Hi, it's me, Katie. I am a funny, 26-year-old, semi-successful journalist living in the Washington, D.C.-area.

 

And I'm single for the first time in my adult life.

 

My back story: I started dating my first serious boyfriend (heretofore "Ex-BF v. 1.0") in college at age 20. We both worked at our college newspaper, kissed at a party and subsequently dated for the next five years -- until it became clear to me that I just wasn't the same person at 25 as I was at 20 and needed to break it off with him.

 

Less than one month after that relationship ended, on my FIRST NIGHT back out on the town, I met the next man I seriously dated (now "Ex-BF v. 2.0"). We fell in love at warp speed, moved in together, then watched the situation blow up in our faces like a bad science project. I moved out in October.

 

A soul-cleansing two-week vacation to Mexico later, and I'm back out on the market. A market, I should note, that is an entirely mystifying and mythical place to me.

 

I have never done this! I have never "dated"! I have had back-to-back serious, long-term relationships. I have never experienced a coffee date, a blind date, a date you go on as a favor to your mom/aunt/best friend/etc., a bad date, a stood-up date -- none of it! And I want to so I can have a basis for comparison. I have two guys for points of reference; I need more.

 

And so I'm diving in headfirst. I joined Match.com, for starters. I vow to leave no happy hour unattended, no date un-taken, no hottie un-chatted-up. If there is a single man in the greater D.C.-area, I'm going to find him and force him to buy me a drink.

 

If it sounds like I'm desperate, I assure you I'm really not -- I'm relieved of the shackles of serious monogamy for the first time in my life and I just want to get out there and see what there is to see, experience what there is to experience. It's exhilarating!

 

A few points of business pertaining to this blog:

 

1. I will not be identifying suitors by their names.

 

In the interest of protecting their privacy, blah blah blah...

 

2. That is not my body/hair in the logo.

 

I work out, but not that much. Nor do I own hot-rollers. I am, however, extremely flattered by those who thought it was indeed me. Thanks!

 

3. Speaking of the logo, it's supposed to be me as a cupid.

 

And I'm using the Washington Monument as an arrow. This greatly perplexed my friend Megan K. earlier today. I promised her I would revisit the bow and make the strings more prominent, as well as Photoshopping myself some cupid wings. Was anyone else confused by this, or is it just her?

 

I guess that's it! At this point, I've had a few dates already that I've blogged about in my super secret personal blog, so I'm going to reconfigure those and post them on here in the next few days.

 

Wish me luck!

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Originally posted Nov. 25, 2009