So that's what it's like...

Yes, at roughly 33.5 years of age, I have finally had a good date.

I had been emailing for about a week with a guy on Match that has a really interesting and thoughtful profile. While a little on the long-winded side, I was charmed by his wit and impressed with the depth that resonated in his writing. Most guys don't say all that much in their profiles and if they do they are not super deep. This guy is 33 and lives in Silver Spring; his name is Steven.

Anyway, we agreed to meet up this weekend and he called me Wednesday night to make plans and say hello. We talked for three hours! He asked to take me to dinner; I figured if we could talk for that long on the phone it would be a safe bet to commit to an entire dinner for our first date. Steven wanted to take me someplace I hadn't been and to surprise me with the location so we agreed to meet in Lafayette Square. Unfortunately, traffic did not cooperate with us this evening; Steven was running late so he gave me the address so I could meet him there. As I walked over, a Mom and her daughter stopped to ask me directions to the Kennedy Center and were dismayed to learn it was not nearby. Then a block later, a group of older Brazilian women asked me to help them find their hotel--using mostly hand gestures, a business card, and both of our versions of broken Spanish.

Funnily enough, the restaurant was inside a building I used to work in (Tosha--it's the old Envision building on Vermont Ave); a relatively new place called Lincoln. This is a great spot--they do locally sourced American small plates. And there's nods to President Lincoln in the decor and on the menu. For example, the floor covering..pennies! And the signature cocktails are all of the Civil War era.

After a really enjoyable meal, Steven walked me back to my car and we hugged. He said he'd like to set up a second date soon. Then, as we were hugging, a man approached us and said, "Hey, you two, get a hotel room!" This cracked me up...no one has ever said that to me...and they said it when all I was doing was hugging someone.