Shore thing...not so much.

Saturday marked a day long in the making--I had planned a surprise birthday dinner for my sister, Steph, and that evening it went off without a hitch. I was so grateful and so relieved. Her close friends and family showed up in droves (we were 25 deep!) for a tasty dinner at one of her favorite places, C.B.O. in Bradley Beach. It was such a great night! And after amazing pizza, delicious cupcakes, a tearful toast and many glasses of wine, we were ready to hit the town.

We started off at Watermark in AP but since it was kind of a laidback scene (read: not only quiet but also no straight men, it appeared) we ended up at Sawa in Pier Village. It was packed, so packed that at first it was kind of awkward to be there as our crew had to maneuver this way and that just to have a place at the bar. Then in a short while it cleared out and soon my good friend Anj and I were seated at a hi-top table near the window.

A large group of cute guys around our age shuffled in and all of a sudden both of us looked at each other thinking the same thing: could there be 'talent' at this little sushi bar tonight, afterall? I noticed one guy right off the bat. He was blonde, cute, had a nice surfer shirt on and kept looking over at our table. I told Anj and she said, "Are you smiling? Are you making a friendly environment?" I laughed at her but realized she was absolutely right. So I smiled--alot--and continued to appear friendly.

In fact, I was so busy staring at one guy that it took me by surprise when another member of their crew crossed the entire bar and headed right towards us instead. His name was Michael and he introduced himself to both of us and struck up a conversation. First he was talking to both of us and then soon he was talking to just me. Game on.

And it was game on with kind of a jedi mind trick mixed in. At first I thought he was only so-so attractive. (I mean he was cute, but I am not sure I would have picked him out of a line-up). Then we talked for a while and I was like, Wow, this guy is great! (Men, you rock at this skill). He is 40, a banker, lives in Weehawken and is straight from Ireland--came here 16 years ago. Even has a little brogue. (Love it!) He's tall. (Hello!) We had a ton of things in common. We laughed. We teased. We talked for close to an hour and a half. (Anj, correct me if I am wrong on that). And really it only felt like 20 minutes because it was so interesting.

During this time, the rest of his crew comes over and talks to all of us. They all seemed like nice guys but Michael was my favorite one out of the bunch. After a while he did that guy thing where he put his foot on the bottom of my barstool and leaned his arm onto the table next to us, essentially marking his territory. And oh, YEAH, I definitely noticed. And loved it. All I kept thinking was, I had this thought I might meet someone nice tonight. Imagine if it actually happened.

So...more time passes and soon Anj and Jenn are ready to go. I am, too. I tell him this and our groups (who had hung together for a while at this point) start saying goodbye to one another. He extends his hand and says, "Maybe I'll see you here again?" To which I reply, "Maybe."

But at this point I am nothing but confused. Let's examine the evidence:

1. Crossed the bar to talk to us (good)

2. Was interesting and kept me interested (good)

3. Talked for a long time (good)

4. Got me drinks (good)

5. Staked out his 'territory' (good)

6. His friends seemed nice (good)

7. Did not ask me for my number (NOT GOOD AT ALL)

So here is my question for you: do I go back to Sawa next weekend in the hopes of running into him again, thus ignoring my own advice? Or do I let it go and chalk it up to a fun night of flirting, knowing that a guy will always ask a girl for her number if he really wants to be with her?

I'd love to hear your thoughts. I am torn. Tall with a brogue, people. Hard to just let that go...