One of my favorite Sex and the City episodes is the one when Carrie decides she’s dating New York City or, truth be told, dating herself. She does fabulous NYC-type things in her designer duds and it all looks amazing. In one scene, she gets caught in the rain and is offered sheltered under a handsome stranger’s umbrella. Le sigh!
In real life, there’s me; no designer clothes on my non-profit-professional budget, but a handsome stranger did offer me shelter from the rain at a bus stop not long ago, and for that and many other reasons I’m fully aware that my life is only as fabulous as I make it.
It was the first really beautiful day of spring and though it was still too chilly to be outside, being at home felt like a waste of a day. What to do? What to do?
I took a mental inventory of my friends, trying to think of who might be up for a last minute outing and then changed my mind. I didn’t feel like waiting. I was hungry and brunch at my favorite little café (shoutout to Café Bella where the coffee is great, and the food is fresh, and organic) near my apartment sounded delicious. The date was on. I got dressed to impress myself (doesn’t take much, I’m easy) and walked over to enjoy a great meal and a wonderful afternoon with my own thoughts.
I’d almost forgotten about that day, which reminded me of years ago when I went out alone quite a bit, until last week when my good friend told me that she had spent her evening shooting pool…by herself! My immediate reaction? AWESOME!
“Learn to be alone and like it. There is nothing more freeing and empowering than learning to like your own company.” ~Mandy Hale
So remembering the times I’d spent going out to do things I’d normally only do with company, and how much fun I had, and how badass I felt, I’m back on the ‘date myself’ bandwagon and reached out to some of my favorite women to get some date ideas! They shared some great ones, and it was hard to choose just 10, but these are my favorite.
- Shoot pool.
- Music! [Big concert, small venue, anywhere you can enjoy a show].
- Treat yourself to a nice dinner.
- Spending a night at a hotel just because.
- Accept an event invite where you don’t know anyone and make new friends.
- Visit an art studio to paint canvas while enjoying bottle of wine and appetizer.
- Shoe shopping at your leisure or just buying yourself something you normally wouldn’t, such as jewelry.
- Watch that play you can’t talk anyone else into going to.
- Be a tourist in your own city and document your adventures with photos.
- Travel to another city alone is the best! Explore, walk around.
Honorable mentions include: Movies, reading books, and visiting museums and art galleries.
It really doesn’t matter what you do as long as your treat the time and yourself as special. If getting all dressed up makes you feel good then by all means do it. Just because it’s only you doesn’t mean there’s no one to impress.
A huge thanks to my friends for sharing their ideas..
Aileen, Ana, Christina, Eileen, Ezzy, Irma, Laura, Mayra, and Melanie!!
A Libby Blog 
Reblogged this on Avenida M.
The irony. It took me a long time to feel comfortable doing things solo. Of course, it wasn’t until after I’d married and become a mother. lol Great post, amiga. Thanks for including me. ❤