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September 22, 2017

5 Philadelphia Ladies Share What Dating in Philly is like Right Now

I really try to be positive about the dating world. For me, my time trying to find love in Philadelphia has been filled with some peaks and valleys. There were times I could meet 3-4 different guys for dates in one week and be loving life. And then, there have also been times when, after rushing out of a second date I really shouldn’t have gone on in the first place, I’ve spilled out onto 13th Street, called my dad laughing/yelling/crying, and questioned, why am I even doing this?! Why does the quest for love seem so “easy” for some, and so, so difficult for the rest of us?

Today, you’ll hear from 5 Philly women, Melissa, Leah, Sarah, Tracy, and Tiffany, who are all out there in this city of ours, trying to make it work with a special someone. And while some of their answers are optimistic (You mean you actually meet men in person? You’ve never had to pay on a date? No dating horror stories…ever?), the last question really just says it all.

But before we begin, let me just say this: (and I’m speaking for you here ladies, so please chime in if I got it wrong) while our attitudes towards our dating lives might not be optimistic all of the time time, we’re still out there. Dating takes work and time and money and creativity and humility and honesty, and here we all are, soldiering on. We’ve seen our friends get married and we’ve heard the online dating success stories, so we keep going. All with the hopes that one day, we’ll find a guy who will laugh at the same TV shows as us, know exactly how we take our cocktails and our coffee, and surprise us with flowers, just because.

August 3, 2017

11 Philly Things to do with Your Work Buds

As most of you know, Her Philly is not my full-time gig. I work with a v fun and v hip group of coworkers who, luckily, enjoy hanging out with each other outside of work. Of course, there are frequent and necessary happy hours and dinner dates, but sometimes, when you need those “team building” events, it’s hard to come up with something everyone agrees on.

Our team recently grew, and coming up with something everyone wanted to do proved to be a little more difficult than our boss thought. So, a few of my coworkers (thank you, Alex, Chelsea, Tim & Zanaya!) came up with some great ideas and we put it to a vote. I added a few extras to the list, but our winner is still in this lineup – any guesses?

July 20, 2017

A Hersheypark Summer Adventure

This post was sponsored by Pepsi. All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the partnerships that help make Her Philly possible!

I have great memories of visiting Hersheypark as a young tot. What could be better than wholesome amusement park fun just about two hours from your front door (and if you didn’t fight with your sister, there was almost always chocolate involved)? When you’re a kid, your goals for an amusement park are simple: ride the family rides, take photos with your favorite characters, and decide if you’re brave enough to go on a rollercoaster, all while your mom is applying several layers of sunscreen on every chance she can get.

July 12, 2017

19 Items You Must Pack for Diner en Blanc

It’s Diner en Blanc season! In case you’re new to the all-white craze that sweeps the city every summer, I did a little deep dive into what Diner en Blanc actually is way back in 2013 before my first DEB. I love the night because it’s such a beautiful evening out in the city, celebrating all of our gorgeous public space, meeting new people from all across the area, and just enjoying #summerinthecity.

June 14, 2017

How to Conquer Center City Sips (if you’re over 25, that is)

It’s a summer Wednesday in the city, and for many young Philadelphians out there, that means one thing: Center City Sips.For those new to the Philly scene, a brief precursor: Sips is a special summer happy hour “event” held every Wednesday (now through August 30) from 5-7pm at bars across the (center) city. Their standard gimmick is $5 cocktails, $4 wine, $3 beer and half-priced appetizers. But the thing about Sips is, it’s become such a “thing” (people really, really love it or absolutely hate it), that young professionals struggle every week to find a work appropriate outfit that could also pass for a going out one, youngins fill the inbound trains at rush hour in droves, and people call out sick Thursday morning because their hangover is so intense.

March 17, 2017

In Bloom {This Year’s Flower Show}

Have you been on social media in oh, say, the past seven days? If so, then I presume you know that the 2017 Philadelphia Flower Show is here, and it’s pretty freakin beautiful. The theme this year is Holland, and with that comes (the best flower ever) . . . the tulip. So many tulips, you guys, and they’re actually quite amazing. I wasn’t convinced I was going to make the trip to the show this year, but during our mini snow event this week, I thought it would be a good night to try. And, for the Instagram shots alone, it was worth it.

March 13, 2017

Planning a Philadelphia Pizza Crawl

A long time ago (last May), in a land not so far away (actually, it was here), I turned 27. I’m big on birthdays, so I knew I wanted to head into my late 20s with a treat. As you all very well know, pizza rules everything around me. So, for this special day, I took on the quite ambitious task of planning my own damn pizza crawl. To sum things up: yes, it was wonderful and satisfying and delicious and so gram-worthy. However, having lived through all the crawling and all the bites, there were some things I would have done differently. From one pizza loving lady to many others, I’m here to share what I learned.

November 7, 2016

Making Lady Pals in the City + A Special Invite!

I teamed up with BumbleBFF on this post to share their new app & an upcoming Philly event with all of you!

Picking up and moving to a new city is a daunting task by itself (it’s my reminder that, yes, I am a hoarder). But moving to a city without the comfort your best lady pals close by could be straight up terrifying for (most) women. When I first moved to Philly, I was 22. I had the guy I was dating, and literally zero female friends in the city. In my quest for lady pals (and some of you have met me in person so you know this to be true), my awkward moments shone through. I remember reading these articles about how to not-creepily approach a potential new friend at places like the yoga studio or the grocery store. That was not for me.

October 25, 2016

Getting Spooked at Terror Behind the Walls

Let me just put this out there: I don’t like to be scared. The scariest movie I’ve ever seen is “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” When I’m watching YouTube videos and I can’t skip through an ad preview for a scary film, I scream, mute my computer, and cover my eyes. And I definitely don’t like haunted houses.

When I was in high school, my friends and I organized a (party) bus trip to the big citay to give Eastern State Penitentiary‘s (2027 Fairmount Avenue) Halloween, nighttime attraction, Terror Behind the Walls, a try. It’s been awhile now, but the things I remember include: signing a waiver that I couldn’t touch the zombies, deceased medical patients, etc., holding onto the hands of my group members for dear life, and just being overall terrified.

October 12, 2016

What 3 Men Really Think of My Philly Date Ideas

What a time, ladies, what a time. Being single again has brought some laughs, some screams, and some texts to my girlfriends with “why. me.” written 10x. I’ve also started listening to podcasts for the first time in my life (newsflash: I obviously love them), and the dating ones are the absolute best (but really, please send me all your podcast recommendations, dating or not).

I’ve gone on a few dates with a “guy” (you’ll see why this is my naming convention of choice as we get to the m-e-a-t of the post): dinner, beer garden, and Terror Behind the Walls (the terror was true and real), and for tonight’s date, it was my turn to suggest. And suggest I did:

Keeping true to my list-loving personality, I just sent a guy 10 options for date #4 this Weds. Any interest in me making this a blog post?

— Her Philly (@HerPhilly) October 10, 2016

After seeing how many of you liked this idea, I thought I’d add a little bit of an extra spin to it, and get actual, real Philadelphia men to give me feedback on these 10 dates I very really suggested. I asked them to give me some quick thoughts on what they would think if a girl suggested these for date 4. Some of these you’ve seen on the blog before, some are new ideas. I’ve decided not to identify the guys (and just call them “guys”), but for some extra context, they range in age from 27-34 and all live in the city, so they’re pretty up on their Philadelphia knowledge. Oh, and one of them is my actual date for tonight, because I’m crazy. 😉