Contest Submission 4: Very, Very Large Haystack

Sarah and Carl met on Craigslist. This is them on their honeymoon!

Submitted by Sarah in NY, NY

My theory has always been that you can meet cool people or weirdos anywhere, and that's part of why I've always embraced online dating. I had done the traditional stuff - match.com, jdate, with some success, and I'd done Craigslist before. While I hadn't met anyone really special on CL, I was willing to try again.

I got a lot of responses to my ad. I don't know how many were outright sketchy or inappropriate (it is CL after all!) I remember Carl sent a photo and I thought he was cute. I thought I'd give him a chance.

We emailed a few times back and forth and then after one or two good phone conversations we had our first date. We met at the IFC theater in the West Village right outside the West 4th Subway stop. I recognized him right away and immediately thought he was cuter than his picture. We went for sushi and had an easy conversation, but I wasn't sure he was into me until he said he thought I was more attractive than my pictures - I took that as a good sign. We went for a drink after that and I remember thinking I really wanted to kiss him, but I held myself back. At the end of the date, I know we kissed and he said we should get together again - and I was like "How about Saturday?"

Our third date was 23 hours long, and by the end of it we'd discussed being exclusive. We went out for brunch and I had to sneak off to the bathroom to cancel my coffee date for later that day. I found out later that Carl had a "booty call" that he called off after our first date. I thought that was pretty cool.

We were together 11 months when we got engaged. He proposed outside of a church in Park Slope as we were on our way to a party. It was pretty awesome - I wasn't expecting it, and he just pulled out this ring box. I was shocked. I was so excited I think my exact words were "Holy Shit. Yes!" Then we went to the party and were able to celebrate with friends. Even though I wasn't expecting his proposal, I had known for a couple of months that this was the person I wanted to spend my life with.

We were only engaged six months before getting married September 13, 2008. I know it was fast but I think when you get to a certain age you just know when it's right, and we both had been "out there" a long time. When we got married I was a few months shy of 35 and Carl was 37. Every day we are together I love him more, if that's possible. I'm really enjoying being married. I'm happy to just live our lives and be together. 

Sarah's Original Ad on Craigslist:

Very, very large haystack...swf for swm - 33

Date 3-17-2007

I'm 33 and here's me: attractive, smart, gainfully employed, educated, intellectually curious, fairly low-maintenance, on-time, a bit of a luddite, creative, an introverted extrovert, an optimist, a careful speller, a lover of parenthesis, a scrabble-player, a big reader, a good writer, a decent doodler, a loving sister, a good daughter, a funny kid, a pet-owner, an animal lover, a healthy eater, a sushi adorer, a rare drinker, a world traveler, an adventurous spirit, a liberal, an independent thinker, a cultural fix-needer, a good friend. quirky, but quite sane. 5'2", long brown hair, brown eyes, h/w proportionate. i'm looking for you, and you've been hard to find: 29-44, attractive (to me). 5'7" and taller, preferably. Kind (i.e. you don't kick puppies). a smartie. a generous spirit. a dry-humored fellow. a good friend. a reader. a passionate person. a bit of a romantic. a seeker of chemistry. sane. not a bush regime fan. non-religious. non-married and no kidlets. single. sexy. creative. educated. employed. looking for something serious for mutual world rocking. cynical about CL, and hopefully all the same. pic for pic.

Carl's response to Sarah's Ad on Craigslist:

Hi, I liked your post so I thought I'd write. I've been in the city for a couple years now, live in the west village. Love the city. I could go on and on about things I like to do but instead I'll just say I'm very open-minded and up for anything, can be very spontaneous. I tend to have the best chemistry with women who are down to earth, low maintenance. I am the same way. A little more about me, I'm 5'11", 175, in very good shape as I do work out, but I'm not a gym rat type. Also, if I like you and get to know you I can be very funny if that's your thing. I've attached a pic, would like to get to know you better.    Carl

And the rest is history!!!!