Blog Posts by HowAboutWe

by Scott Alden for HowAboutWe
If you're in the market for a serious relationship, then you know that finding one is not an exact science. The best place to start when you're looking for a girlfriend is to listen to what women actually say that they want.

The following five must-haves have been collected from various blogs, female friends and overheard conversations. Don't try to change your entire personality or act like someone you're not, but if you find that you consistently can't seal the deal, put a little energy toward acquiring the following things. (They're actually pretty easy.)

1. A Real Bed
A futon mattress on the floor might be tolerable, but it's not exactly earning you any points. A frame, a box spring, a real mattress, and clean sheets apparently indicate that you've got your act together. Taking a quick trip to IKEA this weekend might help you more than a whole case of cheap cologne.
Related: 5 Bad Habits Women Have In Bed

2. A Decent Relationship With Your

Read More »from 5 Things You Apparently Need If You Want A Girlfriend

By Chiara Atik for HowAboutWe.com

The Seven-Year Itch (made famous in a 1955 movie, the one where Marilyn Monroe wears a white dress over a subway grate) is the idea that after seven years of a relationship, one or both partners will become disenchanted with the relationship and be tempted to stray. The theory is that after seven years, the honeymoon period is well and truly over: while people will still love their other half, they won't necessarily be as excited about them. They'll start to feel restless. And, as the line in the movie goes, "When something itches, my dear, the natural tendency is to scratch."

Related: The 9 Most Common Excuses For Dumping Someone

A little food for thought: Ashton and Demi have been making headlines recently over rumored marriage troubles, and they've been married for six and a half years. Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Philippe separated after seven years. Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt divorced after seven. It seems that among celebrities, the

Read More »from Is there a seven-year itch (or a three-year glitch)?

By Chiara Atik, for HowAboutWe.com

The good thing about being single is that people are usually pretty willing to talk about your romantic life, because, let's face it, it's probably more entertaining than that of your seriously coupled-up friends.

The bad news? Sometimes, people will want to talk about your love life regardless of whether or not you're in the mood to talk about it. And they will have opinions. And questions. And if you're single for long enough, a lot of these are gonna start sounding the same...

1. "Are you seeing someone? Why not?"

Amazingly, I get this question at least once a week. At least once a week! It's fun to turn the question around to the asker. "Why are you in a relationship?" "Because I'm in love!" "Right, well, I'm not." End of discussion!

2. "Have you tried online dating?"

Online dating? What is this new fangled thing you speak of?
(Of course we're online dating!)

6 Ways To Avoid Looking Desperate

3. "It'll happen when you least expect it."

The

Read More »from The 9 Most Annoying Things To Say To A Single Person

by Scott Alden for HowAboutWe
You don't have to be some kind of kinky acrobat to be great in the sack. Most of the tips, tricks and techniques out there that promise to heat things up in the bedroom (e.g. donuts as "pleasure props") won't do you much good if you're not already committed to creative exploration in your own sex life. Once you are, you'll be able to figure out your own tips, tricks and techniques. Here are five general suggestions to help you to be more playful, more passionate and more able to figure things out for yourself. The rest is up to you.

1. Enjoy Yourself

This, above all else, is what will make you a better lover -- enjoy sex. If you're not enjoying sex, ask yourself why not. It may be something very simple -- like an uncomfortable position or speed -- or something more complex that will require some work. Until you make having a good time a priority, though, it won't get any better.
Related: What Sex Means to Men: 6 Deep Dark Secrets

2. Use Your

Read More »from 5 Easy Ways To Be Better At Sex

By Chiara Atik for HowAboutWe.com

Here's a disturbing study: our parents' generation was considerably more sexually active than our own.

The Seemingly Harmless Question You Should Stop Asking Single People

According to a new Italian study by Durex, the average age that people have sex for the first time, at least in Italy, is 15, where as a few decades ago, the age was 17. But though some people are losing their virginity at a much younger age, the total number of youths who are sexually active today is much less than in the 70s.

5 Bad Habits Men Have In Bed

These days, only 28% of people 14-18 are sexually active. In the 70s, this number was a whopping 65%. It's interesting to compare these two generations in terms of TV shows. Kids today are watching racy portrayals of sex on shows like Skins and Gossip Girl while their parents wholesomely watched The Brady Bunch, but look who was having more sex!

5 Bad Habits Women Have In Bed

The survey also proved that despite differences in

Read More »from You Probably Aren't Having Nearly As Much Sex As Your Parents Did

by Scott Alden for HowAboutWe

It's important to remember, whether you're in a committed relationship, or you're casually involved with multiple people, all heterosexual sex does not have to lead to vaginal intercourse.

There are many ways to have mind-blowing sex without putting a P in a V. Here are 6.

1. Say "I'm not going to have sex with you." Out loud.

Say this when you're making out and things are just starting to heat up. Grab their face, look them right in the eye and tell them that you're not going to have sex with them. Then don't slow down at all.

What's implied here is that "everything else" is on the table. Like some wondrous Dionysian buffet.

Related: 5 Ways To Be Better Sex

2. Use your hands

It's amazing what you can do when you commit to just using your hands. Because hand and finger work are generally considered foreplay, we don't often explore the vast range of what our hands alone can do. Namely, we can get a lot more specific Read More »from 6 Ways To Have Mindblowing Sex (Without Having Intercourse)

By Chiara Atik for HowAboutWe.com

Mindy Kaling recently put a request on her blog for people to send in their "best friend rights and responsibilities." This got us thinking: best friends are actually huge parts of our dating lives: they're with us through every crush, first date, relationship, and break-up. Below are 15 "rights and responsibilities" we feel like best friends have towards each other when it comes to dating.

1. We will analyze every text message from a crush, down to the punctuation, spacing, and number of characters used. We understand that this will sometimes take hours.

How To Be A Good Wingwoman For Other Women

2. We will agree that any crush is "really, really, cute," and that assessment will remain constant until he or she shows a lack of interest, at which point they become "not even that cute, really..."

3. We will dutifully listen to each other's sex questions, no matter how awkward or embarrassing. And what we don't know the answer to, we will happily help

Read More »from 15 Best Friend Dating Commandments

by Phoebe Lapine and Cara Eisenpress for HowAboutWe

Whether you're a guy or a girl, inviting a date back to your place at 7pm (rather than 3am) can be both an exhilarating and intimidating experience. Dining chez toi is clearly more intimate than dining at a restaurant, which can be good if you're hitting it off, and bad if you're a bit shy or awkward. At its best, cooking for a potential mate lets you reveal your talents and tastes. It's offbeat, economical, and fun.

From the pair behind the cooking site Big Girls, Small Kitchen, here are 10 tips for helping your kitchen make you the most eligible bachelor/ette in town.

1. Assess Your Experience.
No matter how cocky you normally are, being honest about your cooking ability in the lead-up to an at-home date is crucial. If you haven't cooked a lot, or cooked a lot for other people, stick with something simple. It's not the best idea to invent a brand new dish when your love life is on the line. Related: What Your Drink Says Read More »from 10 Tips For The First Time You Cook Them Dinner