Date: Saturday, Sept. 8
Time: 7 p.m.
Place: Café Europa
Name: Taylor
Year: Fourth
School: Engineering
Major: Chemical Engineering
University involvements: Volunteer firefighting, AICHE Alumni and Corporate Relations Chair, Sailing Club, honorably discharged UTS bus driver, Hereford Student Senate
Hobbies: I spend a lot of time at the fire station. I like anything outdoors, especially sailing, hiking and kayaking.
Ideal date person: Anything goes
Ideal date activity: Romantic Italian spaghetti dinner by starlight sitting high in the sky in the bucket of Ladder Truck 88
Celebrity crush: Jessica Alba because she has a lovely smile.
Deal breakers: Chewing gum like a cow
Typical weekend plans: Artsy performances usually on Friday nights. Wake up Saturday, go hiking occasionally and hang out with friends.
What makes you a good catch?: I’m funny, cute and fun to hang out with.
Describe yourself in one sentence: I like to have a good time.
Name: Anna
Year: Third
School: College
Major: Political Philosophy, Policy and Law
University involvement: Chi Alpha and club polo team
Hobbies: Polo, guitar (but just for fun, I’m not any good), reading, eating good food/cooking, working out (or so I like to think), making fun of my friends
Ideal date person: Tall, witty, loves Jesus, humble, athletic while also musically inclined
I*deal date activity:* Something FUN. Good food, nothing cutesy … maybe something outdoors like kayaking?
Celebrity crush: Hugh Jackman all the way
Deal breakers: Doesn’t love Jesus, doesn’t make me laugh, arrogant
Typical weekend plans: At the barn either playing polo or watching polo, church on Sundays, my parents visit often and we just eat good food. I also just like hanging out with friends in smaller settings.
What makes you a good catch?: AH I DON’T KNOW, I’m nice? Some people think I’m fun? I’m a loyal friend? I have a loud laugh and so if we were ever lost in the woods, you would just have to make me laugh, and then people would be able to find us.
Describe yourself in one sentence: I am the type of person who thinks describing herself in one sentence is the worst. Sorry! GUESS YOU’LL JUST HAVE TO GET TO KNOW ME.
Taylor: Applying for Love Connection was a joint effort between me and some of the folks at the fire department where I volunteer. My friends were excited about it, and I thought “Why not? It’s a chance to meet someone new.” I’d also never been on a blind date, which was another intriguing part of the whole thing.
Anna: I did the Love Connection survey because I thought it would be fun to meet new people. I was an orientation leader this summer and I realized that I met a bunch of people who I never would have otherwise, so I wanted to try something that would let me keep doing that.
Taylor: My parents were in town Saturday for the Penn State game and they wanted to take me out to dinner, so I had to tell them I was going on a blind date. I got to the Rotunda first. There was a guy taking a nap and then this elderly woman started walking over, so I was a little confused. I thought, “Maybe I’m going out with a graduate student?” but she started talking to a different guy. Then I saw Anna walking up the stairs towards me.
Anna: Walking to the Rotunda was actually really funny. On my way there I would see guys walking by themselves and I was always like, “Is that him? Is that him?” Then one of them actually was him. I thought it would be really awkward and that I wouldn’t know how to find the person, but it turns out most people don’t sit on the Rotunda steps by themselves.
Taylor: I was excited to see her. She was very cute but she was dressed nicer than I was, so I was like, “Oh, s***.” We got to talking right there; she seemed to be pretty easygoing.
Anna: He was cute, but I didn’t really have much of a first impression because I was too relieved that I finally met him and accomplished the goal of trying to figure out who this person was without being awkward. We just started walking and talking and hadn’t even decided on what we were doing next. I ran into a friend who asked where we were going and we realized we hadn’t decided.
Taylor: I’m half Greek, and I’d never been to Café Europa, so we decided to go there. There was absolutely no one there when we got there. We had a hell of a time picking our seats since we had so many options. There was only one employee, and he was so not Greek at all.
Anna: We were the only ones there, which was so funny. We made a lot of jokes about it. The food was pretty good. I had the Parisian sandwich and he got the souvlaki. He kindly paid for me, which was unexpected. It was kind of fun not knowing anything about him; we could talk about anything in life and not get sick of hearing about the other person.
Taylor: I also had a Greek salad, so we had a discussion about what would be in a Greek salad. I’m half Greek, but she was the one who was right about how it turned out. There were no olives in it, what the heck? We got into a lot of what we do around Grounds. She rides horses and is captain of the polo team, which I thought was really cool since I’ve done some trail riding. We both seemed to be very interested in exploring things, and we’re both very afraid of missing opportunities.
Anna: We both like the outdoors, we talked about traveling and hiking, and he told me he got the belt he was wearing at Boy Scout camp when he was 14. I couldn’t believe he still fit into a belt he bought that long ago. We also talked about random stuff that wasn’t related to our involvements at U.Va. We got on the topic of bucket lists and things on the list of things you need to do before you graduate that we’ve already done. I’m a huge advocate of bucket lists.
Taylor: We were at the restaurant for like an hour and a half and then we walked around by the Lawn for another half hour. We played some guessing games, like she made me guess what instrument she played in high school. It was kind of like 20 questions, and I wasn’t very good at it. I was trying to guess what country her family is from, and I got it on like my last guess.
Anna: After dinner, we walked around Grounds and talked to one of his friends in her Lawn room. He walked me back to my car, which was very nice of him. It was funny because we kept talking for another 15 minutes by my car until he invited me to go to a party afterwards, but I couldn’t. He got my number.
Taylor: I would go with an 8 for the date, considering it was two hours long — we obviously weren’t at a loss for words. The night certainly had a friendly vibe, which is the way I like to get to know people. Playing it safe for the first few interactions is a good way to go. I guess we’ll see where it goes. It would be interesting to see how we interact at some sort of event in the future.
Anna: I’d say I’d give the night an 8. When do you ever give a date a 10 unless you’ve fallen in love with them? It was really fun and he was very nice. He was a gentleman, which I liked. I could see myself hanging out with him again as friends. I was glad I went out and got to meet him. I added some spice to my life by going on a blind date.
Taylor plans on calling Anna to find out when the next polo match is — maybe the two will hit it off again there!
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