The Grand Date Review

Okay, sooo my dates. Saturday's guy is soooo lovely. He looked a bit different to his picture, but I can't say how. He just does. Not in a bad way, it was all good. He works at a printers as a digital layout something or other, he didn't really go into it too much (we didn't talk work too much), but he's really a keen artist and he's currently doing a commissioned piece and is getting set up to start having a stall at the markets near his place - doing t-shirt prints, stickers etc etc. He's got an amaaazing tatt on his right bicep/arm too which is his own design. Beach/ocean themed stuff, it was really cool. He was running late, which was alright as he rang and told me he would be before I arrived so I parked and went for a little walk.

Hah, on my walk got two excellently timed confidence boosters (which I really needed), one was a truck full of council workers leaning out the window whistling and stuff, and the other was a lady in a shop telling me I had "gorgeous shiny hair". Nice! We stayed from 1.30pm until 5pm when I realised I had to get home as I was supposed to be meeting friends at Olympic Park ahead of Simon & Garfunkel.

It always gets a bit weird at the end of the date. He told me he'd definitely like to see me again and kisses me on the cheek … although I WOULD say that I think he was going in for a bit more but I moved, he gave me an awkward hug which was nice … only awkward because I wasn't expecting it! Anyway, I had to race home to have a shower and get changed for the concert.

Anyway, date 2 is FAR juicier. And I need your opinions! He also looked a bit different to his pics, but I think everyone does, and I noted that his profile says he's athletic and while he's not overweight, he really is just average. How can someone say they're athletic when they don't DO any real exercise? It's bollocks. Honestly. Argh, anyway, I'm sure he's not alone on that.

Hang on, side point. Saturday's date was saying he breathed a big sigh of relief when he saw me because my profile says I'm "average" and he's met women who have that on their profile and are really overweight! We discussed this, and he said you should be able to hyphenate them - athletic-average, slim-athletic etc. Anyway, no idea why I mentioned that - but very true!

Anyway, date #2 was great. At one of my favourite pubs. Nice food, not to expensive etc and it's relatively quiet at lunch/plenty of parking around. I walked in and was in a bit of a flap because I was six minutes late and I hate being late! Walked through the main bair and into the dining area, when he pops up behind me. Turns out he'd been walking behind me for about a block, but obviously hadn't seen my face so didn't know it was me! Ha ha. After we got sorted with drinks etc we did the whole "did you find the place alright", "how's your day going", "how was your Saturday" etc etc. I was bricking it! No idea why, but man I was nervous. And he was too. So, it did not help when he looked at me with his big blue eyes to tell me I'm "so much prettier than my pictures". Argggggghhhh. I blushed like mad! It was TERRIBLE. I sort of laughed and said thanks, and jokingly said "please don't say that again". Bah.

The compliments didn't stop all afternoon. We talked about everything you could imagine, I found out why he's a non-drinker (which was a bit hmm for me as I don't mind a glass of wine or two every now and then). No big dark demons, basically he didn't like hangovers and his dad is an alcoholic, about five years ago he just decided to have a month-long break from it and he lost weight, felt better, looked better etc. Which I totally respect. He said he's not anti-drinking and doesn't mind being around people who are drinking, but he just chooses not to.

The compliments, oh man, I seriously lost count of the number of times he said I was beautiful. It was supremely off-putting and embarrassing. It was sleazy or anything, he just seemed a bit transfixed, kept apologising if he was staring and stuff. He wasn't really, but he was definitely intently looking at me. He didn't miss a beat, noted that I had "beautiful" nails, "beautiful" teeth, "beautiful" lips/hair/skin/smile/eyes. ARGH. I told him I was banning that word!

He freaked me out slightly as he talked about kids/marriage/family etc. Said he really wanted to have kids soon. Also freaked out because he is clearly VERY well off. I mean, really, seriously, insanely. Well, compared to me anyway. It's not about the money, but I'm just not used to being around people who don't have to worry too much about anything, if you know what I mean. He really didn't mention it, he didn't brag about it in the slightest, just told me about how he'd started his company and how hard he'd worked in the initial stages to get it up and running.

It was all a bit much to be honest, I mean I appreciated that he was so upfront about everything … but it was a tad full on. We walked out the front of the pub and I was soo freaked he was going to try to kiss me (my first kiss with anyone is not going to be in front of a pub in the middle of the afternoon, in broad daylight), and I kept my distance. He got all teenager uncomfortable/embarrassed and didn't know what to say. So I said "okay, well give me a call sometime!" and ran away.

Awww, the poor guy called me about five minutes later to apologise, saying he felt like ramming his head into a wall. Said that I was "just so lovely" and that he's not used to meeting women like me. WTF? Said he's been on about 40 RSVP dates in two years and none of them have been of my 'calibre' and that he felt 'honoured' to be in my presence! I started laughing, it was sooo ridiculous, and said that he'd clearly gone out with the wrong women. Anyway, we both said we had a good time and we'd like to see the other again, so we'll see what happens.

Feeling like I'm setting myself up a bit here! Two great guys who're keen, and obviously I can only focus one. What to do?