About 100 emails, 20 dates « 100 Emails, 20 Dates

About 100 emails, 20 dates

When my friend Liz turned 40, she decided she had had enough of dating. Or, rather, not dating. Or, rather, both. So she signed up for eHarmony and Match and decided to send 100 emails with the aim of getting 20 dates. If after all that, she didn’t find anyone she was giving up.

The wrinkle in her plan was her then-acquaintance, later-boyfriend, and now-husband. But I thought it was a good idea. So I’m going to try it, and here’s where I’m going to document my efforts — successful, unsuccessful, and hopefully more than occasionally entertaining.

So stay posted for ridiculous Craigslist ads, email exchanges, choice items from Match.com postings, stories about dates, and maybe, somewhere along the line, a ray of hope. Or a book deal.

For the protection of the innocent (and the guilty), I’ll hide everyone’s identities.

So who the hell am I? I'm your typical mid-30s, fairly cute, semi-artsy, pretty intelligent, and fairly modest urban single girl who's spent most of her teen and adult years generally unlucky in love -- at least in the final accounting. There have been some good relationships, some weird ones, and some fairly disastrous ones. You know, just like anyone else.

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Rebecca
October 19th, 2008 - 16:53

Hi,
I’ve enjoyed reading your blog and appreciate the funny and realistic perspective you have on dating and city life. I’m interested in speaking with you about partnering with a new site, http://www.BadOnlineDates.com, through which we can increase both of our web traffic and exposure.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Take care,
Rebecca
http://www.badonlinedates.com
Cherie Burbach
December 8th, 2008 - 13:35

I’m an online dating consultant and writer, and my second dating book, Internet Dating is Not Like Ordering a Pizza, is out now. I was wondering if you’d like to have a copy as part of a giveaway or contest for your readers? Of course I’d LOVE to get your perspective in the form of a review or even an interview. But that’s up to you. The copy is yours regardless.

I sincerely want to help people find a great relationship. I’ve been married for almost five years now, and it’s been the happiest time in my life. The message I want to get across to people is this: I didn’t settle, and you shouldn’t either.

I look forward to hearing from you.
Emily
June 8th, 2009 - 12:58

Hi,
Just wanted to say I really enjoy reading your blog. Keep it up and good luck finding the right guy!
Melinda
August 7th, 2010 - 19:01

I want to thank you for sharing your quest for 100 emails, 20 dates with the world. Last spring, I was feeling pretty down. The last of my siblings was about to be married and I, the eldest, was still alone. I hadn’t been doing much with my various online dating sites, and was pretty burned out on most of them. I decided to give it one last shot. At the time, you were enjoying OKCupid, which I had never heard of, and it was free, so all the better. I checked it out last June, put up a profile, and the most amazing man wrote to me almost immediately. We met, started dating, and we’re now engaged. I give you all the credit for me finding this incredible man; a million thanks to you!
N
August 7th, 2010 - 19:41

This totally made my day! Thanks so much for posting this, and more importantly, congratulations!!! That’s so fabulous that you’ve found the right person for you. I’m so happy for you! And it has everything to do with you–you and your openness to trying a new site that just happened to be the right one. Yay!