Date Lab

He still lives at home. Will that be a plus, since his date does, too?

TABAQ BISTRO | U ST. NW | 7:30 p.m.

Kim: I can talk to a brick wall, so I wasn't really too worried. I arrived first and was seated at a table on the top level of the restaurant. There's a glass ceiling, and you have a view of the monuments.

Alex: I got there, and the host led me up to the top. I saw her and thought, Wow, she's got a pretty face. She was surprising in a good way.

Kim: To be honest, if I were to see him at a bar I wouldn't be drawn to him right away. He's really fit but not as obviously muscular as the guys I've dated. He looks all-American, and I [tend to] go for more ethnic people. But I noticed his pretty eyes and warm nature. Right away, we were joking, and I could tell he had a nice sense of humor.

Alex: Kim told me she had just come back from volunteering in Kenya and Ghana, which I found fascinating. I'm trying to launch a business dealing with tech development in Third World countries, so [it] was in line with what I want to do.

Kim: He's very active. He was going surfing the next day. [And] he's very smart. He said that when he was 15 he got a job with one of his teachers at an air and space company. I told him when I was that age I was still learning my shapes and numbers.

Alex: I thought that she was very funny and got the impression that she had the same feeling of me. We finally got around to the menu.

Kim: [Finding out that he lives with his dad] was kind of nice. He just casually mentioned it. That made me feel super comfortable and less self-conscious about the fact that I still live at home. I've just gotten back from traveling, so I haven't moved out.

Alex: I don't want to waste money paying someone else's mortgage. [And] I'm not sure if I'm going to stay in the area, so I don't want to buy a place. Most people who look down on that feel it indicates some lack of maturity or life experience, but I've also found that [those] people tend be a little lacking in those aspects themselves.

Kim: There were some funny things we didn't have in common. He doesn't like cheese, which is one of my major food groups. And [when I told him] I minored in dance, he goes, "I'm really a bad dancer." [But] the night ended great. He mentioned that he sails and then was like, "I'd really like to take you out on a boat."

Alex: We made plans to go sailing. I definitely am intrigued by her. I'd [rate the date] a 4 [out of 5].

Kim: There was chemistry. He's one of the nicest guys I've run into in a long time. [But] I'm not sure if it would be friendship or more. I'd have to go out with him again. [I'd rate the date a] 4.5.

>>UPDATE: Alex never called Kim. He "wound up meeting someone with whom I felt more of a connection and have since been dating her," he wrote us.

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