Blog Posts by Smitten, Glamour Magazine

by Gena Kaufman


photo by Grant CornettThis week's headlines appear to showcase a hot new trend: Ladies, fed up with the appalling behavior of certain dudes, are not quietly rolling their eyes anymore. They're taking to the Internet to Call. Them. Out. Emphasis because they're doing it in a major way.

Exhibit A: The Pennsylvania woman who endured a two-hour train ride listening to a cheating husband brag to his friends about his multiple affairs. She got so sick of listening to his vulgar talk that she snapped his photo and posted it on her Facebook page along with the caption: "If this is your husband, I have endured a 2 hour train ride from Philadelphia listening to this loser and his friends brag about their multiple affairs and how their wives are too stupid to catch on. Oh please repost ... "

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It's been shared at least 183,000 times. No word on whether it's been shared with the guy's wife, and I can't decide for her sake if I hope it has, or hasn't.

by Gena Kaufman


photo by William ConnorsIn case you still have lingering doubts about online dating, here's yet another reason to get over it.

A study of 19,131 American couples who married between 2005 and 2012 found that more than a third of them met online, and those couples tend to be happier in their relationships. And lest you think they're just overcompensating to prove meeting online totally works, you guys, I swear, not only did couples who met on the Internet report higher rates of satisfaction, they also were actually less likely to separate or divorce.

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A few interesting tidbits:

* Of the one-third of couples who met online, only 45 percent actually met on dating sites. The others met through social networks (21 percent) and a combination of other online communities like gaming sites, chat rooms, and discussion groups.

* Divorce rates for this study, by the way, were nowhere near the 50 percent you hear people claiming. For couples who met "the

by Gena Kaufman


photo by Chris Craymer
Do you guys remember that map from a few years ago that showed the ratio of men to women in cities across America? You know, the one that terrified the living daylights out of every single woman on the East Coast because it showed that single women were far outnumbering single men on our half of the continent? Yeah, I do.

Luckily for younger women, Jonathan Soma came along and pointed out that the numbers didn't quite work out that way if you separated it by age. Now, Soma has updated his interactive map to a 2013 version, and it's still good news for single women. Here are two different demographics to illustrate the point for us. First up, all single people ages 18-64:

Courtesy of Jonathan Soma

Uh. Everybody grab a ticket to California, ASAP, right? OK, hold on. Let's take a look at singles with ages ranging from 20-34:

Courtesy of Jonathan SomaOh. Phew.

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A few facts and updates since the old version:

* As you can see, nearly every single city in America has more

by Gena Kaufman


Scott Rudd; Steve Eichner
You know who doesn't seem into our suggestion that Katy Perry and John Mayer should never, ever get back together? Katy Perry and John Mayer.

According to reports, the musical couple may be back on--but casually. Or, as one source put it, "back together-ish." What exactly is back together-ish? Well, it apparently involves hanging out, flirting, spending nights together, and not putting a label on it. Sounds kind of vague and confusing, but plenty of people who've broken up have found themselves accidentally drifting back into together-ish status until they're totally confused about their own state of relationship.

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Here are some signs you might be in back together-ish mode yourself:

* Paparazzi and random people are obsessed with catching photos of you together and getting your friends to gossip about what the deal with you two is these days. OK, this one may only be applicable if you're famous.
* Mutual friends are

by Gena Kaufman


David Tsay Clinical psychologist Meg Jay recently gave a TED talk that may make 30-somethings or almost-30-somethings break out in a nervous sweat. Here's her main message: You know how you're always hearing that 30 is the new 20? Phew, right? Wrong!

According to Jay, 30 is NOT the new 20, and saying it's so is a big problem. She frequently hears clients in their twenties talk as if things don't matter: This relationship isn't great, but I'm just killing time. I'll just bartend for now and as long as I figure out a career by the time I'm 30, it's fine. But it's not. When those clients are about to hit 30, they change their tune: I've got nothing to show for my twenties. What was I doing? What was I thinking? Uh. Oh.

Here are a few reasons your twenties DO matter, according to Jay:
* 80 percent of life's most defining moments take place by age 35.
* The first 10 years of your career has an exponential impact on how much you'll earn.
* Over half of Americans are with their future

by Gena Kaufman


Nobody would understand my pain as much as Hannah Horvath.
If you'd like this story to be about the inspiring feeling of reaching your goal, either in running or love, abandon ship now. This conversation is not for you, running lover. Or dating lover, for that matter.

I started an eight-week Couch to 5K program about six weeks ago, which means I've been complaining for approximately, oh, six weeks. I've always loathed running. It's not just that I'm lazy, per se, it's that I've always preferred other forms of activity, like yoga or dancing or sitting on the couch with a box of Hot & Spicy Cheez-Its. However, I got it in my head that I wanted to be able to run at least a few miles without keeling over, so I've been forcing myself to do the supposedly easy training. Surprise: I STILL HATE IT. But I keep doing it. Which kind of reminds me about how I feel about dating sometimes, especially when I was first getting back in the swing of it last year.

Here are some similarities I've found:

1. Love hurts. Running really, really

by Gena Kaufman


Thayer Allyson Gowdy Last night as I looked around my room, filled with suitcases and boxes and a million piles of clothes messily divided into "Keep" and "Give Away" piles, I knew I had some important work to do before I move back to New York. So naturally, I went downstairs, got a glass of wine, and worked on updating my online dating profile so I could start scoping dating prospects in NYC.

What, you guys? I'll pack later.

Anyway, as I updated my zip code so I could see the guys in my new (again) neck of the woods, I took a look through the rest of my profile, which I haven't done in a while. As I read through it, I noticed that a) I still think my own profile is totally funny and cute and b) it's kind of outdated. Most of what was was written was originally composed back in 2008, my first small brush with online dating during a split with my boyfriend. After we reunited, I shut it down, but when I signed back up years later, I just re-used the original profile, just adding a pic to

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by Samantha Henig

It's a phenomenon called "pre-dating": the online sleuthing you do to learn about a guy's ex, his job, his Spotify playlist. But is it smart? Maybe not if you want, y'know, a relationship.

Is the time you spend with someone's online persona messing with what might develop in real life once you're actually together? Experts say absolutely yes. "Too much information is detrimental," explains Amy Van Doran, a matchmaker in New York City. "It makes it hard to fall in love. For that, you have to be in the moment." Still tempted to snoop? Tough love time. Here are a few hard-core reasons you shouldn't:

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1) You turn into a comparison shopper.

49% of women would cancel a first date because of something they found out about him online, according to a Match.com study.

"You're trying to suss out: Will this person and I have a connection? Actually, there is no evidence that we can assess that online," says