Singles: Activities And Outtings To Get Back Into The Dating Scene

1) Hobbies: Perhaps you love cooking gourmet dinners or baking delicious pastries and cookies. Or maybe you enjoy woodworking or welding or pottery. Now is the time to take a class on one of your hobbies. You may end up meeting somebody in your class who shares your same interests and hobbies. You can find these types of classes at your local gourmet grocery store, a local community college or university or through your local newspaper or crafts store. Be adventurous and take that class on stained glass like you've always thought about. Even if you don't end up meeting somebody that is datable, you'll have a new craft or hobby under your belt.

2) Go Out With Friends: When we're single, we have other single friends or couples who invite us to go out dancing or to the movies or out to eat. Many times, we end up declining because we don't want to feel like the third wheel or we just get "too tired" to go out. Why not try actually going out when friends invite you? Unless you have an endless stream of repairmen or repairwomen coming through your apartment or house, you won't meet anybody staying at home watching reruns of "Friends" and "NYPD Blue." Put on that new dress or that new shirt and have fun. You never know who you may end up meeting when you actually put yourself out there.

3) Happy Hours: No matter where you currently work, chances are there is somebody at your office that always organizes a happy hour at least once a month. This is when a group of colleagues go out after work on a Friday and have drinks and cheap appetizers. This gives you a chance to be yourself after a day of being locked up in a cube or office poring over memos and data. It is hard to completely be yourself in the work environment, so this will give your colleagues a chance to see you as yourself, away from the office.

4) Holiday Parties: Thanksgiving and Christmas are around the corner and you are getting invitations left and right to attend this and that holiday party. Instead of snuggling up alone with a fruit cake and a mug of egg nog in front of your fireplace, why not try attending some of these holiday parties. You will not only meet potential friends, but also potential dates.

5) Blind Dates: When you are single, almost every friend you have and every couple you know will want to set you up on a blind date because they think they know a perfect mate for you. Instead of discounting your friends and family who are setting these blind dates up, go on them. Who knows? Maybe your mom really does know what type of woman or man you like.