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Hold onto your hats folks: in just 24 hours I will be back on the horse, or the wagon or whatever word normal people use to describe yet another round of adventures in serial dating.  As previously noted, I’m going the eHarmony route this time, and what a circuitous route it’s been!

One of my readers advised me not to set myself any lofty “30 dates” goals this time around because unlike Match.com, eHarmony likes to prolong the courtship process.  Well, he was right.  Between all of the multiple choice questions, the “must haves” and “cant stands” and finally the free response answers, it’s taken me a week to set up one date.  One!  At this rate, I’ll be lucky to find a boyfriend by the time I’m thirty, less alone someone to kiss beneath the Penn’s Landing fireworks on New Years.

But I’m going to be all about quality this time around, not quantity, at least that’s what I’m telling myself.  Plus, my winter wardrobe is not exactly up to snuff.  It’s easy to serial date in the summer—just slip into a sun dress, strap on a pair of heels and slap on a color-coordinated layer of nail polish and you’re good to go.  Not so this time of year.  Especially not in Philadelphia.  It’s been below freezing the past couple of days so I am going to have to seriously consider my wardrobe options for my date tomorrow night.

We’re going for a coffee, which I feel is rather lame for a first date but eHarmony is all about finding your soul mate so I suppose it’s just as well that I won’t be able to knock back a few cocktails during our initial liaison.

Nonetheless, I need to look good.  So: should I do tights and a pair of heels?  Boots and a pair of jeans?  And if I’m doing boots, do I do my high heeled I-spent-a-week’s-pay-on-these-when-I-broke-up-with-my-last-serious-boyfriend boots (Note: they’re now three years old and the left heel is starting to wobble a bit) or do I go with my sensible but still mildly sexy I’m-going-back-to-London-for-a-week-and-want-my-ex-to-still-think-I’m-hot boots (Note: they did indeed serve their purpose back in March; I returned to London for my graduation ceremony, met my ex for a drink until the pretext of achieving “closure” and very definitely did not achieve anything of the sort)?

As for my newest candidate, I suppose I should say a word or two about my first week on eHarmony.  Without revealing too much, I will say that overall, the men from Match.com were better looking but the men from eHarmony have cooler jobs and seem to be a bit more put together (none of this “Be my Latina Barbie” nonsense or stupid “Abs4U” screen names).  Then again, maybe I just equate put together-ness with the ability to complete a profile registration process that takes most people four days.

Having completed the arduous “guided communication process” with PSM1 (Potential Soul Mate #1), I already know the majority of his likes and dislikes, his relationship deal breakers, his favorite movies, his hobbies, his hopes and dreams and his thoughts on Mayan architecture (although I discerned the last of these not through the “guided communication process” but rather to the official eHarmony email service, to which we graduated a few days ago).  I’m not sure what we’ll have left to talk about so here’s hoping that the coffee at the new place near Dickinson Square Park is as good as everyone keeps saying it is.

Wish me luck!