Today we’d like to present a special success story from Lexie and Robert from Texas! Robert and Lexie both sent us letters sharing their wonderful news. Their enthusiasm, love, and appreciation for each other shows in every word they’ve written. Robert calls Lexie “the most beautiful girl in the world” and Lexie describes Robert as “the most amazing guy in the world” — and that’s how it’s done, folks… that’s how love is supposed to feel.

Let’s start off with Robert’s letter:

I made a Zoosk profile on a Thursday because I was bored. The moment I finished the profile, I saw the most beautiful girl in the world on my homepage. I winked at her. Later that day she responded, “Hi, how are you?” I paid $10 for Zoosk coins so I could email her. On Friday we exchanged numbers, and the next day we arranged to meet.

On Monday, I met the most beautiful girl in the world. Early in the date, a little girl told her that she loved her dress. I agreed. We played two rounds of putt putt golf, and raced in go-karts. A small girl tried to run us down during the race. At the arcade, we played Guitar Hero… I won. Then we played air hockey… she won. She drove me back to my car because I’m a moron and I parked really far away. Before I got out, the most beautiful girl in the world asked, “Do I get a hug?” I said “Of course.” And I hugged her.

The most beautiful girl in the world lives with her parents, because she goes to community college. The next Saturday, I saw her again, and was allowed to pick her up. The most beautiful girl in the world and I went to a sandwich shop. She eats slower than me. I told her I liked her dress… then realized that she was wearing pants and a top. Not a dress. She laughed at me because I’m a moron. I loved it. We played four games of bowling. She won the first, third, and fourth games. Before the second game, I walked up to her and said, “Ok… If I win this one, I get a kiss.” The most beautiful girl in the world agreed. And she tried to beat me. Almost did. I won that game by 4 points. After looking at the scoreboard she walked toward me, pouting, and said, “I lost.” I smiled, wrapped my arms around her, and said, “I won.” We kissed for the first time in a bowling alley surrounded by screaming children. It was amazing.

The most beautiful girl in the world and I planned to see each other the following Friday. But I couldn’t wait. I asked if I could see her sooner. So on that next Wednesday, the most beautiful girl in the world came to visit me. We got ice cream. She got bubblegum flavor, and had a hard time eating it because of the gumballs. It was adorable. We played another game of bowling… she won. I brought the most beautiful girl in the world to my dorm because I wanted to sing to her. I got my guitar, and tried to sing “Realize”. She laughed at me, because I sang the wrong words. I loved it. I sang her a song I wrote. The most beautiful girl in the world told me it was cute. She told me she liked it. And I kissed her. As we lay in each others arms, not moving, scarcely breathing, I did something that I was terribly afraid to do. I told the most beautiful girl in the world that I love her. And she told me that she loves me, too.

The most beautiful girl in the world owns my heart. Her name is Lexie. I like to call her Lexiebear. I met Lexiebear on Zoosk dot com. And I can still barely believe it.

We were touched by the spirit of romance in Robert’s letter. When we read the letter Lexie sent us, we found it to be equally adorable. Read what Lexie had to say about Robert, below.

I’m Lexie and my wonderful boyfriends name is Robert, who is the most amazing guy in the world.

I decided to take a friends advice about joining Zoosk.com. The next day Robert winked at me and I was immediately attracted to him so I messaged back. Over the next few days we started emailing and texting each other back and forth and before I knew it we were planning our first date.

I was so nervous about meeting him because never in my life have I tried online dating site; I was completely out of my comfort zone. But as soon as I saw him and he smiled at me, all of my fear just melted away. On our first date we decided to play mini golf which we both horribly suck at but at least we sucked together. Through the date we rode go carts, played arcade games, and my favorite our air hockey game. At the end of our date I was so scared about how to the date was going to end I figured I couldn’t go wrong with at least asking for a hug. He responded with words that will always make me smile “Of course”.

The following Saturday we went on our second date, we decided to go bowling. After winning the first game, Robert said to me “If I win this game, I get a kiss.” And I agreed, I really did try to beat him but at that point I could care less and I was definitely glad that I lost that round. So we had our first kiss in the middle of a chaotic bowling alley, but in that moment nothing else mattered to me it was only him and me, and I loved every minute of it.

After our second date I couldn’t wait to see him again so I decided to drive up to his dorm. When I got there he took me to get ice cream and on campus bowling. The moments that happened next are the ones I will always hold close to my heart. He took me back to his dorm, when he then picked up his guitar and started signing “Realize” by Colbie Calliat, then he sung me a song he had written himself. I have never in any of my past relationships had a guy sing to me and look at me the way Robert did that day. His words touched my heart and soul. In that moment we kissed and layed in the comfort of each others arms. He then lifted my face up towards his and said the 8 letter, 3 word phrase we all want to hear someone say to us, He said “I love you” for the first time. And without a doubt in my mind I said “I love you too”.

I remember when he said to me “why is a beautiful girl like you still single?” The reason I was still single was because I was scared of to let anyone all the way in because of the fear of getting hurt. With Robert something inside me told me to take a chance on opening myself up to love. And I’m so glad I did because now I have the most amazing guy in the world to call mine. I have fallen head over heels for him; I swear to love him forever and always. I still can’t believe that I owe it all to Zoosk.com and my best friend for convincing me to join.

Congrats Lexie and Robert! We wish the two of you all the happiness in the world. If you have your own Zoosk success story to share, send it to us with a photo of you and your loved one and we’ll send you an Amazon (or other online retailer of your choice) gift card as a token of our congratulations.

There are better ways to break ice than with an overused pick-up line or a boring conversation starter.  “Nice weather we have today, isn’t it?” doesn’t exactly speak volumes about your personality. Speaking of personality, a boring introduction like this reveals only a lack thereof.

We know it’s not easy to fabricate witticisms at the drop of a hat, so we’ve come up a way to help you out.

On your Date Card, you’ll notice a fun new Icebreakers feature. Icebreakers are cute little questions (like “What is your least favorite part about flying on a plane?”) that any Zoosker can add to their Date Card. These questions which can be answered by interested Zooskers in lieu of sending a Wink (which doesn’t provide much description or detail about you) or a Flirt (a Flirt what we call a standard Zooskbox message that you write unprompted). Icebreakers make flirting easier than ever, and we’ve given you 100 different icebreakers to choose from!

Adding icebreakers to your profile is easy. As you edit your Date Card, visit the new icebreakers tab. You can add as many icebreakers on your profile as your lovely heart desires.

Compared to composing an unprompted message, answering an icebreaker is a piece of cake. You can respond to an icebreaker with a sparkling riposte right on a cutie’s Date Card.

Click “Answer” and a little box will pop up. Type your bon mots in the box and clickity click on “Send”.

The icebreaker lands right in the person’s Zooskbox. Easy breezy, ice is broken!

Once an icebreaker is sent to a Zooskbox, the appears like the above, with the question and answer together. How nice!

And with that freezing cold sheet of ice out of the way, things can finally heat up. Is it just me, or is it getting really hot in here?

Dear Zoosk,

My name is Becca and I wanted to tell you all about my success story. I became a premium member on Dec 10th. The very same day I met and started talking to my match. It was made in HEAVEN. He and I talked for a while, and we realized in the process that we have everything important in common.

Chris and I are looking for the same things in a friend and a lover. We only lived an hour and a half away from one another. I was planning on moving down where he lives and I thought that I would check out some of the singles before I left. Man am I glad I did! We wanted to thank ZOOSK for being there, so we could meet!!! We were meant to meet, as we both just became members, neither of us has looked at matches since that first day!!!

Here is a picture of Chris and myself with little Emma. Hope you had a great New Year!

Sincerely, Rebecca

In Bertrand Russell’s celebrated essay, “In Praise of Idleness,” the distinguished analytic philosopher and Nobel Laureate contends, quite rationally, “I think that there is far too much work done in the world, that immense harm is caused by the belief that work is virtuous. I hope that, after reading the following pages, the leaders of the YMCA will start a campaign to induce good young men to do nothing.” And, just for dramatic effect, he adds, “If so, I shall not have lived in vain.”

In response this glorious display of intellect, Zoosk responds most enthusiastically, “Hear hear!”

It appears that the folks at TechCrunch might also believe, as Russell himself did, that “Leisure is essential to civilization.” Could there be a truer truism? Purveyors of romantic leisure that we are, Zoosk is rightfully honored to have made it to the final round of voting at this year’s 2009 TechCrunch Crunchies Awards in a category we are proud to be recognized in: Best Time Sink Application.

But we also adhere to the belief that the pursuit of love is an activity that, albeit leisurely, is absolutely necessary. Plus, leisure is useful too. Sure, you can’t expense a date on the company card or charge it to your place of work as a billable hour, but the time you spend looking for love is fully compensated, at the end of the road, when you find it. So while some time may sink during the quest, that time will be worth it when you get to your final destination. Think of it as a potentially long flight that just happens to take off and land at the exact same local time, just in different time zones.

So remember, everyone, vote for Zoosk! “Each person is invited to vote once per category per day through Wednesday, January 6th at midnight PST. Once you cast a vote in a category, you are able to share your vote through Twitter and Facebook.” Put a little bit of work in for Zoosk by voting every day until January 6th, and we’ll ensure you get the best time sink application the web has to offer for as long as your heart desires. XO.

By Juliet O

Congratulations to Rachel and David, two Zooskers who successfully found love on our site!

Rachel sent us a heartwarming email recently and described how she met David only two weeks after creating her Zoosk profile. “It was the second week of August 2009 when I joined your networking site Zoosk. I was going through my mail and saw my new sweetie had winked at me. Usually I just think that it’s a cheesy way to connect — but it is, after all, a start. So I replied and thanked him for the interest. After that he described himself and his ideal date. I asked him for his phone number and talked to him until 4AM!”

Smartly, this couple got to know each other online first before they decided to meet. They chatted online for a week before they scheduled a date. “We first started talking on the 16th,” said Rachel, “Soon I felt comfortable with him and decided to meet him! We met on the 21st and have not stopped talking via phone or hanging out since!”

Rachel and David are now in a committed relationship. “We are in a relationship and always talk about the future together (but never miss living in this moment either). I know we are in love because he completes me. I am so excited that in this busy world there are sites like Zoosk that are available to meet your potential sweetheart!”

While she is no longer dating on Zoosk, Rachel maintains her Zoosk profile to connect with the friends she made on our site. Zoosk isn’t just for online dating — you can keep your Zoosk active as a way to stay in contact with friends. But, in the name of honesty, her profile now states she’s in a relationship. Rachel states, “I also changed my profile to help other guys know that I am in a committed relationship. I would not want to lead anyone on!!! Thanks for hearing David and my story!!!”

We wish Rachel and David all the luck in their relationship and we’re so proud to have helped these two Zooskers find love.

If you have found your love on Zoosk, send us your story here! If we feature your story on our site, we’ll send you and your partner an online gift certificate as a token of our congratulations.

Read some of our other super romantic success stories here:
Christy and Sean
Ang and Jason
Andy and Kelly
Lauren and Adam
Patricia from Baltimore

By Juliet O

We recently received an email from a Zoosker named Christy that read, “I started using Zoosk in September of 2009 and was able to meet the man of my dreams. We were married on October 23, 2009! Thanks so much for this awesome site!” We were blown away! Lives really can change overnight, and Christy’s story just goes to show that you never know where or when you’ll find love. In September, Christy was a single woman, and by October, she was married to the man of her dreams! Talk about being swept off your feet.

We followed up with Christy to find out more details about her love story, and what we found out surpassed even our most romantic expectations. This was a truly amazing story! Christy and her husband Sean are both from Louisiana and met via their Zoosk local networks. Christy describes how much fun she had on their first date, “It was an all day affair. We first went to Texas Roadhouse for lunch, then we played putt-putt golf, then we went to the movies, after freshing up we went to dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings and finally played pool at Yesterday’s. It was a blast and lasted all day long!”

The next month, the happy couple were married.

Christy even sent us this picture of their beautiful wedding rings. If I had a ring like that I’d show it off too! When asked for her three favorite memories from the wedding, Christy responded, “First, marrying the handsome man of my dreams and seeing his face shine as we were married. Next, getting that gorgeous ring on my finger. And thirdly, that his best friend Cody was there by his side!”

Christy also sent us a romantic picture a note Sean wrote her (attached to a bouquet of roses) that Sean gave her the day before their wedding.

All we can say is: Wow! What a beautiful story! We wish Christy and Sean all the best in their marriage, and we’re so thrilled to know that Zoosk played a part in the happy union of this couple.

If you have a success story of your own, send it here to the Zoosk support page. Each month we host a success story contest and give Amazon gift certificates to selected stories that we find particularly inspiring. Please send us your very own Zoosk love story!

If you’re interested in reading more success stories from Zoosk, check out stories from these happy couples below.

Blondie and Thomas
Andy and Kelly
Lauren and Adam
Ang and Jason
Patricia from Baltimore

By Juliet O

Yippee! Bring out the bells, the whistles, and the fancy trays of mouth-watering, calorie-laden sweets: the end-of-year holiday season has finally arrived! As this year (and decade) draws to a close, Zoosk wishes you the happiest holiday festivities and brightest spirits and cheer that this season has to offer.

Holidays bring with them a host of holly jolly things, from parties to paid vacation to presents, but our absolute favorite aspect of the holiday season will always be the unique excitement of holiday dating. The holiday merriment rubs off on even the most incorrigible Scrooge. Who doesn’t love an eggnog, peppermint schnapps, and mistletoe-fueled adrenaline rush?

But we know that desite the amazing rewards, holiday dating is not without its challenges. We want to make the entire process of dating during this time of year as easy on you as possible. We want you to stop stressing out and focus instead on enjoying yourself. To help our Zooskers navigate and cultivate their love lives during this special time of year, we’ve created the Singles Guide to Surviving the Holidays, a downloadable PDF that you can save on your desktop and read at your own convenience, that answers some of your most pressing questions about the rules of holiday dating.

Our guide includes holiday dating tips from relationship experts, gift-giving ideas for singles, holiday dating trends and much more. We surveyed thousands of Zooskers to find out what they really want this holiday. From what kind of gifts they wanted to what kind of date they wanted, we asked for the scoop.

Did you know that the majority — 68% — of Zooskers say that they’re looking for a long term relationship this holiday season? This guide gives you tips on how to meet someone this winter, and whether you’re just looking to land a holiday party date or if you’re on the market to establish something lasting, there are tidbits in this guide for every kind of dater.

We’ve also got expert advice from dating gurus like Rich Santos of Marie Claire, Julie Spira the best-selling author of The Perils of Cyber-Dating: Confessions of a Hopeful Romantic Looking for Love Online, and iVillage relationship columnist Sherry Amatenstein.

What holiday season is complete without a healthy dose of materialism? In our surveys, we asked Zooskers what kind of presents they hoped to receive from dating partners, and our Holiday Guide reveals their answers. We were pleasantly surprised to discover how completely unmaterialistic our user base is! Overwhelmingly, you guys responded that you were just hoping for a simple hug or kiss from your date this season.

Now that the question of what to get your partner is answered and filed away, you can focus on the more important thing: how to land said partner in the first place.

Since the week before Christmas marks the busiest time of year on our site, your chances of landing dates this month are statistically the highest of the year. This means that you should go out and work everything you’ve got. Flirt shamelessly. Message as many Zooskers as your greedy heart desires. The numbers show that people are looking for romance this month, so it doesn’t hurt to put yourself out there. If you’re still feeling shy, look in the mirror and repeat to yourself, “Live boldly.” Other people, we’re sure, are doing the same.

What are you waiting for? Go give yourself the best gift of all this holiday season: love.

For more facts and tidbits from our Singles Guide to Surviving the Holidays, download the guide here on our site! Good information is a shame to waste. Tell all your friends about it — heck, tell your date about it — and go out there and take advantage of the happiest time of the year!!!

By Juliet O

Even though winter is cold and gray, there are plenty of fun icy-weather dates to be had during the months of December through February! Instead of putting on those extra five to ten pounds to keep your body warm in the frigid chill, why not meet someone sexy who raises your body temperature without raising your utility bills (and body mass index)? So turn on your computer and go to Zoosk, where 40 million singles are all putting their icy fingertips to the keyboard this season with one solitary purpose: meeting someone to hibernate with during the short days and loooong nights with (wink wink) of winter. Kiss seasonal depression good-bye with a hot winter date.

Play in the snow: go skiing or snowboarding, take a winter walk, or play it simple and build a snowman together!

Pretend that the snow is actually sand and instead of being outside in negative ten degree weather you’re actually at a Caribbean island. Just kidding. You don’t have to pretend that snow is anything other than snow, because a white winter can actually be really romantic and gorgeous in its own right. Why else are ski vacations such a popular pastime for couples? Winter walks can be lovely if you’re bundled up and holding hands, mitten to mitten. You can give each other Eskimo kisses as snowflakes drift from the halcyon sky and land in your lashes as you gaze into each others eyes. My favorite winter walks are those that occur at dusk when the moon is big and bright, the streetlamps are lit like a vintage movie, and the stars in the night sky reflect and dance off the snow. When you get home, where it’s cozy and warm, you can make hot cocoa and cuddle together on the couch while watching DVDs of romantic winter movies like It’s A Wonderful Life and March of the Penguins.

Dine together on hot foods that are typically associated with the winter season

Imaging great winter foods, a few variables come to mind. First, the food should be warm in temperature to put some warmth in your system, like chicken noodle or savory lentil soup. To protect you through the cold, the food should help you break a sweat — feel free to add the spicy hot peppers! Second, the food needs to be satisfying and comforting — something that lifts the spirit in times of chill — so think of foods that make you feel good, like cheesy casseroles, roasted game, Christmas puddings, and steaming hot gingerbread. Mmmm. And experiment with winter produce! Winter doesn’t mean that your only food choices are cabbage and potatoes — did you know that avocados, citrus fruits like grapefruits and oranges, bananas, greens like chard and kale, and root veggies like turnips, celery roots, and rutabagas are in season during the winter months too? A root veggie gratin, sauteed greens, and a desert of banana cream pie. Mmm.

Veg out at home — nothing is more romantic than being snowed-in with your romantic somebody

Snow day? Can’t go to work because there’s a foot of snow in your driveway? Or, say you live somewhere it doesn’t snow, like California — why not pretend you’re snowed in with your sweetie, even if you aren’t? The best part about winter is that you have an excuse to be a homebody. “It’s too cold; we can’t go out.” Who says you need to leave the house to have a good time? Get in front of the television with your partner and watch that marathon of Lost DVDs. Order Chinese take-out and spend the night playing board games against one another. Spend a quiet night at home reading together. Go on a baking marathon with your date and get all your Christmas cookies out of the way in one go — making sure to use the heart-shaped cookie cutter for the cookies you bake for one another. Whatever you need to do to make your winter romantic, you can do it without leaving the house.

Find your winter love on Zoosk today!

Some other articles you might be interested in:
Having good testimonials might get you a date
Are you in love with the idea of being in love?
When it comes to love it’s worth a try

photo credit: the wicked soul

By Juliet O

Using Zoosk’s Community boards is a great way to get noticed.

Of course, Zoosk’s mission is to introduce you to singles in your local area and hook you up with potential dates, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make friends or join our Community discussions while you’re at it. During moments of downtime during your maelstrom of flirting, check out our Community boards for relevant dating tips, fun conversation, and online dating success stories from our users.

The Community is also a fun way to get to know people from all over the world. If you’re not opposed to a long distance relationship, you can even meet people on the Community boards. We’ve had it happen before! All you have to do to go to a person’s profile from the Community pages is click on their photo. The right hand side of a Community post also shows if a Zoosker is currently online, how many posts they’ve made, and how long they’ve been on Zoosk. To message a person from the Community boards, all you need to do is click the little envelope icon below their photo. See below.

Whenever you make a community post, it goes on your status feed as well, as Zoosk’s status feed that gets shown to Zooskers within your search criteria. Yet another way to get noticed — not a bad deal! We also host contests on our Community for coins and other prizes. Who doesn’t love prizes? I hope you’re convinced now that Community participation is fun! Of course, it’s totally up to you, but we’d like to to know that it’s an option, and a good one at that.

By Anne B

Anytime that we experience something painful in our lives our intuitive reaction is to avoid it. If a surface is hot, we instinctively remove our hand before we get burned. We might even avoid approaching a potential love interest because of the anxiety we feel about starting that initial ice breaker conversation. However psychologists are saying that some problems just “are” and trying to make them disappear might not be the answer.

I feel confident saying most of us try to avoid pain when it comes our way. Our natural response to any kind of unpleasant thought or feeling is to resist even having those thoughts or feelings to begin with. For example, you’ve just broken up with someone. The thoughts and feelings you are faced with are by no means happy ones. In fact, you’d like to avoid having them altogether. So you stop going to the bar where you first met. You stop eating chicken parmesan, because it was your lost lover’s favorite dish. It hurts to be reminded, so you take a small detour when these things cross your path. If you are honest with yourself, you know that many times negative situations and the negative feelings they bring about cannot be avoided.

Nobody enjoys feelings of loneliness, but what do you do about it? You could try to fight the feelings. You could do whatever it takes to make them go away. These feelings are coming from somewhere though. So if you try to make them go away, you might just be providing yourself with a momentary distraction. It feels good and it helps for a while, but the root of it is still there.

What most people don’t realize is that we have primary and secondary emotions. I’ll use an example to illustrate what these are. Let’s say you have a million things to do and you are getting pretty stressed out about it. That’s the primary emotion. The secondary emotion would be that now you are getting upset because you hate feeling stressed out. But by focusing on the painful part of the situation, your stress level, it prolongs the stress.

What if, brace yourselves now, you just accepted the primary emotion for what it is? If you’ve broken up with someone your primary emotion might be some form of heartache. It’s normal to have feelings of loneliness, sadness, or longing, but you tell yourself you need to make those feelings go away. This puts all of the focus on the negative feelings. Why not just accept them, and remind yourself that these feelings are a normal and natural part of life? Everyone experiences similar ups and downs at some point and, as strange as it may sound, it’s ok to feel that way.

This doesn’t mean that you have to like what is happening, and it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be looking for ways to improve the current situation and move past it. It means that you have control of the impact that this emotion is going to have on your life. You can isolate it for what it is. Kabat-Zinn is a scientist, author, and meditation thought leader, who teaches that when you are mindful of these feelings, you can label them for what they are, and then focus your energy on other things. It’s a practice of identifying the negative situation, but ending your emotional involvement with it there. After all these are just thoughts and they don’t need to dictate your next move.

My friends, I’m no moth. I see the flame for what it is. I can’t change it. I can’t make it go away, but I won’t get burned.