Episode 7: My Top 20 Solo First Date Ideas

In Episode 7 of The Curvy Girl Dating Podcast, host Cristina shares her top 20 solo first date ideas to help listeners embrace self-love, overcome post-breakup blues, and boost their confidence. Cristina discusses a variety of enjoyable activities ranging from at-home spa nights, cooking new recipes, and movie marathons to more adventurous outings like museum visits, zoo trips, and day trips to nearby towns. She emphasizes the importance of self-care, being visible, and practicing social skills while creating fun and meaningful experiences. Cristina also provides practical tips on making the most of solo outings, such as going to coffee shops, farmers markets, and volunteering. Tune in for creative, supportive advice to enrich your solo dating life and prepare for future relationships.

00:00 Introduction to The Curvy Girl Dating Podcast
00:12 Cristina's Journey to Self-Love and Dating
00:55 Embracing Solo First Dates
02:10 Home-Based Solo Date Ideas
07:15 Adventurous Solo Date Ideas
10:54 Public Solo Date Ideas
17:30 Creative and Relaxing Solo Activities
22:04 Exploring New Places and Volunteering
24:31 Water Activities and Staycations
25:44 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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Transcript

Cristina: 0:00

You are listening to The Curvy Girl Dating Podcast, Episode 7: My Top 20 Solo First Date Ideas. Hi, I'm Cristina. After 10 years of dating, I was tired of attracting the wrong type of guys and thinking I had to lose weight to find love. I finally figured out how to date and I found the love I thought I would never find each week. I'll teach you dating advice, share dating stories and help you ditch the dating drama. My goal is to help you have fun and create the life you love. If you're ready to take your dating to another level, then listen up and let's go. Hello, everyone. Welcome to The Curvy Girl Dating Podcast. This is Episode 7, and we're going to talk about the Top 20 Single First Date Ideas. So when I was first single, I went through a phase where I was at home by myself and I just sat in my sadness and thought about my past relationship, what I did wrong, and all the things you do whenever you have a breakup. And after awhile, I decided I needed to start doing more things, I couldn't just sit and sulk and be sad forever. So I needed to start moving on and finding things to do and going out and meeting new people and creating a new life for myself because previously I had a life that was with somebody for years. Then I had to break apart from that and create my own. I started by doing things to entertain myself and I call them now solo first dates. I started small and I'd started things at home that I would like to do and then I started getting more excited about doing things by myself, out in public, and then it would go all the way to traveling. So it started small from doing things at home and then increased to more adventurous things once I practiced and enjoyed the date nights that I was creating for myself. Couple of things that you could do that are enjoyable solo dates that you can do for yourself is make a new recipe. You could be adventurous and try new things or just go for the regular old favorite recipes that are comforting and make you feel good and it might remind you of a holiday or a family member or past experience. But I used to like to try new recipes because it would teach me about different things that I would like and if I didn't like them, then it was okay, I just didn't like it and I got to have a good experience of trying something new. So that was one thing. And then another thing that I would love to do is I'd like to get like a fancy restaurant take out and come home and have a bottle of wine and watch a movie or romcom or a favorite series. I'm always the Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, King of Queens kind of gal. There's lots of things do go for. True crime all day, too. So true crime and wine night, you could add that to the list, even though it's not on my list. It's also a favorite solo date I do for myself. Yeah, just take out from a really nice restaurant. Like one of my favorite restaurants that we have here is, Perry's steakhouse. And on Fridays they do like a lunch, special pork chop. So I would like to get that to go and, enjoy it at home. It was exciting to just really feel like I was treating myself, but I was also in the comfort of my own home. I would also love to do spa nights at home. So I would give myself facials or, the little facial packets that are already done and they're like in the little gel or liquid, and you put the little packet on your face. I really like to do the mud ones and the pore ones that you can rip off and they get into your pores. I used to do you all like little spa nights at home, do my nails, wash my face, make myself have a good skin care routine. Give myself pedicures. Just all kinds of things. So anything that would make me feel, special, I would just enjoy that with a bottle of wine, there's a lot of bottles of wine in this list, I'm just letting you know, which brings me to number four. My number four solo date for myself is wine and charcuterie night. This involves lots of TV watching too, but that's okay, because then you can see favorite movies or you can watch new movies and then figure out things you like. Whenever you go on dates, you have something to say, you have something interesting so you can decide that you don't like action movies, or you really love horror movies or romcoms are your favorite because you're trying them at home and you like it, or you don't and you have, something to talk about. You can put it on your profile,"I really like having movie nights at my house. I love binge watching a series. What's the last one that you've seen?" Ozark. That was a really good series to watch. Anyhow, there's lots of different things you can do that are entertaining. So wine and charcuterie nights were also fun. Still, I I do all these things now as well. But when I was single, I really try to make an effort to make myself feel special and do something for myself. So it was a lot of self care as well, not just, oh, I'm going to do a solo date." It was a lot of self care too, because it just really gave myself some time to wind down. It put my thoughts focusing on other things instead of my old relationship or loneliness and stuff like that. So I got to entertain myself, but in a good way, because again, you can utilize that on future dates by expressing things that you like, or that you don't like or things that you've tried or things that you want to try. So it gives you some, ammo, for conversation on your dates. I love singing in the car. I'm the person that you catch, singing and dancing in the car. And if you look at me, I'll look at you back and just start singing at you. That's just me. YouTube karaoke nights are also a fav. I can think about all kinds of music that I like to sing to, I'll put the lyrics on YouTube and just sing to YouTube lyrics and have fun. There's probably wine involved or a cocktail or something, but it's enjoyable. You get to listen to music and music does things to you, like it gets you in a certain vibe. So it really lifts up your spirits when you're listening to music and singing. And sometimes it would be sappy girl songs too, but it still puts me in a mood and a vibe that I would really enjoy. Those are some of my home dates that I would like to do. But then this is where the adventurous part would go. And I would start doing things a little bit more public, obviously. They're not at home, they're in public. Zoo day, I would love to go to the zoo and you get to walk and you get to see animals. And learn about them and you get yourself some exercise, some movement, some vitamin C and just get to enjoy a nice environment at the zoo. So I would love zoo days. I know some people aren't into zoos and they have their own, beliefs about zoos, but you don't have to do that, you can go to something else that you like. Go to the park. So many things that you can do outside to get vitamin C and enjoy yourself. So if zoos aren't not your thing, doesn't have to be. Museum day. I would love on Thursdays in Houston, the museum district has, I think it's Thursdays or Tuesdays. But they have Like discount days. So they're either free or they're like a discounted, like 50% off or something, and it's certain hours. So if you go to the museum district, you go to the museum of natural science from 11-1p, and it's this cost. And then you'd go from 1-3p to a different museum and it's this cost. So you can go around that museum district and enjoy a day of museums without paying a full price. So that's cool. So I really liked museum day and. it was nice because you could be quiet and you can look at things and again, read and learn and just enjoy air conditioning. If you're too hot from the zoo, our zoo and our museum is all in the same spot. So if you get too hot for the zoo, Or whatever, it's just not working out for you scoot on over to the museum. And obviously not every town is built like Houston, but that's what I would do. And it was just a really nice time. Again, going for walks or hikes, it's a good way to meet people. There's a lot of groups that do walks and hikes that you can see what they're doing. If you're going by yourself, you can notice that there's different walking groups or running groups or hiking groups that, you can gain interest in and maybe eventually you can be a part of those groups. But I love walking and listening to podcast or listening to music or an audio book. Self-development books are my favorite, obviously. I call them"thought walks," which I'll give credit to, from my friend Megan Wing, she calls her walks,"thought walks," and I thought that it was brilliant. So I have adopted that term. It's just an opportunity for me to go out and like zone out and listen to something that's serving me and making me a better person. I understand more things about the world whenever I'm on a thought walk. So again, an audio book or a great podcast and just enjoy the elements outside. Walking and getting that movement in and meeting people and seeing other people outside. So going out and being visible is serving multiple purposes, you go out, you're visible, you're enjoying your life and you try new things or doing things out of your comfort zone and you're just creating experiences in your life. And with that, it helps you learn to communicate with people There's just so many different things that are beneficial for when you're going out alone and learning how to have a nice time. You can always do a movie. Nobody knows that you're at the movies by yourself. Everybody's busy watching the movies. And if you're by yourself, who cares? Everyone's busy watching the movie, nobody's going to be worried about what you're doing there and who you're with or who you're not with. Just go and enjoy the movie. I love to do a theater. Like The dinner theater ones, where they have, food options that you can have and you can order and the little chairs recline. I like to do those too, and have lunch and watch a movie. So that's fun as well, and again, it's still in public, but you're not as"exposed," so it's a good middle ground, like beginner way to start sprinkling yourself out in public. It's a good first start when you're transitioning from your home solo dates versus going out. Another one, that's not too scary, would be getting massage again. This is another self care version of a solo date. Go schedule yourself a massage or go get a mani/pedi. But it's not weird if you go by yourself to get a mani/pedi or to go get a massage. So schedule one and treat yourself to something that you can enjoy and it's beneficial and you can relax. So again, Self care. Very important. Coffee shop. If you like, coffee, go read a book. Go sit around. In a coffee shop, again, be visible. Don't just have your nose in this book and not look around. Read your book. And every time you do a page turn, look around, smile, see what people are doing. Look visible having a cup of coffee. If it's a crowded coffee shop, offer your opposite seat across from you to someone, to a guy or somebody of interest, preferably. Okay. Not a creepy creeper. But yeah, if you see somebody and they're obviously looking for somewhere to sit or something, just offer them your other seat that's across from you. You don't have to talk to them, but the gesture makes you visible. Just a thought on that, but yeah, you can just get to go out, have your coffee, or if you don't like coffee, tea, or whatever beverage that you can enjoy at a coffee shop and just read a book or find something else. You can have a little single gear that you take with you to a restaurant or a coffee shop. So you an iPad or whatever. But as long as you're making the transition of looking around and seeing your surroundings and then going back to it, it's fine. But if you are buried in it and you are giving the vibe, like,"nobody look at me or talk to me." That's just not a good vibe. It's not going to make anybody approach you or be interested in who you are, what you're doing. Giving yourself a break from what you're doing and looking up and around is a way to give attention and catch attention, from people or for people to just notice you at all. And so another thing would be a lunch date at a restaurant bar. I was offering this as advice earlier today, actually to somebody who wasn't a drinker. So you can still go and have a lunch date by yourself at a restaurant bar, and nobody's going to judge you or kick you out if you don't have an alcoholic beverage. You can go and get a Coke or water or order an appetizer. I love reading a book on a bar, that's just the thing for me. I talk about it all the time. You don't always see people at a bar having lunch and reading a book and people are curious and people ask you,"Hey, what are you reading?" It's just an opportunity to get people interested in notice you and talk to you and it doesn't have to be, cause they're hitting on you they're just probably curious that you're reading a book and they want to know what book you're reading. It could be anybody in that restaurant that is curious. Tell them what book you're reading and"how are you today? Have you read this book? what do you like to read?" So if you're interested in that person and you want to continue a conversation, ask them questions. If not, then you'll be like,"Thank you. I'm reading this book. Okay, bye." And then go back to reading your book and eat your food and enjoy yourself. But yeah, I love doing that. And I'm not talking about go into the hottest bar in town and going on a Friday or Saturday night when it's super crowded and there's music, or like a game on or something. Go for lunch on a weekday or like early and on a weekend when it's not super bowl Sunday and just chill and enjoy yourself. It's also great because if you become a regular at this bar, you get to know the bartenders know all the people that are there and you know who they're out with, what they do how they act, all the things. It's also a bonus when you go and have lunch at these restaurants and meet the bartenders and get to know them because they can help you. If you start having a conversation with somebody, who's a jerk, they're going to tell you,"Hey, don't even think about it." Or they'll be like,"yeah, he's a nice guy." But the thing is that they have a great eye and they can tell you the truth on any red or green flags that they might have. So it's nice to do that and get a little bit of an insight as well. And maybe they don't know them, but if they do, then it's a bonus for you. It's just nice to have somebody backing you up. And then if you do go on dates, let's say you didn't ever meet anybody at this bar, but you met somebody online and you want to make sure that you feel safe or people know you, or you're very public or whatever, because safety first when you're online dating. So you make that your first date place every time if you want. And you just tell your bartender I am going on my first dates here so that you know me, whatever. So when you go on your first dates, you have somebody to see you that know that you're there. They can tell if you're having a great time and they can appropriately help you or redirect somebody and gets you out of a situation or lets you do your own thing and mind their own business. So you just have a good backup when you know somebody like that and then it ends up being a benefit. So just a side note on that. That's another reason why I like lunch dates at the bar. Another one at home, a wine and paint night, how you do the wine and painting at the little wine and paint boutiques, right? And you bring your own wine and you hang out with your friends and you paint, whatever they're painting that day. You can do that at home too, and maybe invite some girlfriends if you want. You could do an arts and crafts day or bring out some hobbies or just do a puzzle night. So many different things that you could do to expand your creativity and just be at home and enjoy yourself. So definitely some kind of wine and painting, puzzles. I love puzzles. The only thing I hate about puzzles, you get done and you're like,"Great, what do I do with it now? Cause I'm not like a person that'll glue it together and stick it on a wall or anything. I just take it apart and put it back in the box and then that's it. You can find something that you enjoy that's a little bit more stimulating in an artistic way. If that's something that you want to do and you find interesting. Picnic at a park. I used to go and pack a nice lunch and take my dog and go to the park and just hang out I wouldn't always take my dog, but if I felt like being brave enough to take him. I would, but I would just go and have a picnic at a park and just have lunch, not have to be this big old deal, but just go and read a book and enjoy the sun and get vitamin C having a lunch. Downtown, there's a Grocery store it's called the Phoenicia It's fancy though. They have specialty items but they also have lunch that you can pick up. Some are pre-packaged or some you can order at the counter and get lunch that way. And you could just take it out to the park then, you can go and have lunch out there. You don't have to go and do the traditional blanket and stuff like that. They have chairs and tables and stuff too. So you can enjoy yourself and people watch and just enjoy being outside and doing something a little bit different. My neighborhood now has so many parks and trails and picnic areas and stuff like that. So you could even do it in your neighborhood if that's available to you. I know a lot of Apartment complexes have that kind of, Space or area available as well. Not everybody, but some people do. So that would be, something fun and different to do, just to get out there and be visible. That's the goal is to practice being visible. And another thing, what do I like? Oh, I'm going antique shopping. I like to collect perfume bottles. Like the little old perfume bottles that you would have with the oil and you'd have the little top to it and you'd use the top to put your perfume on, just those little antique perfume bottles. They're so cute. And I, every time I go somewhere and I can find one, I like to pick one up if I can. Farmer's market on the weekends there's farmer's markets all over the place. My neighborhood has one and then the neighboring suburb has one as well. Farmer's markets are fun. You get to see different products and people have their own businesses and you get to support them and try different things that they have, pick up produce. There's more than just produce at the farmer's market. Ours, sell samosa has and all kinds of amazing food, cookies, any kind of desserts, barbecue sauce, homemade bread. lotions, candles and home decor. So what's fun. Again, you get to support local, small businesses and entrepreneurs and, just go outside and enjoy people. You get to people-watch, you get to approach people and ask questions about their business. Again, you're practicing like social skills and communication skills. When you're talking and asking people about their products. It just gives you that opportunity to practice talking to people that you don't see every day or like people that you don't know that you're not comfortable with and making it safe and normal and okay to talk to people that you don't know. It helps when you're going on a date, because you've already have those tools to learn how to ask people questions. You're multitasking when you are doing all of these solo dates and you're going out and talking to people, there's a purpose for it. Not only are you meeting people that potentially might be a partner, or they might know somebody that they can hook you up with, or you befriend them and you find a new hobby or you enjoy new friendships and relationships. There's so many benefits of going out and having solo dates. So really consider embracing that and going out to do that. Day trip at a nearby town. I live in the suburbs of Houston and just north of me, there's cute, little rural towns that we could go to that are like within an hour away. And in Houston, it takes an hour or an hour and a half to get anywhere. So if you're going to go out of town, it's the same shit anyways. There's Hockley and Chappell Hill and Brenham where Bluebell ice cream is you can go on the Blue bell ice cream tour. Just whatever, you can go have wine at a little local vineyard. There's so many things that you can find in these little towns or just taking a day trip. You can go like I can go to Austin. It's two hours away. And get up really early, go enjoy Austin, and then come home in the evening time before dark. And yeah, I had to do a little bit of driving, but it was a change of scenery and I still got to enjoy a fun town for a day. It's something to think about is going in a nearby town and enjoying a day trip. Volunteering, we're at like number 18 y'all. Volunteering is also something that I like to do. There's a food banks and animal shelters there's habitat for humanity, you could go build stuff. There's reading books at school at libraries, you can be on a advisory board. I'm about to volunteer, to be on an advisory board for Career and technology education. it's something about careers and helping students at a high school level. So I'll be on the advisory board for that hopefully, Susan Kopinitz, hook me up. So that would be fun to do and volunteer, And again, it's a new hobby, it's a new thing that you are doing, a new interest, you meet new people, it's networking. There's so many different things that you could do in your volunteering that are a benefit to you. Not just to potentially find a partner. It's a multitude of different things that you could do that are beneficial for you. For me, networking is something that I enjoy doing so and networking for friendships as well. that's. It's why I like to do that. Some of those things too, other than they're just fulfilling and I enjoy volunteering. It's also a good way to meet people as well. if you're a near water, I'm an hour away from Galveston beach. I used to live in Galveston, loved living there. You can just spend a beach day or go to a lake or go kayaking. One thing I like to do when I'm doing day trips to Austin is go to lady bird lake. So you go to lady bird lake, and you can rent a kayak there and do that. And that's nice and it's okay that you're by yourself. Put on some earbuds and listen to music or just enjoy being out there and watching other people. enjoy getting some exercise and some sun. kayaking or paddleboarding or something. And then one of my favorites is doing a staycation at a cool hotel. And I still do that. I'm actually about to leave for a staycation right after I do this podcast. But this is actually for a girl's night. So it's my sister's birthday. Her bestie and I, organized this staycation at a hotel downtown, and we're going to have a girls' night and have dinner and brunch tomorrow and get massages and all the things. I still like to do staycations. Again, sometimes they're solo and sometimes they're with friends or with Ryan. Anyhow, those are my 20 favorite things to do when I was single. I still do probably all of them now as well, just for myself because I enjoy them. Genuinely. I hope you like any of those ideas. If you have any other ideas, that'd be great to listen to and tell me what you like to do. I hope that you try some of these things and they become new comfort zones for you and you enjoy it. I will see you guys next week. Have a great day. Bye.