Meet our daters: Dana Neill | Sally Colson Cline | Michael Amesquita | Kate Searby | Max Schwartz | Lucas Wall 

Editor’s note: In an effort to protect the privacy of our diarists’ dates, our updates are on a slight time delay.

In this week’s installment, one of our daters makes a move and another realizes it’s time to say goodbye to one of her dates. That’s not the only farewell: In our last update, we said goodbye to one of our diarists, but later this week we’ll say hello to a new dater.

Michael Amesquita finally asked Choir Girl to hang out. Unfortunately, she already had plans but asked Michael if he wanted to join the group. “We hung out there for a while,” he says. “I met a lot of her friends, and later she invited me to go caroling. I’m definitely excited.”

Kate Searby realized it’s time to say goodbye to her Republican Guy. “I think we’re better suited as friends,” she says. “The sparks aren’t quite there. I need to communicate that to him but don’t want to leave him hanging. I don’t think that’s how to treat people. I’m going to call him this week. I just hate hurting people’s feelings. I think being open and honest as soon as possible is good. I’m not looking forward to it, though.”

To celebrate their new relationship, Lucas Wall and Justin went on vacation to Dubai. “My mom works for an airline and was able to get us a steeply discounted ticket, so we decided to take a last-minute trip,” says Wall. “Justin and I chose quite an exotic, far-flung destination for our first trip as a couple—we wanted to go somewhere special and memorable. And it sure was. We had a great time. On the flight home, I thought about how important it is to me to be with somebody who isn’t shy about embarking on new adventures.”

Dana Neil had a busy week with no time away, as is often the case during the holidays. She has plans with her Florida fellow before she heads out of town for work and he goes on vacation. In the meantime, she’s thinking about whether to buy him a Christmas gift. “We’ve been seeing each other for a while, but it’s been pretty casual,” she says. “If I do get him something, it’ll be a CD of an artist we’ve seen together or talked about. I do have tickets to a concert for New Year’s Eve. Maybe I’ll take him to that.”

Max Schwartz went to a holiday party with the girl he’d told about Dating Diaries, and she still isn’t frightened by his participation. At the party, Schwartz didn’t know anyone but his date. “I had to be pretty aggressive about meeting people,” he says. “Otherwise, I was going to stand in a corner or just talk to her the whole time. Neither of those things is a good idea. I had a lot of fun and invited her to go with me to my office party.”