The Girl's Guide
Issue 82: Your Anonymous Dating Stories
Welcome back to The Girl’s Guide! If you missed the most recent issue, find it here.
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Your Worst Set-Up Dates
As many of you readers already know, I am conducting an informal survey to get to the bottom of why being set up on a date is a universally loathed experience. You can take the brief, anonymous survey by clicking here. Both men and women can take the survey!
As a little sneak peek, here’s what some of you said when asked about your worst experience on a date set up by friends:
The enemies-to-enemies trope… “I was set up with a guy who I instantly strongly disliked — and I’m pretty sure the feeling was mutual! Our personalities clashed, but the worst of it was that we had to stay in the same house for two days. Most miserable vacay ever.”
Just helping out the roomies… “I had one friend who set me up a few times. The dates weren't necessarily bad, but the guys were never my type. This was a very close friend so I was surprised at how bad of a match each of these guys were. After a while, I realized this friend was just trying to find girls for her boyfriend's roommates and friends and was setting them up with all of her single friends.”
Dating is a risky business… “After two dates, I started getting weird vibes and some red flags from the guy. We later learned some terrible things that the guy had done, so bullet dodged, and I haven't let my friends set me up since then.”
That’ll be an awkward Slack message… “My coworker set me up with his brother-in-law. I knew unfortunately from the moment I saw him that it won't work out because I wasn't attracted to him. Then I still went on this apple picking date for 2 hours and learning we don't really share that much in common!”
Someone needs to learn their manners… “The person on the set-up date claimed not to know me when we ran into each other a few months later at a mutual friend's house party and reacted in a very rude way when I said hello.”
Ouch… “The girl I liked set me up with her friend, since her friend had a crush on me. I was completely blindsided since I wasn’t expecting to hang out with her friend.”
Thanks, mom and dad… “My parents set me up with a guy they LOVED. He was the classic All-American, blond-blue-eyed, popular football jock. He was a great guy, but completely not my type!!! I'm into the stoic, tall, dark, and handsome. Our interests just didn't align other. We had a fine date (got ice cream and went to the park).”
All right, tryhard… “We were not compatible. The one guy kept doing things to appear cool and it was just embarrassing!”
If you enjoyed these anonymous dating stories, be sure to check out Issue 54 and Issue 55 of The Girl’s Guide for more.
AND DON’T FORGET TO TAKE THE SETUP SURVEY!!!
Interview with MaryKate Shakely
I’m excited to introduce you to MaryKate Shakely, an artist, wife, and mom who calls DC home! Connect with MaryKate on Instagram.
What do you love about your neighborhood?
I live in Brookland with my husband, Tom, and our five-month-old boy. We chose Brookland, or “Little Rome,” after we became engaged because we wanted to start our married life as part of a truly Catholic community.
Brookland’s on the Red Line, making it a short Metro ride from the Capitol, and is home to The Catholic University of America, the largest basilica in North America—the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and the Dominican House of Studies and Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land, among so many other beautiful places. We live at Monroe Street Market and love walking to Mass and making prayerful visits to the many chapels in the area, attending lectures and events at Catholic University, and meeting good people. If visiting Brookland, you might find these articles worthwhile.
What does your life look like right now?
Tom and I met in 2020, were married in 2021, and welcomed our boy John in 2022. Tom and I were each raised in the Philadelphia area. I was still living in the Philadelphia area when we met, and Tom had been living in DC for a few years. I grew up in an area where the suburbs began to meet farms, so even though I was excited to be married I was wary about moving to Washington. But Tom introduced me to the city throughout our courtship and I fell in love with both the man and the city.
I left a role with Vanguard when we were married and have been working in art, in drawing, sketching, and painting, since. I’ve had the opportunity to grow in my artistic talents at the Sacred Art School in Florence and at the National Gallery of Art in DC under Dony Mac Manus, a wonderful master sculptor and artist. Tom works with Americans United for Life, an advocacy organization for the human right to life, based downtown near Farragut North.
We lean on God and are so grateful for our sweetest adventure yet: parenthood. As a wife and mother, my daily work is learning to continually love my family better and to raise our boy.
We’re also in the Christian season of Lent. Lent is always a fruitful season to renew habits of prayer and to reflect on how we can make a gift of ourselves to others.
What's the best piece of relationship advice you've ever received?
“Love one another as I have loved you.” (John 13:34)
What's your favorite coffee shop or restaurant in the DC area?
Tom and I celebrated our first anniversary over dinner at Tabard Inn. Tabard Inn’s ambiance is wonderful and our meal took us back to our many wonderful meals from our Italian honeymoon.
What's your advice to a woman considering moving to DC?
Get out there and meet people. Do not let yourself be lonely in a city full of people. You’ll soon find that there are many people around like you. You’ll discover many wonderful events and communities. In the midst of it all, ask God to bring the right friendships into your life. You will be delightfully surprised at the gems you find here. It’s a beautiful city, in its people, architecture, and even culture. And you’ll have a beautiful opportunity to make your mark and to be a part of it whatever neighborhood you find yourself in.
The Haps
DC Workers’ Private Info Compromised
We’re starting off with a serious one today, folks. If you work in DC, you might already know that your private information could be at risk following the hack of DC Health Link. According to the hacker or hackers who pulled it off, it wasn’t even that hard of a job. Now DC Health Link is facing lawsuits for failing to keep workers’ data safe. If you want to learn more about the alleged “why” behind the hack, click here.
Don’t Forget a Belt!
If you often feel like your outfits are missing the mark, might I suggest a belt? I wrote about some stylish ladies to give you belt-spiration for Evie Magazine. Read it here. There’s something for everyone, whether you’re edgy, preppy, or somewhere in between!
Here are more links to what I’m reading this week:
Flightless babes: How safetyism could make traveling with babies less safe: I just took my first flight with Margot, and Madeline Fry Schultz could not be more spot on.
D.C.'s "shadow mayor" accused of sexual harassment: Mayor Muriel Bowser’s right hand man (who had a lot of power over real estate development in the city) has resigned.
Jane Austen's Family Home in Hampshire is For Sale: Anyone got $10.5 million lying around somewhere?
DNA from Beethoven's hair offers clues about what made him sick: Scientists admit their findings have raised more questions than answers, but it’s still a pretty cool story!
Bulletin Board
Hear from journalist Mary Margaret Olohan at Catholic University on March 29! Event hosted by the Network of Enlightened Women. (Got an event to advertise? Shoot me a Twitter DM!)
Ask Evie
Have a question you want me to answer in the newsletter? Click this link to send your question anonymously!
