A blurb about the mandatory, and then a lot of gushing

Well hello my lovelies. "Last post on Sep. 12," hmm? And the last REAL post about my life was on July 20?? Oops. I've thought a lot about my inattention to this blog, because I really do love it a lot and wanted to keep things fresh, but... between starting a job and trying to maintain SOME sense of a social life (good luck with that, I know I know) my personal internet usage other than facebook has dropped to basically zero.

Two big announcements: I finally landed a full-time permanent job in my career field, and my love life has (very recently!) finally come out of its carbonite freezer.

Job: I'm finally doing what I've always wanted to do - event planning, and that part of it is great. The downside is that it is extraordinarily stressful in a way I never could have anticipated, and my boss micromanages me to the point that I see red from time to time.  (To be fair, HER boss micromanages HER, and she's pregnant, so.)

LOVE LIFE!! Obviously I'm way more excited about this, and I'm sure you all are too.

So, back in August, right as I was starting this job, I went to Queens to hang out with all my crazy friends at the Beer Garden, and this cute new guy showed up. He came knowing no one in the group, and we chatted a little bit, and I left thinking "Oh, he's cute!" and friended him on facebook and no big deal. Little did I know that that night would be the last night I would be in Astoria for the next month, as work completely consumed my life and plus my best friend got married and whatnot.

Fast-forward to early October. Sick of not seeing my friends, I posted in the facebook group that all "we" Astorians are in that I would be at the Beer Garden because I missed everyone and I hoped everyone would come out. So, I was sitting there chatting with everyone when all of a sudden who sits down next to me but Amazing Boy. He hadn't said that he'd be there so I was pleasantly surprised... and then the most curious thing happened - something sparked between us. We were making really intense eye contact the entire night and sort of drifted off into our own solar system a couple times to the exclusion of everyone else there. At one point he mentioned The Wire and I said I had heard it was amazing but had never seen it, so he offered his copy of Season 1 and we exchanged numbers in order to make that happen.

Almost a week later I texted him to ask if I could come retrieve his DVDs over the weekend and if he wanted to grab a bite while I was up there. Saturday brunch turned into a 4-hour afternoon of walking, talking, and more intense eye contact, but nothing more than a hug goodbye. Date 0.5

A "casual" (carefully yet spontaneously calculated on my end) encounter at trivia the following Tuesday went similarly, and by Friday night (a week ago today) he texted me and asked me out for dinner and a movie on Saturday night.

We had Italian, we saw 50/50, we wandered around Union Square, we had drinks (cider for me, water for him), and the most physical contact we'd had at that point was him patting my arm -- which was a funny reference from 50/50 -- and I put my hand on his knee for a second. (He is a Nice Guy and I instinctively felt that I shouldn't be an aggressor.) So, we're on Hour Five of our date and it's 1:30am and finally time to get him on his train home. I go to hug him goodbye, and air-kiss by his cheek, and he just turns his head and goes for my lips and it's everything a first kiss should be: awkward, unexpected, and really cute. I grin the whole way home. Date 1.5

He keeps texting "I want to see you again really soon." I'm compulsively checking his facebook page every 6 hours or so just to see his face and show my friends how hot he is. We text-flirt a little on Monday night before I get drunk at the company Halloween party and pass out. At trivia on Tuesday, it's all we can do to try to keep whatever-this-is on the down-low, sitting next to each other but only making physical contact when we think we can get away with it, trying to stop staring at each other, and my leaving early to go to bed.

Texting on Wednesday about the Halloween Parade on 10/31 leads to an actual phonecall, awkward pauses and everything. His roommate's in town for the holiday weekend but he very awkwardly then tells me he wants to see me before that and asks what I'm doing Thursday (last night). So despite the near-freezing temperatures (and near-frozen RAIN) we make it as far as sushi dinner before - obviously - abandoning our plans to walk around Columbia's campus and settling in at my place to watch tv for a few hours, cuddle and kiss. Date 2.5

So Date 3.5 is Monday's parade, and it is killing me that I can't see him until then. I have a gut feeling that this reaction is mutual. Date 4.5 is TBA but we're going to the Met. I don't think I could have dreamed up a better guy -- he's smart (undergrad AND masters degrees from Ivies), makes me laugh, and handsome past what I thought I was capable of pulling. And he's so patient physically - it's nearly unbelievable to me that there is a guy in NYC who isn't pushing for sex immediately. AND HE'S CATHOLIC. I'm pinching myself.

And then there's The One. Haven't forgotten about him, have you? I don't even know what to do. Making it even weirder is the fact that they share a first name. (Oh, the irony.) But there's been distance lately, not just physically but emotionally, and I'm starting to realize that maybe it could have been something if the timing had ever worked, but maybe the chance is gone. A string of strange hookups this summer (including an unfortunate rooftop incident) really spun my head around and brought me to realize that I am ready to quit playing around and I want to take things slowly with a guy that actually means something to me, not just hooking up with guys I don't care at all about. And the minute I made that decision... Amazing Boy dropped into my lap.

Amazing BoyFRIEND? Don't know yet, but the horizon's looking so bright and sunny, and I haven't been this happy in longer than I can remember.