Austin and Virginia met at 7 p.m. and went to Lemongrass on the Corner.
Austin: I was hanging out with some girls upstairs who really wanted to sign up for Love Connection. They filled out a survey for me and I filled out ones for them. We promised each other that if we got picked, we had to do the date.
Virginia: Like all great decisions, I filled out the Love Connection on a Saturday night with friends. They filled out some of the parts for me and I filled out [the others] — I didn’t think I would get picked, but it seemed like a fun thing to do.
Austin: I [have] gotten set up on a couple blind dates as friends of friends for sorority mixers and they [have all been] fantastic.
Virginia: I’ve sort of been on a blind date before. I told my friends in high school I wanted to go on a blind date, so they set one up, but I ended up already knowing him.
Austin: I got to the Rotunda at 7 p.m. on the dot, but I didn’t see anyone for a while, so I thought I got stood up. I was texting my friends asking when I could abort the date if I got stood up. They were trying to convince me to ask out some random girl that passed by if she never showed up.
Virginia: I got there five minutes early and was standing on the wrong side of the Rotunda waiting for him before I finally realized he was on the other side. It was a bit awkward in the beginning because we were both kind of lost.
Austin: After a while, I finally saw her come around and we said hi.
Virginia: He was tall and had a nice smile and seemed really friendly. We started walking to the Corner and he mentioned that he hadn’t been to Lemongrass before, so we had to fix that.
Austin: The food was good. We talked about a lot during dinner — we both had a lot of interesting stories and she was a really nice girl.
Virginia: We talked about our families, high school and he’s really athletic, so we talked about that. It’s funny because we both used to be super nerds in high school but blossomed at U.Va. There were a couple of awkward [pauses], but it was generally pretty natural.
Austin: I didn’t feel like the conversation was forced — she did a good job of asking questions. I love talking to people and learning stuff about them and she was one of those people that are really interesting to talk to. It was a fluid conversation, but I wasn’t really trying to escalate things.
Virginia: He was extroverted, so really easy to talk to and really funny. We’re pretty [different] though — he’s not the type of person I would usually meet, but he had a good sense of humor and was fun to talk to.
Austin: I think there was a little bit of flirting going on. She seemed to be flirting and it was a fluid conversation. I don’t know if there was a romantic spark, though.
Virginia: There was eye contact and may have been a little bit of flirting, but I’m really bad [at] telling that. He paid the bill after dinner, which was really nice.
Austin: It was a really long date. We went to Arch’s afterwards and got custard.
Virginia: I freaked out because they had pumpkin flavored froyo and he made fun of me for being basic, but a girl’s got to have her pumpkin in the fall. He told me about Yik Yak and now I’m obsessed with it.
Austin: I had to wrap it up around nine because I had a Relay for Life thing, but I asked for her number. I probably should have texted her saying it was nice to meet her, but I’ve been pretty busy.
Virginia: The ending was a bit awkward because I wasn’t sure if he was going to go in for a hug. I leaned in but he didn’t, so I changed it to a wave. I friended him on Facebook but I don’t know if he’s accepted yet. He hasn’t texted me since the date.
Austin: I would rate the date a solid 7. The conversation was great, but I don’t know if there were romantic feelings.
Virginia: I would give it a 7 out of 10. He was a total sweetheart and it was nice to meet someone new.
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