well, this is a little embarrassing...

it was recently brought to my attention YET AGAIN that i never finished writing about date #12.
it's been a month and a half and then some since that date ended and i don't even know that i'll get all the details in order but this is the attempt:


i crashed my car on that monday night, following trivia date in west chester. i was driving to see my friend milkshake. some guy was parked perpendicular to the median on route one and my car was totaled. m.s. rescued me from the cold road and took me out for coffee. at that point he heroically became mr. #12. major relief.

backstory: i met m.s. in february. he facilitates a weekly improv workshop with the hilarious and amazing rick horner. (both of these guys are worth checking out if you're looking for a fun evening involving lots of laughs and also probably running into me.) i admired m.s. from the start. as the year progressed and i got to know him better i liked him more and differently. he is the kind of guy who will dance and do his thing and the enthusiasm is contagious. we talk a lot and i'd been filling him in on the project all along. as the month drew nearer to an end i figured he definitely wouldn't be a contender. it was almost like he knew too much. that's why i was so surprised when he offered to fill the twelfth spot.

first we attended a new year's eve party at my sister's house. the first party involved: so. much. food. a chick-fil-a party tray which was somehow the sun around which all else did orbit. lots of babies. noise-makers and hats. masks. what resulted in a boot polish-off.

we left there around ten and headed in to philadelphia to attend another party at our friend ralph's house. this was our original plan so he got off easy in regards to coming up with a date-night event.when we arrived at the party some of our friends were like "hey guys. oh! how did your last date go?"

when talking about it, i left it kind of vague only mentioning that it was going to be on new years eve with someone i already knew. at that point i had to get all smug and start pointing like a smart-alec/hitch-hiker with my thumb. "why don't you ask him?!"

this elicited some excited responses mostly amounting to "what an adorable ending!" it's true. it was pretty freaking cute.

we played rock band which i thought i hated until i found out that some people have real sized instruments and an enormous catalog of songs from which to choose. it turns out you can play that until 4am happily.

the countdown and midnight came and left and for those keeping track or nosy, no, i didn't partake in some dreamy and romantic public kiss, ok? but that's awesome because i was in a room of amazing people and we all hugged and were happy and that's more than good enough for me.

it was over a month ago, as i said earlier, so some details escape me.

i will say this: it's really nice to go out with someone with whom you're already comfortable. any physical contact is kind of cool because you've got the same "hey-this-is-a-date-and-so-we've-got" tension as with a stranger, but the familiarity level is there. it has what i'd perceive as notes of a new high school relationship. kind of awkward because you've got mutual friends somewhat aware of your situation. (i say this as if i know for sure. when i was in high school i was devastatingly unpopular in this regard. fact: my prom date was flown in from florida. he's an amazing guy and i was so so lucky that it happened that way, but really self? you couldn't find some dude in state?)

m.s was also the only one who didn't end our date asking to see me again. granted, i do see him a couple of times a week. AND we did spend the next day together. actually, i ended up dropping him off at work so he needed to see me again in order to get home. my mentioning this is less a realistic observation and more a faker-pain-in-the-neck-wide-eyed-in-disbelief girl move.


sincerely, it's harder to press the "publish" button on this post than most of the others. the only other guy that caused me anxiety was #6, i think? the one who didn't end so well. but this is about someone i know who i am guaranteed to see again so anything i say can and probably will cause a little embarrassment on my end. but i've been totally straightforward and honest up to this point so no denying things now. oh hey, i'm still stalling. enough of that. it's four am.




i'll tell you about the overflow dates later. i feel for people with the face-recognition-memory-loss disease.