Oh dear God help me. My first date in 18 years!

[Shuffleuplove]

I am going on a DATE. I am 50, newly single and I need help to get ready!!!

It’s next Sunday, we are going around a gallery/stately home type place. I have never met him in real life and my confidence has just ebbed away!

I’m 5’8” very too heavy size 18 and blonde. I have good hair, a nice face and then it starts to go meh the further down I go.

So far I think I’ve settled on a maxi dress with a small sleeve, bit of cleavage at the front, but not sure about footwear. Or anything else for that matter. I’ve got one good hoik-em-up bra.

Help. I really don’t want him to be horrified and leg it. I mean, I know he’s a nice person and that’s unlikely but, well, you know...

He referred to me as his girlfriend! I am 50 and this made me squeal! 😁

One of my kids commented that I’m smiling a lot.

Oh Shuffle, this has been my fave S&B thread ever. I just love your attitude.

Shuffleuplove we need an update on the blossoming romance.
I am supposed to be ringing someone that messaged me on OLD recently. Makes a change to find someone proactive enough to want to meet, however same old story here with me..cannot summons the enthusiasm.

@Shuffleuplove
I'm wondering if Mr Blackhead got in touch for another date?
Your story is a joy to read.

First ever MN post. Have loved your story! I too kissed a lot of frogs before finding Mr Right on OLD... Keep on smiling

Hello! It’s all going very nicely! We talk for hours, about everything. It feels very relaxed and easy and smooth and weirdly strangely familiar.

Clothing wise I have invested in some delicious frillies, duck egg blue silk, and another set in a sort of caramel, both very structured so v supportive as well as looking good.

We have had our moments too, when my carefully curated image has shattered - including my tripping up and skinning my knees. I lost my footing and went face first into the tarmac and nearly took him out too.

And a hiccough where I ate something that didn’t agree with me (sesame - I’d forgotten how bad I react) and then spent the next few hours itching, trumping and throwing up. So that was nice.
He’s seen me in wretched states frankly and it’s not out him off, so that’s good!

It has to slip @Shuffleuplove, that’s how you know it’s going well!

Thanks @Shuffleuplove for your updates. You are adding a touch of sparkle to my lockdown in Australia! Off to find me some duck egg blue silk stuff online

Any more dates with Mr Lovely lined up @Shuffleuplove?
I’m missing your humorous updates 😆 I hope all is going well.

We need an update :)
I actually ventured out on a date today, my first in quite a long time, but as per usual no spark for me as such. He told rather a lot of long stories, but to be fair he did ask me questions and listened intently so I did quite a lot of talking too. After 2 hours I probably rather abruptly brought the date to a closeand he said he would wait for me to text whether I wanted to meet up again.
Is it me or is it them I wonder, am I holding out for something that I will never find ? Only once in 10 years of doing OLD on and off have I met a man that I wanted to rip the clothes off. Perhap's I am looking for something that does not exist.

Hello! It’s all going swimmingly Thankyou. He’s soooo cute, I can hardly look away from him!

Crimson, why did you finish the date suddenly? If you want to be there then be there. I think the rigid adherence to some sort of rules or expectations may be working against you. And also I don’t think you can ever ever judge chemistry until you’ve kissed them. I’m not talking about whether you fancy them from an aesthetic point of view, more about the undefinable thing where you’re in tune.

Shuffleuplove, I do not follow rules, I set my own...it ended abruptly because after 2 hours of chatting I decided it was enough. To me first meets up are an initial meeting someone and deciding if you want to see them again and then invest more time.
I somewhat agree with what you say about kissing someone, but I have no intentions of trying that out on a first meet personally. Obviously if I had George Clooney in front of me it would be a different matter :)
Despite saying he would wait to hear from me he text a nice message the next morning saying he was doing so because he was not confident that I would contact him...I am very attractive, intelligent and easy to talk too apparently!
Anyway he wants to meet up one evening this week, but to be honest after a long days work I am too run ragged to be sparkling company.
He is away walking this weekend, he is retired so obviously a lot of free time on his hands. No doubt if I was really interested I would be making the effort. We will see.
Gla to hear everything is going well for you.
I

Oh Crimson! Do it! Meet him, snog him, see what happens! No time like the present!

Lol nooo, been there and done that in my early days of OLD and learnt a lot of lessons.

What did you learn?? Snog on, I say!

Small update: obviously I’m smitten, and this weekend he told me he loves me. We spent the weekend wrapped around each other, in our own little world.

Oh Shuffle!!!! How very very lovely
Enjoy every second of it ...did you say it back ?

Oh wow @Shuffleuplove - what an update! That's lovely to hear that you're spending time together & it's going so well. You give the best updates!

Yes I did say it back. Because I do. We had the weekend together again and seemed to be either laughing or snogging! It is very ON. Might keep this one.

On a practical front he’s really helped me get my head around some legal/financial stuff I couldn’t fathom, and that’s been a huge weight off my mind. He seems to just be able to explain things.
We went for dinner and (obligatory sartorial update) I wore a ruffled maxi dress which was a tad too low and he had on a beautiful shirt which was a tiny bit tight over the biceps (fwarr) and was a really soft cotton, and sort of canvas trousers which fitted magnificently over the bits that matter, and rather dapper suede boots. Delicious.

I love that you are keeping to the spirit of the thread, even in the face of such big things happening for you!
Do keep coming back with these snippets- they are marvellous.

Hello!

It’s all going very well. He’s just lovely. I’m like an annoying teenager that can’t shut up about him. And (intimate revelation) he let me at a really stubborn blackhead of longstanding! Gosh it was glorious! And that, readers, is love.

Anyway we are going to a party. I need a frock. I’ve lost a bit of weight but am still super busty with a thick waist and relatively narrower hips. I like zip-through dresses and coat dresses and don’t like layers and floaty bits.

Any suggestions? Also please suggest footwear! I wore heels the other week and I walk like a man.

Now that is definitely love if you are squeezing his blackheads !!!!
Dress , have a look on Style and Beauty thread
Always loads of clever people linking great ideas for outfits on there
Glad you still happy with him , great OLD success

Aha lovely inspiring thread.

Lovely update ! Please write a book

Can’t you tell that we are all here for the dating updates? 😍We have totally bypassed the style questions!
I’m no help in the party frock department really, my only suggestion might be Boden as they sometimes have nice dresses. They can be a bit hit and miss, so might need to order a few to try. They have a 50% sale on now, which is the only way I would consider buying one.