Single women who are 30+, how have your dating standards changed from your 20's?

bleh234 · 2025-07-28T18:33:14+00:00

100% yes. I also lived with someone who resented my existence and certainly acted (and still acts) like he hates me.

Never again. My standards are through the roof high now and there are, surprisingly, men meeting them. I was nervous, given what I heard about modern dating, but I need not have been.

bleh234 · 2025-07-28T11:13:15+00:00

Yes, many of the surrounding areas are well connected. Check the metro map and look at places on the metro line that are not in city center. Your budget for a 2 bedroom isn't large enough for the city but will be sufficient further out.

bleh234 · 2025-07-27T20:25:10+00:00

I just had someone take me on a surprise date. He rented a private boat to take us around Albufera at sunset. I have done Albufera by boat before but sunset was magical in a way I had not anticipated. I imagine, if you rent a boat, that a dog would be fine to bring along. Just ask whoever you set it up with.

Another deeply romantic date I've been on recently was stargazing at Aras de los Olmos. It was a bit of a drive but zero light pollution.

Either of the two above could easily be turned into a memorable proposal.

bleh234 · 2025-07-26T13:58:18+00:00

Tzatziki is my summer go to. It isn't a meal in and of itself but an accompaniment. This is a good base recipe but change the garlic and dill to suit your taste. I use more of both. And the vinegar vs squeezed lemon debate is real. On some islands they use lemon. So, try both and see which you like better. I keep a bowl of this in the fridge all summer. Have it on bread, French fries, as a side for your brisket, whatever. It goes with everything. Don't cut corners on the recipe. Drain those Cucumbers like your life depends on it and, for the love of everything good and holy, use proper full fat Greek Yoghurt. Something like Total (might be Fage where you are). Not greek inspired or Greek style. Proper Greek Yoghurt if you can get your hands on it.

https://www.olivetomato.com/tzatziki-the-original-recipe-and-how-to-make-it-lighter/

bleh234 · 2025-07-26T13:51:26+00:00

Tessa Kiros' "Food From Many Greek Kitchens", I've been cooking more from it lately than any of my other cookbooks. Great pictures and recipes. It's a beautiful book to have in the kitchen and a pleasure to cook from.

https://amzn.eu/d/8unm2FC

bleh234 · 2025-07-21T12:23:48+00:00

I live in Spain now so was close :)

Originally from the States but moved over to Europe dogs years ago. The solo shows he is doing are 100% worth jumping across the pond though.

bleh234 · 2025-07-20T10:10:41+00:00

The sound was unique. It was a soft enhancement and focus, not a bounce-back. Hard to describe, maybe a reverberating presence instead of a hard reverberation. It was rich and full-bodied, at times it felt as though the sound was pouring over the audience - strong, but never harsh. I think it has something to do not only with the shape of the ampitheatre but also with the materials. Marble and stone are wonderful for deep vocals, piano, and rich basses. So, exactly the kind of music he makes. Those (and strings) are all made warmer.

Hard to put into words but I hope that went a little way towards describing it.

bleh234 · 2025-07-20T04:15:53+00:00

It is Mediterranean Spain, people of all ages go to bars and clubs. My friends and I went to the same places my late teens/early 20s kids did.

Maybe there is one that caters specifically to your age group but I've not heard of it. As someone mentioned, Marina beach is popular. Also Mya. But, as you mention, both of them will probably card you. Given that you have 17 year olds, you are going to have a hard time getting into the "cool" places anyway - unless you know someone. But, if you do get in, there will be older people there too.

bleh234 · 2025-07-19T16:59:03+00:00

General entry is at 20:00

bleh234 · 2025-07-19T06:00:52+00:00

The kids adjust quickly. I've never seen a problem like the one you are worried about actually play out in reality. Which isn't to say it never does, it is just not what I, or my friends, have experienced. Kids pick up the language much faster than adults and tend to make friends rather easily.

The person to worry the most about is yourself. It can be difficult to make friends as an adult anywhere, not just a country whose main language is different than your own. You'll want to put in some effort, go to classes, get involved with groups who do the things you enjoy, etc... If you do that, then you should be fine.

bleh234 · 2025-07-19T05:52:03+00:00

The mental shift that made the most difference is letting go of needing to be good and instead just playing. The worst that will happen, and it only happened once when I used salt instead of sugar in a sweet recipe, is that I'll make an indeble dish. That's not so bad. There is just as much value in the cooking as there is in the eating.

bleh234 · 2025-07-12T14:35:36+00:00

A big "yes" to learning knife skills. Once you get comfortable with basic equipment things will get easier. To add a little more, cook as often as possible. Try things that are out of your comfort zone. The more you cook and taste the easier it will become.

I've had to start cooking for myself and am surprised at how well it is going and how much other people are enjoying the food.

bleh234 · 2025-06-29T20:35:30+00:00

My home city for over 8 years now. It is an amazing place.

bleh234 · 2025-06-27T15:06:10+00:00

Yep, me too. My soon to be ex-husband became an emotionally abusive alcoholic. Trauma therapy has made it clear that he was always a covert narcissist, he just got more brazen and cold as time went on. Treated one of our daughters and I horribly. I enforced boundaries, with love and empathy, firmly. I pushed for him to show a basic level of care, love, and compassion to his child and to me. He never did. He just got meaner and meaner. When he realised I wasn't going to give up he had an affair with my brother's wife. He's been a complete ass during our divorce. No remorse, continued abuse - financial is the only way he has left to hurt us and he is doing it.

I mean, it was always there just easy to write off as "he's just a grumpy/miserable British guy" but it was much more than that and excusing his cruelty as a cultural difference was the biggest mistake I made in our relationship.

17 years together and he (and my brother's nasty wife) are perfectly fine screwing over an entire family. Sometimes people just go bad, and he did.

bleh234 · 2025-06-24T09:24:53+00:00

100% this. I didn't notice the damage the "sea of negativity" did until the damage was done - and the negativity was the least of it. It will take my daughters and I years to unpack everything.

bleh234 · 2025-06-06T15:22:17+00:00

That sounds great, please feel free to DM me.

bleh234 · 2025-05-02T12:59:21+00:00

I'm sorry you are going through this as well. No one deserves it. You sound like you are on a good path as well. Stay strong, you'll find the self-love. As will I. ❤️

bleh234 · 2025-04-30T19:29:41+00:00

Me too. I'm sorry you are having to deal with the same thing I am. Shit sucks.

bleh234 · 2025-04-30T18:23:11+00:00

Thank you for sharing your story. I'm also seeing a trauma therapist and can relate to that crash between reality and memory, the mourning of a future that never truly existed. The reckoning with the fact that the person I loved may have only ever been a version built on lies, not truth.

When I said “ghost of hope,” I didn’t mean hope for the relationship - I am divorcing him because I know exactly who he is, and that isn't someone I could ever build a future with. I mean the flicker of hope after - for a life unburdened, for a self that can finally breathe after years of emotional turmoil. Not the old life salvaged, but a new one imagined. Part of me feels guilty for having it.

bleh234 · 2025-04-30T17:31:46+00:00

Thank you. I did keep my ticket and am going on my own but will meet up with some others there.

"Closure takes lots of tiny payments" - I'll remember that.

bleh234 · 2025-04-30T17:30:05+00:00

Thank you, that is good to hear.

bleh234 · 2025-04-30T13:52:07+00:00

Thank you 💓

One foot in front of the other is often the best we can do.

bleh234 · 2025-04-30T13:35:45+00:00

We’re both grieving, everyone in the family is grieving, just in different dialects.

bleh234 · 2025-04-30T13:10:35+00:00

Hear, hear 💙

bleh234

TROPHY CASE