Zanna ❀’s Reviews > 121 First Dates: How to Succeed at Online Dating, Fall in Love, and Live Happily Ever After > Status Update

I've been on at least that many dates and am still waiting for the HEA!

Petra X has her eye on the prize wrote: "I've been on at least that many dates and am still waiting for the HEA!"

Ditto! But next to none since Covid entered the scene.

I did all right in Covid! I did 74 dates in 79 days and wrote about it several 'reviews'. It was exciting. The very last one of those is now FwB and is taking me on a road trip next week. If it happens. This is the fourth time we were going to get together again and it hasn't happened.

Petra some you lose some you win: reward next week wrote: "I did all right in Covid! I did 74 dates in 79 days and wrote about it several 'reviews'. It was exciting. The very last one of those is now FwB and is taking me on a road trip next week. If it hap..."

Wow! 1. I could never keep up with your tenacity! 2. I know I want to see these reviews! Are they here? I set my friend up with a man a few years ago and they just got back from a Europe vacay. Meanwhile here I am living vicariously through her and now you. 😆 Where's the roadtrip to? I hope it comes together for you! I've taken a few long ones myself.

I can't remember where I put the reviews. I'll let you know if I find them. I didn't go out with 74 men, some I went out with up to 5 times. The last guy, Richie, I was with seriously for six months and then he was not so serious for another six months and then I dumped him March 29th and said we could be FwB. But my terms were, if he wanted the B he had to treat me like a valued F. And so far, either he or I have called it off three times. Now he has said he will get a convertible (probably a Mustang, but I hope for the new Corvette) and has booked two nights in Key West... so we will see. I really like him better than anyone so will get hurt.

But I actually do have a bf, but we are non-monogamous. He's a tenured law professor in Miami, teaches taxation (was on Obama's taxation committee), litigation and..... emotional intelligence for lawyers.

Can your friend not set you up with someone, one of his friends.... You sound like a very good matchmaker! Good luck! I find the best ones on Hinge, the ones with the fancy cars on Bumble, the ones that turn out to be weird on Tinder and won't go near Plenty of Fish as those guys have all been bullies or sociopaths.

Petra some you lose some you win: reward next week wrote: "I can't remember where I put the reviews. I'll let you know if I find them. I didn't go out with 74 men, some I went out with up to 5 times. The last guy, Richie, I was with seriously for six month..."

Yes, Petra, do let me know if you find the reviews. I made my way all the way down to Key West once on one very long road trip that continued even after that. I hope you have a really great time with Richie in the convertible and at that awesome location! I do know what you mean about getting hurt, sigh.

Your bf sounds very accomplished. Wtg!

I had told my friend not to bother finding me any more potential dates, because I was having a mostly online relationship with a guy I've known for 20 years IRL. Hard to explain, lol. But I changed my mind and asked her to try again. She hasn't yet. I'm just happy it worked out for them! I'm on Hinge, Tinder, and PoF. I like how you've determined the vibe of each dating app. I'm going to give Bumble a try. It seems different with their policy, and you never know. I've run into a few bullies or sociopaths online myself though not really lately. Thanks for these messages, I've really enjoyed them!

Zanna wrote: ". I'm going to give Bumble a try. It seems different with their policy,..."

Bumble is the same as Tinder except when you match the woman has to send the first message. This results in an awful lot of not getting messages back or being ghosted after the first one as the guys are just swiping on everyone. No discrimination at all. But, yeah fancy cars - Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Aston Martins, Bentley convertibles, Rolls Royce convertibles Porsches - all kinds. Every one of those came from Bumble.

Petra X is playing for real not on GR this week wrote: "Zanna wrote: ". I'm going to give Bumble a try. It seems different with their policy,..."

Bumble is the same as Tinder except when you match the woman has to send the first message. This results i..."

Well, that sounds lame. But Holy Ferrari, Batman! You've been in some exciting rides! I think I was in a Porsche once on a date, and my high school sweetheart's parents had a Rolls Royce in the garage. Since that's pretty much my total experience with fancy cars, I may give Bumble a go anyway.

With the billionaire guy, he had been a professional racer for Aston Martin in the UK, but was himself a Canadian, he asked me once what I wanted to drive to Daytona in, the Aston or the Ferrari. I said the Ferrari (a silver Ferrari, you can see it and me in the pics that there is a link to in my profile) but he said the Aston had a better sound system. By the time we got Daytona, having stopped for lunch etc, the Ferrari had been transported there in a closed truck, ready for me. The guy I have now and like very much has a crappy old car that smells a bit, he could afford a Ferrari but he's a university professor and doesn't care about stuff like that at all. Shame really. lol

You look so happy and pretty in that under the hood Ferrari picture! What a great surprise the billionaire guy planned for you! But also, I can respect not caring about "stuff like that" at all. I'm glad you like your current guy very much despite that. 😊 🙌

Zanna wrote: "You look so happy and pretty in that under the hood Ferrari picture! What a great surprise the billionaire guy planned for you! But also, I can respect not caring about "stuff like that" at all. I'..."

Thank you. I couldn't care less about what a guy has materially. I just like cars and they go with rich guys. Tonight Bill has planned a formal thing for us which means driving in his crappy car and giving it to the valet to park, and then paying out $$$$ for a meal, lol. On Monday I'm going on a road trip to Key West for a few days with last year's guy which has never really finished. He's going to get a sports car for the trip because he knows I like them. He does have a nice car but that's back in NJ and he flew down to Fl. Both the guys were from Hinge.

Excellent. Bill is your boyfriend? Enjoy the high-end meal and I'm excited for your trip with the other guy. I'm in NJ. I'm currently talking to Noel from Manhattan and OkCupid who is a successful musician and songwriter and pre-K music teacher. He's also a reader and a writer. He has an actor son who played Homer in a TV show that I loved called the OA which is on Netflix and also is in some great movies. And I'm also talking to Chris from Tinder who is a VP for a cutting edge LED lighting company who is very artistic and used to have his own natural body care line. He also upcycles and repurposes furniture and decor. And I love podcasts and he's starting his own soon. I need to get my booster shot. My last vaccination was November 2021. Then will come dating again.

It sounds like you have two exciting men. How long of talking to them before you meet them? I never got on with OKCupid at all, never found anyone I wanted to meet.

Petra -spoiled for choice & making the most of it wrote: "It sounds like you have two exciting men. How long of talking to them before you meet them? I never got on with OKCupid at all, never found anyone I wanted to meet."

Hey Petra. A response to this and your other message since you couldn't find this comment thread again... First, I read your review/rundown on your dating life you directed me to and all the comments too. And I bookmarked it. It's really making me want to stop hiding away and get back in the game. I must get the booster and then get back to actual dating/meeting to find my person, "the one", whether it's one of those 2 guys or not. Wish me luck. I thought your oh-so-personal review was wonderful and open and brave and it's inspiring me in more ways than one! I know I wouldn't like that book. I'm glad you dnf'd. That comments section was fun and revealing! I learned a lot. Gotta love the Goodreads community... sincerely. And you can write so well! I'm so happy for you with your boyfriend situation now!

I'm going to bookmark this!

Things have actually 'improved' and got worse since yesterday. Not only did I get the most marvellous Valentine's date from Bill, he cancelled his date with the other woman on Saturday so I will see him tonight and Sat, and then Richie on Monday. Richie messaged me to come and stay with him from tonight until our road trip Monday. So improvement.

Worse: Bumble won't let me use their site unless I verify myself. I'm not doing that. I was stalked to the island years ago and I like to keep my online and offline lives separate and do not buy premium on sites and do not use credit cards on my phone.

I wish you more than luck. Get your booster! I've had covid twice, once in Feb 2020 in Delray before there were any tests and it was quite bad. Recently got it again and it was 'is this covid or what?'. What do you want out of dating? Dates? An affair? Marriage with house and kids? Marriage without house and kids? I would like the last so I could live in the US.

I hope the bookmark saves on this status update when I finish this book!

Very nice. :) I like very much these improvements. These guys sound like keepers.

I don't know Bumble because I didn't sign up yet, but as for other sites for verification all you have to do is put your face in this circle thingy and they see that you look like your picture I guess, and then there you go, you're verified. No one sees it who is looking for dates on the site. Oh no, but maybe verifying isn't ideal for you, given what you've experienced, in case a guy gets obsessed. I didn't think of that because I just recently verified myself on other sites and never had before.

I know, I know. I will get my booster! I need it. I get quite bad side effects though from the vaccine. So sorry you had a bad case of covid. It does seem like most people who get covid nowadays don't get serious cases, unless I'm wrong. Different strain of the virus. I want dating, and ideally marriage with house and I don't want to have kids myself. If they had kids already, that would be different. I hope you get the ideal guy to marry and you'll get to live here in the US. I'm rooting for you. Again, I like your latest news with Bill and Richie. Enjoy that road trip!

I got really bad side effects from the vaccine too. The first time was nearly as bad as Covid, I was ill in bed for nearly a week. And I got tinnitus, and that's for life. The second one I got it for about 3 days. If I didn't do them I wouldn't have been able to get into the US.

I don't know if the status updates are saved. I think only general updates are, not book ones, but I hope I'm wrong on that. What I do is I have a private group, I'm the only member, and I keep a list of all the books I've read and also any contentious reviews I think GR might delete or hide plus comments, notes etc I want to keep. This thread is short enough that you could copy the whole of it into one or two comment boxes probably if you went that way.

I went with Bill to see Leandro Erlich's Liminal at the Perez Art Museum, 5 mins walk from me. It was the most amazing exhibition I've seen in a long time. Messed with my head with mirrors. So I'm feelin' it for him right now :-)

Why don't you want kids but wouldn't mind if the guy had them if that's not too personal a question? If it is ignore it :-)

I had only 2 full days of feeling horribly sick with a fever both times I got the shot, where I honestly could barely leave the bed at all even to get water. Someone I know had the same situation. Hearing about your reaction made me gulp. Is the tinnitus still bothering you?

No, I do not think status updates comments are saved once you are done with the book. I think I'll copy and paste this thread into my Google Keep notes app to save them for myself.

I quickly googled Leandro Ehrlich and wow, his stuff looks way out there. Pretty incredible stuff! Lucky you and Bill. And having that museum 5 minutes from you is quite a boon. :-)

I don't want to carry and raise kids at this point. It's too much for me at 52. I've already started getting some hip problems since it heavily runs in my family. I will go through menopause soon enough I'm sure. I figure if a guy around my age had kids already they'd probably be grown or not too young. I find that's usually the case or they don't have any and don't want any.

Zanna wrote: "I had only 2 full days of feeling horribly sick with a fever both times I got the shot, where I honestly could barely leave the bed at all even to get water. Someone I know had the same situation. ..."

It took six months to get used to the tinnitus now it only bothers me when I think about it, or like read your comment. But also sometimes when I wake and go outside in my rain forest home. There it is noisy at night, crickets, frogs, night birds etc, but silent in the day, but there is never any silence for me. I miss that.

I use Keep as well but do not sync phone and computer and think I will probably lose this phone as well at some point!

Today is the Coconut Grove Arts Festival with Bill. This is how I get my exercise, walking around museums and festivals! Tomorrow is rest, relaxation, paint nails and look forward to road trip with Richie on Monday!

I hope you are having a lovely weekend!

Petra - Key West in a red Ferrari is heaven wrote: "Zanna wrote: "I had only 2 full days of feeling horribly sick with a fever both times I got the shot, where I honestly could barely leave the bed at all even to get water. Someone I know had the sa..."

Thanks! Those activities with Bill sound delightful! hope you rested up a bit and are living it up on the road trip with Richie!

The road trip with Richie went disastrously wrong. I was devastated. Couldn't even write about it for myself.

How's things with you?

Petra loves Miami art everywhere instead of trees wrote: "The road trip with Richie went disastrously wrong. I was devastated. Couldn't even write about it for myself.

How's things with you?"

Oh no... I'm so sorry to hear that... I'm here to listen if and when you want to talk about it. Things are pretty much the same for me. I'm not sure if I mentioned the local guy who wants to tie the knot with me. I'm not ready for that with him though.

Marriage! That's a big step. What's holding you back with this guy?

Marriage! That's a big step. What's holding you back with this guy?

Petra loves Miami art everywhere instead of trees wrote: "Marriage! That's a big step. What's holding you back with this guy?"

It is! Although I know he's sincere in his desire for marriage with me, in other areas I feel like it's a case of a good talker but I don't see enough follow-through with actions. Some other things bother me too... things I've seen in him. I've known him about 20 years but not in a serious way or consistently. I will see in time if I really believe I want to take this step with him. It's such an important decision, and I don’t want to get stuck in a situation I'll regret.

What about love?

Petra loves Miami art everywhere instead of trees wrote: "What about love?"

I'm not in love enough and I still need follow-through on nice words with historically quite lacking in action. 😔 Also... I don't ever want to be madly in love ever again. I want to be healthy in love, sanely in love, peacefully in love. ❤

How can you be in love but not 'enough'? It's always an either I am or I am not with me (mostly I am not). How can you be sanely in love? Sanity goes out the window when you fall in love... or it does with me. Sadly, lol.

Not with me. Different strokes for different folks. 🤷🏼‍♀️ As for him, I'm realizing there are just too many red flags.

What red flags? Why are you with him at all?

He wants more but I'm only communicating with him online at this point. In person, he has flirted with other women in my presence and totally monopolizes conversations. Those are only two examples of things that bother me, so I'm staying single. How is your romantic life going now?

I don't know. It's a bit complicated and got a bit traumatised first with Richie two weeks ago today and now with Bill. I have to sort it out in my head. He's coming round in half an hour. He's coming round early because my building has a fantastic gym and pool etc not particularly to see me, that's 'tonight'. I wish I didn't like men so much.

I do understand. But hear me out... We will get the relationships of our dreams. Good things come to us with ease. We attract loving partners who love and support us. I really do hope and believe these things and more. I just borrowed those thoughts/manifestations from an affirmations video I am listening to right now... Putting positive energy, trust, and love out there no matter what the past may have held. We are creative forces of nature. 🙂🙃♡♡♡

I'm glad you believe those things and hope you get exactly what you want. I don't and haven't, and I'm probably too picky.

Petra X is going on a road trip & not in a Ferrari wrote: "I'm glad you believe those things and hope you get exactly what you want. I don't and haven't, and I'm probably too picky."

Although it's true that I find affirmations helpful for me... they're not for everyone. And I know it's not always easy. Nope. I hope you sort it out in your head like you said. I need to do the same. It's good to have standards. I hope you get exactly what you want too.

I'm ready to settle for 75% right. I went on a little road trip with Bill to Delray Beach and I thought we are friends, we have a lot in to talk about, I'm not in love but I think he is, one day it will work out sexually and so best concentrate on what I have and can build on rather than wait for Mr 100% who hasn't turned up so far.

Standards? Or preferences.

Standards with things that are deal breakers but the majority is just preferences. 75% is pretty darn good. How long have you known Bill? Maybe you could be in love with him too if you gave it a real shot.

We met online in April and went out for a coffee. I thought he was hot but didn't like me so I said let's be friends. We chatted on the phone until December (through one bf and one .. disaster). Then I said let's go and get coffee, be real life friends, and he said, he thought I was hot and ... so now we are more than friends.

I don't fall in love easily and I am still getting over Richie and can't even talk about what he did to me 3 weeks ago yet.

I don't know what happened but I can relate to the feeling of not being able to talk about what someone did to me. It was awful. When I got over them and the relationship was fully over and done with, I felt like I had dodged a bullet. That was a long time ago though. It's good that you have Bill right now.

Zanna wrote: "I don't know what happened but I can relate to the feeling of not being able to talk about what someone did to me. It was awful. When I got over them and the relationship was fully over and done wi..."

What happened to you (if you can/want to talk about it)?

Petra has been fancy car spotting in Delray wrote: "Zanna wrote: "I don't know what happened but I can relate to the feeling of not being able to talk about what someone did to me. It was awful. When I got over them and the relationship was fully ov..."

I think I'd rather not get into it. Not here, not now.

No problem.