Apparently not this one… maybe I just over think it too much or are am too anal-retentive to do it? You see, recently I wanted to be the one to plan the next date (ok ok, actually it happened today. I was trying to plan for next week) however, after 4 hours of researching and trying to plan I have ended up empty handed and gave up.

I know it sounds lame… how can I not come up with a date idea? Well I can, I just seemed to have picked the wrong weekend to do it! I have been craving a nice night out on the town; you know the one that you put a real effort into your outfit, hair and makeup. Possibly even buy a new dress that makes you feel confident and sexy. I think this feeling stems from me feeling very frumpy lately. I wear frumpy, boring cotton clothes to work and then anytime I have been out and about, it has been t-shirt and jeans with sneakers. Now don’t get me wrong, I love wearing comfy casual clothing but every once and a while you need a change. I feel like Denver has something against me this week and that all my ideas only seem to fit into the month of July.

So my recent date ideas were:

• Going to a fun charity event
• Dinner at Fruition, then maybe dessert in a park and a swing set
• Dinner on the Bistro Vendome patio

Then I started thinking about summer outdoor events

• Going to an outdoor movie in the park
• An outdoor festival; whether food or music
• Activities like hiking, swimming or golf
• Botanic gardens, zoo, museums, or art galleries

The only charity event worth going to is Janet’s Campat the Shanahan’s home, but I really don’t want to spend all that money. I like charity events where the ticket price isn’t so high so I can actually bid on the auction items or be able to donate. Not just pay for the cost of the event. That’s why I am looking forward to Taste the Nation on July 18^th. I couldn’t get a reservation at Fruition (5pm or 9pm) and didn’t really find another place that I knew both of us would like. Of course I found a great place for brunch though (and I am sure I won’t remember it next time I want to go to brunch). There is a park movie playing next weekend but I REFUSE to see New Moon (Twilight lovers, no need to attack). Would love to take him to the Jazz Aspen Snowmass 20^th Anniversary Show, however, I have family plans during the day on Saturday, so a 3.5hr drive is out of the question.  Which is another reason we couldn’t do any of the other day time outdoor activities like even City Park Jazz on Sunday. I am booked on Saturday day and he likes to have Sunday to work on his backyard as he is the in the middle of completely re-doing the landscape.

After all this searching I realized all I really wanted was to have a good time with The Man and that anytime I have had a good date it was because it was unplanned! Just between the two of us, it was the going to an outdoor community event, then grabbing food and drinks somewhere. It was the conversations and the people around us that made it fun. I have really enjoyed the low key evenings of a local Rockies game then off bar hopping around town. It was never because we had concrete plans for the entire evening.  I wouldn’t consider myself a spontaneous person, but that doesn’t mean that I have to stick to my plans or the whole entire evening goes to crap. I wanted to plan a date that would have been fun for The Man and for me and he didn’t have to think or do anything. I think with most dates, you do something that reveals a little of what you like doing along with what they like. I don’t know how guys do it time and time again? Maybe it is just me, but there is a lot of pressure! I think I have planned only a few dates, but mainly because of the fear of it failing horribly. Heck, I even did that just the other week with Luisa, tried to plan a fun night out for her, but spent more time stressing about where we would have fun instead of actually doing it. After giving up on plans, we just started going places and ended up having fun driving all around town and stopping at different bars.

I dislike when the anal-retentive perfectionist planner inside gets the best of me. That’s why today after feeling overwhelmed and trying to make everything perfect, I have thrown my hands in the air and gave up. At that point I would rather just stay home, cook a meal, hang out in comfy lounge pants and maybe watch a movie just enjoying the company.

So I guess what I would like to say is, thank you to all the men out there that come up with fantastic ideas on your road to wooing a woman! (And same goes for those women that have that ability to do the same.) Thank you for putting up with neurotic women like myself that want to have the best night but are so caught up in their own head to be able to spit anything out. It makes it so much easier, that we can calm down knowing that you usually have something up your sleeve or have the ability to play it by ear. It is wonderful to be able relax and just spend the time getting to know more about one another, usually laughing along the way. I appreciate you and all the effort that you put into dates! Now I am curious as to what we are going to do next week… after all this, it could be the “nothing” we have planned, which could turn into the best date yet …. *smiles

*Authors note: I wanted to make sure that you know my perfectionist qualities are not related to my most recent post, but is something that has been a part of my life since I was a little girl. Just ask my mother, I cried when I got my first B on a paper and swore they were going to hold me back a grade. I try and use the term “Pobody’s Nerfect” and is something I work on all the time. I know that I am not nor can I ever be perfect and sometimes it takes me a few tries to let go and accept it.