In the new year.

My first post of the new year, of the new decade! This is going to be a good year, if new year's is any indication.

Wednesday this past week (I know - it's Saturday already! I've had no time, you'll see why!!) Google and I had planned to hang out during the day. He was very busy getting ready for his new year's party, and I didn't want to keep him from getting done anything that he needed to do, but he insisted that he could get all his work done and still have time to go out. Originally, the plan was we were going to go to the art museum, he was going to give me some photography lessons, maybe watch some movies, get some dinner, etc. I knew that there was no way this was all going to happen in a day, but I was looking forward to the prospect.

I got there around 2pm, I met 2 of his neighbors (who live in the same building), and they were really nice. I had been nervous about meeting them because he spends A LOT of time with his neighbors, they are basically his best friends in Philly, and I knew their opinions would hold a lot of weight. Not that I thought they wouldn't like me, but I'm used to dating guys with no friends... so it's a little new. They are very cool (one reminds me a lot of myself, so that's a good thing, I think?) We decided to take a drive through Fairmount Park and try to catch some good light to take pictures. We really just ended up driving around and seeing the park. I think in all the years I've lived around Philly, I've never been through the whole park. We saw almost all of the park, we stopped only once, at the civil war memorial. It's really beautiful, but unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures. After our drive around the park, we had to stop and get some supplies for Google's pictures that he's framing. Before we went to the art store, we got lunch, delicious pizza and beer. We got some framing stuff, and went back to his place. He bought a 12 ft Christmas tree for his apartment, but didn't want to buy it before Christmas... understandably so, searching online for how much pre-lit 12ft Christmas trees cost, AFTER christmas, I haven't seen one that's less than $900. He wanted it up for his holiday party, and had it delivered on Wednesday, so we spent a good deal of time putting together this tree, decorating it. We took a trip to Target to get more decorations for the tree and some things for the party. Most of the day had been spent preparing things for this party, and it was a weird He's Just Not That Into You moment. If you've seen the movie, it was the party "hosting" scene, where the main girl didn't really know what role she played in the party. Now I KNOW I'm not hosting this party, but I'm doing a lot of prep work to be just a guest! But that's all I was going as, and that is fine by me. After Target it was nearly 8:30, and we just got some Pei Wei take out, went back to his place and watched (500) Days of Summer (yes, again for me! Love this movie). After the movie, we went to the bedroom, however this was thwarted by his cat. Google has a cat who is getting up there in years, and was upset about something that day, and peed in his bed. We didn't discover this until I laid down and realized that there was a wet spot on the bed. Yes, I laid in cat pee. Google was HORRIFIED. Rightfully so, I think most girls might have bolted at this point. I'm flexible, I took off my sweater (had a t-shirt underneath), and suggest we go lay upstairs by the fireplace, to keep warm. :) So, we're in his loft space, which has the fireplace, the roof deck, huge windows overlooking the art museum... it was quite the perfect setting. We forgot about the cat problem quickly. I ended up staying until after 3 am, and was still planning on coming back the following day!

New Year's Eve, all my other plans fell through, and Google's party was the only one I had to go to. I didn't want to go too early though, and knew I'd be meet a lot more of his friends, so I stressed about what to wear, what to bring, etc. I ended up stopping by the Target near my house and picking up a lot more decorations that they didn't have at the Target the day before. I thought it was a really nice gift, but felt weird going into the party with a bag full of Christmas decorations. By the time I got to the party, drove around the neighborhood for parking for a while, it was raining, I didn't care so much anymore. He was very good about introducing me to everyone, and everyone had clearly known who I was before I got there (good sign?). All his friends were really very nice and welcoming towards me. They all treated me as if I had been there as all of their friends and not just as his guest/date. It was a good feeling, nothing to be nervous about. Leading up to the new year, we played Apples to Apples, drank lots, and eventually made it up to the roof deck for the new year fireworks after watching the ball drop on TV. Besides a very sweet new year's kiss from Google, I got lots of warm hugs from many of his friends. It's a good group to be a part of, there wasn't any one there that made me feel like I didn't belong or treated me like an outsider. After the new year's excitement died down, the crowd settled in rousing renditions of Beatles Rockband songs. I think I came across as being much more shy than I really am, but when I'm in new situations, I'm not as outgoing as I tend to be once I'm more comfortable. I did eventually sing something. The party wrapped up around 3 and Google mentioned he still hadn't made his bed since he washed his entire bedding collection after the cat incident. So I suggested instead of making the bed, just go back to the fold out futon and the fireplace in the loft. I feel like this may become one of my favorite places, ever.

In the morning, we laid around for a while, eventually got up and went to brunch. We came back, and were very lazy for the rest of the day. We watched movies, took a nap, listened to music, took another nap. At 8, his neighbor downstairs had made dinner for the house, so we went down to her apartment to eat dinner. By this point we had spent nearly 3 days straight together. I couldn't tell if he was getting sick of me and wanted me to leave before dinner, or if he really wanted me to stay longer. I did stay, we had a delicious dinner, wine, and watched some tv with his neighbors. After all this, I eventually made my way back home. We talked about him coming to my house next Saturday (so I could have enough time to clean - yes, I need a week's notice!), but dinner on Wednesday is in the works too because neither of us wanted to wait a whole week. Needless to say, I'm not dating anyone else at this point.

All of the 5 guys who were in the works previously texted or called me to wish me a happy new year, and I'm sure I could see any of them if I wanted to continue dating them. Here's where I stand on these guys. 1) Guy who lives with his ex - really? Are we still doing this? We see each other maybe once a month, text occasionally, it's definitely not a relationship. I'd like to be friends with him, but I have no idea if that's something he would want. 2) Phillies Writer - we had a date tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, but he takes a long time to get back to me, I didn't hear from him from Friday until Tuesday night. So I had already made other plans at that point. He's not making a whole lot of effort to see me again, so I'm not really interesting in seeing him. 3) Music guy has emailed me and called since our date. I emailed him back, thanking him for the cd, and told him I wasn't going to be around for the concert on Thursday. He called me after the concert to wish me a happy new year, I haven't gotten back to him. 4) the guy who didn't want me to blog about him called me on Wednesday, while I was at Google's. I was actually baffled at why he was calling me. Based on how we left the date (again, if you need the details - email - i3rooklyngirl@gmail.com), I couldn't imagine why he would ever think I would have any interest in seeing him again. I didn't answer, I have no intention of calling him. That one is not even worth the effort of a cordial response. 5) The Christmas Eve bowling guy has texted me a few times since our date. I've kept the responses to a minimum. I wished him a Happy New Year, and that's about it. I haven't heard from any of them since the new year. In 2009, I had 6 potential prospects.

And then there was one.

New year, a new relationship, things are looking up for 2010.