Since dinner and a movie seems overly cliché, here are ten simple things you can do on a first date to try and impress her.

1. Offer to cook: cooking skills aside, this is a sure bet to getting her into bed. Since a standard meal might not do the trick, make it fun. Provide dinner and a show, invite her to cook with you, or make it a project like making your own pizza.

2. Take to the skies and seas: You will be able (depending on where you live) to find a relatively inexpensive helicopter tour, or a hot air balloon ride. If you live on the water, suggest a day of sailing or wind-surfing.

Protip: if you have the money, you can usually find a 3 hour cruise

3. Wing It: You can take a page out of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and decide each on ten things you have never done before. This can easily fill an entire day, and might just lead to a memorable time.

4. A new take on the classics: The hit sitcom “How I Met Your Mother” showed audiences how you could combine dinner and a movie, a few cab rides, and dessert into a Two Minute date. Trying something like this like might end up being a hit gimmick. The video can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQs5B_VMuDg&feature=PlayList&p=ABB6C8B09FBF1444&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=52

5. His and Hers: Why not agree to do something you’ll really love, and follow it up with something she loves. You might go from a Monster Truck rally to the premiere of the new Twilight movie, but what better way to know if you’ll be able to stand each other.

6. The mobile date: Begin with a picnic somewhere and keep the date moving literally, as you walk (or drive) to each destination. With the roving/mobile date you won’t stay in one place long enough to get that awkward uncomfortable stare-down going.

7. Schedule a physical activity: Take a page out of the “Blind Date” series and sign you and your partner up for anything from rock climbing to amateur karate. You’ve seen Blind Date, you know it always ends up in the hot tub anyway.

8. Go all or nothing: Show up at her place and suggest staying in. It’s a time honored classic, and you might just end up getting lucky.

January 29^th, 2009 marked what President Obama called a “wonderful day.” That’s right, women were finally granted “equal pay for equal work” under federal law! The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 was an undeniably wonderful piece of legislation that was a monumental landmark in the long-awaited advancements in women’s—and thus human—rights.

So. Heh. We both have a fair shot at fair pay, right? So, honey, since we both work at the same office and this is our third date, think you can pay for your ticket to the chick flick you’re dragging me to now?

Hey, look, men in general are truly happy to pay for your stuff, girls. And we’ll do it every time without complaint. It’s just our style, and yes, it’s a part of the culture. From the beginning of time, Man has loved Woman. Man has made love to Woman. And Man has paid for Woman the whole damn time.

But might this custom now, in the 21^st century, deserve to die along with other inane aspects of chivalry (like marriage)? If fair is fair, shouldn’t we split the bill with that equal pay? Are we just trying to get out of buying another meal to be half-eaten by a date who’s too skinny and self-conscious to eat the whole piece of salmon? Or buying two tickets to a movie about a guy who’s getting with a hotter chick than our dates with an ending that’ll make her cry and us pass out in the back row? Probably.

We just hope the date night tradition finds its roots in something more concrete and doesn’t further propel an image of inequality or inferiority, economic or otherwise. Maybe women are still more discriminated in the workplace. And maybe their wallets and purses are just for decoration and are just filled with enough change to buy more shoes than a family in a small village in Africa could even know what to do with. Maybe some guys are bitter. Maybe some guys are just broke. Fine, ladies, most men will use our portion of equal pay to keep paying for our nights on the town, but don’t think that after a while it doesn’t come with a price .

Alright so if your like me and my buddies then you go on a lot of dates and at the end of those dates you are always picking up the tab. Isn’t it nice when a girl offers to pay once in a while! The simple gesture of her offering to pick up the tab actually will tell you a lot about the girl your diggin, even if you insist on paying in the end. Here is a method that will give her a little nudge in that direction and will reveal what exactly you will be signing up for if you continue to date her.

It’s called the “Check Test”, and it has to be done correctly for it to work. If you can’t pull it off without getting busted Don’t try it, wait until the next date and/or opportunity.

Here’s how it works;

You have been on a few dates (3-5 dinner or lunch dates)that you have paid for and your thinking she may be girlfriend material, but you want to know what her financial motivation is before you go much further. As your finishing up with your meal; nonchalantly make eye contact with the server and signal him to bring the check ( it is absolutely imperative she doesn’t see you doing this or she will know you are setting her up!) Before he makes it back to the table politely excuse yourself to the rest room. Stay in the restroom for a few minutes, thus ensuring your non suspecting date is the only one left at the table for the waiter to present the check to. This presents an awkward moment for the girl as she sits there alone with a check in front of her, anticipating your return. If she is into you too and not just looking for someone to always pay her way, then 9 times out of 10 she will take care of it before you even get back(This girl is a keeper and can take care of herself and her man). If she doesn’t and slides it over in front of your empty seat, then you can be pretty confident that will be the role she is expecting you to take every time you go out( Kinda like an expensive toy or pet).

Just remember don’t let her find out that you arranged for the check to be delivered in your absence or she will automatically change her opinion of you! Also if your gal passes the test and pays the tab reward her somehow, let her know how cool of her it was to treat you to dinner and how you appreciate a woman that can take care of herself( This will just make her feel better and empowered about the situation).