Dating in my Late Twenties: My Battle Plan to Make My Meet-Cutes Happen Part 1

I think the majority of us, as a society, can agree the current dating landscape is rough. I can only speak for some parts of the greater Los Angeles area, but I imagine my struggles can be shared with other single women-presenting individuals within America if not the global terrain.

Here are the options I have presented for myself as possible dating avenues: dating services, singles events, dating apps, joining a club, and meeting someone out in the wild (perhaps a Tarzan within my area?). They all sound great when pitching to your internal board of directors for romance, but once you put them into action, all it feels like is a flurry of stress and excitement with minimal results. It's not really the best for end-of-quarter profits, eh?

Dating services I cannot consider because $3,000 to find the love of my life is just so out of range, and also superficial. Of course, I think the price of true love and companionship is worth more than the quoted price if we had to put a tag on it, but the value should not come from purely a financial basis but from the experience of searching for your person. That means I have to experience fatigue, even though it feels overwhelming at times. Putting in the work and effort while dating is necessary because more of that is needed once you are in the relationship to maintain it and allow it to thrive. Gotta build those good habits now or else I will struggle later on.

I can buy a garden and hire a gardener to tender to it, but if I never take care of it myself, it will never truly be an extension of me. So, in this regard, I cannot give dating services a shot, but also, it really is too damn expensive.

A fantastic alternative, though, is singles events, which I do on the regular for now. Their pricing usually ranges from free to $50 and up. Another price to pay, but understandable. Not that a dating service is not without its need for a type of payment, as both these options need funds to cover hosting and activity costs, on top of paying its employees. But I can afford the events, and they give me a clear picture of what to expect from their advertising in regards to the activity being done without an initial paywall, so that is an upside for me.

The downside is that even though these activities can be fun for the most part, there is no guarantee a match will be available for me. My experience with the singles events right now is I am not able to find anyone attractive enough to try to approach. That may be more of a me issue - I tend to have high standards - so I try not to take it to heart. All I can do is go with little to no expectations and try to have fun, especially when I am with a friend.

Wearing a cute outfit on the regular, like the one shown in this post, is mainly for me and my satisfaction, but it helps if I happen to meet a cutie while out and about. It boosts my confidence when I feel the whiskers of anxiety seep in. I will have to continue this post into part 2 with another lovely outfit, but, for now, enjoy what I have presented for you today.

Categorized into my Ranchera Aesthetic, I have adorned a jeans vest I bought online, layered over a thrifted black crop top with chiffon bishop sleeves; I feel like a princess wearing these types of sleeves. My skirt is also thrifted, and it’s a maxi skirt with blue flowers in its design. For footwear, I decided on black booties to match my sleeves and my small cross-body bag, while wearing blue socks to go with the blue tone of the color palette.