Carrie: That night, I thought about what it takes to make a relationship work till death due us part. Most singles have more long-term success with friends. So maybe it is a better strategy to marry a friend. However, in the absence of sex, whether that’s the arrangement, or just What happens after a few years? What distinguishes this companion from your many others? Companions. When it comes to saying I do. Is a relationship a relationship without the zsa zsa zsu?

Carrie: Later that night I got to thinking about the x-factor. In mathmatics, we learn that x stands for the unknown, a+b=x, but what's really unknown is what plus what equals friendship with an x. Is this an unsolvable equation? Or is it possible to transform a once passionate love into something that fits nice and easily onto the friendship shelf? I couldnt help but wonder... can you be friends with an x?

Carrie: Later that day I got to thinking about relationships. There are those that open you up to something new and exotic, those that are old and familiar, those that bring up lots of questions, those that bring you somewhere unexpected, those that bring you far from where you started, and those that bring you back. But the most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself. And if you can find someone to love the you love, well, that's just fabulous.

Carrie: Later that day I got to thinking about the stock market and dating. Are they really that different? If you have a bad stock, you can lose your shirt. If you have a bad date, you can lose your will to live. And, if the date is good, the stakes are even higher. After whethering all the ups and downs, you can find yourself with nothing. So… when it comes to finance and dating, I couldn’t help but wonder, why do we keep investing?

Carrie: As I tried to scrub the smell of uncooked ocra off me, I started thinking about sexpectation. We’re aware as smart single women that we can’t expect perfection, but life still manages to throw us curveballs. Maybe once you’re into your mid-thirties it shouldn’t be called dating. It should be called, waiting for the other shoe to drop. If it’s not the sex between me and you, then someone has to become a Jew. Why is it always something?

Carrie:In love relationships, there is a fine line between pleasure and pain. In fact it’s a common belief that a relationship without pain is a relationship not worth having. To some, pain implies growth, but how do we know when the growing pain stops, and the pain pains take over? Are we masochists or optimists if we continue to walk that fine line? When it comes to relationships how do you know when enough is enough?

Carrie:What if Prince Charming had never showed up? Would Snow White have slept in that glass coffin forever? Or would she have eventually woken up, spit out the apple, gotten a job, a health-care package, and a baby from her local neighbourhood sperm bank? I couldn't help but wonder: inside every confident, driven single woman, is there a deliver, fragile princess just waiting to be saved?

Carrie:The most important thing in life is your family. There are days you love them, and others you don't. But, in the end, they're the people you always come home to. Sometimes it's the family you're born into and sometimes it's the one you make for yourself.

Carrie:That night I started to think about belief. Maybe it's not even advisable to be an optimist after the age of 30. Maybe pessimism is something we have to start applying daily, like moisturizer. Otherwise, how do you bounce back when reality batters your belief system and love does not, as promised, conquer all.

Carrie: When things come too easy we're suspect. Do they have to get complicated before we believe they're for real? We're raised to believe that the course of true love never runs smoothly. There always have to be obstacles in Act Two before you can live happily ever after in Act Three. But what happens when the obstacles aren't there? Does that mean there's something missing? Do we need drama to make a relationship work?

Carrie: After years of living in the city I assumed that if my friends and I ever got our fairy tale endings, that would be the end of the story. But real life... always has a twist.

Carrie: I make mistakes. That's what I do. I speak without thinking. I act without knowing. I drink so much that I can barely walk. I'm a fantastic lover though, and an amazing friend. God knows I mean well.