Myjellybean.com

Dear Jellybean,

My two best friends and I have been going through a hard time. Sara and I have gotten out heart broken. My ex and my 'good' friend turned out to be fooling around for two months before we broke up. Then Carly's crush no longer likes her. Sara and I have been dating our ex's for over six months. So we've all decided that we need to reconnect with each other and ourselves, since lets face it, when dating guys sometimes we don't do the same things we use to do or spend as much time with friends. Our plan is to stay single for six months, just to reconnect with ourselves, get over our exs and to find a life where we don't have to depend on a guy. So we're turning to you to ask what sort of activies should we do to bond together? we've already went to the movies and shopped. And whats some ways of getting over exs without having to jump to a new boyfriend? It just seems like boys take up 95 percent of our time.

Thanks,

Single - and trying to love it

Dear Single,

Boys are time-consuming, that's for sure! I think your plan of reconnecting with each other is awesome. I'm going to give you a bunch of activities you can do with your friends... but first, a little caution. Be careful about putting a strict deadline date on when any of you can start dating again. After all, you never know when Cupid will strike, and you don't want anyone feeling "guilty" about falling for a guy and "ditching" her friends. Make a pact that even if one or all of you start dating again, you'll always reserve some time (maybe one day a week, or whatever suits your schedules) for girls-only bonding.

That said, there must be a zillion ways to bond with your girlfriends. Get busy with all this stuff, and you won't have any time to think about your exes! Here are a few of my personal favs:

Get together in somebody's kitchen, and get creative with a fun food. Make personal pizzas, create a sundae bar with tons of toppings, bake cookies, etc. Then eat, crash on the couches, and gab.

Go bowling! You can't beat the combo of dorky shoes, bright lights and disco music for a hilarious time with friends. If you've got a big group, split into teams, get competitive and keep score. Or, ignore all the rules and just wing it.

Do movie marathons. Pick a theme and rent two or three movies that fit within that theme (Johnny Depp movies, unrequited love, historical films, etc). If you want to really get into it, you could even select a menu to go with your theme. Take turns watching movies at everyone's house - whoever hosts is in charge of providing popcorn and drinks.

Do a scavenger hunt! Get together before a night out and assemble a list of fun finds to search for: biggest hair, silliest dance, craziest shoes, cutest guy. Have each of your girlfriends go incognito with her digital camera and vote for the winning shots at the end of the night. Or let the subjects in on your little competition and have them strike a pose.

Photo shoots. Track down a photo booth and get goofy with your gal pals. Then hit the discount store for a cute frame.

Free makeovers. Visit your local Sephora or department store and get free makeovers with your friends. You don't have to buy anything unless you want to! Try on different looks, then go spritz yourselves with perfume at the fragrance counter (it's free to try!) and head out for the rest of your day.

Enjoy the warmer weather and get outside! Head to the park with a frisbee or football and play a casual game. Run around and laugh, get sweaty, then go for ice creams.

Start a website together. Design the look of the site, decide what is going to be on it, then collaborate to make it awesome and promote it online. You can do this almost for free (use Google to get tips on that) and it can take up tons of time, and be really fun.

Go to a hat store and try on crazy hats. Use your cell phones to take pictures.

Plan a sleepover night where you eat junk food, watch movies, and do makeovers on each other. Come up with new hairstyles and makeup looks, play truth or dare, and all that good stuff.