HOW TO: Do simple dance moves on the dance floor (Singlefied.com & Sparkology.com)

You Got Served – Take It to the Streets (Dance Instructional)

Chivas Tasting Event: Winner Announced & Date Tips

Wow, some of you guys are so romantical and some of you are just douchey.  It’s all good, because the girls of Singlefied have picked a winner: Aaron H.  Congrats Aaron, you and a guest will be attending the Chivas Tasting Event courtesy of Sparkology!  Check out the winning date idea below, and scroll through to see some of the entries that stood out to us.

WINNING DATE:

Start out in Central Park by surprising her with a lunch picnic including some of her favorite dishes.  Bring extra blankets in case it’s chilly.  After lunch, take her on a dessert tour while walking downtown.  Map out 5-6 bakeries along the way.  At the last bakery, have a pre-planned dessert with a rose attached (set up ahead of time).  She’ll be pleasantly surprised.  Reward all this walking with aperitivo at Casa Nonna, an Italian style happy hour where you have access to a buffet of appetizers with the purchase of a cocktail.  Drop her off in a cab and walk your ass home.

Our verdict: How thoughtful, well-planned, simple, and romantic!  This date requires some pre-planning, but it’ll make any girl impressed and giddy.  And hello dessert tour?  Hell yeah!  Well done, Aaron.  We all want to date you now.

STAND-OUT ENTRIES:

1) 1st date Strbcks in mall, be late so she buys her own drnk, get an iced chai, chat abt life n thn buy af1s while askn 4 input

Our verdict: Yo, we said $100 budget, not $1.50.  And btw, don’t ever be late for a date.

2) The date starts at the Brooklyn Bridge, where you greet her with a single red rose (or other flower;$3-$5). You walk across the bridge to the middle deck and take out some red wine to have a toast (Trader Joe’s wine, $4). Next, onto Flamenco dance lessons at Dance New Amsterdam ($16.50 each). The studio is a few blocks from the bridge. After dance lessons, get onto the 6 train going downtown. This train ride loops back uptown at the last stop, taking you through beautiful, historic City Hall train station that many people don’t know about. The view is very beautiful and romantic. Ride the train until you get to Grand Central (train ride $4.50). Stroll trough Grand Central and then on to Bryant Park. Across from the park, make a stop at Lily O’brien’s for Coffee or Hot Chocolate and receive a free gourmet chocolate with your drink (with a 2 for 1 coupon on their website the cost will be about $3.50). She will appreciate a bargain and the resourcefulness. After coffee, stroll through Times Square and enjoy the lights. Then on to 5 Napkin Burger. Don’t let the name fool you, this restaurant has great food, drinks and atmosphere, at very reasonable prices(entrees range from about $12-$16). The menu includes great sushi, delicious gourmet burgers, salads and other seafood dishes. At this point you should have just enough money to finish the night off with a drink….and that concludes my version of the perfect date for under a $100. With this date I would hope to have given the impression that I am fun, creative, outgoing, and romantic.

Our verdict: We love the romantic and surprising (Flamenco!) aspects of your date, but we do not love you pulling out a 2-for-1 coupon.  There’s nothing wrong with finding a bargain, but make it discreet.

3) While Lincoln Center is mostly known for it’s operas and ballets, it allows for an upscale variation on the tried and true movie dinner date as well. For $20 you can watch a screening of your favorite movie from a year ago followed by a live q&a with the director. Somewhere between the strangely polite audience (a rarity in NYC), the frank discussion with the director (the glitz and glamour of celebrity), and the outraged older woman in the front row berating said director (you are after all still in New York), you the makings of a date her roommates will definitely hear about. For a $10 cab ride you can end up on the corner of 49th and broadway at Hagi. While it’s pretty much as close to Times Square as you can be without technically being in it, the nondescript door filters out any fanny pack toting tourists. First made famous as a watering hole for Bourdain and culinary buddies, the menu features a slew of Japanese delicacies at an affordable price and pitchers cheap enough to never feel guilty about ordering another one.

Our verdict: A Bourdain-worthy restaurant is always a plus, but spending half of the date not talking to each other is a negative.  Save movie dates for a girlfriend, not a girl you’re trying to fuck.

4) Take her to Nobu and tell her she can order whatever she wants.  Throw in a couple bottles of champagne!  Then at the end of dinner, claim that you lost your wallet.   Be convincingly frazzled, then tell her you’ll make it up to her next time.

Our verdict: You’re a dick.

5) The date starts at lunch at an uncrowded Chelsea Market where we whet our appetites by slowly meandering and picking up pieces here and there from the various purveyors.  Inevitably, conversation steers towards food: we notice each other’s reactions to the tasty fare in the storefronts, to the samples of various goodies that we would not have tried normally, but the relaxed atmosphere encourages us to be indulgent.  Lunch in hand, we head southwest to Battery Park and hungrily dig into our makeshift picnic at the park near the World Financial Center.  The sight of moored yachts and sailboats make for a playful backdrop as we share stories of unforgettable meals.

The notion of being on the water on a sunny day grips us so we board the Staten Island Ferry and watch the skyline shrink and appreciate this token act of escapism.  Sea mist and unfamiliar views of familiar places give us a different, thus tastier slice of New York.  Swirls of history, nostalgia and PBS specials well up as we pass by the Statue of Liberty.  Finally, we arrive at Staten Island only to immediately go back and experience the whole thing in reverse.

Traipsing through TriBeCa, we grab a quick Vietnamese iced coffee to fuel us to Columbus park in the heart of Chinatown where we revel in the sensory chaos of amateur Beijing opera, handball, fishmongers and senior citizens showing off their tai chi skills to their grandchildren. We take mental notes as we casually mention tidbits of our travels, pressing for more details when it merits.

Then off to SoHo for a quiet(er) respite where we leaf through the new Visionaire and the photo-laden tomes at Tashen and Phaidon.  Eagerly showing each other images and/or prose that made an impression, we notice some shared tastes in art but more importantly, we take note of the differences that we can discuss later.

Finally, we take the subway to Coney Island. This short 45 minute train ride allows us to get a small gauge of how we would travel together.  We continue our travel talk, while witnessing the dramatic change in scenery from the above ground subway.  Escaping the hustle of Manhattan and emerging in the bustle of southern Brooklyn, we stroll on the boardwalk and determine that Nathan’s hotdogs are indeed better in Coney Island.  The cool sea air is especially romantic at dusk when on the ferris wheel.

Our verdict:  What a wonderfully poetic, scenic and well-scripted date.  However, how many hours do we need for this whole production?  And when can we take a break from all the traveling?  If you’re planning a very involved and active date, make sure to warn her the night before so she wears proper shoes! 

Check out “Sex Diaries” in New York Magazine, real life sex stories from New Yorkers.

Win a Chivas Tasting Event at the Exclusive 1801 Club (Courtesy of Sparkology)

Our friends at Sparkology have given Singlefied readers a chance to win a pair of coveted passes to their Chivas tasting event.  Event details:

• 11/8/11
• Premier access to the 1801 Club (foosball table, poker room)
• Open cocktail hour complimented by hors d’oeurves
• Formal tasting led by trained Chivas brand ambassadors trained in Scotland
• Hot hostesses (my fave)
• And more

To enter, please describe your idea of a perfect date under $100, using 400 words or less.  A panel of hot girls from Singlefied will announce the winner by Saturday, 11/5.  Please use form below.

Here are rules:

• Contest open from noon 11/1 – noon 11/4 EST
  
• This is an all male event; winner’s guest must be male
• The suggested date must be realistic and can be done today…with humans.  The $100 budget is set to eliminate “fly to the moon” and “karaoke with Justin Bieber” type of scenarios.
• Multiple entries per person allowed

Alright boys, let’s see what you come up with.  Make me proud!

Name(required)

Email(required)

Website

Your idea of a perfect date under $100. (400 word limit)(required)

Submit

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HOW TO: Approach a girl on the dance floor (Singlefied.com & Sparkology.com)

You Got Served – Take It to the Streets (Dance Instructional)

How to Dance: 4 Common Mistakes (Presented by Singleifed and Sparkology)

You don’t have to be twinkle toes on the dance floor to impress the ladies, but you might want to avoid being “that guy.” Singlefied and Sparkology will bringing you a series of videos upping your game on the dance floor. Video #1: 4 Common Mistakes. And don’t forget, Miss Singlefied gives private social dance lessons that can be done either in person (NY & LA) or via Skype. Miss Singlefied will also have a live show via Uvidy soon, so stay tuned!

The new MacBook Air, on sale for under $1000 at Amazon.com .

 

YOU’RE INVITED: Sparkology Pre-Launch Event

Our friends at Sparkology.com have invited Singlefied readers to an exclusive pre-launch party in NYC on 10/22.  All the details below.  I think this is such a great idea and also an awesome chance for you guys to get a great profile picture while sippin’ on some gin and juice.

Sparkology Pre-Launch Party and Photo Event

10/22

1-4pm

The MiMa, MC Level, 450 West 42nd, bw 9 and 10th Ave

*YOU MUST RSVP TO GET IN*

MESSAGE FROM HOST

It’s official: You, our inaugural members and guests, are invited to join us for our launch mixer and photo session this Saturday.

The most important part of your image is your photo: Hannah Palmer Egan and Olivia Hall of Caras TriBeCa, a downtown beauty and photo studio, will take professional headshot and full-body photos that you can keep

Make-up by Melissa DiScala featuring MAC products will help you look your best

Vodka and mixed drinks provided by our sponsor Voli, the world’s first low calorie vodka

Plenty of wine and champagne to get you camera-ready

Beer provided by our sponsor Blue State Beer

Delicious catered hors d’oeuvres

Photos will be taken in natural light on the Terrace.  Please arrive early to ensure you get time with photographer
Best of all: kick back and relax with other ladies and gentlemen of Sparkology.  To join the invite-only community, use Singlefied’s private code.

***Guests are welcome but RSVP is required.  Please email: events@sparkology.com and mention you were referred by Singlefied.  This is a premier venue – if you aren’t on the list, you aren’t getting in.***

Please dress ready for the camera.

Check out “Sex Diaries” in New York Magazine, real life sex stories from New Yorkers.

Paying for Dates: Revisiting the 60/40

Paying for dates has always been a hot topic for debate.  Should the guy always pick up the tab?  Should you ditch a girl who never pays for anything?  Is going dutch totally taboo?

A couple months back, I wrote about the 60/40– guys paying for the bigger things (dinners, tickets), and girls paying for the smaller things (coffee, cab rides).  Alex Furmansky, the founder of Sparkology.com, added even more wisdom into the post.  So check out the new and improved version:

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I always get the question of who should pay for dinner on dates.  From what I’ve seen and heard, the 60/40 split is what usually works best.  This means that the guy covers the “bigger” purchases (dinners, show tickets) and the girl pays for the “smaller” purchases (cab rides, tip).

The 60/40 split addresses many of the problems found in the traditional 100/0 split or the modern 50/50 by offering the right balance of tradition and gender equality:

Problems with 100/0

Reduces value of the woman; supports outdated notion of subordination
May make woman feel like…[Read the rest of the post here]

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And if you haven’t gotten your secret code to test out Sparkology.com for free, be sure to get it from me!

The new MacBook Air, on sale for under $1000 at Amazon.com .