DATE 3 with Mr. Intellect
For date 3, Mr. Intellect wanted to go outside and enjoy the
amazing 85 degrees predicted for the upcoming Saturday. He asked whether I wanted to know the details
of the date or preferred a surprise, I opted for the surprise and only needed
to know appropriate footwear and whether I need a puppy sitter. Comfy shoes and no puppy sitter ;)
He was picking me up at 2:00. I barely had time to get nervous with such an
early time. I went spinning, took my pup for a long walk, and suddenly it was
time to get ready for my date!
We headed down to Longwood Gardens – a place I’ve always
talked about visiting but have still not made it to. It’s about an hour outside of the city but
conversation flowed naturally in the car.
We walked the garden for hours admiring the flowers, the fountains, and
the sculptures. It was a pretty
fantastic place to visit and Mr. Intellect does not fail for interesting
conversation. He was constantly adding fun
tidbits or retelling me what he read from the signs in fun and engaging ways
since I was way too impressed by the sheer beauty to waste any time reading
about anything. He lingered as we walk
and took my hand at a few times while walking.
There was a special bee exhibit at Longwood Gardens and he
was excited to share it with me following our prior discussion of the Ted talk
about bees. It was a really nice subtle
way to show that he was listening when I talked. As we walked through the gardens – hours
passed with lots of laughter and stories from our pasts.
By the time we got back to the city, puppy needed a long
walk and we needed a nice rest after all our walking. We missed our dinner reservations he had made
earlier but neither of us seemed to care.
I was dying for a shower after our long walks – feeling more stinky than
sexy. He asked if he could do the same
after me and secretly pulled out the most adorable little man bag packed with a
new outfit and toothbrush. After I
immediately called him out for being presumptuous he assured me he never
travels far without a toothbrush ;) I
stepped it up to a cute dress and heels for dinner and we were off with
ambitions of dinner and dancing.
When we finally made it out the door for dinner it was
impossible to get a table anywhere in my neighborhood. 9:00 P.M. on a Saturday was going to be a
difficult time to eat. After the in/out
of a few restaurants, I finally confided in him that all I really wanted was to
grab burgers from the no frills shake and burger place near my house and go
home and watch a movie. The look of
relief that passed on his face was perfect – he was way tired too and starving
to go anywhere else and loved this new plan.
After scarfing down delicious burgers and fries we went back to my
house. I quickly changed into my cozy
yoga pants and movie watching attire.
We watched To Kill a Mockingbird. It was amazing – I haven’t
watched that movie since I was in high school.
And somehow it was way better snuggled close in this intelligent man’s
arms. With a greater appreciation of the
literary masterpiece and lawyer scenes, we both thoroughly enjoyed the
movie. Atticus Finch is probably the
most ideal man ever created and we both continued to comment on his strong
integrity throughout the movie. I cried
three different times so enraptured by this movie!
We drank wine – we made out – we watched another great movie. He ended up spending the night and couldn’t
have been more of a gentleman and offered no pressure to proceed beyond
appropriate boundaries. In my wine stupor, I told him I thought he brain was sexy ;)
He is great so far.
We have plans to go out again this week before I start my travels for
the month. He told me one of the sexiest
things about me is my career and he thinks I’m funny. Both of these things make me so happy. My ex did not find me entertaining or
humorous (or at least not at the end).
And there were so many issues with the way my ex supported/undercut my
career choice. In short, my ex never
admired my career or was impressed by my accomplishment. Mr. Intellect so clearly is and it feels so
great to receive that praise.
I’m nervous. I never
intended to find anyone I would want to go on 5 or 6 dates with on my new quest
on match. The point of this adventure
was to grow personally and continue to find myself. The point was to figure out what makes me
happy and to get used to getting back into the dating world. It scares me to feel myself so excited and
happy by someone else. I’ve spent the
entire past year learning how to become independent and my walls are high. Plus I still have not told him a darn thing
about my past and I never thought someone from match and I would be having that
discussion.
At the same time – I haven’t felt so happy in a very long
time. I want to fully embrace this
moment and these amazing dates as they come.
Appreciate the opportunity to experience new things with a new
person. I finally made it to Longwood
Gardens on my third date after trying to convince my ex for 4 years to go with
me. It is evident that Mr. Intellect
enjoys planning these adventures which is such a refreshing change from my past
that I want to savor it while I can.
Lessons learned so far – I do enjoy Philadelphia area very
much. I do enjoy getting out of my
apartment and experiencing nature. I’d
rather go out and do something all day Saturday than sit inside and watch
t.v. Regardless of what the future holds
for Mr. Intellect and I, he is allowing me to make great strides in figuring
out what I like and increasing my self-confidence and self-awareness. I prefer day dates is sunshine and nighttime
in yoga pants with a good movie.
Date 4 is on Wednesday.
Will be less adventurous as I have set a 9:30 bedtime for myself. Big work conference in NYC this weekJ
So happy that you are now finding happiness along life's journey!
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