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Meet Kelly Anderson, amNewYork’s newest dating columnist

I moved to Brooklyn from Minnesota on Feb. 1, 2013 and have since been attempting to figure out New York’s dating scene, though my Minnesootah accent has been a surprisingly big help. In return, I’ve had to make peace with the fact that I will always be asked if lived in a town like the one in the movie “Fargo.” Life is a cruel game of give and take, you see.

Having come from Minneapolis, a city where everyone knows everyone, New York was a breath of metaphorical fresh air. No one here knew about the unflattering bob I had during my sophomore year of college or that I didn’t have a date to my senior prom. I knew exactly one person when I moved to the city, and it was amazing.

Today, my list of friends has since grown a bit (thankfully) and so has my list of dating experiences (thankfully, sometimes). These experiences range from, “Oh my god this cannot end fast enough” to “Oh my god I don’t want this to end.” There are also more than a few horribly cringe-worthy decisions mixed in there that should never be made public. Spoiler alert: I’ll make mine public.

My encounters with the opposite sex come in a variety of forms, including the inevitable use of online apps such as Tinder and even a brief stint with OkCupid. I’ve also been known to slide into your Twitter DMs. When I’m feeling bold, I’ll take a break from the digital screen and give it a shot the old-fashioned way: going to a bar for a drink by myself. Alone, you say? Yes, no need to tell me how brave I am, eight people will have already done that before I finish my first drink. What I’m trying to say is that finding a guy isn’t a one-size-fits-all situation; there are options, so let’s use them to our advantage.   

Dating in New York as a 20-something female is equal parts exciting and also just plain awful, with a dash of nausea to make things interesting when you least expect it. I’m here to share lessons learned from my past experiences, vent about my current ones and give my female perspective on how to (hopefully) make dating in this city a bit more bearable. (Or, at the very least, make you feel better about your own dating situation compared to mine.) What can I say, my Minnesota Nice is ingrained in me forever.

Head to amNY.com/dating this Friday, as Kelly and Matthew take on summer flings in the city. To inquire about NYC dating advice, email them at amnydating@gmail.com. Your question may appear in a future column, but no names will be used.