Weekend Dating Speed Dating Singles events on Long Island, Queens, Brooklyn, NYC

"The hardest thing is to establish a circle of friends, a circle of single people," Ms. Cardenas said. "The idea of having a fun time for myself and meeting single women is very attractive. It takes away the scariness of doing the single thing, and puts a fun element in it."
As the friends they have known from young adulthood commit to relationships, marry and have children, single women in their 30's, 40's and 50's, especially in the suburbs, often find themselves out of the loop. Tagging along with couples becomes awkward, and the common ground of shared experience dwindles. The single friend may feel stuck in a rerun of "Sex and the City" while the married friend has moved on to the Wisteria Lane of "Desperate Housewives."
"A lot of women my age are married or have kids," Dr. Hughes said. "They are just on a different path in their lives. They are not interested in going out or doing anything with the singles scene. I am still looking to go out, to meet men."
Not only would they have a chance to commiserate with other unattached women over fresh fruit, sushi and cucumber water, they would also choose from a menu of pampering treatments, from mini-facials to professional makeup applications, having their hair blown out and attending a group lesson on skin care.
Afterward, relaxed, primped and perhaps bonded, the 18 women would move straight on to the more traditional half of the double-barreled event: a men-and-women singles party at Cirella's, a restaurant in the mall.
"Meeting women and men - it's a good two options," Ms. Cardenas said. "Doing the spa thing, if all goes wrong, you walk away with your facial. If all goes right, you make some new friends. If it goes extremely well, you walk out with a potential guy's phone number or being asked your phone number."

At singles events for men and women, Dr. Hughes said, she often got "that standoffish thing" from other women. So the women-only mixer at the spa was a refreshing change, a chance to be cohorts instead of rivals. "In this kind of situation, it's a lot more relaxed," she said.