{ DATE #1: Todd Andersen }

I did it! I survived Date #1!  And not only did I survive, but I really enjoyed myself!  All day long my mind was racing with thoughts of who Date #1 might be, what I should wear, what would we do on our date?  But the minute I heard the knock and answered the door, my fears were calmed.  It was Todd Andersen!  Todd and I have been friends for a little while now.  He actually dated an old college roommate of mine in the Provo days but we were recently reunited when he moved to Huntington to get closer to the beach, and me...as stated in his interview video!  Cute Todd!

So already the date was off to a great start.  We hopped in his car and headed to Costa Mesa to try out a restaurant new to us both, Old Vine Cafe.  Conversation came easily. We spent some time talking a little about ourselves.  I learned that he's 27, the 3rd of NINE children, and that he likes listening to books on tape as he drives an hour and twenty minutes to work each day.  My goodness that's a long commute!

I also found out we have a lot in common!  We both work for our families (did I mention that when I'm not designing wedding flowers I'm the Customer Service Rep for my family's Printing Business?), our favorite food is Thai, and our longest relationship lasted a whopping 3 months.  Apparently we both struggle.

Dinner was wonderful.  Old Vine Cafe is known for their smaller portions that can be shared and tasted together so we each ordered a salad and then enjoyed sharing fried eggplant on ooey gooey mozzarella with creamy pesto, then sampled a fettuccine marinara dish, and finished up the meal with my favorite, a Filet Mignon.  We definitely left with happy bellies!

After dinner Todd told me he purchased some roller blades to ride around the Newport Pier.  Grateful to work off the huge meal we just ate, I loved the idea and we headed for the coast.  Things started out pretty smooth.  I'm not so hot on roller blades so I just laughed and giggled as we held hands (YES! There was hand holding!) and he spun me around in circles til I almost fell over.  And that's when it happened.   My wheels started to stick and I was having difficulty making the blades roll when all of a sudden the front and back wheels of both skates just completely fell apart on me.  No, disintegrated!  I'm sure Todd was embarrassed, but we had a good laugh!  It was "fun while the wheels lasted."

So what did I think of the date?  I had a wonderful time.  Todd was a gentleman, he made me laugh, the conversation was great, and I felt the sincerity in his attempts to get to know me better.  Will there be a second date for Todd?  I guess you'll just have to wait and see...