The Next Step in the 30 Dates Story!

For those of you who’ve been following the 30 Dates blog from its very beginning, you’ll have seen the various ups and downs.  Ironically most of the downers were man-shaped!

Today marks another day in 30 Dates history, as Time Out London officially launches its first Dating page – a page I’ve now been working on for months, as part of my exciting new job at Time Out.

I sit, typing this blog post from New York – where I’m currently working.  To be honest, it’s pretty exciting, when I remember that the last time I was here, I was on Date 29 of the 30.  And now I work as global Head of Dating for a multimedia company.  A lot can change in just over 18 months.  Just this week I got a tweet from a student doing her dissertation about my blog (?!!) and I did two interviews with students studying the same journalism course I studied a few years ago.

So, while I’m thinking of key moments for 30 Dates, what are the big ones?

July 2nd 2013 – I write a Facebook status suggesting the idea to friends

July 9th 2013 – My first of the 30 blind dates – The Normal Fish

August 2013 – I go on two dates with The Enigma – the best of the 30 Dates, but romance was not to be!

August 19th 2013 – I travel to Madrid, Spain for Dates 15 and 16 – The Booby Prize and The Argentine Matador

September 25th 2013 – I fly to New York for Date 29 – The New Yorker

September 29th 2013 -I fly to Los Angeles for the final date – The Hollywood Actor

September 30th 2013 – I turn 30 in LA, celebrating with dinner at The Chateaux Marmont

January 1st 2014 – I have the most incredible first date I’ve ever had, with Mr Second Chance

January 2014 – Guardian Soulmates name me Blogger of the Year

February 2014 – My dating advice is printed in The Guardian and Observer for the first time

February 2014 – I split up with Mr SC, much to my disappointment

April 2014 – Guardian Soulmates offer me a job as the Editor of their Dating Blog – a role which sees me interviewing various celebrities about their love lives

May 2014 – I launch the UK Dating Awards

June 2014 – 30 Dates is shortlisted for Best Sex and Dating Blog in the Cosmo Blog Awards

July 2014 – I quit my banking job and move to London to pursue a career as a freelance dating writer

July 2014 – I headline the Guardian Soulmates 10 Year Anniversary events with talks on the lessons I’ve learned from 30 Dates

August 2014 – I head to Edinburgh Fringe and go for a blind date with comedian Max Dickins

October 2014 – Time Out hires me to consult for them

October 2014 – I appear on Woman’s Hour for the first time.

October 25th 2014 – I go on a blind date with The Rugby Boy …

We go on our second date on November 1st, and five months on, we’re still going strong 🙂

November 13th 2014 – The inaugural UK Dating Awards – over 270 members of the UK Dating Industry attend

January 2015 – I join Time Out full time as their global Head of Dating

January 2015 – I head to Las Vegas for the 2015 iDate Awards, representing Time Out

January 2015 – Together with the Time Out global editorial team, I launch the Time Out Global Dating survey – 11,000 singles around the world tell us about their dating life, leading to international headlines about the sexiest accent, and when it’s ok to have sex.

The same month, my first article was published on timeout.com.

January 2015 – I run a Guardian Masterclass on Online Dating

February 2015 – The Today Programme on Radio 4 ask me to appear on Valentine’s Day – I sit next to Nicholas Parsons, live on air.

March 2015 – Today the first Dating page was published in the London magazine!

(Ooh and I’ll let you in on a secret … the couple who appear in the first Date Night are the ones who set me up with The Enigma!)

Onwards and upwards hopefully … what else will life have in store for 30 Dates?!

Miss Twenty-Nine xxx