This is Lou's Life

I experienced a few firsts this Christmas, which got me thinking that I have an amazing family to have not experienced these before. This year was the first time since I left home at 17, that I didn't travel down home on Christmas Eve for Christmas at my folks house, as my sister hosted the family lunch at hers, which was a lovely change. Although this did change a lot of the routine. The usual is, well last 11 years, I've travelled from Perth to my folks place on Christmas Eve with half a million other people travelling south, to spend the evening catching up, cooking and taking my Grandma to midnight mass (10.30pm really at our local church), before champagne breakfast on Christmas morning, family lunch, dinner with close family friends, and my eldest sister and I escaping as soon as night falls to check out Christmas lights in Bunbury. This has been the norm for years and I like it! So this year with it at my sisters house, meant sleeping at my own place, by myse...

As you may remember, Chris was my back up date from a couple of weeks ago and dinner was definitely fun! We went to Steves in Nedlands, ate good food and drank nice wine. Although a couple of kinda strange things happened on this date, one being that another guy at the bar tried to sit down with me when Chris was getting the drinks and the other I didn't think anything of until a few days later. Chris was funny, charming, albeit short, but all round nice, but after the first bottle of wine and the food was finished, I was ready to go home. Well not Chris... He was geared up for a big night.  He went and got another bottle of wine, which I only had one glass of as I was driving.  But hey maybe he was nervous or hadn't had a night out in a while, either way I hoped for an excuse for his thirst.  I continued on with the date and thankfully the bar closed at 10.30pm, which was my out to go home. We continued to exchange texts the following few days, which was nice, other than...

Things reached a whole new level with my dating the other day... And it wasn't a high level that's for sure!!  I've recently gone back on oasis because I do genuinely want to meet someone and dirty tinder isn't the place for it, ok ok I've known this for a while, but I'm lazy.  So I got my oasis on and have found a few people to meet, which kind of renews my hope in finding love.  First there was James - an entrepreneur, who had a farm in the wheatbelt, lots of positives in my eyes, especially given I grew up on a farm! We had made plans for drinks Thursday night that got pushed back to Sunday as he had to work late, so tentative plans for a casual afternoon drink were made.  Second there was Jamie - a tradie, who wanted to meet new people and see what happens like me. We'd also made plans for Sunday, but they were solid, a date booked for 2pm at the Como. Hmm I hate the Como, but thought maybe they've renovated and it was better (totally wrong there it...

I've recently been on two dates with Steve, who as of today, I've burned off my list. Steve's the first guy I've dated who had a child, now that's not significant but definitely raised some complications I hadn't encountered before... Especially when it came to his ex.  I'd again like to point out I only went on two dates with him. He was nice, attractive and hilarious! He was straight forward when it came to his daughter and that he had a good relationship with his ex - so far so good.  Date one went well other than him talking about dating and tinder... Hmm little weird but maybe he was just trying to find some common ground, without talking about his daughter all the time. He made me laugh so I thought it warranted a second date. Well date two, he talked extensively about his wife (oh so she was still his wife, that's different) and about other women he dated, including the last chick he met before me, who, he felt he needed to tell me, didn't loo...

So dating has been slow lately and really I think this might be because I've been a little bit thrown since Chris, just not sure what happened after 3 great dates... Anyway so I thought I'd pull out a older story that definitely falls into the category of different. I linked up with Joe through Oasis (I said it was an old story!) and he seemed very normal to start with and boy did he have charm. After a day or two of chatting online, I agreed to give him my number and we set up a date for a bit later in the week.  He told me he was looking for something real and serious - awesome me too... Little did I realise that he meant he wanted that with me already.  The conversation took a bit of a turn from charming to being very heavy and serious about all the things he wanted in 'our' relationship. He asked if I wanted the same things too because his ex he was recently split from didn't want kids or marriage or something as equally important and he needed to know that we w...

This morning I've stumbled across this blog ( http://allthingsempty.wordpress.com/2014/11/06/flick/)   because people have been entering my blog from it. And to my shock and more my amusement, I found this post to be about me. Now I'd like to point out that I don't feel I need to defend my actions on unmatching this man on dirty tinder but more so to finish the story he started.  There's a reason I call it dirty tinder, it's sometimes about meeting someone to have a relationship, sometimes about finding a fun time not a long time and sometimes as simple as needing a confidence boost. Now that may not seem fair to all parties involved, but I don't know these people (mostly).  And really the app is based on people's looks, so go from there.  I don't bother sending messages saying 'hi, sorry I'm not interested' to someone who may not necessarily message me, have even been online in that time, and in my eyes if I did that, I'd be wasting both...

I know a lot of my close friends will say I love a drink or ten, but recently I really only have 2 or 3 before I decide I've had enough because I hate wasting the next day feeling like rubbish. I've also been sick lately with some lovely laryngitis that if I've had a wine or two has come back with a vengeance - this time has been no different!  Saturday started out with texting Dean, he was eager but not over the top... Yet! I caught up with some friends and he persisted to text while I was out (I didn't reply initially but then it was 3 or 4 texts and I felt obligated to). So while out with a girlfriend checking out the esty event, we decided a wine or two would make a bad event good. Well two wines turned into four... And I started to have my just say yes thoughts.  So four wines in and a possibly cute boy texting me, I agreed to meet him for a drink. What was I thinking... More drinks?!!  A couple of drinks with him and he suggested going back to his place and he wou...

Chris, he is the freshest of the fresh in terms on my men, and somehow I'm still hopeful he's gonna resurface and just call me one day. I, of course, met Chris through tinder, and like most of the alright ones I wasn't that interested, I even cancelled our first date because I couldn't be bothered putting make up on. We then rescheduled for a week later after he was very keen to meet me... Come on a bit of an ego boost having a dude want to meet me.  So off I went one Monday night for a quiet drink, we were first going to go somewhere in the city, but it didn't work out with when he finished work, so we went to the garden in Leedy (his choice which def earnt him points for picking a good spot). Drinks turned into dinner  and was left with an awkward hug at the end of the night but solid plans to catch up again the following night.  Date 2, Tuesday night at a dive of a pub - varsity, for wings night - so much fun, so many drinks, before I knew it it was midnight and ...

I haven't written about anything but dating for the last 6 months and I've been thinking for the last few days that I really do have more to my life than just dating. I started a new job back in March and today marks exactly 7 months since the new adventure begin. To be honest there's been ups and downs in the new role and although in the early days I was sure it was the best move for my career, I find myself looking back and wondering did I just take the easy option? I've definitely learnt some things by being on the insurance side of the fence, but the training and knowledge I was promised at the interview and in the first couple of months just hasn't come to fruition.  Which has lead me to question what my next move is, and how long until I'm forced to make that move for more of a challenge.  Yes my job is super busy, clients and workers can be difficult and demanding, but I find myself sometimes trying to guide my clients in prevention of injuries rather tha...

Has anyone ever seen the movie Catfish, which then turned into a TV series phenomenon? Well I have and to be honest it's not the best thing to stumble across when you're giving online dating a go.  The one thing I've found is that I've been able to relate to more than a few of the stories including Nev's original story, of having someone at the end of the phone that wasn't real. I matched with a guy (Shaun 2, as we subsequently called him), who claimed to have been passing through Perth on his way back to Port Hedland, which is how we were close enough to match.  For those unsure on how tinder works you set search parameters of age and distance and go from there, my distance is set to 30km... Coz I don't want to match with anyone from Midland, Rockingham, Kwinana - the list goes on. Initially Shaun seemed like a normal guy, if anything maybe a little bit of a textaphile, before he seriously turned on the charm and had me a little hook line and sinker on his ...

I've always been a strong believer that if someone wants to spend time with you they will make time for you.  Well in any case that's how I've always treated people. Don't get me wrong there is a definite difference between not making time for someone and being busy.  Being busy looks like a some of my friendships where we have to make bookings well in advance (sometimes months) to see each other for more than 5 minutes and so we book our catchups in like appointments so we can have proper catch ups, some of my other friends are like me, happy to make plans at the last minute but also has to have a rough plan for what the week looks like. Sorry, back to making time - Segway over.  I figure that most people who are on tinder that are ok with dating (as previously pointed out some people only want cuddles but are clear about that from the word go), usually have busy lives that make it difficult to meet a new person outside of their social circle but are happy to make time...

This is not a super new story but definitely one which has scared me for life! I met Callum last year and had had a good time with him, including the longest first date ever, so when we matched on dirty tinder a few months ago, I thought why not give him another crack.  The conversation flowed easily again and when he asked to come round one night I didn't think much of it. I probably should've known it was not going to end well when he struggled to get a cab from Hillary's at around 8pm on a Friday night and when I asked if he was drunk after he called me 10 times in a few minutes, he insisted he wasn't. Let me point out I didn't know him well enough to know that clearly he always thought he was sober.  He eventually showed up two and a half hours later (it's only 40 mins max from there to my place) and was BLIND DRUNK, and all I could think was how is this a good idea. Things were ok, but not good like I had remembered and he passed out straight after, I was v...

I always find it really hard to write when I haven't written in a while but there's stuff to be said so I guess this is as good a time as any. A week ago today I had a very lovely birthday and turned the ripe old age of 29! For those that know me, I always go a little crazy in the lead up to my birthday.... Maybe that's an understatement!! I start to freak out that I'm going to be another year older, do I look older and do I need some more Botox (which the answer is always yes!), I wonder why I'm still single and will I ever meet a man (and in that state of mind I'm pretty sure all men can smell the desperation), I always reassess my career and question if I'm doing the right thing. My poor parents and best friends usually have to wear this the most - sorry!!!  Although this year was no different to any other, there were two people very much lacking in having to deal with my mentalness - two people I consider the closest to me of all! One who was in Australi...

Recently I've had a lot of offers to 'cuddle', to be honest I'm a little bit confused by what some of these guys mean.  I've rejected all but one offer of 'cuddling' and even then I was left wishing I had.  Nobody wants a guy who is all skin, bones and emotional baggage.  It would seem that some guys literally mean just actual cuddling, but others mean 'a dance with no pants' as one called it when asked to clarify. I'm going to say all these guys seemed nice at some point. Let's start with Charlie, or as I'd like to rename him Mr Skinny, I'd been talking to him for a couple of weeks, he worked away so meeting up took longer than my normal period of time. He seemed so normal until he became focused on a movie and a cuddle. So I took him up on that offer and then after meeting him, realised not only was he SO thin, but that he had some serious emotional baggage, which I had no interest in at all. I very quickly left as soon as I could w...

So after the guy who was different, I had to get back on the dating wagon... Again!  This brings my dating stories right up to date... And maybe I'll post about some else after this one haha. I went straight back on tinder after that, searching for the validation that I'm desired again. And that's what I got... Match after match of a whole bunch of men, most of whom just wanted to hook up. I've decided that I'm not interested in just sleeping with guy after guy after guy. That's note the way to meet someone and so after getting told I'm beautiful and wanted, I block those guys. I can even admit when a guy started messaging dirty stuff to me today after I asked him how he was, I blatantly told him I wasn't that girl and I've got a lot more respect for myself than to go there.  I have however spoken to a few interesting ones, most turn out to be psychos or have this obsession (like someone else I know!) of finding something better than the last, instea...

I've written about this guy in my earlier posts, there was something about him. After getting back on the dating bandwagon, I went on a couple of dates and was close to cutting it away, and admitting that I was going to be alone for a whole lot longer... And then we got a match. I'm not going to use his name coz there is a possibility he may read this :/ I wasn't super interested in him to start as he was so inconsistent, one day would send a bunch of messages and then nothing for days. But after a little holiday to Sydney to see Dick, I decided to just say yes and organised for us to meet. Evidence that I was not so interested was that I wore flats (never did that on dates), wore my hair up and dressed very casually - as in I put in very little effort appearance wise. We went to one of my fave pubs for cheeky drinks on a Thursday night, he was late... So that was strike one, then we just kinda hit it off. For me it was that infamous 'click' that people talk about a...

So now I've merged all my dating posts from my previous blog on here, it's time to get some new stories from this year on here... Stay tuned. I won't be sharing them all on Facebook as some might be offensive.

I'm going to be a little bit cautious in writing this story from earlier this year as I'm not sure who reads this and mutual friends may not appreciate what I've got to say on this.  Late last year I received a Facebook message from someone I hadn't spoken to in a long time, it's was completely out of the blue but became a little interesting. Let's go for a pseudo name to save face for him... Let's go with Bob. So Bob messaged me and we started chatting, he was visiting and things started to go a bit further than either of us thought, and to be honest I'm going to say its coz I was lonely (still am) and it was nice to have someone show interest in me. Don't get me wrong I know I'm pretty (not in a stuck up way), but it's really nice to be desired. After texting and snap chatting (who doesn't love that app!!) it was agreed he should travel to visit me, and hey when we met the first time it went alright so why not see how time changes thing...

While I was building my house last year I got a little bit preoccupied with it and so in 3 weeks I only went on 2 proper dates, but had been with more guys than that... And here's those stories. As the house has been stressing me out, I've notice that all I do is talk about it - see I'm doing it again, which really annoys me and I don't want to go on dates with guys and just talk about it because that's what I'm thinking about.  This has lead me to bending the rules A LOT. Now if you don't want to read about getting hot and heavy... stop ready now! Now these stories all cross over a bit from the past few weeks and even to me the weeks and days and flown by without realising where these boys all fit.  I'd also like to point out - all of these guys are good looking and have well fit bodies... yep I've been super picky about how they look, funny that given I don't have a very good/toned body haha. I've previously written about Joe the Drill ...

It took me some time to write this post last year as I had some mixed emotions about Matt the property guy from Melbourne. I started talking to Matt, on a Sunday morning and at first I thought he was a little arrogant, but then when he suggested a late lunch that day and I had no plans I thought why not?! He was visiting family in Perth and was only visiting for a few days. So when we met up and he didn't really look at all like his profile pictures, I started writing him off and thinking about the next date, well actually more about how the 'cuddle date' earlier that morning with another guy had been interesting. I really warmed to him over the 3 hours we were at the bar, there was lots of laughs, lots to talk about and a few drinks later, I didn't want it to be over... it then also dawned on me that he was very wealthy and a complete gentleman. Over the next day or so we arranged to meet up again on Tuesday night for dinner, but when that came around he had text me to...

Thankfully during all this dating I've dicovered I'm very good at talking (some would say I could talk underwater) and can laugh at my own jokes, because that became the common theme to all 3 dates I had one week. Date 1.   It was time for date 2 with Col the accountant, I was unsure about this and thought I'd give him another go to see how I feel about it. We had kept in touch while he was away at work, but realistically it gets very boring asking a FIFO worker 'how was your day?' when you know all they have done is go to work for 12 hours so their response will be either 'busy' or 'cruisy'.   I'd like to point out that the night before he flew out and the first day he was home he thought it was a good idea to drunk text me... what's that about?! to me that was a massive turn off, so by Tuesday night I'd started to think dinner was a bad plan. It was also an epic task to decide on a location for dinner, so he was very quickly making his ...

After I was left a little confused by the first guy I met from RSVP, I wasn't that sure that online dating was a good thing to continue with, but was convinced by friends that really how else was I going to meet people out of my comfort zone. So I continued on and started emailing Adam the geologist from the UK.   During this time I was trying to email 3 or 4 people at any time because I didn't want to put all my eggs in one basket like I had with the first one, Geoff the builder.   Adam seemed nice and relatively normal, after a week of emailing we exchanged phone numbers and attempted to set up a date. It proved difficult to set up a date with him as he was 'SO BUSY' and then it was a long weekend, I was going away down south with my family for Easter, so we sort of made plans for a drink on the Monday afternoon.   This is when things started to get a bit weird, I had told him I was out with friends having a few drinks so I wouldn't be...

A friend who is living in London recently told me that she had joined an online dating website called 'sugardaddy', she had told me about this site previously and I definitely encouraged her to get onto it, not to find a sugar daddy but to find guys to go on dates with.   She's been doing it a little tough, living in a huge share house, trying to have an amazing time, travel and working full time does take it's toll and can definitely be draining on funds. So I thought it was a perfect way to get free meals without any commitment. I know this probably sounds very wrong, but when you're doing it tough, sometimes it can get depressing, so what a better way to cheer up than a free meal at a fancy place with hopefully a slightly attractive man.  I'll admit I've done it recently just off some of the websites I've been on - please don't judge me for that.   So I was pretty pumped to hear she had joined and even more impressed when she said she was setting ...