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" CG is so honored and excited to have authors (and real life BFFs) Emma Mclaughlin and Nicola Kraus blogging for us. Last week they explained why it&amp;#039;s good to stand out from your best friends and their interests. This week they offer their take on Valentine&amp;#039;s Day with a whole new way to celebrate whether you&amp;#039;re single or attached! Red hearts in the cafeteria, candy samplers piled next to drugstore checkouts, even the hardware store has hung red toilet seats in the window-it&amp;#039;s hard to walk more than a few feet in February and not be acutely aware of where your love life is-or isn&amp;#039;t. And like every holiday, there are so many &amp;#039;shoulds&amp;#039;. You should have a &amp;#039;him&amp;#039;. You should get a card from this him that perfectly articulates the love you both share. This him should give you the most romantic date of the year on which you should look and feel perfect. Some call these shoulds &amp;#039;traditions&amp;#039;. But, last we checked, you can Trick or Treat, cook Thanksgiving dinner, even decorate your Christmas tree without a him. If only there were Christmas tree-esque boyfriend farms where a girl could wander among rows of brunettes, blonds and redheads and just pick her fave. And then all you&amp;#039;d have to do is refresh his water and he&amp;#039;d be the very best him all season long.  Well until some enterprising chick gets that off the ground, we&amp;#039;d like to propose a new use for Valentine&amp;#039;s Day. Since it already has the pressure-ful feel of New Year&amp;#039;s Eve, let&amp;#039;s take what works after the ball drops. Valentine&amp;#039;s Day is a great opportunity to make love resolutions. So here&amp;#039;s our should: light a candle, put on your favorite music and make a list. Divide it onto three columns. My guy is: ? My guy likes: ? My guy wants: ? Be specific. Dare to love yourself enough to have a strong opinion about who you are inviting along for your ride. Is: handsome, smart, brunette, ambitious, funny, likes: The Red Sox, Thai food, reading, wants: a girlfriend with a dog, to travel, to try new things. Keep it in your bedside table and add to it every time you discover a new criteria for your future partner. Should he love a certain movie, hate a certain politician? Should he be close with his family, but not too close with his mother? Every movie, game, class and party is a chance to be on the lookout for what you are, well, looking out for. And every time you come home from a date with a Mr. Wrong you&amp;#039;ll know more about what&amp;#039;s important to you. A guy once tried to impress Nicki on a date by leaning in and saying, &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m packing heat.&amp;quot; He lifted his shirt in the fancy hotel bar to reveal that, yes, he was carrying a gun in his waistband. After she blacked out she went home and added &amp;#039;sane&amp;#039; to her list.  The clearer your vision, the more possible it will start to feel. And if it feels possible, the easier it will be for you to feel hopeful. Hopeful is a powerfully attractive state and that&amp;#039;s a fact. We swear to you someday you will walk into a room - maybe even on a February 14th - and it will feel like you wandered right into the boyfriend farm and there he&amp;#039;ll be, waiting for you, just like you pictured him.  What will be on YOUR list? Tell us in the comments section below! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.seventeen.com/love/dating-advice/a13575/valentines-day-love-resolutions/>