First Dates

First dates. Let's talk about them.

Personally, I'm not a fan. I know they're meant to be fun and everyone always says 'your 20s are for dating!' but I feel like I'm being scrutinised for every little thing as the other person is trying to determine if they like me or not. I feel like I'm being judged on what I say, what I wear, what I order to drink, the list goes on... Now, I know that this is the whole point of a date, to figure out whether you want to carry seeing that person, but sometimes it's too much to bear. Why can't we just skip to the part where we're comfortable and not trying to figure each other out anymore?!

And don't even get me started on how awkward it is when you arrive at the bar/restaurant and you're scanning the room to see where they are - I can't decide if that's worse, or being the first one there is worse; seeing your date come in and look for you, so you do an awkward little wave so that they see you, AND THEY DON'T.

What about drinking? We all need a bit of Dutch courage, but how drunk is TOO drunk? Of course post-bottomless-brunch-with-the-girls-on-a-saturday-afternoon drunk is probably too drunk for a first date (or is it?) but sometimes, if you're sitting there for a few hours, you could end up knocking back a lot of cocktails wihtout realising. And it will take that trip to the toilet to realise, 'oh sh*t. I'm pissed'.

And I'm sure most of us have been in the situation where you have to text a friend 'SOS' whilst on a date, so that they call us with some silly excuse that means we have to leave IMMEDIATELY.

Ok, I'll stop now, I promise I'm not trying to put you off dates for life.

Having said all of the above, dating can be really fun, and approaching my mid-twenties, I really ought to make the most of it. I have a friend who loves to date. She probably goes on 2-3 a week. She loves meeting new people, and uses it as an excuse to go try out new bars and restaurants. She can't understand why I get so nervous, because she gets so excited! I'll get some tips on how to start enjoying dates, and report back ;)