How To Write a Love Letter

How much do you love what’s-her-face? Here’s how to count the ways…

You Will Need

• High-quality paper stock
• A good pen
• Your signature scent
• A calligrapher
• Wax

Step 1: Consider presentation

Pick out nice, heavy-stock stationery and a pricey pen. An old-fashioned fountain pen is a classy touch.

Step 2: Set the mood

Put on music that moves you, and perhaps place a photo of your love in front of you for inspiration.

TIp-If your handwriting will have her wondering why you think her eyes twinkle like doormen and her lips taste like straw beds, consider hiring a calligrapher.

Step 3: Begin lovingly

Start with a loving salutation—use a pet name or term of endearment.

Step 4: Make your declaration

Declare why you love this person, listing as many reasons as you can.

Step 5: Close devotedly

Close your letter with another sentiment of devotion, like “Forever yours.”

Step 6: Check spelling

Check your spelling. Your missive will quickly change from a turn-on to a turn-off if you write that your lover is “eggskwisit” in all ways.

TIP-Wait a day or two and reread your letter several times before mailing it, so you can gain some perspective.

Step 7: Add a final flourish

Add a final romantic flourish by sealing the letter the old-fashioned way—with melted wax—and lightly spraying on your signature scent, if you have one. Now await your love’s reply!

How To Cast a Love Spell

ilted by a would-be lover? Try a good old-fashioned hex and change his mind.

You Will Need

• A pink candle
• And a vase of pink flowers, like roses or gardenias

Step 1: Light candle

After sunset, light the candle and place it next to the vase.

Step 2: Say aloud ...

Say aloud: “I ask the power of love and light to bring me opportunities for romance.”

Step 3: Next recite ...

Next recite: “I affirm that I participate in love and that I am worthy of love.”

TIP-Legend holds that this spell works best on the Friday night before a full moon.

Step 4: Then chant ...

Then chant: “I am open to love and ask that it come to me for the greater good.”

Step 5: End by whispering ...

End by whispering: “So be it and so it is.”

Step 6: Blow out the candle

Blow out the candle.

TIP-Wait at least one month before repeating the spell.

Step 7: Keep flowers until they die

Keep the flowers until they die. Once they’ve completely shriveled up, your new love should blossom! If it doesn’t, try again, but this time with a nicer vase.

How To Get a Date With Absolutely Anyone

No one is out of your league if you know how to woo them.

You Will Need

• Bravery
• An opening line—and opening question
• A few good travel stories
• And some quirky questions

Step 1: Dress nicely

Dress nicely, but don’t overdo it. Being overdressed or too sexy makes you seem desperate, which is always a turn-off.

Step 2: Smile

Smile at the person who’s caught your eye—but do it the right way. For women, that means smiling while eyeing his body appreciatively. For men, it means holding her gaze.

Step 3: Approach with a good opening

Approach the person and say “hi.” Then deliver an opening line that includes both a “we” statement and a personal question that involves the person’s feelings, such as, “If the band is as good as I’ve heard, we’re in for a great night. Are you into rockabilly?”

TIP-Note to men: stay away from sexual innuendo—a big turnoff to women—and go with gallantry, like rescuing a woman from the guy who’s serving up the smut.

Step 4: Learn names

Memorize the person’s name and use it. People find it flattering, and transfer those good feelings to you.

TIP-Note to women: tell him he has beautiful eyes. One survey found this is more successful in scoring a guy’s interest than offering to buy him a beer.

Step 5: Ask quirky questions

Ask quirky questions. A study of speed daters found that the woman picked for a date by every man was not the prettiest; she was the one who asked, “What’s your favorite pizza topping?”

TIP-People who share an exhilarating and/or scary experience—like, say, a mechanical bull at a bar—bond quickly, because they confuse their feelings of excitement with attraction to their partner.

Step 6: Talk about agreeable things

Steer the conversation to agreeable topics. Yelling about nuclear disarmament or which God is the real God is best left for after the third date.

Step 7: Offer to buy dinner

Seal the deal by asking the person to dinner. Not drinks, which makes you seem uncommitted. Not coffee, which makes you seem cheap. Actual dinner.

How To Date Multiple Women

Depending on your juggling skills, it can be a dream come true or your worst nightmare.

You Will Need

• Access to women
• Organizational skills
• And a silver tongue
• Membership in an online dating service (optional)

Step 1: Date online

Consider joining a popular online dating service. It’s the easiest way to meet thousands of available women.

Step 2: Weed out prospects

Unless you’re a sadist, weed out the ones who make it clear they’re looking for a serious relationship.

Step 3: Avoid friends

Scrupulously avoid dating women who might know each other. Otherwise, expect a posse of angry women on your doorstep—with knives.

TIP-Keep things separate—don’t bring different dates to the same restaurants and clubs. That’s just asking for trouble.

Step 4: Appear busy

Make it clear from the beginning that your free time is limited. Make vague references to 60-hour workweeks and frequent business trips so they won’t know the real reason—you need to make time for the other gals.

Step 5: Be organized

Keeping track of multiple dates and multiple women can be confusing—be vigilant about staying organized, or you could easily betray yourself.

Tip-If you have two dates in the same night, allow yourself some time in between to check for telltale signs: lipstick, stray hairs, women’s perfume.

Step 6: Act like a sailor

Make like a sailor and have women in different ports of call. If you travel a lot for work or often vacation in the same place, you’ll always have a date when you’re in town.

TIP-Program your dates’ names into your phone using male codenames—Sam for Samantha, Jack for Jill— so that the one you’re with isn’t suspicious when you’re receiving calls and texts.

Step 7: Don't fake it

Don’t pretend to feel what you’re not feeling. You might not advertise the fact that she’s not the only one, but don’t lie and tell her that she is.

Step 8: Be safe

Practice safe sex, for obvious reasons. And if you know—or strongly suspect—that a date wouldn’t sleep with you if she knew you had multiple partners, don’t exploit her trust. Even if you never gave her a reason to trust you in the first place.

How to Date like a Man

Not having much luck in the romance department? Try dating like a man — it may be just the jolt your love life needs.

You Will Need

• Courage
• Full playing field
• Relaxed attitude
• Patience

Step 1: Make the first move

Don’t wait for a man you’re interested in to approach you — strike up a conversation with him. Women who make the first move have up to a 90 percent success rate.

Step 2: Play the field

Play the field, even if you’ve met someone you really like. To date like a man, you must operate on the assumption that there might be someone even better out there — at least until you’ve had enough time to know for sure that there isn’t.

Step 3: Chill

Chill out! Don’t view every person you date as a potential life partner. Focus on having fun, not finding true love.

Step 4: Don't get too invested

Don’t invest too much of yourself early in a relationship. Save the personal sacrifices and grand gestures for when he’s earned them.

Don’t introduce a guy to your family until he’s taken you to meet his.

Step 5: Keep your options open

Keep your options open. Resist making plans with a man too far in advance, and don’t try to book him for holidays or pin him down to vacations too early in the romance.

Step 6: Don't settle down too soon

Don’t settle down until you have the education and experience to take care of yourself. Men often like to wait until their career is established and they’re financially stable before they get serious with someone, and that’s a good plan for women, too.

How to Survive an Open Relationship

If you and your partner have agreed that you want to experiment with establishing an open relationship, learn how to establish some ground rules so that you are both comfortable with your arrangement.

You Will Need

• Openness
• Honesty
• Discretion
• Desire to make each other happy

Step 1: Be sure

Be sure that this is what you both truly want. If you aren’t both fully on board, it will never work.

Step 2: Set up

Set up some guidelines that you both most follow. For example, designate who the encounters can’t be with or where or when they can’t take place.

TIP-An open relationship is a lifestyle choice that works for some. It is not a repair tool for those unions that are, for all intents and purposes, already over.

Step 3: Keep

Keep the lines of communication open. You don’t have to go into the details of all your hookups, but you should continue to discuss if the setup is working.

Step 4: Block out

Block out what other people are telling you. This isn’t a typical relationship, but you aren’t trying to make everyone happy — just each other. This could end up being just the situation you have always wanted, as long as you do it right.