Each month, we set two daters up at a restaurant, give them free food and drinks, then wait for the magic to happen. This month's Blind Date, we set Leanna and Charles up for a special night at Salt in Boulder.

Meet The Daters

Charles


Hometown: St. Charles, Illinois
Age: 32
Current job: Forestry technician and arborist
Zodiac sign: Pisces
Pets: One dog, Willow — she’s six years old and the most amazing dog on the planet.
First concert: Lalapalooza, 2007
Most recent concert: Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
Longest Relationship: 8 years
What’s your type: Athletic, open minded and has that Midwest charm.
Deal breakers: Dishonesty. That pretty much sums it up.
My friends would describe me as: Energetic, stuck on rabbit, nonstop.
Guilty pleasure: Chocolate, dessert, and ice cream. Sweet Cow’s Larry’s Chocolate Madness is my favorite.
Celebrity crush: Anne Hathaway

 

Leeanna


Hometown: Florence, Wisconsin
Age: 31
Current job: I am a writer. I’m writing a book about myself!
Zodiac sign: Leo
Pets: I don’t have any. Commitment issues. I like animals, but I do not want a pet for myself right now.
First concert: Chingy
Most recent concert: The Chainsmokers
Longest Relationship: 4 years
What’s your type: I like people who are different from me. In the past, I’ve dated a lot of foreign men, and now I’m looking for people who have different interests that I can learn about.
Deal breakers: Someone who isn’t willing to get to know themselves fully.
My friends would describe me as: Brave, confident, honest, and fun.
Guilty pleasure: Portlandia and dark chocolate.
Celebrity crush: Denzel Washington

Round 1

Rooster's blind date success rate needed a bump, so we pulled out all the stops: booked a beautiful evening at a fancy establishment, carefully selected the hungriest daters we could find and sat back to let nature work its frisky magic.

Describe your dating life in three words:
C: First date in awhile.
L: Open to openness.

Have you ever been on a blind date before?
C: No. The opportunity never presented itself.
L: No. I’ve never had the opportunity until I saw it in Rooster and submitted myself!

Where do you usually meet potential partners?
C: I’m not much of a technology person, so I usually meet people out climbing, in the city or out at a park.
L: When I used to party, I’d meet them at the bar. Now, I’m a Lyft driver and they say ride-sharing is the new dating app. Love is blind in an Uber!

What’s your pickup strategy?
C: Try to be myself and be comfortable in my element and do what I do best.
L: I used to write my number on a piece of paper and I’d slap it in their hand. If you want it you gotta go for it!

What were you thinking before the date?
C: I was nervous. I had a million thoughts running through my head. Like how do I impress someone who I’ve never met before and I know nothing about.
L: I hope this person is open.

Did your friends give you any advice before the date?
C: Yeah. The best advice was to be myself.  
L: No, because I love dating.

What are you looking for with a partner?
C: Ultimately, I want to have a family one day, somebody who can handle my nonstop, always-go-get-it attitude.  Leeanna seems like she could handle it. I’m optimistic.
L: Someone who is stable, adventurous and healthy.

When was your last relationship?
C: It ended in 2019 or maybe February of 2020.
L: Serious, two years ago.  Not serious, maybe six months ago.

How are the first impressions?
C: I was impressed, she liked the flowers so I thought that was a good start. She seems very friendly and came off with that Midwest charm which I like.  She’s a winner.
L: Natural, fun. He’s a really nice person.

Are you attracted to your date?
C: I am.
L: Yes. He has a nice smile and he’s so good at conversation. We fall in love and lust between the ears.

Round 2

Leeanna might be able to stop using Lyft as a dating service, because Charles seems into her! At least, he's pleasently surprised that she doesn't have a hunchback. But Round II is the round of truth. Let's see how it goes…

How’s it going overall?
C: I would say I think it’s going excellent. She’s talkative and making me smile just as much as I’m making her smile, I think.
L: Overall, it is great. I am pleasantly surprised and I have respect for him. He’s a really good person.  But I have a very wild past.  I wonder sometimes with guys like this what they would think of my past.

What’s something interesting or unique about themselves that your date has shared with you?
C: It’s interesting that she was from Wisconsin. She’s a proponent of mental health and I think that’s really cool.
L: He does competitive tree competitions and that is really cool!

On a scale of 0-5, how is the chemistry?
C: I would say a four. Or five. I feel like there’s a pretty good connection.
L: I can never tell if people are into me. I would say seven?

Do you have any major similarities or differences?
C: I wouldn’t say any major differences. At least none that I picked up on. But similarities I think we’re both very in tune with our mental health and physical health. She mentioned she likes to run. I think she’s more passionate about mental health than physical health which I find very attractive.
L: Major similarities, where we grew up. Differences, how we were raised. He was raised with great parents and I was raised like I was in a reality show.

How was dinner?  What did you get?
C: Oh my gosh it was so good. I got the plant-based cassoulet. I also tried her seafood one which was also good. I think I liked hers more than mine.
L: I got the Cacciucco (fish stew) and it was really good. I like fish. It’s great for depression.

Is Salt a good spot for a date?
C: Absolutely. Top 5 spots of all time. I haven’t been on a lot of dates in Boulder, but Salt is definitely amazing.
L: Yeah! It’s really fun and they have a great menu.

Would you go on another date with each other?
C: I would. I probably would want to do something without food, like take her for a hike with my dog. Get to know her more intimately.
L: Yes. We’d do something outside and nature-y. He’s very into nature and that’s so cool.

Where do you want the rest of the night to go?
C: I was planning to ask her out to ice cream, but it sounds like we’re getting dessert here. So maybe I want to see if she’d be down to go for a walk with my dog tonight. And I would want to kiss her.
L: Dessert and late-night conversation. A little dessert (wink). When you date sober, it’s like you’re dating for the first time.

Are you hoping for a goodbye kiss?
C: Yeah! I would say I’m hopeful for that.
L: Sure!

Anything more?
C: No, I’m not that kind of person. I’m perfectly content with a kiss. I know that’s boring, but …
L: No! I don’t even know how you date anymore!

Round 3

Woah, woah, woah… what's happening, here? Is this actually working!? Sweating mother of Cupid! We've got a live one here! Not wanting to interfere with the fireworks show we left the daters to their evening and caught up with them after the weekend, to see where the night took them.

What happened after Rooster left?
C: We went back to my house, she met my dog Willow and she went home after that.
L: We shared two delicious desserts and talked late into the evening.

Did Rooster find a match?
C: There’s potential, but it sounded like maybe we both aren’t committed enough to the distance.
L: I’m happy we met, I think we’ll stay in touch.

Was there a goodbye kiss?
C: There was a goodbye kiss. 
L: Yes and it was fabulous.

How about a second (or third) date?
C: Second yes. Third, to be determined.
L: We went on a second date in Golden.  Got burgers and hiked, it was fun.

Overall, how was it?
C: It was great! Over the weekend we hiked Apex Park in Golden, one of my favorite places.  It’s the Enchanted Forest. I brought her out there, we had a great hike, we ate in Golden, and I came home.  No kiss on the 2nd date.
L: It was a great experience.  My first blind date and I would try something like this again.

Do you have any advice for future Blind Daters?
C: Be open.  I like it a lot more than internet dating.  Whatever that means!  I’m still optimistic, and I think others should be too.
L: Be yourself, have fun and feel proud that you put yourself out there.

Do you have any regrets from last night?
C: No regrets. “No regrats!”
L: No, I learned a lot about myself.

What’s next in your dating life?
C: To be determined. Hopefully more blind dates. 
L: I am over online dating.  I want to try meet-ups.

Is there anything you want to end with?
C: Always keep it 69!
L: Keep going, it gets better!

Conclusion

Mission success! Put us on the board! We have liftoff, baby!! Maybe it was the setting at Salt, the food and booze, the daters or just all our Rooster elbow grease, but this date couldn't have been more of a success. Sure, date #2 didn't end in date #3, and sure, they might still both be single today — but that's on them. We're marking this one as a Rooster "Win!"

 

Submit a Dater!

Do you or a loved one suffer from loneliness? Do you like free food and drinks? If you are 21 or older, then you may be entitled to a Rooster Blind Date!

Email us at contact@theRooster.com with you or your friend's dating preferences, where you live and a photo!