Key Takeaways:
It’s easy to get nervous on a date, so if you find yourself talking about the braces and headgear you sported as a child, then STOP. That is what we call oversharing and it’s not cute.
Vitals:
Name: Wayne, which is not his real name but we went to a hockey game and I was told that Wayne Gretzky is one of the best players of all time
Length of date: 4 hours
How the date was obtained: Sliding into my DMs!
Where: Broken Spanish for dinner and an LA Kings game (my first professional hockey game)
From the beginning, this date was different. While the person on my first date, Arnold, had no idea about the blog, this date did. In fact, it is because of this blog that we went on a date. After launching Date a Week LA’s Instagram, Wayne reached out and asked to be one of the 52 dates. That also means that Wayne will be reading this post, gulp. I did ask Wayne several times if it was okay that I write about the date and he said “yes.” So, here it goes...
The date started out at the restaurant, Broken Spanish, which is probably one of the closest restaurants to the Staples Center (where the Kings play). Good planning on Wayne’s part! We both ordered tamales. Mine was very spicy and I tried to do my best to play it cool, but my innards were on fire. He ordered the lamb’s neck tamale. I was impressed by his adventurous palette. It’s not every day your date confidently orders a lamb’s neck.
Our conversation flowed nicely. We had a lot in common because we both went to the same college. So, we reminisced about formal dances and mutual friends. I found myself smiling a lot, maybe I was overly smiley.
As I think back about what was said on the date, I honestly don’t think he said anything weird or questionable. In fact, if anyone was weird on this date it was me. I was nervous and didn’t want the conversation to lull, so I found myself oversharing. I told him I had headgear as a kid, that I used to enter my strawberry jam into the country fair, and that I collect turtle figurines. Like what were you thinking, Isabel? You don’t say those things to seduce a man!
Luckily, Wayne didn’t run away after hearing about some of my quirks and we headed over to the game. The date took a steamy turn when I had to strip off my jacket to go through the metal detector. I was offended that Wayne didn’t blush. We got into the game and then the unthinkable happened. We got into our first fight. The LA Kings have a mascot: Bailey. I was confident that Bailey was a bear, while Wayne insisted it was a lion.
It was a lion. I was wrong. Now, I'm embarrassed.
Then, we shared a soft pretzel, which was also steamy.
At the end of the date, Wayne walked me back to my car. The whole night we had avoided talking about this blog, which was amazing. But in the last five minutes, I brought it up. I was interested to know what made Wayne reach out to me. Why did he wait until now? So, I asked him that question and he said: “Well, this actually isn’t the first time I’ve reached out.” Turns out Wayne had messaged me almost a year ago. He wanted to go out then.
I was floored. I had no recollection of that, but he opened up the Instagram message to prove it. So, it turned out that Wayne was interested in me for a while. And I’m not going to lie, it felt nice to be desired. In that moment standing close together by my Honda CRV, I felt a spark. It was exciting. We hugged and said our goodbyes and I told him if he’d accept me and my questionable orthodontic past, that I would love to go on a second date.
I got into my car and drove off. I smiled awkwardly to myself thinking this Date a Week LA thing could really work.
Overall Experience:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The future for us…I still have other dates lined up, but I am hoping that Wayne reaches out again and we will go on a 2nd date.
Wayne, if you’re reading this... I like you. Text me.
Next Week: A real quote from my date: "I'm a man of immaculate planning, but this time I will let spontaneity be my guide." Looks like I'm in for a poorly planned adventure.