Double Trouble

Kanger and I made plans to eat Thai food and bowling on Thursday night and I was super excited about it. Our conversations and texts leading up to the night had been great banter and I knew we were going to have a great time and we actually did. We talked non stop during dinner and bowling (in which he kicked my ass hard core). We were on our way to the tube station at around midnight after being kicked out of the game area of the bowling alley (tube closes at 12:30), when Kanger asked if I wanted to get another drink at a bar we knew stayed open later. We had a blast at the bar as well. He is super funny, too. Totally key. We lost track of time and ended getting kicked out of that bar at 2am. I had to get up to go to work at 6am and he was going to Manchester on an 8am train to watch rugby with his friends. It was starting to rain when we had our 3 short-long pecks. He was a total gentleman. He told me he would look for The Killers tickets for Sunday and let me know how successful he was later.

I went to work exhausted on Friday, but super excited to actually be excited about someone new. I hadn't had that feeling in a very long time and it was refreshing. I got a text from Kanger from Manchester asking me how I was feeling and for me to have a good Friday. We texted back and forth and then I got a text from him that said that he had a great night on Thursday and that we needed to do it again soon and that we would talk soon and for me to have a great weekend. Um, what? This would have been fine if HE hadn't been talking about going to The Killers on Sunday all week and then even mentioning it again on our date. So I was tres confused and slightly upset but decided not to let it ruin my weekend. I figure I would talk to him when I talked to him and he obviously did have fun since he was thinking about me in Manchester but he was just being an idiot about the whole Sunday concert thing.

I stayed in on Friday to catch up on sleep and American television when Niall texted me and asked if I wanted to watch the Ireland/England rugby game. I thought what the heck and agreed to meet him with my friend, HM (since I had already made plans to watch it with her as well). I went to sleep happy that I wouldn't be sulking about Kanger.

I woke up on Saturday to find a text from Kanger from the night before saying how they lost the game and that they were going out. Confusing much? I thought we weren't talking for the rest of the weekend, but I texted him back and we continued to text the rest of the day (in which The Killers never came up). Fine. Whatever.

HM and I met up with Niall and we tried to find a pub to watch the game everywhere but they were all crowded so we settled on the Texas Embassy where a handful of people were. Niall was explaining the game to us and we were drinking and it ended up to be fun stuff. Then Kanger texted me that he was off to his coworkers engagement party and that he had looked for tickets and was going to call about them in the morning. Finally! I texted him to have fun and to let me know about the tickets.

Three drinks later, while Niall was kissing me on the cheek, I looked up and saw Aussie coming up the stairs to the bar. Fucking A! There wasn't anywhere for me to run and hide so I pulled myself away from Niall and went and gave Aussie and his friend that I had met before a hug. I tried to act as normal as possible. Aussie had emailed me on Friday morning to see if I was busy and I told him that I actually already had plans that night (with my bed) and hello it's the day of-negative! I figured my phase out was complete and that I would never see him again but no, he had to pick one bar in all of London on the same night I was there, with someone else. Aussie and his friend decided to order a drink and STAY and chat with us. All the while, Niall was totally being all flirty and I stood there with my hands in my pockets or my arms crossed. HM found it extremely entertaining to watch me squirm. It was super awkward and Aussie, I could tell was hurt by all of it, but hello we weren't exclusive and if you really liked me you wouldn't try to make plans with me so late in the week. They finally left and we hugged goodbye and gave me a look like he was walking away with his tail in between his legs. I hate making anyone feel like that because I totally know how that feels. I really hope he's okay!

After the Australians left, HM, Niall and I had a couple more drinks and paid our tab. HM went home, but Niall and I went to Waxy's (because yes I like to live on the edge and have the off chance of running into Kanger's friends there since we did meet them there last weekend-I was on the look out and I didn't see any of them, thank God!) Niall and I found a corner of the bar to enjoy our drinks and we kissed a little bit. I've decided I'm a kissing bandit-that never hurts anyone! Niall is fun but way young and he finally learned my age but said it wasn't an issue. We parted ways at the tube station and he told me he wanted to cook dinner for me soon. We shall see.

When I got home, I got a text from Kanger that said if he couldn't find tickets, we should still do something. So, I sit here giddy that I will see Kanger for the concert or for something else today! I can't wait!

The replacement

I have successfully completed Phase Out Stage 2 on the Aussie. We went to lunch yesterday and after I repeatedly said how tired I was and how I needed a nap from being out until 4am the night before, he still followed me to my room. I decided to pretend to snore while he held me in a death grip hug. Two hours later he got the hint and let me to "sleep"-I made phone calls, caught up on Grey's, The Office and Scrubs from Itunes. I won't be making any more plans with him, Phase Out Stage 3.

On Saturday night, HM and started chatting with a group of Aussies, go figure, at our favorite place, Waxy's. One was cute and a CPA (accountant) for a high-end shoe company here, so we had a lot to talk about since I used to be in the fashion industry. He gets ridiculous discounts on Gucci and Prada and I told him he was my new best friend. He was an exceptional dresser, too! We shall call him Kanger- you know for Australia's kangaroo's. (I'll think of another name soon). We all ended up going to the bar around the corner that stays open late, where we danced and sang along to the jukebox. I have no idea how many Bacardi and diets I had because the boys never let our glasses get empty! Kanger told me he was going to The Killers concert next Sunday and I asked who he was going with to avoid another Martyn situation. He told me his flatmate and his girlfriend and asked if I wanted to go. Okay! We left when the bouncers kicked us out and walked down to a place in London that was guaranteed to have cabs late at night. This would have been fine but I was in so much pain from my shoes...brutal. I had to pee really bad and spotted a McDonald's so we all went in and then grabbed some fries and big macs for the boys. Kanger and his friends are flipping hilarious. A definite plus! We hugged goodbye and promised to be in touch about the concert.

Yesterday, while I was at lunch with Aussie, Kanger texted me to see how I was feeling. I texted him back once Aussie finally left and Kanger asked if I'd like to go bowling before the concert, too. Heck yeah! I'm looking forward to my dates and discounts with Kanger!!!

How Texas Got Her Groove Back

I spoke to Niall on Thursday night and was 95% sure that we had made plans to meet up on Saturday night. 95% sure because his accent was so thick that I couldn't ask him to repeat himself for verification. For the fourth time. So when he called yesterday afternoon to confirm, I knew we were on.

We decided to meet at Waxy's later that night. I brought along Mandy (who looks so great and as always was so much fun!) and my friend HM. He was cuter than I remembered and had the v-neck sweater with button down shirt-jean combo that I love on guys. He brought along his Italian friend. Sweet. (Insert sarcasm here.) Actually it wasn't that bad having the Italiano there. He was quite entertaining and really nice. Mandy and HM had found a group of guys to talk to so I felt comfortable just talking to Niall by myself. The banter between us was quite good and I could actually understand him. When Waxy's closed at midnight we made our way to another Irish bar that stayed open until 3am. At that time it was just me, Niall and Mandy and our topic of conversation migrated over to Niall's PhD work. Apparently in Niall's case he went from graduating university and straight into working on his PhD. He's been working on it for a year now. Are you following? Mandy made it obvious that she was following and gave me a look with raised eyebrows that Niall caught onto. He said, "I can tell what Mandy's thinking". And I played dumb by asking him what he was talking about. He quipped, "She's thinking that I'm just a child". At that point my curiosity got a hold of me and I said, "No!...Why how old are you?". "23". WTF? Then of course he reciprocated the question and I told him to guess, which he did in numbers well under my real age. I never divulged the truth and it was our coy little game the rest of the evening.

While Niall went to the bar to get us all more drinks, two American guys started chatting to us. They were really nice and funny and when Niall returned they both started chatting to Mandy and gave Niall and I our space. Niall and I at this point were getting a little more touchy feely with each other and we eventually starting kissing in the middle of the bar. (I later learned that the guys talking to Mandy were questioning why I was mugging down with a 23 year old when I was clearly 28- the guys were 31). I looked like the biggest craddle robber!

Niall is fun and cute and the accent doesn't hurt. I'll go out with him again but I don't see this as a long term relationship by any means. Mandy dated a younger guy once and informed me that their kind are very eager to please. Which would be a refreshing change from the Aussie.

Whom by the way told me on Wednesday night, while I was gently pushing him out of my room after the longest make out session in history, that he would call me the next day. His next day was on a Saturday night with a voicemail to see what I was doing that night. Um no. And by longest make out session, I don't mean we were getting busy and to the good stuff for that long. I'm saying that it took forever to get to the good stuff and when we did, he sucked. I was rolling my eyes in my head and watching the clock to make sure he would make his tube on time. When it was his turn, he couldn't perform and blamed it on the three Guinness's he had at the pub. Right. Whateves. The weird thing is that during the few times we've "made out" he has never tried to migrate his peter to my who ha. Strange? I think yes. It's the whole timid thing that is a huge turn off. He called and texted again this morning to see what I was doing today but I didn't answer or text back. Negative. It's the beginning of the Phase Out.

Back to Niall- I'll hang out with him again and just have fun. You've got to kiss a few (read: seems like a hundred million) frogs before you find your prince, right? I just hope my prince is somewhere right around the corner.

*I actually really wish that it was just Mandy and me at the bar last night picking up guys-but Mandy did a good job of that all by herself!!! We may meet up with the first group of guys she met later this week.

An Irish, English and Australian walk into a bar

After a long day of shopping, my friend HM and I went to a pub we heard great things about named Waxy O'Connors. It was like an Alice in Wonderland maze of rooms upon rooms of more bars and tons of people. Good looking our age people. We were in heaven! We grabbed a drink and I eyed a cute boy at the end of the bar. He moved over to a group of people sitting nearby where a tall guy was zipping up his pants and rebuckling his belt. Tall guy caught me witnessing this act and came over. He told me it was a long story. I took his word for it! It turned out he was Irish and HM and I had a tough time understanding him which we all joked about. While we were all talking, I kept making eyes at cute guy that was at the bar. It turns out he was friends of the tall indecent exposure guy and he came over and joined our conversation. His name was Niall (pronounced Nile-like the river) and he was Irish as well but lived in London unlike his visiting friend. He was a little easier to understand and fun to talk to. We chatted for a while and then Niall and his friends had to go to east London to change clothes and were going to come back into Central London to go out. He took my number and told me he would call when they were on their way.

Five minutes after they left, a guy walked by and was like "My friend said that you were fit so I had to see for myself and he is correct!". I was a little confused by the term "fit" and he explained it meant good looking. How flattering and embarrassing at the same time. He bought us a drink and his friend that thought I was "fit" came over and introduced himself. His name was Martyn and he was English. He was a rugby player complete with muscular build and two missing teeth. He was very cute and hilarious but the missing teeth...kind of a deal breaker. We hung out with Martyn and his friends for the majority of the night and had a great time. It turned out that Martyn was going to be at the same concert as HM and I later this week. I asked him who he was going with and he told me a lady friend. He continued to blatantly hit on me and asked for my number. I kept denying him saying he obviously had a girlfriend. He explained it was very casual. Right so casual you got your concert tickets months in advance...uh huh. I finally gave in and told him to call me after his date went wrong. I figured he would be fun to hang out with as friends. HM later told me he had a picture of a girl our age for his screen saver on his phone and he changed it when he got my number...shady! During all of this I totally forgot that the Aussie* had texted earlier asking to meet up and that I had told him I would text him when we found a pub. Oops.

Martyn's friends wanted to go to another pub and asked us to go with them but we declined and stayed there. It was then that I texted Aussie to come to Waxy's. He texted me he was on his way. Two minutes later Niall texted me to tell me that he and his friends were on there way back to the pub and that he hoped I was still there. Fuck! I decided that if Niall got there first I would explain that we had to go and help out a friend and that I hoped to see him soon and if Aussie got there first we would let him get one drink and then we would change locations as to not run into Niall. Luckily, Aussie got there first and we left. Awkward situation averted!

We ended the night at the pub around the corner from my hotel. I was already tipsy having had 5 Bacardi and Diet Cokes without dinner (reminder my retarded limit is 3). HM caught the tube home and Aussie and I went back to my room so that I could order room service. After pigging out on fries, Aussie and I started making out. An excruciatingly slow make out session where he was too afraid to be bold and make some moves. Aunt Flow had finally disappeared and I was ready for some action. Aussie was a receiver and NOT a giver. After working some hand magic in which he convulsed (I had never been witness to this) and told me I was the best he had ever had, I guess my turn slipped his mind. WTF? I now know what it means to have blue balls. I was pissed and worked up at the same time and could do nothing about it. Better to know this now rather than later. We went to sleep and woke up around lunch time. Bad breath and B.O. wafted in my direction from his side of the bed and I decided it was time to grab some food. I can deal with morning breath but not wearing deodorant is a no no, especially if you are trying to cuddle with me by placing me in your armpit nook. Ahhhhh! Negative.

On the way out, I checked my phone and noticed several texts from Martyn telling me that he went back to Waxy's to hang out and that he was disappointed I wasn't there. I didn't text him back. He can contact me again if he wants but I was hoping I would have a text from Niall. No dice. Aussie and I went shopping near Harrod's and then went up to Covent Garden. It was okay company. I found myself carrying the conversation and I think both people should hold their own weight. During the excursion with Aussie, Niall texted me to apologize for not being able to get the "lads" back to central London and that he hoped we could meet up sometime. This made me secretly smile but I had to keep my excitement at bay while with the Aussie. We finally parted ways and Aussie said he would call me tomorrow. Whatever.

I just texted Niall back, "No worries...hope you guys had fun! Meeting up again sounds like a great idea... "

Now the ball is in his Irish court!

UPDATE: Niall texted me back tonight: Cool so ill give ye (yes-not a typo) a call during the week to organise something say for next weekend. So talk soon and have a good week!

mmmhmmmm!:)

*Aussie and I had gone out a couple more times since our first date and he was growing on me and we had fun each time which is why I invited him to meet us...not knowing Waxy's would be such a meat market!

Good Day, Mate....

For my get together with Aussie, I decided to take him to my local pub around the corner from my hotel. I did this a) it is freaking freezing outside and I wanted to get from point A to point B fairly fast without getting frost bite and b) it's extremely windy in London and by the time I get anywhere, I look like a complete 180 degrees from what I looked like primping in the mirror beforehand. So around the corner pub it was.

Aussie met me in the lobby of my hotel. He was cute, but not as cute as I remember him being and he was dressed okay....(the way guys dress is a big turn on for me and no lights were being switched on). We got to the pub and ordered a round. The conversation flowed which is nice. And by the time we were on round 4, I was feeling pretty good. (Note: my limit is 3 Bacardi and Diet Cokes).

The pub closed at 11pm for some reason and we headed back to my hotel so that we could say goodnight. We walked into the lobby and noticed gobs of people spilling out of the hotel bar. Against my better judgement, I agreed to have another drink. We people watched and made up stories and fun of people which was actually very entertaining and I was quite witty. There was some kissing on the couch we were sitting on but no real sparks went off which was a let down. Somehow 11pm turned into 1am and I had to work in the morning so I said I should probably go to bed. Aussie then informed me that the tube stops running at 12:30am, which I knew about and that he wasn't sure how to get home on the night bus. Convenient, huh? So somehow he ended up in my room.

The drinks were still talking in my head so we started kissing and fell to the bed. Again the kissing was okay. There was much deep kissing action like I like and so he stayed wading in the shallow end, if you will. I kept telling him that I wanted to take things slow. The only rated PG13 part was when we both had our shirts off. That's as far as I let it go. I'm sure it could have gone further if Aunt Flow wouldn't have taken up residence in my body for the past month but I'm really glad it didn't. And I didn't even go near the Peni because I didn't want to wake the beast...although there was 60 seconds of 9th grade dry humping thrown in there. The slowest make out session in history ended and we went to sleep. Well, he went to sleep, I lay half awake because I can't sleep with people in my bed. It's always been that way. I'd rather sleep on the floor than share space with someone- until I get used to them being there.

I slept in a t-shirt and sweatpants because I haven't shaved my legs in a couple of weeks. I know it's disgusting but I get lazy in the winter, especially when there isn't a boyfriend to impress and I really didn't think anyone would be sharing my bed that night. He slept in boxer briefs and nothing else. He's a skinny guy and all, but I wasn't impressed with his pectoral region. It wasn't as toned as I like.

My alarm went off and I got dressed in the dark. Then I woke him up and told him I had to turn on the lights, hoping he would get the hint and start getting dressed to leave. I felt like such a boy. I'm not a morning person to begin with and the fact that I wanted him out of my room made it a little awkward. I sat on the edge of the bed watching the news and he sat next to me and wrapped his arms around me and started kissing me again. So I was like I need to go to work but you are going to have to leave first because I don't want my coworkers that stay here to see us leave together. He understood and left and told me he would call me this weekend.

So, I'm kind of like "Eh..." on the whole thing. The situation reminds me of when I was in college and CR wanted to date me. I wasn't really attracted to him and when he would call my apartment I would switch the generic answering machine message on so that if I ever saw him out I could be like, "Oh I don't think my machine is working, so I didn't get your messages". Then one night we went to the library to study and he was being so funny that I started liking him. We ended up dating for four years.

I'm a little disappointed because I'm looking for that instant spark with someone. I want someone to make my nose flare when I look at him, because he is just that sexy to me. For instance, my roommate's brother, aka Crush, accidentally exposed his stomach in front of me onetime and I saw a little part of his boxer shorts peek out. My nose flared and I thought Damn! to myself. I want that. I saw the boxer briefs on Aussie and nothing. I want someone that screams testosterone.

I'll give Aussie another chance. It seems like he likes me more than I like him, which I should be thrilled about, but I think I like a little bit of a chase. And there is no chase.

Crikey!

Aussie called! All before I could even follow your advice and text him at the strategic time of 9:11pm that I set aside. I was at dinner with a friend (with my phone on vibrate in my pocket-just in case) and it went off! When I answered the phone he was like, "Hillo, Tixas?" and I was like "Hi ,how are you?!?". He asked if I knew it was him from his number being in my phone or by his accent...I told him both! He laughed-even with an accent! I asked him if I could call him back later and he agreed.

So I called him back after I went grocery shopping, took a bath and talked to a coworker on the phone. I didn't want to be too eager beaver.

First, he apologized for not texting me back on Sunday. I told him it was no problem. (Right! I freaked out a tiny bit that day but whateves). It was because his pre-paid cell phone had run out of cash. Second, Aussie asked what my plans were for the rest of the week and we decided we would meet on Thursday. He lives kind of outside of the city and said he would meet me and we could grab a drink somewhere near me. I told him I would research a fun place to go and he said he would call me on Thursday afternoon to finalize everything. This is a breath of fresh air to have someone pursuing and wanting to make plans with me.

Oh and third, the accent...yum!

Australian Open

Saturday was my friend's birthday and a group of us went out to celebrate. We started out with lunch at Yo! Sushi then went to see Billy Zane in Six Dances in Six Weeks. Sadly Billy was "indisposed" and I was unable to oogle him from afar. The play ended at around 5:30pm and we made our way to the Texas Embassy.

We quickly became best friends with the bartender, Winston, who served up shots and drinks left and right. I spotted a guy with a hoodie on who was oh so cute and we kept making eyes and smiling at each other. Literally for HOURS. It could have been that we had this New Jersey leech of a guy that cock blocked any new talent, but cute guy finally came over to my stool with his friend at around 9:45pmish. He was from Australia and had the cute accent to match! I loved how he said my name...Tixas. We were all shooting the shit with the Aussie and his friend. It turns out they live here which could have been touch and go since we were in a very touristy part of London. Aussie was all touchy. Stroking my back, fingering the nape of my neck. I didn't mind. At around midnight we all decided that after nearly 7 hours it was time to go home, plus we had to hurry and catch the last tube of the night. My friends walked ahead and we walked with our arms around each other chatting. Aussie got my number and then we started kissing. I could hear my train coming so I told him to call me.

Sunday I woke up late and noticed that I had a text message on my phone. It was from Aussie and it was asking if I made it back to my hotel all in one piece. He left it at 1:13am. I waited a little while and texted him back in the afternoon that I did indeed make it okay and asked if he was able to find a tube/bus to go home. (There were closures and his regular way wasn't working). Nothing witty because I hate the initial texting relationship. He didn't text me back at all. And he didn't text me all day today either. I was beginning to think I should write him off.

Then tonight as I was getting ready for bed, I plugged in my cell phone to charge it and noticed a missed call at 9:31pm. From Aussie. He didn't leave a message. He called my international cell phone that doesn't have my personal voice mail setup just the generic recording.

So what do I do? Do I wait for him to call me back again? Do I text him telling him I'm sorry for missing his call and hope to talk soon? What do you do with a country that doesn't believe in leaving messages? (The Kiwi once told me he never left messages...New Zealand and Australia are right next door...does Aussie abide by the same principle?)