Blog Posts by HowAboutWe

By Scott Alden for HowAboutWe

It seems that every time I turn on the internet these days, some celebrity is "quietly dating" someone. Am I the only person who finds this term ridiculous?

Related: 6 "Psycho" Things That Women Do That Are Actually Pretty Reasonable

For example, there is much speculation that Drake and Rihanna are "quietly dating." What would that even mean? Holing up with their college sweatshirts and Chinese delivery like in the "What's My Name" video? Study dates at the library? Hanging out at the local daycare around naptime? Does Drake still live with his parents and Rihanna has to sneak in through the window after they fall asleep? (That's cute to think about, right?)

Related: 9 Sexy Things Guys Find Sexy About You That Have Nothing To Do With How You Look.

"Quietly dating" may imply that two celebrities are in a pre-exclusive relationship which would be difficult to explain to the press. Maybe they're dating multiple people and fear some kid

By Chiara Atik for HowAboutWe.com

I have a lot of straight male friends: guy friends who invite me to movies, to plays, who take me to dinner with their bosses, who call me on Tuesday nights when they want to get out of the house, who bring me to weddings, who GChat with me all day. I'm not dating any of them, but it recently dawned on me: I'm their "filler" girlfriend.

These guy friends are never all single at the same time: usually only one or two of them is unattached at any given moment. This means I spend a huge amount of my free time with the single ones, and see the attached ones every few weeks for dinner.

The 9 Types Of Pre-Exclusive Relationships

About every 10 months or so, the rotation changes: a guy who was in a relationship will break up, while a different bachelor will settle down. I'll reconnect with the newly single one ("Why'd we stop hanging out so much? I missed you!" he'll naively say), while the other guy will probably spend the next six months happily cocooned

By Chiara Atik for HowAboutWe.com

My guy friends read a post on "10 Things Guys Shouldn't Wear On A Date" --which meant that last night I was subjected to a LONG list of what girls should never wear on first dates.

Some of their suggestions are obvious. Some I disagree with. And some I've definitely been guilty of in the past.

From the mouth of babes boys...

9 Things Guys Find Sexy About You That Have Nothing To Do With How You Look

1. Harem/Hammer pants
Ok, I can see how guys would maybe not find this the most attractive look. I was a little surprised to see this on the list though--how often do girls actually wear these on dates?

2. Sneakers This made the man list, too: Apparently no one should wear sneakers on dates. But women's sneakers can be really cute! Some adorable Converse? Keds? As a woman I hate this rule! But maybe everyone should save the sneakers for later on in the relationship...

Five Sneakily Telling Questions To Ask On A First Date

3. Too Much Jewelry
How much

By Chiara Atik for HowAboutWe.com

Sometimes I feel bad for guys, because they don't get to carry bags containing their vital possessions at all times. They're limited to pockets and wallets, whereas women get to make full use of the Boy Scout motto, "Always Be Prepared!"

Are you always well and truly prepared for anything when you go on a date? Make sure you stuff your purse with these ten things.

1. Tissues

ESPECIALLY if you live on the East Coast, where a walk outdoors may at any given moment turn your nose into a faucet. Sorry to be gross, but seriously: Sniffling does not make for a good first impression.

Related: The 5 Signs You're A Filler Girlfriend

2. The Very Basic Things You Personally Feel You Need To Look Pretty

Personally, I am totally against reapplying makeup. You want to look nice when the date first starts, but also you are a real person and not some constantly made-up doll, and also you should be applying makeup so that it lasts the whole evening, and also, too

By Scott Alden for HowAboutWe

The role of money in dating has been a hot topic as of late. Whether it's exploring gender biases around paying for dinner (or embracing them gleefully) or worrying about long-term financial stability with a partner, fewer and fewer people seem to condemn such concerns as shallow and unromantic.

Like it or not, how much we make affects how we date. And people are starting to talk more openly about it.

So, we want to know what you think. How important is income in choosing a partner? Take a few minutes, fill out our survey, and get your voice heard on the matter.



The Date Report is the companion blog to HowAboutWe.com, a dating site that makes it fun and easy to go on awesome dates. How it works: 1) Invent fun dates. 2) Ask people out. 3) Do something awesome, together. Sign up for free here. Don't forget to join us on Twitter and Facebook -- and download our brand-new app here!

By Chiara Atik for HowAboutWe.com

What do women think? Mainly "Alriiiiiight!" But also, a few other things.

We don't think ALL these things, EVERY time we have sex. But these are definitely things that run through our heads before having sex with someone for the first time. Until we, you know, get swept up in things....

1. What will my number be after this and do I care?
Mostly, we don't care, and I've never known a girl to STOP a hookup for fear of what her number will be. But it DOES occur to us!

What Sex Is Really Like For The Modern Man

2. Should I shower, or, uhm, freshen up?
Again, not as big of a deal for guys, but since women are, you know, anatomically different, this is a major concern. Will a quick trip to the bathroom kill the mood, will we be too anxious if we don't? (Note: THIS "Ask A Dude" post from The Hairpin did NOT alleviate any anxiety in this matter)

3. Am I going to get pregnant?
Did we take the pill this morning? Is the condom on right? Did we take EVERY

by Scott Alden for HowAboutWe

One of the most frequently asked questions in the world of dating has got to be "If they're not your significant other, then what the hell are they?" Well, pre-exclusive relationships (or PXRs) don't have to be a frustrating grey area anymore. Here's a handy guide to the 9 most common types of PXRs, all converted into abbreviations for easy texting.

by Scott Alden for HowAboutWe.com

Do you go on a lot of boring dates? Dates that never really go anywhere because you never get beyond the chatty "getting-to-know-you" stuff? Is it sometimes hard to tell if you even like the person because you didn't really talk...about anything?

Well, according to psychologist Dan Ariely, this happens because this is the way you want it.

"We found a general trend supporting the idea that people like to maintain boring equilibrium at all costs," writes Ariely in a recent AskMen article. "When people are free to choose what type of discussions they want to have, they often gravitate toward an equilibrium that is easy to maintain but one that no one really enjoys or benefits from."

Related: 10 Ways To Deal With Your Partners Sexual Past

Ariely is referring to a recent study of online daters in which he observed trends in the subject matter of messages on dating sites (which he generally found to be BOOOORING). He then forced these