Planning Your Date

After reading my first two blogs you might be super excited and ready to ask someone out on a date, but now the question is, where and when should I go?

If you study at the University of Michigan and you’re looking for love, you’re in luck! In Ann Arbor, there is always something to do. A MLive article written in September 2016 ranked Ann Arbor as one of the top cities for singles, number 12 in a study with 200 other metropolitan areas.  The study found that 78% of men and 70% of women between the ages of 20-34 have never been married, which is ranked 4^th in the nation. Additionally, they found that there are 97.4 men for every 100 women in Ann Arbor. The study was scored in the four categories of community, dating, and cost of living, and entertainment and leisure. They also considered bars, movie theaters, mean income, rental price, and burglary cases per 1,000 people. The price “information that signals the amount of potential value contained in a product” of entertainment and leisure, influenced the study in determining affordability of dating (Babin, 2016, p. 260).

Depending on the seasonality, “regularly occurring conditions that vary with the time of year” my favorite date spot in every season except winter is at Nichols Arboretum, “the Arb”, a close walk away from campus (Babin, 2016, p. 230). I try to do a lot of mental budgeting before I make a purchase decision, “memory accounting for recent spending” to see what I can afford to spend on entertainment and leisure, and like many college students, I usually I don’t have a lot to spend (Babin, 2016, p. 246). Since there is no price to go to the Arb and it is a University of Michigan landmark, going there would add to the authenticity, “the degree to which an object, person, or experience seems real, genuine, unique, and part of history or tradition”, of the date (Babin, 2016, p. 288). The Arb was the location of my first date with my boyfriend, and we make it a tradition to go often. In the winter, my favorite date spot is to see a movie at the Michigan theater, which also shows a lot of authenticity in the rich history, as well as the interior design and decorations inside the theater.

Ladies, what is the best time of the month to schedule a date? According to this article, the men that women choose to date during ovulation tend to have low levels of stress hormone cortisol, adding more evidence to the idea that women find more compatible long-term partners when their fertility is at its peak, around 11 to 21 days after their last period started. The temporary factors “situational characteristics related to time” of reaching peak fertility increases the likelihood of finding a soulmate (Babin, 2016, p. 228). So, ladies, don’t be afraid to be a little bolder during this timeframe, you might just meet your soulmate! Although even if you miss the timeframe, don’t be afraid of the time pressure, “urgency to act based on some real or self-imposed deadline”, you can find your soulmate outside of that timeframe, too (Babin, 2016, p. 229). Just don’t give up hope, “a fundamental emotion evoked by positive, anticipatory appraisals that signal uncertainty about potentially positive outcome”, and you might find love when you least expect it (Babin, 2016, p. 294).

Babin, B., & Harris, E. (2016). In CB 7 (7th ed., pp. 228-294). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

Durr, M. (2016, September 15). Ann Arbor named one of the best cities in U.S. for singles. MLive Media Group. Retrieved March 29, 2017, from http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2016/09/ann_arbor_named_one_of_the_bes.html

(2010, September 15). Best Time of Month to Schedule a First Date. Pop Sugar. Retrieved March 29, 2017, from https://www.popsugar.com/love/Best-Time-Go-First-Date-11007618