My date with CARL

Well you guys were really no help at all in determining whether I should go to Olive Garden or Rockerfeller Center. I went to The Center before meeting up with Carl to scope it out. It looked like fun, but not terribly romantic.

Also, New York is nothing if not the city of Billy Joel, and I know he would have wanted me to go to an Italian Restaurant.

So in the end, I told Carl to meet me at.....

THE OLIVE GARDEN!!!!

I was really nervous before my date. Blind dates are the WORST because you don't actually know if you will get along with the person, or if you will be attracted to them. Blind dates just usually never work out, which is especially frustrating because those are the only types of dates I've ever been on.

Luckily, I was immediately attracted to Carl.

Carl knew who I was immediately, because he had seen my Music Video on youtube. (He told me I look even better in person!!)

I asked Carl if he minded my choice of restaurants, but he said it was perfect because most restaurants in New York are really intimidating and the waiters get mad at you if you can't pronounce "bruschetta", but at The Olive Garden, you're family.

Carl just moved here from Tulsa, and he says that's the biggest adjustment to NYC: NOTHING is actually pronounced like you think it should be.  Examples:

• Houston Street is pronounced HOUSE-ton street.
• Au Bon Pain is "Oh bone pan", not "Ow!! Bone pain!!" (I thought it was an orthopedic clinic)
• Lexington is pronounced Lexington. That one is kind of the same...except one of the cab drivers I had kept saying it and I kept thinking he said "53rd and Mexican".

ANYWAY.

After our meal, (I had Mac'N'Cheese and breadsticks for me, plain pasta with no sauce for Carl), I wasn't ready to to call it a night. Luckily, neither was Carl, and he suggested we walk around Times Square.

Times Square is definitely the CRAZIEST place in the world, and we saw lots of exciting things. Like:

A Billboard for Madagascar 2!!!!

The Statue of Liberty!!

Toys'R'Us!

Times Square is also the theater capital of the world. There are so many great shows playing there. Carl said we should go to one the next time I am in New York.

Carl loves Clay Aiken

Harry Potter

Carl is really excited to see Liza At The Palace

Another cool thing that we saw in Times Square was a Two Headed Goat.

You can't tell from this picture that it is a two headed goat. But it was.

After a while, it was getting really cold in Times Square, so we decided to call it a night. I was a little nervous about saying goodbye: would Carl go in for a good night kiss?! And what if I was not a good kisser? I really liked Carl, and didn't want to scare him off with a horrible kiss.

I needn't have worried. Carl seemed to be able to read my thoughts, (also, he may have noticed that my eyes were closed and my lips puckered) because he explained to me that he is Quiverfull-Minded, which means he does not believe in kissing before marriage. This is a little disappointing, but nothing we can't work on.

Carl gave me a firm handshake goodbye, and we promised to email each other. It was definitely my best date ever.

Later that night I looked up "Quiverfull" on wikipedia. I am not sure I am ready to have 19 children, so I guess it is good that Carl lives in New York. Besides that, it is a huge bummer, because we have something special.

I guess we'll just try to keep in touch long distance and see how things go....

A little bit in love,

Earlene