The Dating Game

Disclaimer: If you read this and realize that some of this is about you, do not take it personally. I do not mean any harm, but a lot of its interesting and funny. Think of it more as an educational tool to help others who are in the dating game be successful.

Sooooo, for the past couple of months I was a dating machine. It seems like everyone I know was trying to set me up or introduce me to someone who they thought would be a good match for me. There are also people you meet in the street, at a bar or just about anywhere.

I have been on my fair share of dates, from fancy dinners to just hanging out at the movies. Some guys were funny, boring (these are the worst) and some were even pretty cute. So from this sample I have some sage wisdom to share with the single men out there.

1. If you are going to ask a girl out, do so properly! Say things like “I would like to go out with you. Are you free on __________?” Do not just leave it open ended and just wait for her to tell you when she is free. She will think you are a wuss and most likely you are. 
2. Have a plan! After you get the date and you go pick her up or meet up with the girl, make sure you have a plan if you have not already told her what you will be doing. So don't show up and say "ohh what do you want to do"? This is a major fail. If you did this to me, you probably didn't get a second date, right?
3. Please be yourself! Even if you are a creep, its better she knows it from the beginning. Hey some girls, like creeps, so go figure. This is not to say that you should not be on your best behavior. This is not the time to try out the corny joke you looked up online to try to impress her. OK?
4. Watch the signals! Women are the queens of non-verbal cues. So pay attention. A girl will let you know if she is interested. Is she making eye contact? Is she actively listening? Are her eyes wandering all over the restaurant? Is she constantly checking her phone? Then she is not interested. She is just waiting for you to notice and hopefully not ask her out again.
5. Please follow-up! If the date went well, you both had a good time and she hinted on liking to see you again. Call her and let her know you had a good time too. Don't text her or email her (this is coming from the texting queen)

So guys now that you have my top five tips on how to woo a woman, try not to mess up and have a good time. If it does not work out its OK, there are plenty of fish in the sea, just please do not be like that loser that got upset and told me "I didn't give him a chance to shine" when it was clear there wasn't any chemistry.

Seriously??

I have finally hung up my dating shoes :) But, one thing I realized, is that everyone is looking for love and there is someone for everybody.  When you find the one you like, make sure you shine!!!

My Mami :)

I always tell people "I'm soooooo conceited" and they look at me with this weird look on their face, like I just told them I can bench-press 300 pounds.  They laugh and say, “No you are not”!  You are too nice to be conceited.   I laugh and say wait until you get to know me better.

Now, when I say that I am conceited, maybe what I really mean is that I am just overly confident, sometimes to a fault.  Heidi Klum can be at a party but when I walk in, I think to myself,   “Yeah she’s hot, but I am way hotter!!”

But honestly, these feelings of confidence and sureness in myself all come from one place... my mother.

For as long as I can remember my mother has told me that I am the smartest, the prettiest, the nicest, the loveliest, the funniest child, girl, teen, and woman alive. Throughout the years I have come to believe all of these superlatives and even own them from time to time.  OK maybe ALL the time :)

I have my mother to thank for my obsession with reflective surfaces, because I cannot walk by a mirror, store window or stainless steel fridge without checking myself out.  This is not a joke; I honestly do this, A LOT.

Thanks to my mother I have the confidence to know that I can try my hand at anything and even if the outcome is not how I expected, still be proud that at least I gave it my best.  I of course have my own set of insecurities, but thanks to my mami, I know that I can always pick up the phone and call her and in two seconds she will have made my head so BIG, that I will go out there and try even harder than before.  There is not one phone conversation with my mom that does not end some way like this:

Me: bye mami, love youuuuuuu, muahhhh

Mami:  te quiero mami, God Bless you, I loveeee you sooooo much, I missssss youuu

Me: love you too mami, miss you too, muahhh

Mami: I love you

Me: I love you too, bye

Mami: bye, I love you

Me: bye, muahhh

And eventually one of us will hang up the phone.

What my mother does not realize is that to me, she is the smartest, the prettiest, the nicest, the loveliest, the funniest woman, wife and mother alive.  Everyday I want to be more like her.  I want to be as caring, as sassy and as stubborn as she is, because when I say, “ohh God, I am turning into my mother” to me that is actually a good thing.  I have huge shoes to fill and hope one day I will be lucky enough to have my future children feel the same way about me. 

Happy (American) Mothers day mami.  You are my friend, my confidant and my inspiration. 

Te Quiero!

Lets play ball...

As someone who loves baseball, I get offended when people say that baseball is not a "real" sport. Haters say this because of the pace of the game, they think it is boring and long, but if you really pay attention, it really is not. At least not to me.

Baseball is a probability sport; it is all about how well you performed in the past and how you are supposed to perform in the future. Some players get teams to take expensive chances on them. There numbers might not be that good, but someone on the team got a gut feeling about a player and decides to take a chance. Sometimes it pays off, and sometimes it does not. But watching if it does or not it is where the fun and excitement lays. 

Much like life right???

The baseball season is a long one, from April through September and even longer because of spring training. Then there are the winter leagues, but we will not get into that now, that is whole other post.

But the point is, if you are baseball fan you probably are because you grew up with someone in your family being enthusiastic about it or you played as a kid and this brings back so many memories or comadrarie and of family.

For me it was my father. Anyone that knows my dad knows he is crazy with baseball and especially with the Dominican players. As a kid, I would sit down with my dad and watch games. My brothers would watch too, so I felt like one of the "guys", it was very exciting for me. As I got older, I learned about statistics, pitch counts, the rules and I became even more fascinated.

Now as an adult, when I sit home alone and watch a game from start to finish I remember my father and if it is the Red Sox or Mets playing there is a very high probability that my father is watching it too, all the way from the Dominican Republic. It makes me happy to know that from thousands of miles away I am bonding with my father.

Thank you papi, for showing me the passion and dedication it takes to be a baseball fan, even if sometimes we are just cheering for the Dominican players :)

Ohh yeah, I almost forgot, LET’S GO METS!!!