Do I look fat?

No, that shirt doesn’t make you look fat. Yes, I can tell you’re losing weight. No, there’s nothing goofy-looking about your hair.

Sound familiar?

Today's nightlife column is about how much honesty you expect out of your significant other.

We face a fine line in relationships. On one hand, you want to be your partner’s safe haven from the rest of the world. But on the other hand, you want to help your partner be the best person possible -- which can involve facing some harsh realities.

So what do you do? Most daters navigate these questions with no official game plan, aside from the constant relationship goal of avoiding fights.

After all, pointing out some mustard on your girlfriend’s chin is one thing. Shattering her hopes and dreams is another.

Anyway, I worked pretty hard on the column and I'll feel all warm and fuzzy if you read it. Thanks!

Average cost of an engagement ring

The average cost of an engagement ring was $5,392 last year, according to the results of this survey.

Does that number surprise you?

The survey, courtesy of TheKnot.com, is based on responses from nearly 19,000 recent U.S. brides. Consider these highlights:

*Most popular engagement month: December

*Average amount spent on a wedding dress: $1,099

*Average spent overall on a wedding (excluding honeymoon): $26,984

As someone who's never planned a wedding, my first instinct is to look at the numbers and say, "Wow, just think of all the other things you could have bought with that money."

I think it's possible to have a nice wedding for much less than $26,984.

Do you agree?

(via SavvySugar)

VIDEO: Watch my Aflac duck voice

Sorry for the lack of activity on here yesterday...I was in Atlanta covering a casting call to find the new voice of the Aflac duck.

How was the experience? Well, it's probably best to watch the video, which includes some pretty entertaining footage of my attempt to get the duck job.

Enjoy!

Bookstores and romance

Do you know your local bookstore is a good place to meet a date?

The answer is probably yes, thanks to our culture's growing tendency to push the belief. Sara recently addressed an extension of the idea when she wrote about speed-dating at the library.

And now, we have this eyewitness account of finding love in bookstores. An excerpt:

There are many reasons why bookstores are naturally romantic environments: the smell of paper, the soft lighting, the baseline understanding that those inside like to read, and are therefore probably not morons.

Am I the only one who's a little worried about this concept's rise?

Don't get me wrong: I love books and like Katie, I get sad when people say bookstores could become an endangered species.

But I worry that all this hype about bookstores being meet markets could erase some of the "underground" appeal that makes bookstores so romantic.

I have no experience with bookstore dating, but I assume one of the best parts about meeting someone in a bookstore is the fact that you're chatting with someone whose primary mission isn't to find a date.

Write a few more headlines about people meeting in bookstores and you'll have daters who visit the stores primarily to find a romantic connection. Not to mention all the cheesy pick-up lines you might hear in certain store aisles.

Agree?

Monday power anthem

I loved this performance from Sunday's ACM Awards! What did you think?

Dinner dates made easy?

Just in time for the weekend, Em & Lo offer this handy collection of dinner date rules.

They warn guys against ordering for women. They ban cell phones from the table. You know, pretty standard stuff.

The major thing that attracted discussion in the comments section was a suggestion not to order the lobster -- "unless it’s been clearly established that you’re paying."

In the comments, somebody wrote, "If he is a lawyer, a doctor, a high level engineer, an IT specialist and picks you up in a Lexus, Damn, order that Sea Bug."

Even if I knew my date made a ton of money, I probably wouldn't order the most expensive thing on the menu. I usually opt for something in the middle of the menu's price range. If my boyfriend's paying, I rarely order something more expensive than what he's getting.

Weigh in: If you're not paying on a first date, is price an issue in what you order?

April Fools' Day 2011

Ladies, I'll give my annual April Fools' Day public service announcement:

"I'm pregnant" is not an acceptable April 1 prank.

Got it? Likewise, guys, it's not a good idea to punk us with a fake marriage proposal. You're only setting yourself up for a fight.

I've never been a huge fan of April Fools' Day jokes. Or jokes in general.

However, I think the rise of social networking has only heightened an obsession with April 1 trickery. I've seen people post Facebook status updates ranging from fake engagements to fake breakups to fake pregnancies.

There's just one problem: Humor rarely translates over the Internet. People take things waaaay too seriously.

So you're left with a bunch of people writing you congratulatory messages...even after you've posted that your status was just a joke.

Awkward.