Go solo! Love living the single life

Single experience #5: Go to movies by yourself
If you have never done this, you have to start now. Take yourself on a date to the movies! This is a very Hot Chick thing to do because it takes confidence. It may seem scary at first, but you will feel like a total Hot Chick once you get into the habit of it. The trick is to not let yourself feel LSE about sitting there alone. Treat yourself well: buy a small popcorn or some fun bulk candy and enjoy people watching (without judgment, of course). This is a good way to remind yourself that you’re not banished to your house just because you’re single. You are allowed to enjoy all of the little pleasures in life, and might actually enjoy them even more by yourself.

Single experience #6: Spend time with your family
Not to get all serious and sh--, but no matter how old you are, your family is getting older, too. And none of us will live forever. As you are running around all single and happy, remember to set aside some quality time to spend with the fam. If you find yourself in a relationship, you’ll have to start spending time with his family, and then time with your own family will be cut short because there just isn’t ever enough time. We regret not spending more time with our grandma or bonding with our sister-in-law or visiting our favorite cousin or having heart to hearts with our brother. Before you go adding another family to the mix, make some time for your own.

Single experience #7: Educate yourself
Don’t wait until you have a man to start becoming the woman you want to be. Start right now. Take classes at night and finally finish your degree, or learn Italian and then reward yourself with a trip to Italy, or take cooking classes at a culinary school or a random art history course at a local college. Indulge in all of the things you are passionate about and take the time to learn about them. This will make you forever a hotter Hot Chick, so study up!

Single experience #8: Buy a vibrator
With modern technology, there is literally no reason that you have to have a man in order to be sexually satisfied. Get your hot ass to the toy store or check out the fun Web sites that we link to off of our site. You can discreetly buy a fun new gadget and no one will be the wiser. This is absolutely something that every single Hot Chick must experience! It will keep you happier through your single days, prevent you from getting desperate, and help you learn exactly what gets your motor running so that one day you’ll be able to teach a man how to do that.

Single experience #9: Buy nice underwear
We promise that just sliding into silky panties or putting on a blood-red bra will make you feel sensual and alive, and every single woman deserves to feel that way! If the frilly stuff isn’t your thing, there’s plenty of stuff out there that’s more practical but equally sexy. Put on some flirty boy shorts from Victoria’s Secret’s Pink collection and see how hot you feel just painting your toenails alone in your apartment. Or take one of Victoria’s other secrets and indulge in some of her Sexy Little Things. You will feel so much hotter — and when you feel hotter, you act hotter, and when you act hotter, everyone will notice. Pretty soon, men will be fighting to get a look at your new purchases, and it will be up to you to decide whether or not they’re worth it.

Single experience #10: Have a one-night stand
Some of you may be morally opposed to this, and if that’s the case, then obviously don’t do it. For the rest of you, be warned that this can be a tough one, and there will most likely be some repercussions. You may accidentally get attached, or it may make you feel LSE or guilty or slutty. However, this section is about once in a lifetime experiences, and this is a big one! So if it sounds like fun to you, there is no reason you can’t experience this, at least once. Just be sure to always be safe, use a condom, and follow all of our one-night stand rules on page 149!

Video   The secrets to ‘sex-cess’ Jan. 23: The authors of “How to Love Like a Hot Chick” talk to the TODAY hosts about why confidence is so important to being happy in a relationship. Today show

Single pros
Even after having all of those wonderful single experiences, we know that sometimes it’s still hard to shut out those negative, nasty thoughts about not having a partner. Here is a list of just a few of the fun, happy things about being single for you to reread any time you’re having trouble staying positive.

Single pro #1: Sleep soundly
Most guys we know snore really freaking loudly and some of them think they’re too manly to wear that awesome little Breathe Right strip. Lots of guys also toss and turn all night, and some of them lead with their elbows: we’ve woken up with a sharp elbow to the spine more times than we can count. Others take up the whole damn bed with their big manly selves, and still others sweat profusely all over your beautiful five hundred–thread count sheets, even in the dead of winter. Some men (gasp) do all of the above. Suffice it to say, enjoy your comfy bed while you can.

Single pro #2: Solo travel
Trips are another huge stressor on relationships. Most couples end up in huge blowouts over things like whether or not to get “bumped” onto the next flight to earn sky miles, whether or not to pay for the insurance on the rental car, directions, meal times, etc., etc., etc. You single Hot Chicks, on the other hand, can jump in a truck and head across the country or just take off whenever and wherever you want with nobody to answer to.

Single pro #3: You don’t have to spend the holidays with someone else’s weird family
This needs no further explanation.

Single pro #4: Money saver
A lot of single girls don’t realize this, but being in a relationship is expensive. There are just so many more obligations that suck extra cash down the drain, like his sister’s baby shower, holiday gifts for his family, and more dinners out. For those of you who are hoping to find a guy who is going to pay for everything, let us remind you that it is 2009 and the economy sucks. Open a savings account now.

Single pro #5: Gym time
When you work full time and you have a man (and especially if you have kids), it becomes really hard to find time in the day just for you. Pretty soon, you’re missing your nightly yoga class to have dinner with him and cutting your workouts short to rush home and take care of sh--. We want you to appreciate the fact that you have your evenings or weekend mornings free to go to butt class, and enjoy your “me time” while you have it.

Single pro #6: Remote control
Men seem to be pre-wired to not only hate everything we want to watch, but to also get unreasonably angry at us for wanting to watch reruns of Sex and the City. Honestly, if we hear, “You’ve seen that already,” one more time, we might snap. Meanwhile, a reairing of the same Simpsons episode he’s seen five hundred times is somehow sacred. Enjoy singing along with American Idol or cheering for your favorite C-list celebs on Dancing with the Stars now, because one day you will most likely have to share. Gross.

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