A little back story: While shopping with my gals from work one summer day, I found an amazing dress on sale at Ann Taylor. I tried it on and it fit like a glove. They convinced me to buy it, of course, but I insisted that this was a "date dress" and that if I bought it, we all had to commit to making sure I wore it on a date before the end of the year.
Fast forward to Labor Day weekend and again, I'm hanging out with the gals from work. We're out to brunch the Sunday of Labor Day weekend at the Friendly Toast in Portsmouth. At this point, I still have not worn "the date dress." Sadie and Juhree were trying to convince me to join match.com, and was flatly refusing. I'd done it before and hated it, I argued. Finally, Sadie said, "Renee, I'm a BRIDAL consultant. Do you know that at least once a week I ask a bride how she met her fiance and she says it was online?" I finally agreed to sign up again and the conversation moved on to what type of guy I'd be interested in dating. After listing a few qualities like sense-of-humor, kind-hearted, etc. maybe a teacher or someone with a similar background and education to me. At that point, Sadie practically shouted, "The Professor! That's his nickname! He has to be able to wear a bow tie. He's probably an English teacher at UNH or something. And that is what we'll call him. The Professor."
Well, the rest is history. I went home after brunch and re-activated my match.com account. I updated my profile a bit and within an hour, I had a message from him. He's an elementary school music teacher- the Professor. We chatted over match.com and email for about a week and then he asked for my number. We had our first phone date less than a week after we'd "met."
We continued to date via phone and email for about another week until he convinced me to get a webcam for my laptop so we could Skype. After about three weeks, we both admitted to turning off our match.com accounts and about a week later, we we talking about one of us flying to visit the other. I was nervous to fly 1,000 miles to meet someone from the internet, and I can still remember the butterflies and goosebumps I had in the days leading up to that trip.
The night before I flew down, he and I were texting back and forth about where we would be going for dinner on our first date. He suggested we go out for hot wings, since I'd mentioned my love for them on my match.com profile. I was horrified. I tried to let him know that in a gentle way, by saying that I wanted to feel at least a little "starry-eyed" on our first official date. (Also, I had "the date dress" that I just HAD to wear!) He took the hint and booked a reservation at a really nice restaurant in downtown Charlotte. I wish I'd taken more pictures from that trip- it was a whirlwind and it still gives me butterflies and goosebumps when I think about it. The Professor took one photo on his phone that night, but it was a good one- the view from the restaurant at dinner:
And yes, I wore the "date dress" to dinner. I guess if it weren't for my love of fashion, the Professor and I might never have met.
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