Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve wanted a man to win me a shitty, ridiculous stuffed animal at a carnival.
Why?
Maybe because my mom never let me play carnival games.
Maybe because it’s the epitome of romantic, American cliché.
Maybe because I want something solid and highly flammable to burn if the man later breaks my heart.
What ever the case may be, last Saturday suddenly my dream was well within my grasp…
It wasn’t part of the plan. The plan was a first date (with the guy from my last post): brunch at A Mexican place with outdoor seating. You don’t win stuffed animals at Mexican restaurants, you win frozen margaritas, chips and salsa. A much more practical win, but not exactly the stuff childhood dreams. We sat licking the salt off the rims of our glasses and talked about things you talk about on first dates: family, fears, hopes, dreams. He guessed I was an only child, siting independence and self-confidence rather than spoiled-princess-cliché (good save, buddy). We are both much more frightened of failure than of clowns (so much in common). The question, “why are you still single?” was one left unasked (phew).
Conversation flowed easily on both sides. He’s the sort of person who puts people at ease. Until you end a sentence with a preposition. Then he corrects your grammar. But- yeah I’ll start a sentence with a conjunction, suck it grammar- even as he revealed Grammar Nazi tenancies, he some how never seemed pretentious. No easy feat, I was impressed.
“What are you doing the rest of the day?” he asked.
“Going to Coney Island to see sand castles,” I replied.
“Seriously?” he laughed.
“Yeah! There’s a sand castle festival this weekend. Maybe I’ll blog about it.”
“Are you going by yourself?”
“Yes,” I said, “Wanna come?
The next thing I knew, we were sitting in an Uber (he balked at my original plan of taking the subway and I was more than happy to for go an hour on the D train) on the way to Coney Island. A place well known for carnival games with many chances to win shitty stuffed animal prizes…
This date suddenly became an epic Coney Island date.
How epic?
I’ll tell you tomorrow!
Find Part 2 here: Best First Date (Part 2): Roller Coasters and Coney Island Sand Castle Contest
Cannot wait to hear more!
🙂 I had fun writing more. I’m finally replying to comments- in part thanks to your motivation!
Totally wanted to go to the sand castle competition but missed it! Lucky you. And I don’t blame you about the stuffed animal; I just cut the head off of one today…yeah lol
Was it cathartic, dismembering the stuffie? I hope so!
Sand castles were fun. Really made me want to build a proper one!
So exciting!
🙂
Excited to hear the rest!
Hope I didn’t disappoint!
Hello! I’m back. Not writing letters yet, mainly because I’ve been travelling the world!
Anyways, being the hopeless romantic that I am.. I’m gonna go ahead and say.
“Marry Him! Marry Him! Marry Him!” (haha I said that with a crowd in the background resounding my cheery chant!)
Dying to know what happens. Off to Japan, toodles!
Ha hahahahaha! I love hopeless romantics.
I shant be marrying anyone any time soon, but thanks for the encouragement.
Enjoy Japan!!!!!
on the edge of my seat!!
seat of your pants? 😉
So exciting 🙂 Looking forward to the rest…
You give me hope of finding a good one in NYC! You and Ryan are the cutest when ever you put pictures of him on your blog!
Oh aren’t you a tease…lol can’t wait to hear more 🙂
Jessica
the.pyreflies.org
Hope I didn’t disappoint! It would have been crazy/epic/too long if I’d put it all in one post!
cliffhanger!
aren’t they fun? hehe
I think that the “why are you still single?” question should be left off the table unless you’re asking it in a, “Holy crap, you’re amazing, how has no one claimed you for life yet?”
Otherwise it’s just weird.
YAY I AM HAPPY FOR YOU AND YOUR DATE.