I spoke with a friend of a friend yesterday who just got a membership at Match.com and is now obsessed with it. She joined less than a week ago, and already has 3 dates lined up for next week. Generally, I would be the first one to say “it’s not for me” or “I’d never try it, it’s lame” but this girl is cool, smart and good looking, and if she likes it so much, there must be something to it.

She inspired me to write the following – in her words and mine:

1. First rule: Don’t be apprehensive – just dive in. Just make that first account to try it out. If you don’t like it, you’re not forced to keep using it.

2. Think of it as a 3 month meal plan! – you’ll get to eat at amazing restaurants and hopefully not pay too much, depending on the type of guy you went on a date with.
3. A lot of young people are doing it! Everyone I know who is dating online at the moment and openly talks about it, is young, very outgoing, smart, and good looking. I am not exaggerating here either.
4. Why did they get into it? one of them was out of boredom, and another because he just moved to a new city, and another because that’s what all his friends were doing. A girlfriend even called Match.com the new facebook because Match.com is apprantly just as addictive and fun.

So ladies, and gents, don’t be shy or look down upon it. Give it a shot and let me know how it goes.

As us twenty something girls leave college and university to start our lives in the real world, we are tragically ripped apart from our girlfriends who we partied, laughed, cried, fought and made up with, and pretty much did everything with for the four years of university.

It’s hard to keep that friendship alive when you no longer live together or close by, and even harder if you move away to different cities. As we get older, we realize that a good friend is even harder to come by than a good man, so I recommend doing anything you can to keep your friendship alive (even if not as strong as before). Here are some easy ways how:

1. Email each other! All the time! send each other links, or anytime that something happens that reminds you of each other.

2. Send random text messages – kind of like you do to your boyfriend, send a random text to your best girl to tell her that you are thinking of her, you miss her, or even “OMG, this girl on the street is wearing a hideous jacket!”
3. Tell each other about how naughty you’ve been – whether that’s eating too much, or drinking too much! It’s nice to have someone to scold you and get you back in shape, and someone to laugh over your own silliness with.
4. INVEST! time, effort, and money into your long distance friendship. Spend at least a few mins each week to write to each other, put in a effort to pick up the phone and call her long-distance (remember her time zone though!) and invest the money to go visit her in whatever corner of the world she might be living in now. You’ll get to see another part of the world and also your best friend. (Steph and I both went to visit Nilam in Cardiff, Wales last year.)
5. Don’t think too much or hesitate – just hit the “send” button already! even if it’s just a “hey” or a “what’s up”.

And on that note, I’m hitting the Publish button on this blog =)

My BFFs in the whole wide world. I love you guys! NRS for life!

First of all, you might be asking yourself, why in the world would I want to do that?
There are 3 simple reasons:

1. Techy guys are surprisingly funny
2. They are nice guys, and will definitely not “play” you since the only games they are concerned with are computer games and dungeons and dragons
3. They generally fall within quite a high income bracket
4. 

Now that I have perfectly convinced you to pursue the ‘Techy Guy’, read the comments section to find out exactly how to attract his attention. The content of this entry will be provided by two real live Techy Guys themselves, TWAG (Tall White Awkward Guy) and GEV (Geeky Enchanting Violinist) who’s name happens to be Veg backwards, very appropriate since he is the most enthusiastic eater of pork chops I know.

So, in their wise words, How To Attract A Techy Guy

OK, so my techy friends bailed on me and didn’t contribute at all, I’m filling in on the basis of my knowledge and limited experience:

• Just be nice to them – most girls fawn over the jock, or the gino and ignore the sweet nerdy guys, so the smallest bit of attention will go a long way.
• Ask them for computer help - if you have read my computer tips and tricks, then you are already an expert, but still invent a question to ask to a your techy target. Helping you will boost their ego and they will associate that feeling with you.
• Ask them to go to a science fiction or fantasy movie with you. They just can’t resist that.
• They often have very interesting and active hobbies like rock climbing, or table tennis. Ask if you can join them for a match or climbing session.
• Give them a chance – they are generally really nice guys, who are loyal, smart and attentive. They will stimulate you both intellectually as well as physically and will appreciate you a lot more than the jocks and the stud-muffins will ever do.

Inspired by all the different places I’ve worked at, from a giant movie theater to a 12 person homegrown PR shop, I’m listing some things I may have noticed around the office from time to time.

You can tell that two of your coworkers like each other when:

1. If one asks, the other will always go for the after work beer – even if she or he has work left to do.
2. Those two are always the last two standing after a long night of after work drinks.
3. They giggle at each other’s attempts at making jokes while working.
4. They try their best to avoid looking when the other walks by, to the point when you know its deliberate (and you can also tell that they are listening really hard!)
5. They will plan “group” outings, so not to be conspicuous about wanting to hang out with each other.Two more courtesy of my BFF the “Little White Innocent Girl” aka Lwig:
   …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
6. They go to the lunch room around the same time.
7. They ask each other work related questions they already know the answer to…”What room is the 1:00pm meeting in?”

These are pretty funny and cute things to notice, but don’t read too much into it, because your colleagues are a lot more discreet than you think and you’ll usually never have a clue! But it’s still fun to guess, as long as it is harmless and innocent.

That being said, I’m completely AGAINST GOSSIPING! Do not gossip and tarnish someone’s good image.

Click on the image for a great Forbes.com article on Office Romance.

After graduating from university, throughout our 20s, relationships start to get more and more serious, and therefore long-term. The proof is that every single one of my closest girlfriends is in a serious long-term relationship. With this comes the inevitable “I want my parents to meet you since you are such an important part of my life”, followed by the anxiety of whether your parents will approve of your boyfriend or not. If they don’t like him, for reasons I mentioned before, here are some tips to help you and your boyfriend win the war against your parents’ disapproval of him.

1. Ask them straight up why they don’t like him. When put in the spot, they will be forced to verbalize their “rational” reasons or from lack of anything to say, realize that they are stupid to judge him, and that he’s actually really great. (Reference: Answerbag.com)
2. Talk to your parents and tell them just how much their disapproval is hurting you. Parents don’t like to see their children upset, so they will make a better effort to warm up to him. (More…)
3. Show them how committed you are to each other (mainly, he to you) so that your parents take the relationship more seriously and not write it off as just a fling.
4. This is a hard one since I’m guilty of this too, but try to show your parents that you are not dependent on your boyfriend… basically that you don’t “need” him, but you “want” him. This independence in you will increase your parents confidence in you, and they will trust your decisions about your love life more.
5. Get your friends, cousins, and siblings to fill your parents ears will great things about your boyfriend. When mum and dad see that your BFFs approve, the peer pressure might get to them as well.
6. Put your boyfriend in touch with your parents. If he was able to win you over, he just might be able to win them over too.

In the end, it might be up to your boyfriend to gain their approval, so let him try if he’s up for it. Don’t try to “protect” him or your parents from dealing with this face to face. If your parents aren’t willing to give him any chance at all, they are just not being considerate towards you: their own daughter. Remind them of that. And good luck on the mission!

A girlfriend of mine recently had a big showdown with her parents over her boyfriend, which inspired me to write this.

Although I have no personal experience being a parent, I imagine the following to be a few reasons why they might disapprove of your boyfriend (I’m trying to imagine the most conservative parents out there, so I’m warning the readers in advance of the outrageousness of the following):

• He is of a different race – This the one reason that makes me saddest, since I’ve had the unfortunate experience of being on the losing end of this narrow-mindedness. This is sadly quite common these days since our generation is much more open-minded about interracial dating, while some in our parents’ generation still can’t even imagine it.
• He’s of a different religion – Parents are afraid of their daughter losing her faith, or I don;t know…of god punishing them, or whatever. To me, its irrational.
• He is not rich - Like many ladies out there, parents are superficial too. (continued in the next reason)
• His career – Parents are afraid that their darling little girl wont be taken care of by the brilliant starving artist, dancer, rapper, or the stand up comedian who she’s dating.
• He is not respectful - to you, or your parents, or both. Parents have an uncanny ability to read this in your boyfriend. Even if he is a super-ass-kisser, if he doesn’t genuinely respect your parents or you, your parents will be able to tell immediately, in which case, you should take their advice because you deserve someone who respects you and is proud of you.
• He’s your boyfriend - It seems so obvious to us, but parents have a really hard time dealing with letting their little girls grow up and be women on their own right. They can’t even imagine you getting physical with your boyfriend, let alone admitting their little princess has long since been a virgin.
• He is also your roommate – because of the previous reason, they don’t want to be reminded of the the fact that you sleep with your boyfriend every single night. Also, it is a huge social thing in many cultures and social classes, or even as small as social circles to have your children live with their partners before they go through the whole social institution of marriage.

I could go on and on, but I’m going to stop now, and think up some ways to get your parents on your boyfriend’s side. Those tips are coming up next, so stay tuned.