Today marks exactly 3 years since Ian and I first met, and I thought I’d share that story since it almost didn’t happen.

We had actually ‘met’ before that online (yes, we’re one of those eHarmony couples – my mom keeps saying we should do a commercial for them), and had emailed back and forth several times. Sunday August 9th came around, and I happened to have an extra ticket to a Round Rock Express baseball game that night, and thought ‘why not?’ – time to meet in person. So I invited him, and he said sure. Since the ball park charged per car for parking, we decided to meet up at a nearby drug store and just carpool in one car. Oh so thrifty of us, and oh so not a good idea. You see, at this point I was living in south Austin, and had only been up in that area for a game once before. Ian had just said there was a drug store right nearby the park, and suggested we meet there. The problem? The Dell Diamond is kind of in the middle of suburbia, meaning there’s a drug store every other corner, and in this case 3 nearby ones that the meeting place could be.

Fast forward to just before game time, and I’m getting caught in traffic and running late, so I reach for my cell phone – and it’s not there. I left it at home. I never do that! Slight panic, but at this point I think I’m still ok. I finally make it up to Round Rock and stop at the CVS I thought Ian meant. No sign of him (I did ask a random guy standing around if he was Ian, even though I hoped not because he didn’t look like Ian’s profile pics). So then I drive to a nearby Walgreens. No Ian there, either. Then I drive to the other Walgreens nearby, and still no Ian. At this point it’s 45 minutes past our meeting time, so I figure he went home. And I have no way to call him, not having my phone, unless I drive all the way back down to south Austin. To say I was upset would be an understatement. I felt horrible. Poor guy thinks I stood him up on our first date, and will probably never want to meet me now.

Having no other option, I drive back to my apartment in south Austin. I go inside, find where I left my phone on my bed, and see I have 4 missed calls from him. Increase horrible feeling a million. I call him back. Amazingly, he answers. I start talking a mile a minute, I’m so sorry I forgot my phone etc. He seems glad to know I didn’t intend to stand him up, and that the Taco Cabana pity party food he was eating was now just tacos. We determined that the last Walgreens I stopped at was the one he meant, but of course he was already gone by the time I got to it. It’s starting to be a bit funny, though I’m still flustered and upset. Then he asks if I still want to do something that night. I almost say no, just because I feel so crappy after this whole experience, but c’mon! I basically stand the guy up and he still wants to see me. So we decide on mini golf in Austin instead (location unconfusable). We meet up there and had a great first date, despite the misadventure earlier in the evening.

Now, whenever someone asks how we met, Ian tells them (with a big smile) that I stood him up on our first date. And we go to a baseball game every year for our anniversary to make up for the one we missed.

I would say let this be a cautionary tale to all those transitioning from online to real-life dating (exact locations, don’t forget your phone), but then again it turned out pretty awesome for us. 😀