My Final Moments With Tamara

(Edit: Ahhh! I used "brainchild" incorrectly. How embarrassing. I've fixed it now.)

If you haven't checked in for a few days, you might want to read Part I and Part II of my interview with Tamara Duricka, whose brainchild 31 Dates in 31 Days has captured our interest. And now, the answers to the questions you've all been dying to hear:

Tamara, did you feel like Good Morning America portrayed your date with Evan accurately?

I don’t really know. Our date was an extravaganza. Poor Evan, he’s such a good soul. I was so tired, I basically didn’t sleep the night before because I was having a meltdown about who to take on date 31. And I really feel like I don’t know how I fared on the date—my brain was not functioning. I was all over the place. Part of me was working as the TV producer, trying to be normal and enjoy myself, part of me was so glad it was over, and then part of me was trying to figure out what was going on in Evan’s head, AND trying to play it all cool. (How many parts did I just say?) Man, I hope they didn’t portray it accurately.

If you’ll tell us, who were the runners-up for the 2^nd date?

Here’s the thing. One of the guys someone kept sending votes from the same IP address, so he was in the top 3 of the polls, but someone rigged his votes. We won’t say his name. Jonathan was the other guy (besides Evan) who did really well in the polls. He’s the kind of guy you have to swoon a little when you say his name. He’s perfect. He’s great. Jared, the wedding ring guy, was also popular in the polls. Lots of people voted for Nick, the actor and lots of people liked Adam. And Tyson. And people told me that they would have voted for Tyler, the doctor, but he wasn’t on the list because he wasn’t available for the second date.

I don’t know that I really had a top 5. I would definitely go out again with most of them.

Have you been communicating with any of the guys besides Evan? Gone on any other 2^nd dates?

I’ve communicated with a lot of them. Most of them were so cool about me going out on V-day with the 2^nd date. Some of them have asked me out on 2^nd dates, but I haven’t gone out with any of them. I haven’t committed either way; I guess I'm stalling.

Did any of the guys get a good night kiss? If not, did you want some of them to kiss you?

There was one guy who was all over me, which I was not going for. He was really trying to lay it on thick the whole night. I almost want to send him an email and give him some hints on what not to do on a first date. He’s a nice guy and I’m friendly with him but I don’t want to have to carry mace on my dates. The other dates were all G-rated, which was how I wanted it to be.

Are you bored now that you don’t have a date every night?

YES! (Laughter) And in fact, on day 30, I had a daytime date, and so I was home on Friday night, feeling sorry for myself that I wasn’t on a date. I knew it was ridiculous, but it was true.

Now, tell us as much about Evan as you can without getting into trouble. How are things “heating up” with you two? Have you been on more dates with him? What do you think of him?

What’s crazy is, when I talk to people now, they don’t ask how I’m doing—they just ask how Evan is and when I’m seeing him next. And I’m like, “What about me? Don’t you care about me?” Everyone at work is always asking about him because they got to meet him and know about the project, so after our 3rd date, I went into work and got grilled.

I think it's pretty safe to say that I think Evan is the bee's knees. I feel my best self when I'm around him, I have the utmost respect for him, and I blush like a school girl when I talk about him. So I think those are good signs. I think he's pretty incredible. He's so caring, down-to-earth, funny, smart, and he's real. I dig that. And yeah, I just really dig him.

Even after spending the whole day with him, he'll leave and I'll think, "Oh no! Why did that have to end so quickly?"

I'm at a great point in my life where I'm being extremely active in deciding what I want to do and who I want to date without being influenced by other people's opinions. That feels really empowering. And I really like Evan. And no matter how things end up with us, I really like the fact that I know my feelings about him and for him are genuine and not fearful. That's almost as great a feeling as it is just being around him.

Wow. Dear readers, wasn't that great? Is your heart going pitter-pat like mine? Evan, we know you're reading! Please leave a comment!:) We'd love to hear from you again.

Thank you to Tamara for sharing so much with us on this little old blog and for daring to follow through on a great idea. You have provided not only great entertainment, but have taught us about hope, courage, love, romance, living in the moment, looking for the good in everyone, and chasing your dreams.We hope you really do find what you are looking for.