Romantic meetings in New York. Spring is in the air!

Spring has almost sprung in New York, and all it takes is one day of 70 degrees and the outdoor restaurants roll out its sidewalk café furniture. Couples are hanging out enjoying to shed all the heavy winter stuff. It makes your heart beat a little faster ….

A couple of weeks I had my third date with the friend who sent roses on Valentine’s Day.

He invited me to go and see an art exhibition together. We met at a little café and had coffee together first and then we proceeded to go to the art exhibition together. It was studied in great details by both of us and seemed to greatly interest us both.

Afterwards he invited me to lunch at a little café nearby on the water. I love anything near the water having been born there, and he seemed to enjoy himself immensely.

We had an intriguing discussion about our lives, and it was good to get to know each other that much more. We have both led fascinating lives and share a great many views and interests. We are both world travelers and seem to enjoy each others’ company.

Afterwards we walked across Manhattan, exploring all the neighborhoods as we walked along. Then we ended up in Chelsea and headed back up to Grand Central where he took the train back home. A great day which I enjoyed very much.

We are still communicating on the computer a lot sending messages back and forth and through the phone too.

It is fun to be a match.com “poster girl.” The television commercial must have reached a lot of people because I find it amazing that so many are coming up to me saying: ”Aren’t you that woman from the commercial in the evening gown singing? Lots of people have heard my radio commercial. Still, others tell me, “Kirsten, every time I open my email, your picture pops up.” And others will say: “Yes, I saw your ad in a magazine.” On the little café that I sit at in Chelsea writing my newspaper articles and my weekly blogs, I have become very well known and people unknown to me greet me . Now they want me to write a review of the food of the café, and I am happy to oblige.

The weekend brought offers of dinner in San Francisco, lunch in Los Angeles, men who invited me to let them know if I happened to be in their towns. Not to mention a gentleman from UK who is vacationing in Florida and who was hoping that I could join him there.

Another crazy invitation. A date that I met some months ago, (we just had two dates in a New Jersey restaurant) emailed me that he was flying to Las Vegas and would I come along? When I inquired as to what in the world I would be doing in Las Vegas, he said: "Getting married!" He claims that I am his dream woman. Well, I take it as a nice compliment and I am flattered, but it is hard to take things like that seriously.

A big surprise came along: a persistent Japanese suitor who was adamant that I consider accepting a ticket to visit him in Japan. He had spent considerable amount of years in New York and Washington, D.C. and wanted a Westernized wife. He even called me from Japan to convince me. I have never dated a Japanese man before, especially because I am a reasonably tall woman, and for that reason probably do not attract Asian men; it is a bit too exotic of a romance for me also.

Probably, it is my adventurous profile with the crocodile catching logo on the ITSOKAYTOLOOK.com site that captivates these brave men to approach me. It is wildly flattering to me of course and I am appreciating the interest.

DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME…THAT DELICIOUS GIFT OF 60 PRECIOUS MINUTES!

As every minute becomes more and more precious with age, I choose to make the best use of this extra hour by spending it with a good friend of mine attending an evening performance called FAGAALA at Brooklyn Academy of Music, also affectionately known as BAM. It is a powerful dance theater piece which has toured extensively through Africa, Europe, the U.S., Asia and Australia and is the passionate response of two choreographers, one from Senegal and one from Japan – to genocide.

My friend, Valerie, is a talented photographer who is responsible for having photographed me for my first composite card which I use for modeling. She got the tickets and had a last minute cancellation so she called me knowing that I am a good sport for anything cultural in New York City. I trust her judgment implicitly. I will probably hang out that extra hour with her afterwards having a glass of wine somewhere nearby, toasting to match.com and the incredible impact that it has had on my life, trying to talk her into writing up her profile as well.

I, in turn, am going to tell her about my fabulous video documentary which has just hit the IT’S OKAY TO LOOK website. I have had a few days to judge the initial response of the video documentary. And here’s a recap…

My best response was from my daughter who works in the creative industry of television, film, movies and fine arts. She is a celebrity make-up artist as well as an up-and-coming painter “just-about-to-burst-on-the-New York Art Scene in a really big way” - fine artist and social commentator, having taken up a whole new direction than her much more conservative mother who paints good and realistic portraits of an international clientele, children as well as dogs, landscapes, etc. She told me that the video made her burst into tears at the sight of her late father whom she adored who was “co-starring” with me (via many treasured photos from our lives together).

My son’s comments were also complimentary, but of a more practical note:
“I wonder if the pictures of Dad might scare suitors away.” Hopefully, people will realize by viewing part 2 that I am now ready to move on to a new and different life, hopefully starting a whole new life.

My daughter’s friends’ comments (listed below) ran the gamut from a diverse group of people in various professions:

“Absolutely beautifully done and as a producer, I am sure that they did it on a shoestring. You would never know – Danishbeauty22 is just a terrific subject. Forget those other ladies, I want to go out with her!"

"Oh, I loved those videos! It made me very emotional."

"I hope to inspire my daughters the way your mom inspires you! (You have her smile by the way) She is so beautiful!"

"Really, really great! What a woman, very cool. Helen Mirren and now your Mom."

Another wrote: "Senior babes rule. Your mother is very beautiful. It is quite apparent that her spirit and elegance were passed to you."

"It made me cry!"

"Hmm, an attractive, vibrant fearless, sexy woman in her 70’s. No surprise to me, she is YOUR MOM. It runs in the family."

"Tell your Mom, we are rooting for her."

"Thanks for sending this. She seems like a very strong woman and it’s great to see someone like her putting it out there. When we see something like this, it reaffirms the wonderfulness of the human spirit because, let’s face it, so much around us these days is doing the exact opposite."

And to the more descriptively put quote:

"Yay for your mom, the kick ass diva of the New Millennium RIGHT ON GIRL you go!!!!!"

As I close this lengthy blog, I cannot help thinking of what my formidable, brilliant mother-in-law (author of a book on Black Greek pottery and a PhD) who lives in Athens and in her young days a teacher at Miss Porter’s Finishing School would think of her daughter-in-law being called “The Kick Ass Diva of the New Millennium.” It is going to be tough to live up to that name!. Sincere thanks to Fred (the Director), Alex and Bruce for the fine, sensitive and discreet job they did on the documentary!