I once imagined myself sitting in the park, watching happy couples and sighing to myself when a handsome gentleman approaches me. He snaps his fingers and a beautiful red rose appears. He hands it to me with a dazzling grin. A smile instantly spreads across my face and I become entranced as he says, “This is the best magic trick I have performed yet.” I look at him curiously and ask, “You mean making the rose appear?” He chuckles and shakes his head. “No, making a beautiful lady smile.”

Every girl fantasizes about the perfect date, but what guys don’t know is that they can be perfectly happy with simple acts of thoughtfulness too.

On dating shows, the host would ask a female player, “What is your ideal date?” The most generic answer you can hope for is: A nice dinner at a restaurant, followed by a moon-lit walk along the beach and a perfect good-night kiss. Or better yet, the movie Miss Congeniality when the Pageant Host asked Miss Rhode Island to describe her idea of a perfect date. Cheryl (Miss Rhode Island) said “That’s a tough one. I’d have to say April 25th. Because it’s not too hot, not too cold, all you need is a light jacket.”

I’ve been on some really good dates and also some really bad ones. One man in particular had made reservations at a very nice restaurant. I spent three hours getting dressed and one of those hours was spent fixing my long blonde hair. He shows up in his convertible with the top down. The guy was having such a good time on this beautiful warm evening but the summer breeze was totally ruining my hair! I hated to ask him to put the top up. We walked into the upper scale establishment and I resembled something close to The Lion King.

Another experience with bad date was on a diet. He ordered just a salad and water. I felt very awkward ordering anything at all. Hell hath no fury like a woman starved. Even if you don’t go to a fancy restaurant, you can at least get coffee with dessert, a burger after getting drinks or even a tub of popcorn while watching a movie. Make her happy by not keeping her hungry.

And guys, chivalry is not dead. Open doors for her, pull her chair out and complement her on her appearance because I’m sure she spent hours trying to look nice for you.

Dating is simple; take her out and make her feel like the most beautiful girl in the world. Just being there for her and spending time with her is all she needs to have the perfect date that every girl wishes for.

Written by: Julie Anne Patrick