" on him (and not Drakkar Noir) and said, yes, let's meet up.

So we did at De Cero in the West Loop post-20sb wine tasting and I won't lie, I was really nervous. So much so that my hands were actually shaking a little bit. Eeek that never happens!

Dinner was very nice, handmade tacos and a delish margarita, and JohnBoy was every bit the gentleman I thought he might be. From opening doors (car and restaurant) to letting me order first, to helping me with my chair, it was really nice. AND he even held the umbrella for me when it started raining after dinner.

OMFG who does that?

The conversation was good, few awkward pauses and I think we were on the same page with what we wanted long-term and how we feel about our careers. No, I didn't say I wanted to marry him and have his babies, but the topics came up very loosely. The date ended well and I told him flat out that I wanted to see him again. Let's hope I do! And he even sent me a playful e-mail on Sunday morning, and I couldn't help but smile when I saw it. Oh boy.

Date #2: Dayton - you had me at Rigatoni

I met Dayton Sunday night at Tarantino's at the recommendation of a work friend, who has very good taste in food. And she didn't let me down, the Lincoln Park restaurant was a perfect setting for a nice dinner outside and the meal was beyond fabulous. The leftovers will be too.

The locale and food was amazing. The Dayton's company was okay, but something seemed a little....off and platonic.

First, I was running late, due to Pride Parade cleanup, so I was already in a flushed rush to get there in a decent amount of time because I hate being late to places.

He beat me there and surprised me by wearing....the exact same dirty polo shirt and jeans that he wore on our first date. *crickets chirping* I'm sure this wasn't intentional but definitely caught my attention, especially when I'm in a cute sundress and accessories. He said I looked "professional," yet I would have settled for "nice."

Conversation was a little rough, every 10-15 minutes, he went on "screensaver" mode and would look off into space, making me fear he might pass out at any second. I failed CPR, so don't look to me to save you on that one.

But we did talk more about work and our personal interests. He made sure to make fun of my sunburn and talk a lot about his dog. A lot. No seriously, a lot. It also came up in conversation that he has issues with his family dynamic, coming from a divorced home. Been there, done that myself. There were definitely awkward parts in conversation and I was the more upbeat of the two of us, maybe it was a bad day?

So the date ended okay with him, with a chaste hug and saying he'd write me in a few days since we weren't hanging out until next week due to July 4th.

I won't rule things out with him, but the friend vibe is stronger than ever. So I think I'll give it one more shot with him and then maybe have the "talk" about how we're feeling toward one another.

And there are the tales of my two dates.

What was the best/worst date you've ever been on?

Weekend recap: Taste of Chicago, sunburn and bloggers

Hello hello and happy Sunday! Actually, today is more of my Saturday because I'm off tomorrow, but still, I can't believe it's the end of June! Seriously.

And I am totally 100 percent exhausted. It's been one of those great weekends when you're totally busy and don't mind because you're with great company but then BOOM it hits you all at once and you have no energy to physically do one more thing.

But before I give in to that exhaustion, let's take a quick trip around my weekend.

Okay first, there was the 20sb meet up and it was a lot of fun. We had a great mixer Friday at Rebel Bar in Wrigleyville and it was really nice to see some of my favorite bloggers again (along with awesome Chicago ones) in person. Then Saturday was the wine tasting with Farmstead Wines, which supports small farmers worldwide and uses a natural approach to wine making. All the wines we sampled were delicious, especially this puppy:

Oh it was good. Clean, crisp and refreshing. That would definitely get me in trouble because it's perfect for any meal, including breakfast.

But, actually, before the awesome bloggy goodness, I sacrificed my body to the ultimate in Chicago summer festivals: The Taste of Chicago.

Yes, the Taste of Chicago is an annual 10-day festival of mostly deep-fried food from various Chicago restaurants, many of which are served on a stick, on the bone or in a small paper bowl with a crappy plastic fork. And everything can be served on a stick, from popcorn to cheesecake to fruit. And why not, it keeps your hands from getting ridiculously dirty and allows you to still hold a beer.

Whenever you go to the Taste, you can count on one of these things happening:

• It will be ridiculously hot/humid outside. On cue, every year, the temp rises to 90 and sometimes adds humidity as another kick in the nuts

• You eat only hot food in the hot sun on the hot pavement

• You sweat through your clothes (sexy, I know)

• Sunburn will appear on one or several parts of your body

• Your personal self-esteem will be boosted

• You find out how little clothing people can wear with or without crossing the decency line

And for me this year, all these goals were achieved, exhibited in part by my new sunburned sleeve, check this b*tch out:

Yes, I should have known better, no I didn't wear SPF and yes, it's sore but it looks a lot better in this picture than it did Friday.

I sacrificed my arm for my rib sandwich, rainbow ice cream and perogi. That's how much I love you Chicago, you dirty wh*re. You better put out next time.

Oh and just as I was about to leave, some guy got BBQ sauce all over the crotch/leg of my shorts. And then laughed at me. Yes, I wanted to cut him and no, I didn't laugh back.

At the 20sb mixer, my new sunburn was a good topic of conversation because people kept touching my arm and said, "holy cow it's hot." Yes, sunburn is hot. And yes, it did hurt that night. Le sigh.

But even though I complain about the Taste and the heat and the sunburn, it's a Chicago tradition, much like Summerfest was for me growing up. It's the great summer festivals that make me love this city and get my hands dirty.

How was everyone else's weekend? Do you have any local festivals, similar to the Taste that you really enjoy going to every year?

Oh and yes I went on two dates this weekend. More to come on that.

Summer movie fever!

First off, today was a sad day. Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson both passed away, the latter came as a total shock. Michael Jackson was definitely more relevant to me than Farrah but both are sad losses. Time to dig out my Thriller cassette tape. Oh yes, I said cassette.

Now back to our regularly scheduled post.......

I am a total movie fanatic. I love going to see movies, smuggling in candy and taking advantage of its free heat or AC during the winter or summer.

And now that we're almost half-way through the summer movie season, here are the movies I cannot wait to go see:

Public Enemies

Love Michael Mann and of course Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. Bring it on! Plus it was filmed in Wisconsin :)

Time Traveler's Wife

This book broke a piece of me inside. That said, I'm curious how they will remake this. Plus Rachel McAdams is gorgeous!

Transformers 2 (woo hoo!)

Checking my brain at the door and watching lots of stuff get blown up. Awesomeness

500 Days of Summer

I'm obsessed with this trailer. I love Joseph Gordon-Levitt and there are musical numbers!

GI Joe

My brother had all the toys growing up, I think he's more excited about this than me. And there should be some sweet man eye candy too

Julie/Julia

Haven't read the book but I love Amy Adams and the trailer makes me want to learn to cook!

Funny People

Hopefully as funny as "Knocked Up" without being too long

Paper Heart

Cute story about falling in love. Cast looks great

Movies not on the list:

My Sister's Keeper

The book broke my heart, I know I won't be able to stop the tears. And I don't know how believable Cameron Diaz is as a mom

Harry Potter

I've never read any of the books or seen any of the movies. No lie!

On a quick side note, TC and I hit the movie theater last weekend and opted not to scan for guys but rather just enjoy the AC and relax.

We saw "Away We Go" and "The Hangover." I know, two TOTALLY different films.

First, "Away We Go" was great. I highly recommend it. My boyfriend John K was great and Maya Rudolph totally surprised me. She's matured well beyond SNL. Yes, John looks like Grizzly Adams (nothing a razor and scissors can't fix) but it was really well acted, written and directed. A great mix of happy and sad with some really funny scenes mixed in.

And "the Hangover," makes me look at my Vegas trip very differently! Boy it was tame in comparison. And it makes me want to go back to Vegas right now. The movie is absolutely hilarious, but slightly distasteful too. So go see it :)

What movies are you looking forward to seeing this summer? Any big plans for the weekend?

Kicked off the pop culture island

I do love celebrity gossip and entertainment news, but there are a few things I've been hearing a lot about lately, or I've been hearing about certain things for way too long.

So let the tribal council gather because I'm kicking the following things off my pop culture island.

Speidi

I cannot begin to explain how much I loathe these two. If I had a nickel for every d-bag thing Spencer said, I could pay off my student loan and I don't like that. Between "the Hills" and "I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here," I'm tired of hearing about both of them. Fortunately, E! is on the right track by going "Speidi-free" and now we need to rally other celebrity news outlets to stop talking about them too!!

John & Kate (and ALL the drama)

I won't lie, I'm not a Kate Gosselin fan, but I don't want to hear any more about them. I've had more than enough over the last few months (this picture as one example). And last night came the expected result: divorce. Who saw that coming??? Wha?

Yes, the kids are cute and Kate's hair and behavior are beyond awful, but as a kid from a divorced family, this is the best thing for everyone. Kids pick up on their parents being unhappy, so I'd rather have them be apart and happier, which will ultimately be better for their kids. I hope they use the show's network-enforced hiatus to get back on track.

Scary pregnancy shows

These shows scare the absolute sh*t out of m. For example, TLC's "I Didn't Know I was Pregnant" or MTV's "16 and Pregnant." For me, the former is way scarier than the latter but both make me want to OD on birth control. In fact, I can't even really explain why these scare me because I'll start shuddering in a ball on the floor. I think the titles say it all

Melissa Rycroft

Getting dumped on national, live television is awful. I can only imagine how humiliating it was, especially after the man who dumped you, hooks up with another woman moments after you leave. That is awful, but you've done "Dancing with the Stars" and now you're on GMA and I think it's time life goes on. I'm tired of hearing how you got your "revenge."

Lindsay Lohan

I don't know what to say, she's a trainwreck. An absolute trainwreck. But I'm holding out for Britney shaving her head again so I am kicking you off the island. Oh and start wearing pants, leggings are not attractive on bony legs. And get your sh*t together girl, seriously.

Jennifer Aniston/Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie

Similar to my open letter to Jenn awhile back, why are we still talking about this??? Please, please stop and let them each go on being equally hot.

None of these things would ever be part of my desert island game. Ick.

Who would you like to vote off your pop culture island?

Online dating is WORK

Holy cow, this online dating thing is a serious time commitment.

On a daily basis you have to weed through possible matches, send winks, write e-mails, respond to e-mails and try to be witty, charming and just be yourself without getting fussy at the same time. This could be a full-time job!

Fortunately, since my initial Match.com phone call fail last month, I have had a bit more luck. I met a guy for coffee before my vacations, which was dubbed an official "date" by several blogger and IRL friends, and it went well. Apparently I made quite an impression too because he e-mailed me the next morning and asked to see me again. Wow. That NEVER happens. So I'll give it another shot. The date went well, not a huge spark but I'll try again and not rush to judgment.

And since date boy (who I will call Dayton) entered the picture, two more guys have too. So far that's just been friendly e-mails but one guy, JohnBoy, sounds really interesting so I'm anxious to meet him in person.

The one issue that has come up is that these guys are not the most "aggressive." For example, I was supposed to go out with a guy, Sam, this past weekend. He asked me out and then wanted me to pick the date, time and place. So that I didn't sound controlling, I got together some recommendations and asked for his thoughts, since, well he would be joining me. He was noncommittal on each and then proceeded to say that I should just take the reigns on this and tell him when to show up. Um. Yeah, that's not how that works. What is the problem with even just weighing in on the place? Bueller? Anyone?

And because we kept going back/forth, it didn't work out to get together but I'll try again, making sure this is more of a team effort. I'm a planner at work, that doesn't mean I want to be the planner at home all the time too.

Anyhow, I'm just saying, doing this online dating stuff takes a ton of time. Talking on the phone, deciding where to go to dinner, getting to know one another, awkward hug/kiss at the end and then setting up a plan to see each other again. Oy.

I need to be better at multi-tasking. And putting myself first because looking at my schedule, I don't have a lot of time to meet with these guys for the next week or two. I really need to work on this cloning bit.

Do you find that dating can be a lot of work too? Or do you like dating to be a little more "old fashioned" and have the guy plan the dates?

Personally, if he asks me out, I think he should take the lead in planning. But that's just me. Apparently I need to "man up" and be more aggressive myself.

Weekend recap: Dinner leftovers and minding the Gap

So remember all those tweets and posts I did where I complain about Chicago's cool weather and not being able to a) feel warm or b) wear my new, cute summer clothes? Karma is comin' back around because it is hot, humid and, well HOT here. I mean, I love the feeling of baking in the hot sun and my skin frying from it, just as much as the next girl, but whoa, some transition please!

But outside of the hot, humid, hair-hating weather, here's the highlights of my weekend:

Dinner

Friday my parents came in town for a weekend in the city and we went to Art Smith's restaurant, Table Fifty-Two. We had a late reservation and it totally didn't disappoint. In fact, I came home with half our meal in leftovers because it was so filling and delicious.

If you go, I highly recommend the crab cakes, three-cheese mac, jambalaya and you MUST order a piece of the hummingbird cake. No, that's not code word for deliciousness (although it should be). It's actually a banana/pineapple cake with cream cheese frosting. And it's amazing.

The service was impeccable and it was a more adult crowd so not overly loud. And with the famous biscuits and deviled eggs to start, my parents were MORE than impressed (me too!)

I'm also proud to say the jambalaya and three-cheese mac reheat well. Tonight I continue working on the Hummingbird cake because the piece cut for us was massive. I love leftovers!

Minding the Gap

I keep my clothing simple. I like affordable, stylish yet classic pieces in my wardrobe, so if you ever go through my closet, you will see A LOT of Old Navy, Banana Republic and especially Gap clothing in it. You can also check my Banana Republic card statement history to see first-hand how much I love the Gap. It's the kind of love that hurts sometimes.

Anyhow, I was beyond excited when Justine from Brand About Town e-mailed me asking if I could meet up and chat with her about becoming a Gap brand enthusiast. Um, YES, I'm interested. Could there BE another job that's better for me (outside of my day job?) Answer: no.

Justine braved the harsh Chicago storms on Friday to meet with me at Lavazza and chat more about the Gap brand enthusiast role. And between us, I fear I sounded slightly insane because I was so excited. Nothing's set in stone just yet, but the opportunity to host a party with my closet blogger friends = awesome. I'm ready to go!

And after our chat and quick run through the rain, she showed me some of Gap's new styles at the store and then...let me pick out some stuff to take home. *crickets chirping* Best day ever. I had to try not to squeal out loud or jump up and down clapping like Kelly Kapoor. I did that later ;)

Here's the new stuff I got too, I cannot wait to wear it to work.

And no, I won't be "cinching" or "belting" the waist like the SNL Gap girls (for now.)

How was everyone else's weekend?