Dating

After a way too long dry stint of no dates and even less prospects it can be all too thrilling to finally score a first date with someone. It doesn't matter if it's with a work crush, blind date, or someone you met through an online dating service, you're exciting that this date could be the first of many. Not to be a wet blanket, but this sense of elation and nerves can often push aside some basic safety precautions that you should take before going on a first date with anyone you don't know well.

Perform a Background Check This might sound like overkill to a lot of you, but a simple background check can pull up a lot of red flags that may have you rethinking a date with someone. Background checks can show you information like marriage licenses (How many exes are too many? What if they're currently married?), not to mention any legal altercations. While every girl likes a bad boy, everybody has a line. Is cancelling a date based off of what you find on a background check fair? Maybe, maybe not. But at the least it will give you things to watch out for and will let you know if they're being honest with you.

Go to a Public Place Never, ever, ever-ever-ever-ever-ever meet for a first date with someone at their private residence or somewhere that's very removed. Meet at a neutral location where plenty of people are sure to be like a restaurant, bar, coffee house, sporting event, or something else along those lines. Along the same lines, don't get in a private vehicle with your date either - even if it's yours.

Let Someone Know Whenever I go on an extended walk or hike I am sure to let someone know where I'm going and what time I'm expecting to be back, and first dates aren't much different. This is doubly true if you've never met your date in person. Let a friend know what you're doing, where you're going, and when you expect to be back. Check in with them afterwards to let them know how the date went and that you're okay.

Have an Out First dates are always iffy and you don't want to be stuck there all night if it turns out to be a big disappointment, for either of you. That being said, it's best to schedule something that won't take too long. But even with short dates, be prepared to excuse yourself from the date. While you don't need an excuse (if you're uncomfortable, just leave!), it can be less awkward for both of you if you have a believable out. I don't mean fake a call from the hospital about your aunt you just got in a car accident.

First dates are fun and exciting, but they can potentially be dangerous if you're meeting up with someone you've only ever interacted with online, or not at all. Take some basic precautions before the date to insure your safety. That way you can relax for real when everything goes smoothly.

Kristen Bright is a blogger living in San Diego who tries to promote safe online interactions by using background checks on people before moving forward.

In the world we live in today, Latin dating in the workplace has become an alluring and sometimes inescapable facet of life. Plenty of Latin men and women have found love amongst co-workers, and many lasting relationships, even marriages, have sprouted through office romance. Unfortunately, plenty of careers have been ruined by inter-office romances gone-wrong, as nothing is more expendable than an employee that could bring down the firm with a sexual harassment lawsuit. So, as a Latin man or woman, is it worth it to pursue love in the workplace?

Office Romance is on the Rise In recent years, it's become increasingly apparent that workplace romances are on the rise, within the Latin dating community as well as within others. Analysts on the topic cite more women in the corporate workplace (especially more Latinas) and longer work hours as the two major reasons that workplace dating has not only become more apparent, but in some ways, more essential.

The Upsides There are plenty of reasons that workplace romances can be beneficial. In the workplace, you actually get an opportunity to get to know the other person before you date them. Your office is not a bar, it's not a fiesta where Latin men and Latin women go to drink and dance and sloppily introduce themselves in hopes that something will come of it. In the workplace, people can create meaningful friendships that will blossom into something more, instead of rushing into something that may seem forced. On top of that, women are not catcalled and ogled in the workplace (and if they are, you may want to get in touch with HR), and men are not constantly on their guard and putting up the macho façade that they think helps them pick up women. And, of course, as easy to look over as it is, the fact that you are both working in the same place generally shows that you share some sort of common interest.

The Downsides The downsides of workplace dating, on the other hand, are innumerable and generally lead to more severe consequences. Also, while the beneficial aspects of dating would affect your and your partner in a positive way, the negative aspects affect you and your co-workers as well. These aspects include co-worker jealousy, gossip, and inferences of favoritism-what's more is that these aspects can affect a relationship even when it is going well. When a relationship isn't, well, you're opening up Pandora's Box.

If you are a Latin single looking to explore inter-office romance, consider these tips:

• Don't date your boss. If you are considering dating your boss, or you are the boss considering dating your subordinate, you are in a tricky situation. The repercussions to cultivating a relationship that poses a "conflict of interest" are severe, so if you are in this situation and intend to pursue, you will absolutely want to alter your working arrangement beforehand. One of you should consider a lateral move within the company, or switching your career altogether. If you don't, you might be forced to switch careers anyway.
• Weigh your options. Consider how much you value your job versus how much you value the potential relationship. Even the most seemingly benign relationships can explode in your face and leave you filling out unemployment paperwork. So you have to ask yourself, "Is that beautiful Latin man/woman worth losing my job over?"
• Set boundaries. Make sure that you communicate to each other what is and is not appropriate to do at the office. Even though Latin dating tends to be impassioned and romantic, you will want to keep a professional distance while at work.
• Keep in on the DL. In the beginning, keep your relationship on the down-low. If you go "public" from the get-go, you risk the gossip and extra looks that inevitably ensue with office romance. Once certain checkpoints in your relationship have been crossed, then it will be the right time to announce your relationship, but until then, and until you know that it's going to be serious and long-term, keep your relationship hush-hush.

About the Author: Miranda Santiago is a dating advice expert who loves to all things Latin dating, and contributes to Corazon.

So when does "just dating" become a real relationship?

Is it defined by an act or by time? If it is time, how long does it take before you should be calling the person you have been seeing your boyfriend or girlfriend?

Take our new poll and help answer this question!



If you don't see your relationship defining moment listed above, add a comment to the poll to see what others say! If you would like to vote on more dating and relationship questions, you should check our other dating polls in the system.

The review for David DeAngelo ebook called "Double Your Dating" can now be found in our Dating Books category. This ebook was so popular that the author updated his source material and released a second edition. Double Your Dating is not designed as a quick fix for someone’s dating problems. David DeAngelo approaches are designed for single men who is interested in self-improvement and are looking to empower not just their dating lives but other areas of their life. This ebook is ideal for beginners.

To find out more about this popular dating book for men you can read our new Double Your Dating review now.

The pressure's on for singles in Shanghai. The Chinese capital's fertility rate has dropped to just 0.79 children per woman, and now the city is desperate to encourage more young people to meet, marry, and raise a family.

The center of the city's dating scene is Shanghai Expo Park, where thousands of eligible young men and women gather in hopes of meeting their matches. 38,000 singles and parents attended a June 1st matchmaking event in the park, hoping to revive a marriage rate that is expected to fall 17% this year.

Shanghai is China's richest city, largest port, and a leading financial center in the country. It is also the center of waves of social changes that are sweeping the nation. An urban shift is shrinking the pool of factory workers who sustain economic growth in the country, while the ranks of the elderly - who increase healthcare and pension costs - are on the rise. City-dwelling citizens with higher education levels and a greater focus on their careers are marrying later and having fewer children, causing the Shanghai birth rate to drop to half the national level.

These shifts have caused major changes for Chinese women, who have become a larger, and increasingly educated, percentage of the population. "In the past, women were match-made by their parents," says Juemin Zhou, director of the Shanghai Matchmaking Trade Association. "Then, it didn't matter how old you were, or if your partner was blind in one eye, you still had to get married. Now, if you don't find someone suitable, you just don't settle."

Gong Haiyan, co-chief executive officer of Jiayuan.com, China's largest online dating agency, reports that women's expectations of potential partners - like owning a house - have now skyrocketed. "The first thing they look for," said Hansen Huang, a male attendee at the matchmaking fair, "is if you have a decent job, what is your salary like, if you have an apartment. Women are looking for a partner who can provide so they can live relatively comfortably."

In spite of these shifts, many Chinese citizens remain traditional. A young bride is still considered ideal, and women who wait too long to settle down many be considered "leftovers." "Women can be very picky when they're young," said Huang. "But if you don't sell when it commands the highest value, you may miss the golden opportunity."

The pressure to wed may be high, but Shanghai is doing its best to respond: about 2,000 couples were successfully matched at last year's event, a figure that bodes well for this year's fair.

Now here's something that I never expected to need an app for...though now that I see it, I can't help but be intrigued.

Sarah Gray was in a long distance relationship when she found herself wondering whether it was time to bid her boyfriend farewell. The relationship did end up crumbling, but Gray found something good in the aftermath: a new app idea. The app, called Should I Dump My Boyfriend?, helps users answer the same question that Gray faced by tracking your feelings over a two-week period.

Forget about talking your friends ears off with the trivial details of your relationships or turning to silly Cosmo quizzes to answer your burning relationship questions. This app, which creates a graph that quantifies what you should do and provides customized advice, is the way of the future.

Step one is to keep track of your feelings. Record your ups and downs in the app, which sends a daily reminder to make sure that you stay on top of the tracking process. You can rate your boyfriend as often as you like, since you never know when you might be surprised by something he does, and can leave notes describing your feelings during each rating session.

When the rating process is complete, the app provides objective advice based on the unique patterns it analyzes in your entries. The idea is to help you spot trends that you may have missed in day to day life, and create clarity about why you might be sabotaging a good relationship or sticking with a bad one.

And it's not just useful for one relationship. The app saves all your entries from past boyfriends, so you can review and reflect at any point in the future. Mad at your man and wondering why you haven't dumped him yet? Check the app for reminders about what makes him so wonderful. Feeling the post-breakup blues and second-guessing your choice to dump the chump? Read through your old notes and statistics to refresh your memory about why he was such a dud, then count your blessings.

"Being able to see your relationship clearly and objectively is the 1st step on the path to a happy, healthy love-life," says Gray, :whether it's with him, with someone else, or on your own for a while." We're often to irrational in the moment to assess our feelings correctly, making the app a valuable asset when it comes to choosing partners wisely. "Sometimes, we need an objective voice to help us appreciate a good thing or accept something painful," Grey adds. "And this app helps us tap into the best voice of all - the one inside ourselves."

Check out the app on iTunes.