Last week I was on my soapbox about the difficulties of being single in SLC. Forbes and Travel + Leisure confirmed my plight, naming SLC one of the worst places to be single in the USA. But hey, at least this gave me the opportunity to blame the state rather than myself for my dating disasters.

Following my "it's not me, it's you, Salt Lake City" rant, I was given some advice by Dee, an obviously disgruntled SLC transplant/want-to-but-can't find love dater. Dee offered up a few suggestion on how to find love in the Salty City (or just meet people), provoking me to embark on a 'man-hunt' under her guidance. I figure if my own tactics aren't working it's time to try someone else's.

This weekend, I followed her first suggestion: "I like lingering and chatting at the farmers market (introverts need to eat well too - oh and talk to the vendors, sometimes they're the owners!)"

So I did just that.

I thought I'd try my hand outside of the City this weekend and headed up the canyon to the Park Silly Sunday Market. I took the essential wing-(wo)men with me on the journey: my mom and my brother's girlfriend, Emily.

Park City boasted all shapes, sizes, and ages of viable options. I realized that I shouldn't limit myself to one "type" so I made it an effort to talk to a variety of potential men. Once again, following Dee's advice, I dropped my 'standards' and followed the Dee evaluation chart:

"do they have a job? car? do they live in their car? do they have any friends? hobbies? are they depressed and looking for a life saver? do they have a drug problem?"

Without further ado, here are the Bachelors of Park City:

The Bachelor: Max, the Austrian Import The place: Volker's Bakery Job: Check. The anti-atkins promoter. Car: Does a bread van count? Potential: Didn't speak much English, which could be a plus: fights and disagreements are virtually impossible. Also, he can bake, which means my cooking duties would dwindle. Who doesn't want to be force fed carbs by a beautiful foreign man with blue eyes and an accent? Yeah, big points for Max. AND I got his number. All I had to do was buy a loaf of (omg, delicious) bread to strike up a conversation. Cost: $6 for a loaf of doughy, carby goodness. So worth it.

The Bachelor: The other-side of the Anna-Nicole relationship. The place: Main Street, admiring a pretty sweet ride. Job: Retired. Car: He swore the motorcycle was his, the bi-focals and bedazzled leather seats said otherwise. Potential: Low, he seemed to be much more interested in my mom. Cost: My dignity, not even an 84 year-old man would hit on me. Ouch.

The Bachelor: Tristan, the artsy one. Job: Graphic artist / apparel designer for Toaster. Basically he spray paints sunglasses with neon paint. Car: I forgot to ask, but I imagine he drives a once white van now covered in neon splatter. I don't know how my dad would feel if he rolled up in that to take me out. Potential: Medium. He's a bit of an 'entrepreneur' with his own business and staff so maybe he's not looking for a girlfriend right now. Nevertheless, I struck up a conversation about his product and he was more than happy to chat, take pictures, and give me his business card. Cost: $5 for a paint splatter beer koozie that my mom said looked like something she drank from in the '80s. Vintage, nice.

The Bachelor: The 'sugardaddy' whose name I forgot. Sorry! Job: Works for Yellow Snow Ice Cream, a local PC biz. Car: Ice Cream Truck. Potential: Low. I've got a sweet tooth, which would make it a match made in heaven, and he was quite friendly, but, in all honesty, his interest in chatting with me/mom/Emily was fairly low, which made me assume that he was engaged/married. Oh well, the attempt wasn't a complete loss, the ice cream rocked. Cost: $3 for a cup of Dulce de Leche ice cream. Perfect, since all women know that single-dom and ice cream go hand-in-hand.

All-in-all the Farmers Market was a success. Dee was right, it's an easy place to strike up a conversation. I may not have found my one true love, but I did meet some interesting prospects, got a few numbers/emails, and bought local. Good start to the 'man-hunt'.

Stayed tuned, my next stop involves Scotch...