BEFORE WE GET STARTED…
I would love yall’s advice! I’ve been writing this letter for the whole summer now, but I’d love to know, would you rather get more date ideas or continue with more informaton and help with how to date people?
Don’t forget to reply with your favorite date idea this week.
THREE DATES, TWO WAYS TO ASK
Dinner at the Top of the RB Stairs
no, AI did not get the vibe but it sure did try
Picnic · Free, or about $15 for two
The Richards Building sits on the west edge of BYU campus. On the side facing the west, there are a few staircases that just go to nowhere basically. Go to one of the top of these and look out at the horizon. Sunset on Friday the 28th is 8:06 with usable light until about 8:32, and that same night is a full moon. Bring a blanket and whatever is in your fridge (you could make something, but no stress), or spend about nine dollars at the Creamery on Ninth on the way. Campus is nearly empty right now because fall classes start September 2, so you will hopefully have the stairs to yourselves.
An advantage of a plan like this: you can leave without having to make something up. Pro tip: pick dates with a natural stopping point, because then you can continue the date if you want to (go do something else), or get out and get home. The light going is a super natural reason to stand up that neither of you has to invent, and an evening that can end at 8:35 without anybody deciding to end it just makes it feel a lot less stressful.
Text them and say: "This is kind of random, I know we've only really talked at ward prayer, but I'm taking food up to the RB stairs Friday for the sunset. Want to come as a date with me?"
Featured Single: Get Your Own Card
We’ll feature you as a single in an upcoming issue, using your photo and a few lines about you, so other readers can reach out and ask you out, all for $5. Think a one-person profile card that goes to the whole list instead of doom scrolling on Mutual.
How it works:
(1) Venmo $5 to me, @hamiltonpr,
(2) reply to this email with a photo, your first name, age, year and major, what you are looking for, and how you want people to reach you.
Go on the Second Date
Second dates · Logan Ury
Logan Ury ran Google's behavioral science team before becoming Hinge's Director of Relationship Science, and in How to Not Die Alone she gives one rule that we think would be helpful for you: "Create a rule of thumb that you always go on a second date unless something really dramatic and bad happens on the first date." So that’s not "unless it was amazing," its unless something was actually really wrong. Her reasoning is that we are wired to notice what is off, so a perfectly decent evening gets filed under "no spark" but all for no good reason. So if Dinner at the Top of the RB Stairs goes fine and only fine, that is a yes by default, and the second one is where you actually find out.
"Always go on a second date unless something really dramatic and bad happens on the first date."
Guest Star in our Next Edition
Send us a selfie and you could be a person in next week’s date pictures. We drop you right into the scene using AI, so you and a friend can go looking for yourselves in the photos.
Cereal Dater
Mac · About $18 for two
Roni's Mac Bar sits at 42 East 1230 North, and is a few minutes north of campus, open 11am to 10pm on weeknights. The whole menu is loaded mac and cheese bowls running $8.49 to $14.74, so two of you eat for under twenty dollars. You can order ahead online and skip the counter entirely.
Here is what a slow reply means. It means she has not replied yet. People leave texts sitting for a day for reasons that have nothing to do with you, its just like doing sudoku with no numbers. Just chill, give it a couple of days, let it be what it is, and go do something else with your life while you wait.
After class, send a text saying: "Okay, this is going to sound weird coming from me. I'm getting mac and cheese at Roni's Thursday after institute. Want to come as my date?"
Every Guy Here Is Stuck on the Same Thing
Nerves · BYU Studies
BYU Studies ran a full survey of dating and marriage at BYU, and buried in it is the most useful sentence anybody has written about this campus: "When asked why they did not date more, BYU men identified the fear of rejection, financial constraints, and study demands as limiting factors." Rejection is listed first, ahead of money and school. The same survey found that 51 percent of the men said they do not date often enough, so this is not a small group of anxious guys, it is most of them. And the researchers named the workaround out loud: BYU men "often prefer hanging out to dating because it obviously spares them having to ask for a date and risk rejection." That is what hanging out is. It is a way to be near somebody without ever finding out. So when you are standing there after institute deciding whether to ask them to Cheese the Day, understand that the nerve you are feeling is the single most common experience on this campus, and that almost nobody acts on it, but that you are gonna be bold and ask anyways.
"Fear of rejection, financial constraints, and study demands."
RATE THE DATE
Last week's lead was The Temple With the Llamas, the free walk-in tour at the Krishna temple in Spanish Fork with the animal park out back. Whether you drove down or not, rate it one to ten and tell us whether the llamas actually helped the date or not.
Improv It to Me
Improv · $26 for two
ComedyBox Utah at 36 West Center Street is the place where two teams in red and blue jerseys compete for laughs while a referee in stripes calls fouls. Shows run Friday and Saturday at 7:30 and 9:30. Tickets for Friday the 28th are $12.86". If you are turning it into a double date, buy the group ticket: three tickets get you the fourth for one cent, thirty-six dollars for four people. They also run an improv academy if either of you enjoys it to that extent.
One thing to plan for, because it is the part people fumble: doors open at 7:00 and the show starts at 7:30. That is an easy thirty minutes of just the two of you being able to talk and get to know eachother. Then you enjoy the show if things don’t go that well talking, and have an opportunity to start fresh afterwards. Ask her one question you actually want the answer to, and the rest of the evening is downhill.
Call them and say: "Hey, this is kind of out of nowhere, we've only really talked at work. I've got two tickets to the improv show on Center Street Friday and I'm going either way. Want the other one?"
Advertise With Us
Want to put your business in front of hundreds of students in Utah Valley who are looking for somewhere to go or something to do? Reply to this email and let’s talk.
UPCOMING DATE OPPORTUNITIES
BONUS EVENTS
Hosting something in Utah Valley?
Wednesday, Aug 26: Open mic night at Velour
Velour, 135 N University Ave, Provo · doors 8 pm · $4 to watch, $3 if you play
Text them and say: "Velour does an open mic tonight and it's four dollars. I'm going either way. Want to come?"
Saturday, Aug 29: Provo Farmers Market
Pioneer Park, 500 W Center St, Provo · 9 am to 2 pm · Free
When you see them in person, say: "Farmers market Saturday morning. You pick what we eat and I'll pay for it. Deal?"
Saturday, Aug 29: Heather Headley with the Utah Valley Symphony
SCERA Shell, Orem · 8 pm, gates 6:30 · $40 general admission · Tony and Grammy winner with a full symphony behind her
Call them and say: "There's a Broadway singer doing a whole symphony show at the Shell Saturday. I want to go. Come with me?"
Friday, Sept 4: Cornbelly's Sunflower Festival opens
Cornbelly's, 3687 W 5600 S, Spanish Fork · ticketed, sunflower picking is an add-on · fifteen acres, ten varieties, a reported million blooms
Text them and say: "The sunflower place in Spanish Fork opens Friday. I'm driving down after work. Want to come?"
Saturday, Sept 5: BYU football hosts Utah Tech
LaVell Edwards Stadium, Provo · 6 pm kickoff on ESPN+ · the home opener
When you see them in person, say: "First home game is Saturday at six. I've got an extra ticket. Want it?"
Just reply to this email!
From the Editor
Thanks for reading to the end :)
I just wanna wish you luck with the start of school and whatever you’ve got going on!
NOW GO ASK HER →
Until next time,
— Two Tacos & a Hike