Dating During the Holidays

If you've just started dating someone, the holidays can be a little awkward.  Should you introduce your new girl or guy to your family?  Does that person get an automatic invite to holiday dinners?  Should you buy some type of present?  These are all difficult questions for a new relationship during any holiday season.

My advice is to get something small, but don't go too overboard.  You don't want to seem needy, yet you don't want to seem insensitive.  Even though Easter is around the corner and not Christmas, it can still be weird.  Some people make a big fuss over Easter, too.

For guys, a cute basket full of candy is probably a good gift.  Just make sure to get something masculine, like a blue basket, a basket shaped like a football, a camouflage basket, etc.  For women, flowers or an Easter basket is usually plenty enough.  If she likes stuffed animals, just a big, cute bunny is a sweet idea.

The key is not over doing it and looking desperate.  The holidays are certainly an awkward time in dating if you let it be that way, but it is not that hard to get by with a little planning.

The Truth About Match

I have given up on using Match.com.  I am currently dating someone and do not wish to meet anyone else at this time, but also, I am pretty feed up with Match.  After paying for their service, I never found it to be better than the free sites.  Actually, I believe OKCupid and Plenty of Fish are just as good, if not better than Match.

After my subscription ended, I realized Match still kept my account active.  Even though I no longer wanted to be on the site and had cancelled my subscription, it still looked as if I was using the site and as if I was looking for dates.  This explains why there are so many "dead profiles" on Match.  No wonder so many emails go unnoticed on Match.  Even after you cancel, users can still find your profile and assume you are active.

What you have to do to really take down your account on Match is go back into the site after your subscription is over and cancel your account.  My information is still saved, but I am no longer searchable.  I am now skeptical about many of the tactics used on the site.  I would recommend to anyone starting to use online dating sites to try all the free sites first.  Sure, they probably use some shady tactics as well, but at least they are free to use, and when you deactivate your account, it is truly deactivated.

3 Guys Named Chris In 3 Weeks

I can honestly say I'd never dated a single guy named Chris before 2013.  I have experienced some not so great encounters with guys named Chris in the past, so perhaps that is why I never wanted to date a man named Chris.  However, I decided that was silly this year. 

I was approached by 3 different guys named Chris since the beginning of January.  Since they all seemed like good guys, I thought, "This must mean something!  I am supposed to be a with a man named Chris!"  Turns out, no, it did not mean that at all.

I went out with a Chris a week.  So basically, I dated 3 guys named Chris in 3 weeks.  It turns out, it really did not work out with either of them.  One of them was an Elvis impersonator (no, I am not kidding) and just not my type.  I decided one of the other guys could very well be totally nuts and out to kill me.  The other Chris was pretty cool, but abruptly stopped talking to me.  Sigh... scared another man away!

Oh well.  For now, I am going to have a strict anti-Chris rule.  I need to date other guys NOT named Chris.  My experiences were not so great, but hey, not that many people can say they dated 3 dudes named Chris in 3 weeks, so I guess it was worth it.

Back to POF

So the day finally came...  just like everyone in my life knew it would happen... I am back on Plenty of Fish.  After a couple of months of frustration with Match, I went back to POF, which is easier to use with plenty more options.

Within 2 hours, I already had more emails sent to me by different men than I had the entire 2 months of using Match.  Now I am not going to say they are all the best quality, but neither were all the messages on Match either.  It is nice to be able to choose from a wider variety of guys as far as dating options go.

So far, I've already gone out with one guy I met on Plenty of Fish and have another date set up with a different guy, and I only rejoined last Tuesday.  The guy I just met yesterday was actually super creepy and I am just happy to say I survived the experience.  I certainly hope the next guy is better!

For now I am pretty happy with my decision to return to Plenty of Fish.  I created an entirely new profile with a new screen name, so I have managed to avoid talking to some of the same creepy dudes for the past.  However, a couple have already found me again and they are blocked again.  Sigh.  Some things never change!

Happy New Year!

Now that the holiday season is finally over, it is time to start focusing on making online dating work again.  Yes, the dreaded day has arrived.  Although I have been using Match.com for over a month, I've only went out with 2 guys.  Let's see how the site works now that the holiday season has ended.  I have a theory that everyone was too busy for the past month, but we'll see how it measures up now.  It might be time to give Plenty of Fish a try again!

For now, let us focus on the new year and let's be happy that 2012 is over.  Happy New Year!  Best of luck for finding better dates in 2013!