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so, this past week, i went to a Speed-Dating event here in Chicago. for those of you who don't know, Speed-Dating is where you go to a venue, there are equal amounts of guys & girls, and the guys rotate from table to table for quick 5-min "dates." at the end of the night, you fill out a card with the names of the guys you were interested in and vice versa, and if there is a mutual match, you will receive an email with that person's contact information, and then you can go from there. Speed-Dating has been around for atleast 6-7 yrs, as i remember seeing email advertisements when i first moved here. the unfortunate thing was, there weren't many Speed-Dating events geared towards "urban" professionals (read: Af-Ams), so up until last spring, i had never attended one of the events. a couple of weeks ago, i received an email invite, and fwded it to one of my friends. we both said 'why not?' and decided to register and go. worst case--we'd go, have a couple of drinks/laughs, and go home. best case--we'd go, have a couple of drinks/laughs, and go home with a few matches...in our POCKETS.

the day of Speed Dating, i was feeling ho-hum about it. i had had a rough week leading up to it, and wasn't sure if i should even still go. the day of, it was raining, my hair was doing it's own thing, and i just wasn't really feeling it. midday, after a series of unfortunate events, i decided not to go......and held fast to that....until my friend made a pit stop at my house to change clothes and convinced me, with just minutes to spare, to put some clothes on, comb my hair, and go. so, i dropped PC off at the sitter (that i had previously cancelled) and off we went to Speed Dating.

long story short, it turned out to be a SUPER-fun time! being the shy person that i am (yes, i'm telling the truth), i actually felt like i was in my element! small-talk with perfect strangers, no pressure, flattering & flirtatious comments...it was cool. i wasn't certain that i'd walk away with any matches, as in my last experience i came up with a big fat ZERO...but i also didn't go to this event with any expectations....other than to have a good time, meet some cool ppl, and see what would happen.

and, that's EXACTLY what happened.....

a couple of days later, i received an email and found that i had FOUR mutual matches--i was pleasantly surprised, and allowed my ego to bask in the moment for just a bit. i reached out via text to each of my matches, and to this point, we've all spoken either via text/phone or both.

i have no idea how these matches will 'develop,' if at all, but what i do know is nothing happens by accident...and it was no accident that i ultimately decided to go out that night. i walked out of there with a slight pep-in-my-step like 'yeah, i've still got it" LOL....and that was a nice feeling.

cheers to 'the-need-for-Speed'......Dating, that is.... *wink*