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Rather than grind on, this week, about the strange dates that walk off line and into my evenings, I compiled a list of the four best invitations my love life has ever received. They range from sweet, well-orchestrated date requests, to white-hot, wordless pathways to sin. In the spirit of imagining what I love about love, here are my favorites.

Prom
Jay’s kisses tasted like Butter Brickle Haagen Daz ice cream. Seventeen years old and giddy from our fall, we would stand on the porch and kiss goodnight under spring stars. One night, he told me to look for the note he left me on the stove. Back in the house, I wondered if it had burned—strange place to leave a note—until my dad pointed to the colorful alphabet magnets on the side of the oven. They spelled out: “Prom with me?”

First Date
A blind date, Skip, and I decided to meet on busy Bleecker Street in NYC. He would recognize me because of the pink pastry box I held, and I would recognize him for the teapot he picked up at a tea shop. We found each other and had magical fun. When the day ended, I got sad and confided that second dates were never as fun as the first. So, he invited me on another first date. We had a blast.

Booked
One Monday, a colleague handed me a wrapped package with a smirk on her face. It was a book, inscribed by a cute guy I had met at her birthday party the weekend before. His inscription asked me out. I loved the secret admirer nature of his sneaking a gift on me through a friend. I loved that he found a way to surprise and delight me by being keen to our party conversation.

Steamy Surprise
Ennio and I were the last two remaining at a good friend’s party. Our friend had long since gone to bed and left us the house. For years, Ennio and I had circled around each other but never romantically. Until this night, between laughs and kitchen clean up, he planted a kiss on me that transported us into the universe, and then the pantry where our clothes disappeared—and our innocence, before we knew it. The affair lasted two years.

Now tell me yours.