Friday, June 13, 2008

Finally, a guy who gets it!

Mr. Firefighter suggested dinner last weekend. I, of course, was pretty psyched. (See previous posts in which I describe how hot he is.) So, he calls me the day before to work out the details of when and where. He mentions that he lives near this nice beach area where there are a bunch of great little restaurants, so, if the weather’s nice, we could just walk from his place. Quaint restaurants near the ocean, romantic evening walk back to his place – sounds perfect. Except for one little snag. I eye my closet. And the ridiculously high pair of pink strappy heels I’d picked out to wear.

“Um… how long of a walk is it?” I asked.

“Not far.”

I bite my lip, eyeing those adorable pink heels. “Hmm…”

As any gal who has ever spent any time in really adorable shoes knows, they are not made for walking. Walking equals blisters which equals pain which equals cutting the evening short when you really wanted to spend a little more time getting to know one yummy firefighter.

“So,” I ask, “exactly how far is not far? Because I need to know how high my heels can be.”

He laughs. Hard. But, luckily he’s read THESE BOOTS WERE MADE FOR STRUTTING and knows how serious I am about my shoes. He promises it’s not that far, but maybe not stiletto friendly. With one last longing look at my pink heels, I dig into my closet while on the phone with him, searching for a pair that still scream “yowza!” while being able to take me on a short hike to the restaurant and back.

But, as I’m discarding pair after teeteringly tall pair, the most amazing thing happens. Mr. Firefighter says, “Tell you what – you wear whatever pair of heels you want, and we’ll plan the rest of the evening around that.”

I freeze. Did he just say what I think he said?

“Seriously?” I ask, my gaze pinging back to my adorably pink shoes.

“Seriously. Hey, the world should revolve around your shoes.”

Wow. Someone pinch me. Finally a guy who gets it!

So, we end up driving (yay!) to this great little Italian restaurant in Santa Cruz. For any of you that have read Melanie Jackson’s novella in STRUTTING, you might have an idea what Santa Cruz is like. For anyone who hasn’t yet, people who live there have adopted a slogan - Keep Santa Cruz Weird. And they’re serious. It’s the most anything-goes, eclectic mix of people you can imagine, all stuck together in one funky little beach town. I love it. And the restaurant we went to was pure Santa Cruz. It was called Lucio’s and owned by this cool Italian guy named, you guessed it, Lucio.

Lucio is a skinny, energetic, spitting image of Albert Einstein. And he knows it. Alongside portraits of himself, posters of Einstein are pasted all over the walls of his restaurant. In one corner of the room, a TV was playing the movie Borat. At every good scene, Lucio would jump up and down, directing all eyes to the TV. (Nothing like two nekkid Kazakhstani guys wrestling to fuel your appetite, right?) He spent the entire evening laughing, joking in his loud, heavily accented voice, bouncing from one table to another kissing people on the cheek. (I counted. He got me 8 times.) He was like the Energizer Bunny. On speed. With big fluffy white hair. He made the whole restaurant feel like one big party. Especially when he put on the dance music, did a booty dance across the dinning room, and pulled out colored wigs for all the cooks to wear. No joke. Sorry the pic is so blurry (it’s hard to shoot straight with your phone when you’re laughing so hard you’re crying), but, yes, that is a man in pink braids and one in a platinum bob with a bow in his(her?) hair. I think there was a blue afro somewhere, too. Lucio himself - possessing wild enough hair naturally - opted for an Indiana Jones hat instead (“Look at me, I’m Indy! I’m-a de Indiana Jones, everybody!")

Needless to say, I think I burned off every calorie off my incredibly tasty meal laughing that night. Way too much fun. I can't wait to go back.

So, what are your favorite restaurants and what keeps you going back?


~Trigger Happy Halliday


P.S. Happy Friday the 13th everyone! (cue ominous music...)

18 comments:

Terri Osburn said...

Screw the restaurants, Mr. Firefighter sounds perfect. LOL! I can't believe he said that about the world revolving around your shoes. You might want to check him for some electrical panel in the back because I'm positive he can't be real.

Now, no cool restaurants here. Not that I've found anyway. But I need to get out more.

Christie Craig said...

Thank you Terrio!

As I was reading I was wondering if anyone else would notice she left out all the good parts about the date.

But then...not telling, can be more telling that anything.

What do you guys think?

Crime Scene Christie

Anonymous said...

Christie and Gemma,
I was thinking the same, that you left out all the good parts about the date. OK, spill it. I need something to take my mind off still having no power and more storms headed for the Detroit area

Linda C

Hellie Sinclair said...

Exactly. What happened with the delicious fireman!? I mean, "Wear what you want, we'll plan the date around it"? I think I swooned.

SPILL. SPILL.

Gemma Halliday said...

Lol! Come on, you really think I'd kiss and tell? ;) (Okay, fine, I do that all the time.) After dinner we went back to his place where I met his nephew (one of the most clean cut teenagers I've ever seen), then we watched a movie on the sofa until the sound of George Clooney's soothing voice started putting me to sleep. A nice time was had by all. :)
(Hey, it's a PG13 blog, that's the best you're getting.)

~Gemma

Terri Osburn said...

This woman is evil. Eeeevil! LOL!

At least I'm happy to hear happy dating stories instead of those frightening ones. Gives me hope. Not much as I'm not an adorable little blond with huge talent, but a little.

Gemma Halliday said...

adorable little blond with huge talent

And Terrio is now my new best friend. :)

Terri Osburn said...

Don't encourage me too much. LOL! You might not feel the same after I squeel at you in San Fran.

Anonymous said...

Oh, your fireman sounds heavenly!!! And the restaurant sounds hysterical! :)

catslady said...

Oh wonderful - it sounds like you found a good one this time lol. I never was into shoes because I have these terribly skinny feet that nothing ever fits (sigh).

Gemma Halliday said...

oh yay, terrio's going to be in SF! You must come to the Killer Fiction panel. It's first thing Sat morning. (yeah, I SO didn't pick that time.)

~Gemma

Terri Osburn said...

I haven't gotten around to even looking at the schedule for San Fran but you better believe I'll fit in the Killer Fiction panel. Wouldn't miss that!

But, uh, who did you guys tick off to get that slot? LOL!

Gemma Halliday said...

No kidding! I'm not sure what about us screamed "morning person".

Keri Ford said...

This is tooo cute of a story. Firefighter sounds awesome, when do we got to meet him Gemma? you know, after all these dating stories, I feel like you should be bringing him to blog so we can make sure he's up to scratch!

Gemma Halliday said...

Funny you should mention that, Keri. I actually took the plunge and gave him a link to the blog this morning. We'll see if he follows it when he gets home from work tomorrow.

~Gemma

Jill James said...

What a fun sounding date! And what a catch, better reel him in. :)

Anonymous said...

you missed one very important detail ms halliday...it's lucio...not luciano. great read otherwise. i promise i'll never plan a date that requires walking as i can't wait to see those vertigo-inducing pink strappy heels! one last comment to all you curious readers...the sexy, lipstick red hells she did choose never came off that night. does that mean it was it PG13?...not even close!

Gemma Halliday said...

Gah! You're right. I added an extra syllable. Here it is:
http://www.caffelucio.com
If you go to the "about Lucio" page you can even see a picture of the Italian Einstein himself.