Creating Events Filled with Love Since 2001
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Creating Events Filled with Love Since 2001 |
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The New York Sun
How Ms. Allison Is Turning to Web To Find a Husband IT’S WWW.MARRYBLAIRE.COM By PIA CATTON Staff Reporter of the Sun Publish Date: Jul 2, 2004 Section:Front page; Page:1
Blaire Allison wants a husband. And she wants him now — or at least by the end of the year. Ms. Allison, 26, who has brown eyes and an indeterminate hair color, says she’s had enough of trying to meet men at bars or through typical Internet dating sites. So she whipped up a little Web site of her own, one that makes no bones about her desire to meet a guy and get hitched by December: www.marryblaire.com. “I’m tired of being afraid of saying to a guy,‘I want to get married,’ ” said this Bergen County, N.J., native. “We’re always told not to admit that because it scares guys.” Ms. Allison — whose Zodiac sign is Cancer — is by most measures completely sane. She drives a Honda Civic, likes to wear sundresses, and listens to R&B and hip-hop. She’s into spirituality and reads lots of books on the subject. She’s built up an event-planning business that started with corporate events, but now is exclusively devoted to planning bachelorette parties. As far as looking for a reason to throw her own bachelorette party, she’s made the dating rounds in hopes of finding a suitable guy. “My profile was on Match and JDate,” she said, referring to two popular dating Web sites. And she spends time doing activities she likes in hopes that Cupid’s arrow will strike a guy who shares her interests. “I go to lounges. I go to the gym. I take classes related to self-improvement.” The photos Ms. Allison has posted on her Web site show that she’s an attractive woman. She lists her measurements as an enviable 110 pounds and a not-so-enviable 5’3”. Her comely features have resulted in plenty of interest from the opposite sex. “I’ve dated lot of different types of guys. I’ve had all different types of relationships — casual, serious,” she said. “I just haven’t found the one.” So what’s the problem? “It’s hard to meet someone these days,” she said. “I don’t know what it is.” And plenty of women seem to agree with her. Since it went up last Tuesday, Ms. Allison’s site has been flooded with e-mail from members of the fair sex congratulating her on her gumption. “Ninety percent of them have said, ‘You go girl,’” she said.“The other 10% say, “You’re crazy. You’re a gold digger.” She finds the latter criticism bewildering. “I don’t get that. I don’t know where that comes from,” she said. “I’m a successful woman. I’m looking for a successful man.” Ms.Allison has netted only one date from the site: “Dave,” who describes himself as “fun-loving, outgoing, great listener, approachable.” She wasn’t into him, so she generously posted his contact info on her site to help out other marriage-minded females. What makes this single girl’s search more difficult — or easier — depending on how you look at it, is that faith is a major component. “I’m not very religious. I don’t go to temple every week,” she confesses. “But it’s important to me to date Jewish guys and raise my kids Jewish.” Regardless of whether or not she does land a man, this University of Miami graduate is enjoying the reaction to her site. Initially, it was all just for kicks. “I really was only going to pass this on to some friends,” Ms. Allison said. Word got out while she was building the site. “All of a sudden, I had 600 hits, then it went to 1,500,” she said. That has brought some international attention. “Now people are looking at it in other countries,” she says with a little waver of concern in her voice. Surely, the mail-order brides folks won’t be disappointed. What’s depressing about the volume of mail Ms. Allison has received is that the overwhelming sentiment appears to be the dearth of decent guys — the sort who aren’t self-absorbed or inert, who call when they say they will, and who generally treat women well. Sadly, there’s every bit of evidence to suggest that there isn’t a dearth of such guys — they’re just getting the milk a little too cheap. But it’s still worth casting about for one who’s interested in the milk and the, er, commitment. “You still want to go for the goal. You shouldn’t have to settle for second best,” says Ms. Allison, à la Madonna. “I don’t want to settle. I don’t ever want to say that about my husband — and I wouldn’t want him to say that about me.” It’s that sort of thing that makes Ms. Allison believable when she declares: “I’m a normal girl. I’m just like everybody else.”
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