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"Cheers, ladies! Tomorrow is my 2-year blog-iversary. I can&amp;amp;#8217;t believe it. Two years ago, I debuted with a post about meeting a bunch of 22-year-olds and following them to a late-night party, from which I escaped eventually and got lost in the wilds of Nantucket (and now I&amp;amp;#8217;m putting together that that&amp;amp;#8217;s probably when I picked up Lyme Disease). I&amp;amp;#8217;ve decided to reflect on what I&amp;amp;#8217;ve learned about love, dating, and men, from being out in the field and writing more than 450 blog posts. I&amp;amp;#8217;ve discovered crazy stuff&amp;amp;#8212;there is a National Singles Week (every September) and a magazine for singletons called Singular. Mostly, I&amp;#x27;ve soaked up valuable insights from matchmakers, experts, and from the brilliant and touching thoughts written by my commenters. I wish I had the means to compile all the knowledge! I would need about 35 interns. Anyway, here are 12 things I&amp;amp;#8217;ve learned along the way: 1. Say yes to parties, dates, and events, even if you have to attend a shindig alone. I promise you: say yes and the world will say yes back. You never know who will be at the party, what might be in the gift bag, or what amazing anecdote you&amp;#x27;ll hear and be able to blog about. And if you don&amp;amp;#8217;t go to these parties, you might start asking, &amp;amp;#8220;Why don&amp;amp;#8217;t great things happen to me?&amp;amp;#8221; 2. If you&amp;amp;#8217;re single, stay in the present. Think about it: if you&amp;amp;#8217;re a dating blogger, you are writing about being single today. Do not worry about being single next month, next year, or on your 35th birthday. Todaytodaytoday. 3. When you meet his friends, they will pay attention to EVERYTHING. I learned just how much they notice when I let one of them guest blog about meeting me and evaluating me. I couldn&amp;amp;#8217;t believe the detail and the length of his narrative, which was originally about 1,500 words. 4. All in the name of blogging and journalism, I&amp;amp;#8217;ve attended speed-dating events (including the world&amp;amp;#8217;s largest), group dates, &amp;amp;#8220;not-my-date&amp;amp;#8221; parties, and industry mixers. They are all great ideas in theory, but the male talent is not there. Why? I think that men don&amp;amp;#8217;t want help. They want to meet you in a spontaneous way. 5. One of the best pieces of advice (in the form of a statement) I got to hear because of this blog was at the 2009 Glamour Women of the Year Awards, where Maya Angelou said: &amp;amp;#8220;I am a good daughter, a good wife, and a good sister&amp;amp;#133;to men who value me.&amp;amp;#8221; 6. Deny it all you want, but your exes are Googling you. And if they&amp;amp;#8217;re not, then their family and friends are. In July of 2008, I was comparing my past relationships to various sports. I said that one relationship was like &amp;amp;#8220;the loveliest, most delicious swim I ha[d] ever taken.&amp;amp;#8221; I later got an email from the ex thanking me for the &amp;amp;#8220;loveliest, most delicious, most public compliment&amp;amp;#8221; he had ever gotten. Doh&amp;amp;#8212;! He found the blog. Busted. 7. If you don&amp;amp;#8217;t want to be Googled by the guy you&amp;amp;#8217;re currently out on a date with, don&amp;amp;#8217;t say that outright when he asks for your last name. Don&amp;amp;#8217;t blush and act like you have secrets. Just be casual and pretend you&amp;amp;#8217;re withholding the info because you&amp;amp;#8217;re being safe and cautious. Also, don&amp;amp;#8217;t make it about keeping your last name from him&amp;amp;#8212;he&amp;amp;#8217;ll think you&amp;amp;#8217;re a Vanderbilt or a Kennedy. 8. Male models: hot. 9. Younger men are fun, lively, and they make for great blog posts, mostly because they get into trouble, say outrageous things, and drink too much. The entertainment value may be there, but what do you want in your life, drama or stability? 10. It&amp;amp;#8217;s good for men to know they have competition, but you don&amp;amp;#8217;t want to feel like you&amp;#x27;ve been caught in the crosshairs. So don&amp;amp;#8217;t blab or blog too much. A photographer guy I dated once didn&amp;#x27;t know I was dating anyone else. He texted me a few days later, &amp;amp;#8220;Glad to hear your date with Justin went well. ;) funny job you have there.&amp;amp;#8221; 11. Whether you have an audience of thousands or just your mom, don&amp;amp;#8217;t feel pressured to go out with a certain guy or get a kiss&amp;amp;#8212;especially because of a silly holiday like Valentine&amp;amp;#8217;s or New Year&amp;amp;#8217;s. I&amp;amp;#8217;ve said it before and I&amp;amp;#8217;ll say it again: the New Year&amp;#x27;s Eve kiss is as ubiquitous and overrated as Ryan Seacrest. 12. We are all in this together. I was lucky enough to realize this from the commenters, and let me tell you, nothing rallies a bunch of women like getting dumped or being approached by a guy who doesn&amp;amp;#8217;t remember dating you. Do you have a blog? What has it taught you? Also: Happy Fourth of July, everyone! What are you doing this weekend? More Ways to Get Glamour Visit ShopGlamour.com for cute stuff starting at just $10! Enter the latest Glamour sweepstakes! Follow us on Twitter! Add us to your iGoogle homepage. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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