Hot Girl Summer

Ya’ll trying to date during this pandemic SUCKS! Surprisingly, I have dated more during the pandemic than probably ever with 4 first dates in about a year, but it’s still been hard. Now that I’m fully vaxxed and things are reopening, it got me thinking about how fun dating was back in the day like in high school/college when I would go on a date with anyone who asked and went into it with no expectations, just a shared meal, movie, or round of putt-putt with someone. So I decided to date like that again this summer, even though I’m 36, and dub it Hot Girl Summer – because why the eff not?! My mom recently passed away and I’m really not in the mental headspace to date someone seriously, but fun? That I can have.

Back in December I joined Tinder and I got a lot of matches and talked to a lot of guys, as you may remember from QuaranTinder, but that was really just a trial run because I heard Hinge is really where it’s at. So once I was actually ready to start going on dates in May, I downloaded Hinge and got to swiping. Within a couple of days I had my first date scheduled for that weekend. We’ll call him The Quiet Guy, he is 29 and hot and I tried my hardest to avoid all of the get to know you questions he was trying to ask me during the days leading up to the date so we’d have something to talk about. We met at a nice restaurant, ordered a bottle of wine and had a decent conversation – honestly it was a good first date. He seemed like a nice guy, reserved and quiet, DEFINITELY more mature than me, but didn’t really seem all that fun. The other caveat to my Hot Girl Summer is that it is not the time to get into a relationship, it’s a dating multiple guys, having a super fun time all the time type of summer and this guy just wasn’t that. I’m OK with being the more fun person, but I need guys who can let loose a little bit this summer. I think if I brought this guy to Beer Olympics with my friends he would probably tell me how immature we are, even though we’re 7 years older than him, and refuse to hold me up while I was taking my turn at doing a Louisville chugger.

Anyway, I’ve got a doctor, stand-up comedian, teacher, mountain man, romance novel model, and a guy who promises to be reassuring in the queue, so Hot Girl Summer is still on track. I told all of my friends about my plans for Hot Girl Summer and Gigi and Betty were supportive of it, but are really just ruining my buzz every time I tell them about someone by trying to over analyze them and their suitability for me. “The Teacher” is very clearly self-absorbed, most of his photos are shirtless selfies, but he is truly one of the hottest human beings I’ve ever seen, so good for him. This is what Hot Girl Summer is all about, not whether or not he will be a good long term boyfriend. So my Hot Girl Summer escapades are going to be aired out here since we’re just starting and I’m already about to lose it if I hear, “He won’t be good long term,” one more time. In the words of Kyle Cook, “SUMMER. SHOULD. BE. FUN.”

Here’s what I know about the guys currently in the queue:

The Doctor, 29: Right now he is probably my favorite. We’ve only exchanged a couple of messages, but his photos do show a fun side, he’s really witty, and lives in my neighborhood.

The Stand-Up Comedian, 31: This guy is really tall, like almost 7 feet tall. So if we went on a date, it would be comical because I’m 5’4″. I really don’t know if this one will go anywhere though. I made a joke a few days ago asking if he does stand-up comedy in public or if it’s just an at home in front of his dog type of thing and haven’t gotten a response yet.

The Teacher, 30: As I mentioned before, this guy is probably by far the most attractive guy I’ll ever come across in real life or on an app and he does seem very fun based on his profile and Instagram. We just matched this morning and have yet to talk, so we’ll see how the actual conversation goes if/when it happens.

The Mountain Man, 36: This guy is really cute and one that is actually the same age as me, but we matched on Tinder when I first joined back in December and he never responded to my lame pick-up line on there. So when he invited me to start the chat on Hinge, I simply said, “I already started the chat on Tinder and you never responded. I’m pretty forgiving though.” Well, that was 2 days ago and still no response, so this one might be a bust too.

The Romance Novel Model, 35: This is another verrrrrry attractive guy, so much so that he’s been on the cover of multiple romance novels, which I find highly entertaining. We’ve made a pact to read one of them and share our thoughts, book club style, on how we think the author portrayed him as the character. For being super hot, this guy actually seems to have some substance to him, but it’s been a few days since I’ve heard from him – so this might be another one that disappeared into the dating app black hole.

The Reassurer, 29: This guy’s profile is actually really cute. In it he promises to give reassuring hugs and says that he’s loyal and kind-hearted, and I believe it. We just matched today as well, so there’s yet to be a conversation, but we’ll see how it goes.

So we’ll see how this weekend of Hot Girl Summer goes and we’ll meet back here next week!