Dating Donts

Dating Don’ts: 13 Types Of Texters To Be Wary Of

Alyson Penn9 hours ago //

Dating Don'ts: 4 Things You Shouldn't Do If You're Dating A Celebrity

Do the normal rituals apply when you're dating a famous person? Read More »

Dating Don'ts: Plus One

Don't be a crappy wedding date! Read More »

Dating Don'ts: Online Realities

Some things you might not know about online dating. Read More »

As if dating wasn’t hard enough – you throw in a portable, typed-word machine and suddenly it’s pandemonium. Tones, intentions, invitations all get jumbled in this lawless land of shorthand communication. Suddenly the guy you’re dating’s “C u later” message means he’s dumping you when he really just wanted to let you know he’d see you at 8p.m. for Chinese food.

Oh texting, how you make things much, much more complicated than they have any right to be. I can’t tell you the hours my friends and I have spent reciting, decrypting, bemoaning, and conjuring up an honors thesis on a five-word text message.

Personally, I don’t like to be too harsh a judge on a guy’s texting style if I don’t really him. Everyone has their faults, after all. But there are some serious warning signs in the form of text messages. Below, the types of texters who warrant anything from healthy skepticism to restraining orders: Keep reading »

Dating Don’ts: 4 Things You Shouldn’t Do If You Find Yourself Dating A Celebrity

Michelle FrenchJune 11, 2013 //

Dating Don'ts: Plus One

Don't be a crappy wedding date! Read More »

My Celeb Hookup

She hooked up with my celebrity crush. Read More »

Dating Don'ts: Online Realities

Some things you might not know about online dating. Read More »

Navigating the courtship process with someone famous is nothing like the movie “Win A Date With Tad Hamilton.” Josh Duhamel and Kate Bosworth made it look easy and adorable. It’s not. It’s confusing and weird. I know because I’m dating a celebrity.

We’ll call him Clarence because nobody is really called Clarence. Here’s the long and short of how we met: over the last nine years since he broke onto the scene as an actor, I had seen most of his movies. He was talented, and cute from the right angle, but tends to be typecast as the “sweet sidekick” or “nerdy friend,” so Hollywood had conditioned me to not to swoon over him. In interviews, however, he always spoke with a quick, sensitive and intelligent wit that kind of blew me away. So, when I ran into him in a bar and we somehow wound up in a conversation, it’s safe to say I was intimidated. But the conversation was amazing. However, famous guys talk to every girl, in every bar, every night, so I thought nothing of it. Keep reading »

Dating Don’ts: How Not To Be A Crappy Wedding Date

Ami AngelowiczJune 4, 2013 //

Wedding Hookups

Who you should sleep with at your next wedding. Read More »

City Hall Wedding Dresses

11 Wedding Dresses To Wear To A City Hall Wedding

Opting for a city hall wedding? Here's what to wear! 12 Photos »

Single At A Wedding

Three reasons why going to a wedding alone is good for your self-esteem. Read More »

View the Gallery / 11 Photos »

It just creeps right up every year. It’s Valentine’s Day and then you sneeze and out comes WEDDING SEASON. I’m attending four (possibly five) this year. That’s a lot of hotel room minibars to resist, a lot of champy to consume without getting too tipsy, a lot of my signature Elaine Benes style dance moves to bust out. I don’t even care if I look like a spaz. Just let me dance!

This wedding season, for the first time in forever, I have a date that I can drag with me to all the nuptials. After one wedding together, I’ve learned a few things about my guy’s wedding style: he doesn’t usually like to dance, but when he does, he’s got a mean groove on the downbeat, he’s only mildly embarrassed by my dance moves and he seems to be immune to hangovers. So far, he’s killing it as a plus one. And I’m grateful for that. Because after years of wedding date weirdness, I’ve learned that the wrong escort can ruin the whole damn affair. You deserve to have your wedding season to suck as little as possible. So, if you’ve been lucky enough to be asked to attend a wedding as a plus one (weddings are expensive these days and it’s an honor that should be taken very seriously!), here are some guidelines for how to behave so that your date doesn’t want to dive face first into a tray of oyster shooters.

Dating Don’ts: A Field Guide To Getting Lucky At A Wedding

Megan ReynoldsMay 28, 2013 //

Wedding Hookups

Who you should sleep with at your next wedding. Read More »

Wedding Survival Guide

It's wedding season! Here's how to get through it. Read More »

Single At A Wedding

Three reasons why going to a wedding alone is good for your self-esteem. Read More »

A field guide to hooking up at a wedding.

Wedding season is kind of the best. I gladly welcome any excuse to put on a fancy dress, throw on some lipstick and toast the merry union of two souls, united in common interests, rooted in love. Weddings exist on a plane where everything is heightened, cast in a rosy glow fueled by champagne and cake and the joy of others. Every song is your song, in every conversation you are charming and witty, and, after a while, everyone — and I mean everyone — looks like a prime candidate for a clandestine makeout sesh over in the corner by the photo booth. Before you slink over to the target in your crosshairs, check yourself. Let us help you. Follow this guide, and you should be golden. Keep reading »

6 Mistakes Not To Make When Getting Set Up

AnonymousMay 23, 2013 //

Reasons To Blind Date

Ten reasons you should consider going out on a blind date. Read More »

Dating Don'ts: Fatigue

When dating fatigue sets it, it's a bitch. Read More »

Crazy Blind Dates

Would you let OK Cupid set you up on a blind date? Read More »

A few months ago, my love life went through a dry spell. It wasn’t that messages weren’t coming in on Match.com or that guys wouldn’t chat me up when I hit happy hour after work. I just wasn’t connecting with anyone. I felt really blah about the men who I went on dates with (usually only one date with) and I started to doubt my “picker.” Maybe I’m bad at this, I thought to myself.

Right around that time, my friend started dating a new guy. This new guy had a roommate. In the swell of her new romance, the roommate probably did seem pretty great. She said he was a cute, funny, smart professional musician from the same religious background who is also a vegetarian. She offered — no, she insisted — she set us up. I’m an open-minded gal, so I thought I’d give it a shot. She knows me pretty well, I thought.

I don’t think I even need to tell you how awkward the date turned out to be. Keep reading »

Dating Don’ts: 5 Tips For The Highly Allergic Dater

Anna Sofia MartinMay 21, 2013 //

Dating Don'ts: Online Realities

Some things you might not know about online dating. Read More »

Dating Don'ts: Musicians

Be forewarned before you date a musician. Read More »

Dating Don'ts: Cleaning

Simple ways to spring clean your love life. Read More »

Spring is in the air – and in your nose. You sneeze, ooze, and actively resist the urge to claw your itching eyes out. That is, if you’re allergic like me. I cope with an assortment of antihistamines and avoidance tactics: yes, I’m totally fine NOT going outside today, or for the next three weeks! My brother jokes that he should build a portable bubble for me to live in during pollen season, and some days I really would prefer to hibernate in a hypoallergenic biosphere for the entire spring and summer. It’s just that I’m single. So I can’t. There are dates to be had.

Living with allergies, I’ve learned to avoid any of the following: cats (or people in coats covered with cat hair); shrimp, oysters, and any other annoying member of the shellfish family; fresh strawberries and apples. Damn farmer’s market! Having allergies is simply part of who I am – who needs to go apple picking anyway? But to a non-allergic person, like that Jon Hamm lookalike who asked me out, I fear coming off like a human science experiment. For highly allergic people everywhere, here are some tips for navigating your spring/summer dates: Keep reading »

Dating Don’ts: 12 Things To Know About Dating A Musician

Jessica WakemanMay 7, 2013 //

Dating Don'ts: In Bed

Don't ever say these things in bed. Read More »

Anal Sex Songs

We think these supposedly clean pop songs are actually about anal. Read More »

Dating Don'ts: Money

These bad money habits are bad news. Read More »

A few years ago, I had to swear off dating musicians. I’d been dating them since high school, both casual guitar-noodlers and career musicians who had songs on CW shows and their faces on T-shirts. Again and again I’d fall for the sensitive guitar player who wears eyeliner … and again and again the same patterns would repeat themselves that led to us breaking up. I have nothing but the nicest things to say about most of them as people. Don’t take my swearing-off musicians as a warning, per se. On the contrary, my loss is your gain — the more for you! Just make sure you know these 12 details first. Keep reading »

Dating Don’ts: The Case For Doing Nothing

Ami AngelowiczApril 30, 2013 //

Dating Don'ts: Travel

The DOs and DONT's of travel hookups. Read More »

Dating Don'ts: Functions

How open should you be about poop and stuff? Read More »

Dating Don'ts: Cleaning

Simple ways to spring clean your love life. Read More »

I have something I need to get off my chest. I’m experiencing pangs of guilt about writing about dating when I’m no longer doing it. I wake up some mornings and feel like I’m the Benedict Arnold of the single population. During my time at The Frisky, I have gone through pockets of non-singleness, but for the most part I have been single and proud to be so, with moments of not-proud-to be so. I’ve written about the ups and downs of that, but mostly, I accepted and embraced singlehood. I cultivated an identity around it.

As much as I griped about having to sleep on the pull-out couch every Christmas (that did genuinely suck), as much as I blamed myself for being single, as much as I kicked and screamed my way through online dating, as many times as I gave up and went on dating hiatuses, the truth is that I liked being single. I liked being free to hang out with friends, or go to hot yoga, or wake up as early as I felt like on a Sunday morning (I never sleep past 8 a.m). I liked reading my books on the subway and always being in charge of what to watch on Netflix live streaming. Season 3 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” at 7 a.m. on Saturday? WERK! I liked making unilateral decisions about everything in my life because, seriously, it’s the height of personal freedom. It’s something that everyone should experience. It’s a state of being to be savored for as long as it lasts. Keep reading »

Dating Don’ts: How Not To Not Have A Travel Romance

Heidi SamuelsApril 23, 2013 //

Dating Don'ts: Functions

How open should you be about poop and stuff? Read More »

Wanderlust Week

It's time for a vacay! The Frisky can help you find the perfect destination. Read More »

Dating Don'ts: Cleaning

Simple ways to spring clean your love life. Read More »

I’m an avid backpacker/compulsive traveler. I’m an overly optimistic dreamer who has quite seriously hypothesized that (a) mermaids exist, and (b) if you run fast enough and cry hard enough, Bradley Cooper just might chase you around a street corner and scream “I love you.” I tend to believe that smiley face emoticons in emails are one step away from a marriage proposal. For the most part, my world view serves me well, except perhaps, when it comes to travel romances. From my personal experiences, I would like to share with you some helpful DONT’s and DO’s of flinging while abroad. Keep reading »

Dating Don’ts: How Open Should You Be About Bodily Functions?

Ami AngelowiczApril 16, 2013 //

Gross Bathroom Behavior

We don't want to admit it, but we do these gross things in the bathroom. Read More »

Dating Don'ts: Cleaning

Simple ways to spring clean your love life. Read More »

Female Farts

Some common types of female farts. Read More »

Dating Don'ts: Love Crazed?

How not to be one of those annoying, love-crazed types. Read More »

The Frisky HQ is under construction for the next couple of days so I was planning on working from home. Then yesterday, my internet crapped out and I found myself running to the local coffee shop in my pajamas. Six hours later, I was still sitting in my pajamas. It was an interesting day. There was a blind date that I eavesdropped on for a while. I thought that would be the subject of this week’s Dating Don’ts. Then the Boston Marathon bombing happened and the mood turned dark. I sat in silence for a while, watching CNN. My roommate was next to me, because she had the day off of work to study for a grad school exam. She eventually interrupted the silence to confess that she’s been watching that new show “Ready For Love.” Someone needed to cut the tension.

I laughed. But she was like, “Don’t laugh! They had this whole bit about how you should never say the word ‘fart’ on a date. It was interesting.” Then we got into an in-depth discussion about bodily functions and dating. Because these are the things that people sometimes talk about when terrible things happen in the world. Keep reading »