The date from the movies.

For mine and Alex’s fourth date, it was my turn to plan our time together. We were getting together after work on a Friday, so the possibilities for activities were endless. In Time Out that week, I saw that there was an free art show happening in Brooklyn Bridge Park, with food from Smorgasburg. Sounded like the perfect New York Friday night.

Alex and I met on the corner near my apartment, my heart pounded out of my chest as he approached. I couldn’t wait to kiss him again, to continue to spend time with him. He gave me a quick kiss, grabbed my hand and we were off on our adventure of food and art.

The show was fascinating; it was all about human experiences. There was action shots of athletes, a documentary about a roadtrip cross country, maps of the water crisis around the globe. Alex continually made fun of my “serious art face.” We wandered under the lights of the bridge, weaving in and out of the mini galleries, holding hands and stealing kisses.

The ghost.

This post was written by Lane’s BFF from high school. More on Jaclyn’s story here and here.

After my experience with Nick, I wasn’t feeling super confident about the dating game, but kept up with my apps anyways.

I was swiping on Tinder after a work trip and came across Nate. He was in the restaurant business and seemed cute. I almost swiped left on him, but then I had another sip of wine and said “fuck it.” We matched and I let him message me first.

We exchanged numbers and agreed to meet up a couple days later. He was everything I could’ve asked for: cute, smart, funny, successful, blah blah blah I would go on, but he fucking sucks, come to find out.

The date went well, he paid for everything, and walked me home. He even texted me after the date to say how much fun he had. How on earth did I find this guy!?

We went on several more dates and I really started to like this guy. He was so charming and wasn’t clingy. He would call me over texting me- who does that?! He would look at me the way I look at my food when it arrives at a restaurant. I was so happy.

First dating experience in the new city.

This post was written by Lane’s BFF from high school. More on Jaclyn’s story here.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t go on dates to get free stuff. But, if you are trying to impress me, buying me a beer and/ or food is the way to go.

I was feeling optimistic and ballsy in my new city and decided to agree to a date with Nick.  He texted me the day we were supposed to meet and kept pushing out the time of our meeting. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people are tardy, but alas, I forced myself to go. I walked to the brewery we were meeting at, and still waited a few minutes for his arrival. Ugh.

Nick was attractive and seemed nice in our text exchanges. We get to the brewery and he buys the first round- awesome!

Two dates in one night…part 2

(For the first part of this story, click here.) 

Before I even made it to the second bar to meet Doug, I already had a text from Alex: “I can’t believe Mr. Kaplan helped Lizzy get away,” with a picture of his TV.

I couldn’t help but smile. This incredibly beautiful and successful man was texting me and watching the TV show I had just spoiled for him 45 minutes earlier.

When I got to the other bar, Doug had a beer waiting for me. I ordered a water and tried to hide the fact that I was 3 beers and 2 shots deep.

Two dates in one night…part 1

The day had finally arrived. I was going on my first date in almost four years…make that two dates. I was meeting Alex at 6 for hour happy and then Doug at 9:30 for after dinner drinks.

I was nervous, excited and 100% convinced that I would mess it up somehow. But it was too late to bail on either of them, so at the very least I knew it would make a great story.

Alex was waiting for me outside the bar, looking even better than his pictures. He was wearing a suit, which was hilarious with my top and jeans and we laughed at the differences in our company dress codes.

Killing two birds with one stone…

After a week or so of casual chatting with a few guys, it was time to take the plunge and go on the dreaded first first date in 4 years! There were two contenders for who it could be: Alex or Doug.

Alex. 28. Ivy league graduate. Consultant for EY on the partner track. Gorgeous olive skin and a mysterious smile that told you he was a good balance of a nice guy who wanted you to believe he was bad boy.

Doug. 27. Pediatric surgeon nurse. Jersey boy. Cute, genuine smile with an awesome tattoo sleeve.

Creating the perfect balance of sexy and fun

I quickly realized that meeting people IRL just doesn’t happen in NYC (after a few weekends of only getting hit on by married men…stories for another time), so I reluctantly downloaded Bumble (girl power!) and Hinge (so the people aren’t total randos, right?)

After approximately 38,392 versions of my profile and many texts to my girlfriends (Do I look skinnier in this picture or this picture? Is this joke as funny as I want it to be?  Does this photo make me look fun or utterly ridiculous? – usually it was the latter), I finally put myself out there into the cyber dating world.

Here’s the recipe I’ve discovered for making a great profile:

Don’t you wish there was Yelp for dudes?

This post was written by Lane’s BFF from high school. This blog was her idea.

Greetings!

Guest writer Jaclyn here.

A little about me… I am also a twenty-something but live in the sunny city of Denver, CO. I have been in Menver, as they call it, less than a year. I needed a change of scenery and Denver has exceeded my expectations. Though this isn’t a blog about moving, I would say that packing my life into a Uhaul trailer and moving across the country on a whim has given me a lot more confidence and independence.

I didn’t date around much in college; I focused more on drinking studying, but with my newfound confidence and slew of Save the Dates from friends, I have decided to dive head first into the dating world. Plus, it gives me a reason to try new places in the city while dragging the potential love of my life along.

Since a new city doesn’t offer me an abundance of friends to set me up with their cute guy friends, my dates are found using dating apps for the time being. Sure, it’s not the most romantic idea that I found a guy on Tinder, but it can make for a helluva good story.

I haven’t changed the names of the guys because IDGAF.

The date that lasted 25 minutes.

After telling you about my ridiculously wonderful night, I feel it’s only fair to tell you about my worst date ever. There were a lot of signs leading up to the date that I should not go, but I figure every one deserves a chance.

Tony and I had been exchanging texts for about a week and a half when we decided to meet up. He was 34, from California, an athlete and good at witty banter. He asked for my neighboorhood and said he would pick a wine bar. We decided to get together on a Sunday and I let him handle the details.

The first red flag came the day before. While confirming the location and time, he sent me a string of completely incoherent texts.

How did we get here?

This is a question I ask myself a lot. Don’t get me wrong, I love my life; but it’s not exactly where I saw myself in my mid-twenties. I’ve been in NYC for 2 and a half years and I’ve been single for about 6 months. When I moved to the city, I was still dating my college boyfriend. He was staying back home to finish school and we were going to be the couple who made the long distance thing work.

Here’s where you can say “I told you so,” because after 2 years of great weekend trips, phone fights and changed life plans, we ended things. I hadn’t been on a first date in almost 4 years, so I relied on my friends to help me figure out how to climb back on the dating horse.