1 Tequila 2 Tequila 3 Tequila Floor

This guy's online profile seemed promising - good looking, witty, very involved in giving back to his community. I was pretty excited for this one.

When we met, he was at least 3 inches shorter than he said he was on his online profile. Strike 1.

The conversation was going well so I decided to give him a pass. We went to a wine bar that I chose since he didn't take the time to plan out the date. I met him at a cross street where I assumed there would be a venue - there wasn't. Strike 2.

I decided to be a good sport. I was already out and my outfit was particularly cute that evening. We had a delicious appetizer and some glasses of wine before heading down town. He took me to a swanky bar and we had some cocktails - I'm not a heavy drinker so I was trying to pace myself. For every one drink I had, he had two. I wanted to take a breather from all of the cocktails but he just kept buying them and putting them in front of me. It became harder and harder to say no as the alcohol clouded my judgment. Strike 3 - he's out.

By midnight I was feeling like a college kid. I couldn't remember what drink I was drinking. The floor was beginning to look like a great place for a nap. I was bored with my date and wanted to eat toast and drink water and watch The Real Housewives of (insert city name here). And that's exactly what I did.

I told my date I was ready to call it a night and he seemed to think that meant I was totally lame. I'm OK with being lame. I was much happier in my pajamas on my couch than with my party-boy way-too-drunk date at a bar.

Running on Empty

I went on a date with a cute, tall, attorney. We met online and he took me to central park.... for a run. Now, at first I wasn't so happy about this. A run? Really? You want to see me get sweaty and disgusting on our very first meeting? But on second thought I said to myself - this guy is super creative and he's obviously not self-conscious. I'm going to give it a shot.

So I met him on a very warm Saturday morning and we got started with a quarter mile walk warm-up. Then we took off. We ran about 2 miles and although I tried to blot my glisten (let's call it that instead of profuse sweating), I was pretty shiny. I asked if we could stop for some water. He reluctantly agreed. So I pulled over and I bought myself a cold bottle of Poland Spring which I immediately touched to my neck and wrists to try to stop myself from sweating. He seemed annoyed by my rest but he humored me anyway. While I was a bit taken aback by his unwillingness to accommodate me, I was already there and decided to stick it out.

We took a break and sat on a bench for a bit to listen to some street musicians performing. It was a nice break but I was so icky and I felt so un-sexy that I could barely look at him. My make-up was completely melted off of my face, my shirt was moist, my hair was in a pony-tail, and I wasn't smelling like my usual perfume scented self.

After a 15 minute rest, we continued our run....we ran for a few more miles without a break. At the end of our run, I was exhausted. We were at the bottom of the park and began to walk east. He asked if I would accompany him on a trip to Bed Bath and Beyond to buy an air conditioner for his new apartment. It was on the way home for me so I said sure.

We ran the errand and it felt AMAZING to be in the cold, breezy air of BB&B. He bought me a water and walked me to my door. Neither of us went in for the hug since we were so gross but we gave a quick, smile to each other and he told me he looked forward to seeing me again soon. Success!

The next day, I received a text from him asking if I would like to test out his new AC and watch a movie in his apartment...that was WAY too forward for me. I don't go to a boy's apartment right off the bat! What kind of girl does he think I am? PLUS was he really going to not spend any money on me or take me out on a date?

We exchanged texts for the next week until he politely closed the loop with me by letting me know he had met someone else. Although I give this dude points for creativity, I don't think I'll be starting out any future dating adventure with a run.

Magic

I met this guy on match.com. He took me out for sushi. The conversation was great. He has a great job, a great apartment, a great relationship with his family. He was dressed nicely and very polite. A total gentleman. He asked tons of questions about my life and tried to get an overview of who I am and what I'm most passionate about. He was everything I should want in a guy. We laughed and listened to each other. He was attentive and didn't order any alcohol. He walked me to my door. He was even cuter in person. But something was missing.

There was no spark, no tingling feelings in my stomach. I didn't want to kiss him good night and I wasn't excited to see him again. There was no magic. Usually I'm apt to give people many chances (which may be the reason why I end up finding out that my new guy is a nut job on the fifth date). But I don't think that's fair to myself or to my date.

The first date sets the stage for the rest of a relationship and if a guy can't give me even the tiniest spark of magic in our first few hours together, is there really a chance for there to be fireworks later?

Maybe. But I guess I'm just not willing to accept that for myself. I need to feel something more than that. I need to feel like there is the possibility of something special. I guess I need some kind of...something.

I thought back to that Sex and the City quote - "Some people are settling down, some people are settling, and some people refuse to settle for anything less than butterflies..."

I guess I'm still waiting to find mine.