Advice for dating, first impressions, and getting to know someone new.
My friend Priya texted me from a Denver brewery one snowy Thursday in March. It was 7:35 at night, and her second date had just begun. Cole had walked in for trivia night with his buddy Marcus right behind him. He grinned and said “Marcus was bored, so I brought him” to her. Priya had … Read more
A reader named Jenna wrote to me at 1:15 in the morning one hot July night. She had just come home from a first date in Atlanta. Derek had picked a fancy steakhouse in Buckhead for 8 that evening. He ordered a $190 bottle of wine before she even sat down. The final bill was … Read more
My friend Sana almost moved in with a guy named Derek last year. It was a Thursday night in late October, around 9pm. Derek lived twelve minutes from her office, which mattered more than it should. He handed her a spare key and said it just made sense. Sana told me she nodded, though something … Read more
I met Jake at a bookstore cafe at 6:15 on a Tuesday. I ordered plain black coffee and my hands were shaking a little. He asked what I was reading before he even sat down fully. That one question told me more than his profile pictures ever did. Three years and one closed distance later, … Read more
I was sitting on my childhood bed on a Thursday at 9:15 at night. It was late summer and I was home from college for only two weeks. My phone buzzed with a message asking if we could video call first. We had talked for a month online but never once seen each other live. … Read more
I met Daniel at a taco spot on Sixth Street at 7:15 on a Thursday. Forty minutes in, he said he could see himself marrying someone like me. My stomach flipped and I could not tell if that was excitement or a warning. Five years later, I finally know how to tell the two apart. … Read more
Theo texted me “wanna hang out this weekend” nine days after we matched on an app. I stared at that word for way too long. Hang out could mean anything from a movie to a group bonfire with strangers. I did not know which one to expect that Friday. We were both twenty-four and neither … Read more
My friend Priya called me at 9:15 on a Sunday night, annoyed. Nolan had just canceled their third date in a row. She met him on a hiking app three weeks earlier in Portland. Every date felt promising until the cancel text arrived. This time his excuse was a sick roommate he had never mentioned. … Read more
My friend Renata texted me from a brunch spot bathroom at 11:20 on a Sunday. She had been sitting across from her match for six minutes. Her message that morning was only five words long. She typed it fast: I almost walked back out. Cole looked like a different person than his photos showed. Same … Read more
My friend Marisol met me for coffee at 7:15 on a Saturday morning. Her phone sat face up on the table the whole hour. She had been texting a guy named Trevor for five straight weeks. They had never once been in the same room. She showed me his last message and read it out … Read more
