Solo-ish

As matchmaker Christina Antoniades and reporter Michelle Leiby prepare to retire from Datelab, they look back on the 550 couples they've set up, revealing their favorite pairings and what they've learned about love.

We're taking a break for the summer. We'll be back soon with more stories from the Solo-ish life.

How do you plan a bachelorette party while keeping your sanity and your savings intact? It's not easy, but it is possible. Lisa Bonos gets tips from Veronica Toney, a Solo-ish editor and frequent wedding guest, and professional bridesmaid Jen Glantz.

If dating feels like hard work, that's because it is. Lisa Bonos chats Moira Weigel talk about love is related to the economy, and other tidbits from her book "Labor of Love: The Invention of Dating."

Ann Friedman and Aminatou Sow join Lisa Bonos to chat about the pleasure and pain of female friendship -- from courting new friends to navigating distance among old ones. Plus a conversation with one of Lisa's longtime friends about how they first met.

What was your worst breakup? And what makes a good one? Lisa Bonos chats with two 20-somethings about how their past breakups have influenced those that have come next.

Advice columnist Carolyn Hax and cartoonist Nick Galifinakis are ex-spouses who work together every day and manage to enjoy it. Lisa Bonos chats with them and with Wendy Paris, about how to survive a divorce.

"These women decide elections," says Page Gardner, founder of the Voter Participation Center. She and journalist Rebecca Traister talk with Lisa Bonos about how candidates are appealing to -- or repelling -- unmarried women.

Want to try a new bar or restaurant -- or check out a museum exhibit -- but can't find anyone to come along? Go solo. Tips for solo dining, drinking and other outings from Lisa Bonos's Washington Post colleagues.

Jill Andres and Brook Silva-Braga dated for years, but were they ready to marry? They put themselves through 40 challenges to find out. Hear about their adventure, plus tips from dating coach Neely Steinberg.

Thomas Edwards gives tips to Lisa Bonos and two colleagues -- Veronica Toney and Lavanya Ramanathan -- on how to approach strangers in a bar, show interest and eventually exchange digits.

Bad first dates usually don't result in a second try. But this couple -- Ashraf Bouajina and Max Ashwill -- managed to turn things around. Hear all about why Ashraf gave Max a second chance.

What does it take for a blind date to lead to love? Shared values or a similar outlook on life need to be there, say Christina Antoniades, who sets couples up for The Washington Post's Date Lab, Paul Carrick Brunson, a professional matchmaker.

Lisa Bonos chats with a Washington Post couple who met in the newsroom 20 years ago and are still together. And work advice columnist Karla Miller gives some tips to those considering an office romance.

Lisa Bonos chats with novelist J. Courtney Sullivan about the single woman who sold Americans on the idea that a diamond is forever; Jon Mervis discusses what it's like to sell engagement rings; and we meet a couple who got engaged without a ring.

When you have opposite tastes in food, where do you go on dates? Lisa Bonos chats with Adam Chandler and Emily Saladino about their fast-food romance.

Lisa Bonos thought she knew all about how her parents met and got together in the 1970s. Decades later, she gets the full story.

Can an extrovert handle nine weeks of solitude? Lisa Bonos chats with Philippa Hughes about why she went to Italy to work on a book. Plus, comments from Fenton Johnson and the role of solitude in a writer's life.

When's the right time to invite a new love interest over for dinner?

Who decides to freeze their eggs – and why? Lisa Bonos asks a colleague and a fertility doctor, who’ve both frozen eggs, about the experience.