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‘Romance’ Category

  1. Lyon Ink

    August 6, 2012 by Audrey

    Good friends rejoice, your favorite Frenchie is going out on a date today… It took me these good four month to rack up the courage to say yes to something that has potential to be more than just a casual coffee and never seeing each other again.

    Although I grew up with rather conservative parents, I turned out to be fairly liberal. I try not to be judgmental, and I certainly enjoy human diversity… I even dated a tattooed guy or two before. When talking about it, I realized how important they were to them as they represented their life, their history, their interests, their beliefs or their memories. Fascinating stories, and even if I know I would never put myself to the mercy of a needle ON PURPOSE… I could relate to the intellectual or emotional journey behind the tattoos.

    My only attempt to tattoos are henna: pain-free, disappear after a three shampoos.

    Now that I come to think of it A LOT of my friends have tattoos. A little arm here, a little back there, some neck or feet…

    But O. (my date)… We’re talking some serious ink here… I am amazed, surprised and intrigued at the same time. Did I mention oddly attracted? It’s like I know there is more to see and it make me want to see more. Granted we’re in August, if I had met him in December, it would have probably driven me completely insane…

    But as attractive as it (again weirdly) is to me today, I can’t help but wonder: are tattoos becoming an overrated fashion accessory? And how much tattoo is too much tattoo?

    Category Lifestyle, Romance | Tags: , | 2 Comments

  2. The Bachelorette Project | Week 3

    April 16, 2012 by Audrey

    What you missed on the Bachelorette Project is here…

     

    Many developments in week 3… Which makes me want to say to all the girls (and guys) out there, when you try online dating, give it a little time. The first week is slow, the second week is overwhelming, it’s the third week you start to find your marks and smooth sail. This week, I smooth sailed real good! I even went on my first official date. But I’ll get back to that…

    I’m really starting to become interested to know some of the guys better. The whole kicking some out at the end of the week is now more of a detail and the choice was not difficult to make this week.

    So, what happened?

    Remember how I spent most of my week 2 talking to Gran? At the end of the week, we discussed moving the conversation to Skype (chatting)… We tried. We missed each other a couple of times. I use Skype mostly for work and didn’t have it open all the time. So, I kept it open for him to catch me when I was in front of my screen, but that wasn’t enough. It fizzled. I didn’t write him off because I still thought he was a nice guy, and I give him the benefit of the doubt: maybe he found a job and suddenly became busy.

    In the meantime, I made some new contacts. First was Stef, whom quickly became a strong contender, and even got to the phone conversation level. It’s a big step for me: I HATE the phone. But he was able to help me relax and the chat was mostly fluid. Turns out we often hang out at the same bar. We agreed to stay in touch via text-messages. Which we did. Once. Since that (Thursday), silence. Again, not too worried about it. I might very well meet him out one night randomly.

    Then was Art, whom actually got to first date, yesterday. I was a little worried, and the fact that he has four kids scares me a little… Several times, I felt like backing out and inventing any plausible excuse. But that would have been unfair to him. He has been the most straightforward and ballsy and for that I give him a lot of credit. The date was actually charming. We went for coffee at the Museum of Art (his choice – points here), he was dressed to the T. (again, points), and the conversation was easy. I gave him one hour (another one of my rules: always make other plans, in case the date is really bad, or really good), and I would be willing to give him more. Did I bore him to death with my rant on “I don’t like that everything is closed on Sunday in France”? Probably… I have some progress to make on the first date level as well… Hopefully, practice will make perfect…

    Finally, to be noted is Olivier, whom I have been exchanging many emails with… This one is a writer! Several emails every day… but he’s fun, and guess what, he can dance! Who would have guessed I’d find someone with some sort of ballroom dancing past (not mentioned on his profile).

    In the end, I made a big cut with 4 out: Cal, who has met someone; Scuba, Phil and Aldo who didn’t seem interested in me whatsoever. Oh well…

    Still in the run are:

    1. loic, 37 years old
    2. art, 37 years old
    3. virgil, 37 years old
    4. phoenix, 42 years old
    5. ted, 36 years old
    6. gran, 34 years old
    7. stef, 38 years old
    8. elf, 36 years old
    9. pierre, 37 years old
    10. james, 42 years old
    11. horus, 40 years old
    12. olivier, 39 years old

     

    Soft cut at the end of the week, only one of them will fall…

    Category Romance | Tags: , | No Comments

  3. The Bachelorette Project | Week 2

    April 9, 2012 by Audrey

    I will pass on the recap of previous episodes… You can catch them here:

     

    Week 2 started with still so many profiles to study, chat with, that I felt a little overwhelmed and decided to concentrate my attention on one of them only (not discounting the other ones but generally being slower in my responses). Gran turned out to be the one who caught my attention and we emailed back and forth all week long. He seems like a nice guy and made the cut to another week. But I still feel like I should open my horizons and communicate more with other “candidates”.

    I will mention that he’s jobless and, even if I’m trying to be open-minded, that does not give him points… I have had my share of supporting jobless boyfriends and I’m not sure I’m ready for one more round of that. Yes, gentlemen, despite what a girl will tell you, having a job matters.

    The cut of 2 guys was not terribly difficult, I picked from the ones that did not react to my first sign of attention: Romain, whom despite being extremely attractive had not been online for over 3 weeks and Fan, whom did not give me any sign of interest and was not among my favorites from the beginning.

    16 guys left and a lot more emails written to different people in the week to come.

    1. loic, 37 years old
    2. scuba, 33 years old
    3. art, 37 years old
    4. virgil, 37 years old
    5. phoenix, 42 years old
    6. aldo, 37 years old
    7. ted, 36 years old
    8. gran, 34 years old
    9. stef, 38 years old
    10. phil, 36 years old
    11. elf, 36 years old
    12. pierre, 37 years old
    13. james, 42 years old
    14. horus, 40 years old
    15. cal, 34 years old
    16. olivier, 39 years old

     

    Serious cut next week, I’m going down to 12…

    Category Romance | Tags: , | No Comments

  4. The Bachelorette Project | Week 1

    April 2, 2012 by Audrey

    I will pass on the recap of previous episodes… You can catch them here:

    It all begins…

    We now officially entered Week 1 and my goal was to make a first sort through my “candidates” and bring them from 25 to 18… At this point, I haven’t contacted anyone yet. The first week is dedicated to give a more in-depth read to the guys’ profiles and try to read through the lines; understand what they care for, what they’re there for, and… if I correspond to what they’re looking for.

    Because, let’s be honest here, I’m not perfect. And I set my age range pretty wide (I have a thing for “younger men”, can’t help it…) But if I know I don’t look my age, I also know, for some people, it’s a big deal… So, why go after someone who is looking for a girl between 25-30 years old?

    My selection ended-up following a couple of criteria:

    • Date of last login to the site (if they haven’t been there in 3-month, they’re probably no longer looking, right?): chris & znite are out.
    • Age range they’re looking for is under 35 years old: exit nico, casi, aah, lao & man.

    The 18 remaining guys will received a “flash” (the equivalent of a wink)…

    1. loic, 37 years old
    2. scuba, 33 years old
    3. art, 37 years old
    4. virgil, 37 years old
    5. phoenix, 42 years old
    6. aldo, 37 years old
    7. ted, 36 years old
    8. gran, 34 years old
    9. stef, 38 years old
    10. phil, 36 years old
    11. fan, 35 years old
    12. elf, 36 years old
    13. romain, 36 years old
    14. pierre, 37 years old
    15. james, 42 years old
    16. horus, 40 years old
    17. cal, 34 years old
    18. olivier, 39 years old

    This coming week will be about making contacts… and kicking 2 more out of the selection… Things are really starting now… Fun…

    Category Romance | Tags: ,, | No Comments

  5. The Bachelorette Project | It all begins…

    March 27, 2012 by Audrey

    I have been single now for almost a year and, after the “grieving” period, I found out that I might be moving back to France: not the best to start a new relationship. So, I stayed out of the dating scene and concentrated on my business and myself. It was a very nice time-off.
    As I’m now going to be back in France for a while, I decided to take the plunge again, but this time, to conduct my own personal social experiment at the same time. I’m not a big fan of online dating, but I know my French entourage is mostly consisting of couples, so I convinced myself I had to go through it for a few month, at least to kick things off and start meeting new people. To take the boring (and the pressure) off of it, I decided to pilot my online dating adventure according to the rules of The Bachelorette. After all, if there’s something positive to take from that terrible TV show it’s the fact that, for once, the girl is in control of the situation.

    My rules: start with 25 (unknowing) candidates and eliminate them week after week, rose-ceremony style (without the rose and the ball gowns)! I have no expectation to finish the 12-week commitment with a guy on one knee but I’m sure I can have some fun with it… And… I promise a full report, on a weekly basis. Think about it as a front seat lesson on what women really look at, look for and look to when dating on & off line.

    My first duty was to sign-up for the local equivalent of Match.com: Meetic.fr and to select the 25 guys that I will be contacting along the way. Because I’m creating my own rules (best game ever), I decided to limit my criteria to first impression.

    First impression means: attractiveness of the main profile picture and catchiness of the first lines of the profile description. I’m not going to lie, as shallow as it might sound, if your profile picture is not catching my attention, you can be the most interesting, nicest guy in the world, I won’t even know it. As I’m writing that, I’m realizing how cruel and how sad it is; but let’s be real. Online dating starts with good marketing and there are plenty of tools out there to give your profile picture the little extra boost that will make a girl’s eyes stop.

    So, here are my candidates and why I picked each one of them

    1. chris, 36 years old – dark hair, cute lips
    2. loic, 37 years old – funny face, looks like he could fun to hang out with
    3. znite, 30 years old – great smile
    4. nico, 35 years old – looks a little dorky but in a good way and has really great hair (my friend A. would approve)
    5. scuba, 33 years old – boy next door look, cute overall
    6. lao, 34 years old – I guess he reminds me of a friend of mine on whom I had a crush many moons ago…
    7. art, 37 years old – great eyes, total dork
    8. virgil, 37 years old – quoting my favorite Rudyard Kipling poem is definitely a plus…
    9. casi, 33 years old – fun profile picture with design background; we could get along
    10. aah, 36 years old – picture expresses some attitude and already makes me smile
    11. phoenix, 42 years old – overall good looks, age appropriate
    12. aldo, 37 years old – sexy picture without being too much “in your face”
    13. man, 38 years old – black & white makes him look sensitive, but I might be surprised
    14. ted, 36 years old – another boy next door with good hair
    15. gran, 34 years old – seems simple and direct. I like that.
    16. stef, 38 years old – looks mean but really smart (extended vocabulary compared to your average profile)
    17. phil, 36 years old – I want to say he’s a romantic, again, I might be surprised.
    18. fan, 35 years old – interesting enough tagline made me disregard the not-so-good pictures
    19. elf, 36 years old – very interesting facial features. I have a feeling he’s an artist.
    20. romain, 36 years old – definitely my type, no hesitation, this one could be trouble
    21. pierre, 37 years old – pretty blue eyes which is not generally something I look for
    22. james, 42 years old – inspires stability
    23. horus, 40 years old – combines good picture and good words. Safe but interesting.
    24. cal, 34 years old – cute enough and looks like a good time
    25. olivier, 39 years old – another boy next door

     

    Again, I have only judge them on first impressions, not read their profile, and they are unknowing participants in that game, so chance are I’m not their style at all… The goal of this week is to study them in more depth and select 18 that I will send a “flash” to, as a way to show my interest… To be continued…

    Category Romance | Tags: , | 3 Comments

  6. Stupid Cupid

    February 7, 2012 by Audrey

    I never had a proper Valentine’s Day date. I was either in France (where we didn’t really celebrate Valentine’s Day at the time), in between relationships, too early in a relationship… Pretty much never at the right place, with the right person, on February 14th.

    Last year, I was just starting to be involved with the person I ended-up dating for a few months. I remember sharing our first kiss a few days before the dreaded date… and having the what are we doing now?-conversation that Monday on V-Day. It was an awkward Valentine’s Day… In the end, I had a dinner out with Prince Charming, and received a corky text with that picture of the heart ferrets. It was the closest I’ve ever come to have a “real” Valentine.

    So what to do, when you’re single or not-ready-for-it-being-called-a-relationship-quite-yet, when all your coupled friends are out spending fortunes on bad prix-fixe menus?

    Hit an Anti-Valentine’s Day party? They’re are numerous… Some are singles only, some are open to everyone. I’d chose the open ones. Not really a good day to be reminded that the single scene can be very depressing sometime.

    Have a Rom-Com marathon with your girlfriends? Make it a fun one: Bridget Jone’s Diary, 27 Dresses and, why not, Valentine’s Day.

    Pretend that it’s a night like any other? Just doing what you’re usually doing on a Tuesday night… Hard to ignore the restaurants filed with lovey-dovey couples but if you’re just hitting the gym for a Pilates class and having a quiet night in, you should be alright.

    Have a dinner party? Because any excuse to host a soiree is a good one… Isn’t it?

    Give back? Charity organizations are always looking for volunteers and on a night where you’d rather do anything other than being reminded that  you’re alone, just put on a pair of sneakers and spread the love!

    As for me? I still haven’t decided what I’ll do this year. One of the above probably. What about you? What are your plans for Valentine’s Day?

    Category Romance | Tags: | No Comments