date #7: pecan street festival

i found date #7 through a dear friend of mine. in fact, i consider her my first true friend down here in Austin. she definitely has an ornery streak (love you!), but i knew that she would be selective of who she found to set me up with. what i didn't expect was how tall and good-looking he was! the pictures he had sent me did not give him justice. i wonder what kind of first impression i made with my ninja turtles tank top and orange chucks...

i met up with my date for the Pecan Street Festival only to find that he had already made his rounds. for a second i thought i had mixed up times or my clock was off and felt horrible. he explained that he had just finished with another date. haha! i liked that reason much better. the downfall to that, though, was that we couldn't look at those booths with equal curiosity. i didn't want to sit there and pick apart a piece of art while he stood behind me twiddling his thumbs... but after fighting the current of endless people for a while, he did stop me to show me one particular artist from L.A.

western themes aren't usually in my list of favorites but there was no denying a beautiful talent. the pieces that i could really get behind were the ones with the intense colors or heavily exaggerated features. after talking to the creator for a bit, he handed me a postcard and something suddenly clicked. i've seen this guy's work before! i just didn't know it because the pieces that had made me drool were very different in theme. i knew i shouldn't be spending any money, but when you stumble upon something you've admired for a while, plus the only booth you paid attention to, AND you know that surprising one of your best friends with a specific print would put his heart through a blender, you just have to. being the cause for a mushy heart is much more stellar than having money. i would suggest checking out this dude's art: www.gabeleonard.com

i haven't acclimated to Texas weather yet and i highly doubt that a sweaty first-date is appealing, so i was more than happy when he suggested that we escape the sun and go grab something to eat. since barbecue is a serious subject down here, i asked if there was anything close that we could try. we ended up at the Hickory Street Bar & Grill- he with the salmon and i with the brisket. his was delicious but... unfortunately the cut of meat that i received was pretty fatty so i sat there picking the entire thing apart. again- probably not flattering. let's not even talk about how i mispronounced Ayn Rand and Chuck Palahniuk. at least i know how to spell them...

i feel like even though date #7 wants a cool girl who will go fishing and do other outdoorsy things with him, he still fits better with a... (hm... how do i word this?) cutesy girl maybe. definitely not someone who is high-maintenance but maybe more... proper? which is totally fine! i can be a great friend and i have this feeling that he can be too.

date #7, thank you for being so open with me about your past relationship and then listening to mine. that's essentially what this project is all about and i want to hear different viewpoints coming from every angle. i want to learn anything and everything.

good luck with your other date!!

worst part of the day: the heat.
worst part of the date: feeling unattractive to him.
best part of the date: him surprising me with sidewalk chalk.
best part of the day: hanging out by the water and chalking it up once the sun went down.