Two Brave Friends Tried 40 Dates In 40 Days

Putting yourself out in the dating world is terrifying enough, but in New York City it adds a whole new level of pressure. Now, imagine that you've also agreed to go on 40 dates in 40 days, and that you will document every second of said dates for all of the Internet to read. Sh*t just got real.

Thus is the project embarked on by Jessica Walsh and Timothy Goodman, two designers in the Big Apple. After many unsuccessful relationships (and one-night stands), the platonic friends decided to give it a go romantically — with strings attached. Following the old adage that it takes 40 days to break a habit, Walsh and Goodman created a set of rules for the social experiment of a lifetime, in an attempt to correct their romantic missteps: They had to see each other every day, visit a couples therapist once a week, fill out a daily questionnaire and document everything, go on at least one weekend trip together, and, most importantly, they couldn't date anyone else.

What results from the experiment is quite possibly one of the most insightful delves into the psyche of a 20-something New Yorker we've ever read. After poring over their recaps of the first few dates, we already felt like we knew these two — and their bad habits hit a little too close to home. "Oh, Jess," we found ourselves saying. "Stop pressuring Tim to define your relationship! And Tim, you've got serious intimacy issues. Just feel your feelings already."

Even though they're only on day 16, Walsh and Goodman have dealt with pretty much every hang-up that modern-day couples endure. She's an overachiever who finds it nearly impossible to carve out time for a relationship. He can't understand why she doesn't want to get intimate, already. She has to constantly remind herself not to get too emotionally invested too soon. He is wary of commitment.

We're completely exhausted just from reading about their roller coaster of a "relationship," but we're also way too fascinated to stop now. Not only does their brutal honesty about each other and their experiences with dating help us gain insight into our own relationship issues, but it's also damn good entertainment. We haven't decided if we're fully behind these two as a romantic entity, but we're already rooting for them both to succeed. (40 Days of Dating)