A Final Date in The City

As our final week in The City comes to a close, Boyfriend and I took to The Park for our final date before heading home to The Southernland.

The afternoon began with a quick lunch at Europa, where I first took Boyfriend for lunch when he visited me in The City over two years ago. He made inappropriate comments, I rolled my eyes, children screamed from across the restaurant. It was magical.

Next Boyfriend surprised me by stopping into a Build a Bear Workshop and constructing for me a unique stuffed dog, which we named Valentino after the restaurant where we had our first date. Boyfriend carefully chose the perfect body and allowed me to stuff it. However, it was Boyfriend who made a special wish and kissed the tiny red heart placed inside every Build a Bear creation. I thought he did a much better job than the nine year old girl who went before us. 

We then walked the twenty blocks to a bicycle rental facility, where we were ignored by the employees for five minutes. While waiting patiently for Boyfriend to step up, I gracefully pushed him into the front desk, ensuring nobody could ignore us any longer. After a brief tutorial on how to ride a bike (it's been a while!) Boyfriend and I were off to The Park. He with his bicycle-basket full of feminine goodies and I with my badass and masculine black bike. Boyfriend refused the couples two-seated bicycle that I pleaded for so he needed some sort of punishment.

We made our way from the bottom of the park to the 100's...in the rain...biking the whole way. I'm sure it seems as if it could have been quite the romantic trip, and it was to a certain extent. But Boyfriend failed to remember my constant habit of complaining when forced to perform manual labor. Why didn't anyone tell me The Park has so many mountains?!  After showing up all the Lance Armstrongs in their spandex and aerodynamic helmets, Boyfriend and I stopped for icecream (my idea-his money) and enjoyed it under a few trees.

After returning our bicycles, Boyfriend decided to take me out for quite the dinner at Outback Steakhouse, of course. Such a romantic.

So our final date in The City wasn't at all what we expected. We were rained on, I was more out of shape then I realized, and dinner was nothing more than a commercialized meal for two with an overdecorated waiter. Regardless, it was fabulous and it spoke to exactly how our time in The City has been: nothing at all what we planned.

Boyfriend Romances Boots (a How-Not-To)

Last weekend was the infamous LIM College Fashion Show, which brought Boyfriend and I both our own sorts of stress. Luckily, it went off without a hitch, and in the aftermath of such chaos we've been working hard to catch up on sleep rekindle the rather muffled flame in our oh-so-ridiculous love-life. To accomplish this task, Boyfriend of course took me to only the most romantic of places in The City: The 2012 New York International Auto Show. This man truly is the most thoughtful of them all.

Regardless of the lack of romance, I saddled up my walking shoes and we made our way to the Javits Center only a few days after the most epic moment in my college career. I, refusing to brave the world of testosterone and fake body parts alone, brought along Mama and Canada.*

The first stop? A booth where guests could sign up to have their photo taken with a half-naked model car spokesperson and luxury vehicle of their choosing. Of course Boyfriend was all aflutter with excitement. Then we made our way through the very long and exhausting maze of every car brand imaginable. Boyfriend had to stop at each exhibit and inspect each car. This was usually accompanied by a lengthy yet informative explanation of the car's general functionality, company profile and overall "bad-assness" of  the paint job. Far too many photographs were taken of Boyfriend in the front seat of these cars. The rest of the day continued on in a similar fashion.

Four hours, three hot dogs, dreams of the exit sign and some delicious Mini Melts (formerly known as DipnDots) later and we were finally finished with our romantic excursion. After it all, Boyfriend and I left the auto show with nothing more than a few aching feet and the realization that no matter how hard my little southern heart wishes we can't afford a Bugatti. Was it romantic? Absolutely not. Will I ever go back? Probably. The hotdogs were delicious! The point? Boyfriend tried so very hard to turn his own hobby into mine without anyone noticing it wasn't a relaxing and thoughtful date. For that, the man deserves some credit. Nice try.

Boyfriend, please take note that I'll need something much more than a few flashing car lights and processed pork-bits to bring on the passion in the future. 

Here are some photos from our fabulous day:

My proof it actually happened.

Boyfriend assures me it is the car he was photographing.

One of the many in-car photos.

*Names have been changed.