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"  1. &amp;quot;Types&amp;quot; are bullshit. Sure, there are some non-negotiables for everyone, but if your type is specific, like &amp;amp;#147;pretentious stocky asshole comedian in a Eurotrashy jacket,&amp;amp;#148; you are ignoring a wide range of other people, like &amp;amp;#147;pretentious thin asshole comedian&amp;amp;#148; or &amp;amp;#147;pretentious stocky asshole Twitter comedian in a denim jacket.&amp;amp;#148; 2. Free fancy dinners don&amp;amp;#146;t matter as much as you thought they would. It&amp;#039;s weird the first time you&amp;#039;re listening to some intolerable finance bro blustering about being a &amp;#039;VIP at Da Club&amp;amp;#146; and thinking &amp;quot;This $1,000 gold-flecked caviar sushi he&amp;amp;#146;s picking up the check for is NOT worth it.&amp;amp;#148; It&amp;amp;#146;s a sign of maturity/good personhood that you would rather be eating Cup of Soup with a man who is tolerable. 3. Even if the front of your brain is like &amp;amp;#147;I want a boyfriend,&amp;amp;#148; the back of your brain might actually not want a boyfriend. Sometimes the default mindset for single girls is to want to be in a relationship, but enjoying the single life is the first step to finding someone who fits into your full life, not just someone to fill some kind of sad single-girl void you have invented. 4. Single? USE CONDOMS. Because there are so many more important subjects to tackle at brunch than play the old &amp;amp;#147;Herpes or cold sore?!&amp;amp;#148; anxiety game show. 5. Online dating is not just for l0s3rs. Once you&amp;amp;#146;re not meeting people through school, it gets trickier to find single dudes, let alone a single dude who&amp;amp;#146;s right for you. Trying online dating doesn&amp;amp;#146;t make you a certain &amp;amp;#147;kind&amp;amp;#148; of person. 6. Don&amp;amp;#146;t spend too much time communicating with an online dude while you wait for him to ask you out. Because there is a large number of men who will back-and-forth message you for weeks and make no attempt to make plans. What is this, 7th grade AIM? 7. Relationships that are unstable, one-sided and leave you feeling horrible about yourself are not &amp;amp;#147;romantic.&amp;amp;#148; The charm of nervewracking, adrenaline-based &amp;amp;#147;sorta-dating&amp;amp;#148; situations that you really want to be more than they are wears off righhhht around the time you get your first intense job &amp;amp;#151; when you want everything else in your life to be stable. 8. You can&amp;amp;#146;t make a spark happen where there is none. Unfortunately, even though #7 is the extreme flip side of this, you can&amp;amp;#146;t generate sexual chemistry with a super-good-on-paper guy who just doesn&amp;amp;#146;t do it for you. 9. Meeting up at midnight is not a date. Also worth examining further: Making plans for the night that same day. 10. First dates should always be drinks in case he&amp;#039;s terrible &amp;amp;#151; you can escape faster than dinner. Otherwise known as The &amp;amp;#147;Avoid Eating Scallops While A Guy From Online Talks About How Bad An Old Girlfriend&amp;amp;#146;s Vagina Smelled&amp;amp;#148; Tactic. Worst meal ever. Stick with booze, but don&amp;#039;t overdo it. 11. Don&amp;#039;t play games. And don&amp;amp;#146;t put up with it from the other person, either. Straight talk, 24/7. Because you do not want to waste the perkiest-boobed years of your life trying to decipher cryptic texts. 12. Your whole life can change in 45 minutes. There is nothing more gratifying than sitting down and instantly knowing that the person you&amp;#039;re sitting across from will be your leading man. Or at least knowing that you realllllly want to bang him. RELATED: 10 Things Every Woman Should Know By 25 10 Things Every Woman Should Know By 21 10 (More) Things Every Woman Should Know By 21 Follow Anna on Twitter  Photo Credit: MGM "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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