Blog Posts by HowAboutWe

Be a Valentine's superhero.

By Ben Pomeroy for HowAboutWe

So you've got a date for Valentine's Day. Lucky you! Now what? There's a truckload of pressure to nail this holiday, especially with someone new. The evening needs to be romantic, memorable, original, authentic-I could go on, but I'm starting to give myself a panic attack.

Let's face it, Valentine's day can be a minefield. Everything from the cheesy bouquets to the reservation scrum to the underwhelming prix fix meal. Don't get me wrong-you should do the work to honor the woman you love. But it's easy to fall into the trap of societal expectations, and wind up spending a lot of time and money to have someone else's idea of a romantic night.

Fear not-that won't be your situation this year. The best table in town on Valentine's Day will be at your apartment. It'll be memorable, unique, authentic, etc. plus no fighting for a parking space, battling the cold, dealing with slow service, or shelling out a fortune. I promise.

Plus: The Best Way

Happy hourBy Anna David for HowAboutWe

"So you don't drink at all?" Jeff, my formerly-winsome date, was suddenly eyeing me with skepticism. We were on a blind date set up by a mutual friend, so I had no clue what he'd heard about me-specifically, about my addiction and subsequent sobriety. In that moment, as he gulped his glass of merlot, I felt adolescent as I sipped my cranberry and soda through a straw.

The right moment to tell a date that you don't drink is tough to pinpoint, I've discovered. Right after the waiter asks for your order isn't a bad option. Or even when your suitor is scanning the wine list and asking if you'd prefer red or white.

Plus: 10 Questions That Will Save You from Marrying the Wrong Person

"I don't drink," I'll say, always trying to make the three words sound as casual as humanly possible. Sometimes this confession will be followed by no acknowledgment at all, or a simple nod. Of course, then there are times when you see an alarmed look pass over his face.

The Runaway BrideBy Yelena Shuster for HowAboutWe

Valentine's Day is fast approaching. That sentence means something unique to nearly everyone who reads it. But according to the stats, for many a couple it means the approach of an engagement-or, at least, a potential engagement.

Whether or not to say yes when someone asks you to marry them-or, once you do say yes, whether or not to make good on your promise-keeps many an anxious bride (or groom) up at night. Last week, the New York Times tried to tackle the issue in a Well column about cold feet. The usually rigorous column often debunks studies to get at a larger culture truth, but this one turned out to be a big tease. According to the Times:

"'Virtually every big, real-life decision requires the decision-maker to resolve 10 fundamental questions, or what I call cardinal issues,' said J. Frank Yates, a professor of marketing and psychology at the University of Michigan's business school. People only feel real confidence, he said,

Go skydiving as a couple.By Anya Kamenetz for HowAboutWe

I once dated an incorrigible ladies' man who liked to bring me to high places: the steep hillsides of Berkeley, CA overlooking the port at sunset; the ledge of a billboard on the roof of an abandoned building in Williamsburg, Brooklyn; even the very top of Tree Nine, a legendary 120-foot redwood on the campus of UC Santa Cruz. Whether he knew it or not, these vertigo-inducing excursions were neuroscientifically designed to get me (and keep me) interested in him.

As we took in the views, my pulse was racing from the climb, I was breathing fast, and I was seeing everything around me, literally, from a new perspective. As it turns out, everything I was encountering-surprise, variety, novelty, and a hint of danger-bathes the brain in neurotransmitters called dopamine and norepinephrine, which are associated respectively with pleasure, pain and emotional response, and with alertness and arousal. Dopamine is the same chemical that's affected by drugs like

Tina Fey as Liz Lemonby Chiara Atik for HowAboutWe

Every once in a while, television is blessed with a wise-cracking heroine who proves that a funny, smart character can carry a TV show just as easily as a charming ingenue. There was Murphy Brown, Roseanne Barr, and, for the past seven years, there's been Liz Lemon.

Liz Lemon is the stereotype of the educated, feminist, city-dwelling single woman. She's successful, funny, at ease in a male-dominated work environment, sarcastic, and more concerned with her job than her closet. She can be a little sloppy, a little mean, a little prudish, and a little too happy with the prospect of going home at the end of the night with an extra-large pizza. Which she can and will shotgun!

Plus: Hilarious Tips for Single Women from 1938

But where Liz Lemon rings truest is in her romantic life. It wasn't always pretty. It was fraught with disappointments, mistakes, the occasional insanely hot guy, the more occasional freak. In other words, the series was dominated

High School

By Chiara Atik for HowAboutWe

I wasn't unpopular in high school. Not that I was the prom queen, but I had friends, a boyfriend, and a reliable seat in the cafeteria.

In the cafeteria, though. Which is somewhat telling, because, as anyone who went to my high school would know, the cool kids, the ones who were truly high on the totem poll, would eat lunch in the quad.

Not that I had a complex about this. I was reasonably happy in high school, and well-adjusted. But a few months ago, when a former quad-dining footballer contacted me on Facebook after reading an article I had written, my pulse quickened, and my tone reverted to the goofy self-deprecation of an insecure teenager. ("Lol, no, that article sucked, what?? I mean, thanks…") Because, though I am now an adult, with a job and a lease and a 401k, the fact remains: he is a GUY who once ate his chicken crispitos in the quad.

Plus: 26 Things We Do When We're Secretly In Love With You

It's frustrating that so

Kim K. or Kate Middleton?

By Jillian Lucas for HowAboutWe

When it comes to famous couples, Kim Kardashian/Kanye West and Kate Middleton/Prince William now top the list (have Brangelina finally been unseated for good?). With the announcement of impending parenthood for both young couples, it's time to acknowledge the fact that while the 2 pairs share a massive spotlight, they couldn't be more different when it comes to balancing (and courting) fame versus nurturing their relationships. Here's a closer look at the Kim-to-Kate spectrum.

Kim:

Privacy:

• Released sex tape with then boyfriend Ray-J. Sales are now skyrocketing because of her pregnancy.
• How many ridiculous 'razzi-bait scenes will she and Kanye create?
• 'Ye announced her pregnancy onstage at his concert.
• She'll be showing the world the baby pictures how? But isn't going to sell them, really, she swears.
• Made a statement about "being more private" now that she's pregnant. But did so on the David Letterman Show, which

Dating in the tapestry days.By Chiara Atik for HowAboutWe

This post is the second in a series. Previously: In Defense of Millennials, Part 1.

The growing perception of Modern Dating for women is that it's a chaotic, directionless spiral away from commitment and into drunken hookups and futility.

But, honestly? Women today don't have it bad when it comes to dating. In fact, we have it pretty wonderful. The reason, of course, is freedom - we have the power, and tools, to have our dating life be however we'd like it to be.

For centuries and centuries, a woman's lot in life was based entirely on the supposition that she would get married, and the sooner the better. In the middle ages, a girl would live in her parents house until the ripe old age of 15 or so, at which point her father would march her down the aisle and hand her off to a husband. The next 25 years would be spent getting pregnant, narrowly escaping death during childbirth, and picking out new tapestries for the castle great room, or