I think I blinked three times during the entire 147 minute showcase of Sex and the City 2.  I didn’t want to miss a single drool-worthy second of high fashion, I couldn’t stop fathoming how well Aiden had aged and I didn’t want to miss any of Carrie’s one-liner snippets of advice. And while soaking it all in, I noticed something else.

As we all know, each woman in SATC is incredibly different. You’ve got Samantha the sex-fiend, Miranda the serious one, Charlotte the traditionalist, and Carrie the un-traditionalist. They’re opposing forces, but they come together to make something wonderful and long lasting.

Without the extreme diversity of each woman, would the friendships embedded in Sex and the City be as interesting and strong? What if the show was based off of four friends like Samantha? Besides there being lots of ‘she-banging’ would it work?

Nope.

Think about your group of friends. If it’s anything like mine, you are all very different from one another. And that’s why you love them. We need diversity in our friendships because everyone brings a little somethin’ different to the table and you take a little from every single one. Knowing what every college girl needs in her life, I’ve compiled a list of the 6 friends every girl needs to keep around for the long haul:

1. The Motivated Friend
We all need a friend like this when you’ve been sprawled out on your couch watching E! Network all day.  You can spot this friend right away Freshman year of college. She’s the first of your friends involved in clubs on campus.  Sophomore year, she’s become the president of a club. Junior year, she has an awesome internship. Senior year, she’s landed a sweet job before you’ve even graduated. Sure, she’ll probably make you feel a little less than along the way, but she’ll also light a fire under your ass to succeed.

2. The Rock Solid Friend
She’s your BFF. The ‘go-to-gal’ you find to whine to, talk to, cry to, and who will love you and shove a bag of Doritos in your face when you need it most. She’s trustworthy and loyal.  She has so much dirt on your life you could plant a garden of your secrets (sorry, bad analogy).  You went to your first frat party together and shared your last. If all goes well (and she keeps those secrets to herself) she will be winking at you during her bridesmaid speech at your wedding.

3. The Party Friend
I also like to refer to this buddy as your wing-woman.  If you’re sitting restlessly in your room craving a night out in the town and all of your other (boring) friends aren’t going out on a Tuesday night, she is your girl. After you shoot her a ‘out tonight?’ T-bomb and wait for the ‘DUH’ response, she will be at your place, donning a mini-dress, in 30 minutes flat. She’s always up for anything, be it shotgunning beers, scoping out dudes, singing karaoke, or whatever other ridiculous ideas (“Let’s jump in the foutntain!”) you come up with as the night unfolds.

4.The Wise Friend
She may not be Buddha, but she knows pretty much everything.  She knows how to cook raw chicken, exactly what to say to the boy in a text message, and how to perfect a seriously beautiful resume. She takes you to the best happy hours, shows you the coolest internship opportunities and knows all about red wine.  She seems well beyond her years as a college student (and sometimes makes you feel like you have the IQ of a toddler), but when she’s dishing out her latest advice, it’s totally OK by you.

5. The Gossip Friend
She’s got the dish on everyone. And you want to know the dish on everyone. Match made in heaven.

6. The Warrior Friend
She will stick up for you in any situation.  She will scream at the bouncer after you got caught sneaking your own flask into the bar. She will never forgive the a-hole who stood you up back in high school. She will get up in anybody’s face for you and has pulled you out of more holes than you can count on one hand. She’ll be there through thick (think: bouncer’s necks) and thin (think: super skinny bitch who stole your man), no matter what.

Wit these six girls, you can get through anything, from the wildest party night to the worst breakup in history.

Which friend are you?

[Got a Dude itch you just can’t scratch? Sick of getting the pity-eyes as you sift through the Self-Help section at your campus bookstore? Over wondering what those boys are thinking?  We got your back, girlfriend. Send your question over to askthedude@collegecandy.com. The Dude won’t sugarcoat it, beat around the bush, or any other weird cliche that means lie to you. Like a nice, juicy hot dog, he’ll be 100% real beef, 100% of the time.  So bring it on, ladies.]

Hey Dude,
My roommate is the type of girl who squeals and obscenely flirts when she runs into a guy she knows, has absolutely no coordination nor common sense, and cannot do a single thing by herself. At the same time, she’s notorious for always having a love interest, or multiple ones at the same time. Also, she admitted that she has a hard time thinking of any guys who are just friends or that she hasn’t had a romantic connection with.

On the other hand, I’ve never dated anyone and every single one of my guy friends has always, from the get-go, been just a friend to me.  All my childhood friends were boys and I do get along better with guys than I do most girls, mostly because of how chill the atmosphere is and there’s no requirement to squeal when I’m excited. I’m a typical guy’s girl–I’m quite content eating take-out/chips and salsa and watching a basketball game with a beer in hand, my favorite movies are action/suspense/comedy movies (aka Bourne, Rambo, Rush Hour..), I don’t expect to be treated like a princess (though I do believe in modern-day chivalry, like holding doors open), I’m happiest when I can joke around and just hang out, and very few things put me in a bad mood.

Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t do the obscene things guys do (i.e. burping out loud and snot rockets) and I take care of myself, care about the way I look, and carry myself like a typical girl. A lot of my friends tell me I seem really confident and get along really well with guys and even my guy friends routinely ask me if/why I don’t have a boyfriend yet. It’s not like I’m just oblivious to guys who are interested, it’s just that the guys who are interested are guys with whom I would end up emotionally being  ‘the guy’ in the relationship–and the girly side of me wants to date a guy’s guy.  I feel like my one-of-the-guys personality should theoretically work to my advantage, but obviously not and I’m attracting the exact opposite of what I’m interested in.  Is it actually a deterrent? Do the type of guys I’m interested in just naturally gravitate towards girls like my roommate who prefer to girly things and act ‘cute’?

-One of the Guys

P.S. This email was obviously a manifestation of my girly side. It’s embarrassing and it pained me to write it, but I’m actually just really curious..

Dear One of the guys,

First of all, I want to say thank you for writing in. Secondly, you’ve got nothing to be embarrassed about.

Why do some girls get along better with guys and vice versa? Ever notice they tend to get trapped in the friend zone? That seem backward to anybody else? A guy who’s great friends with a girl understands her, respects her, and has earned her trust. Yet she refuses to take him to bed and reenact the most, um, climactic scene from Mr. & Mrs. Smith (second only to the carnal carnage of Dolemite in The Human Tornado). She prefers to boink the tool that nods his head, feigning interest in what she’s saying, to steal glances at her bazookas. People act retarded, right? They’re just a bunch of idiots afraid of the right person, right? Well, there might be more to it than that…

Being a “guy’s girl” isn’t a deterrent. What deters people you meet are first impressions. How you hit it off with someone is pretty damned important! If you meet a guy and act like his friend then he’s going to see/treat/think of you as a friend. If you start out making it clear you’re interested in more than that…see the A to B to C of it all? (Side bar: Friends with benefits isn’t the rule, it’s an exception. Hence why the friends zone is a labyrinth most never escape from.) The next guy you meet, make it clear that you’re not just looking for another friend (I’m not talking about grabbing his junk or throwing your panties at him). Now on to why you attract wimps…

I need to steal a line from one of the greatest love stories EVER told. When talking about why he and his girlfriend, Adrian, are together, Rocky Balboa (go Flyers!) says, “I dunno, she’s got gaps, I got gaps, together we fill gaps.” In a nutshell, that’s why the girly-men (imagine that said in the Governator’s voice) flock to you. People are often attracted to someone who has a quality that they wish to have – hence the expression “opposites attract.” From my experience, a lot of the best relationships are between two people who are complimentary to each other; she’s a slob and he’s a neat freak; she likes Gossip Girl while he watches WWE Raw; they compromise by watching Chuck together and switching weeks doing laundry.

One man’s opinion: Work on not being friends with guys. To be clear, I’m not saying femme yourself up. Try letting him know you’re looking for something other than just drinking a beer and watching the game. Be open and receptive, otherwise called approachable. Sometimes we’re not aware of the walls we put up when we meet people. Take a step back. Ask your guy friends how they felt when they met you, as research. Then it’s just a matter of practice. If you want more, then don’t be afraid to let him know. Otherwise, you’re shortchanging yourself and what you have to offer.

Your Bro 4 Life,
The Dude

You might be able to laugh off some of these poor decisions, but in other cases, you might reap the consequences, especially if your fling affects the people around you. Here are some awkward hook up scenarios that you may just wish to avoid in the future.

1. Your Best Friend’s Brother.

Usually, you give your best friend all of the deets regarding your trysts, and she listens, and laughs, and offers advice when necessary. No can do when you’ve crossed the line into sibling snogging. Your best friend doesn’t want to picture her brother in any type of sexual situation. If the hook up turns into something more, congratulations, but you’re still not going to be able to share certain details, because the guy won’t want you gossiping to his sister, and your friend won’t want to hear it. Dating the brother might also strain your friendship, depending on whether your friend resents your decision.

If things go sour with the brother and you remain friends with your BFF, you’re bound to run into him in the future. Another thing to keep in mind is that if things go sour, your friend will probably side with her bro, because blood is thicker than the those vodka tonics you guys share at the bar.

2. One of Your Brother’s Friends

Just like your BFF’s brother is off-limits, your brother’s friends are also risky business. Your brother certainly doesn’t want to imagine you hooking up any more than you do, and he certainly doesn’t want to hear any “locker room” talk among the boys once the rest of his crew finds out about your promiscuous ways.

3. A Co-Worker

Getting it on with someone from the office is up for debate. I have plenty of friends who have hooked up with, or are currently dating someone at work and have figured out a way to balance work and pleasure. Still, tread lightly. A one night stand with a co-worker can easily go awry, and you don’t want to zone out in a meeting because you’re recalling the multiple orgasms from last weekend. Also, if the rumor mill churns out a he-said/she-said account of the fling, you’re going to have to face your colleagues around the water cooler and wonder if they still think of you as a professional. If feeling uncomfortable isn’t enough to turn you off from hooking up, remember that many businesses frown upon inter-office relations, and you could be jeopardizing your job.

4. The Guy You Only Hooked Up With Because the Guy You Wanted Turned You Down

You get decked out for a party with one goal: Hook up with Joe. You get a decent buzz on and walk in on Joe making out with some girl on the sofa in the middle of the party. Feeling rejected, you engage in conversation with Tom, who is more than willing to swap spit with you. The next day, you regret Tom, and Joe changes his Facebook status to “In a Relationship.” Double burn.

If you don’t know the guy, aren’t attracted to him, or don’t have feelings for him at all, you are a thousand times more likely to regret adding his notch to your belt. It will also definitely add to the morning-after “What was I thinking?” factor.

5. Your Strictly Platonic Guy Friend (Until Last Night, That Is)

Can guys and girls be close on a strictly platonic level, or are feelings bound to be stirred up by one or both parties? Not only can hooking up with your best guy friend change your relationship forever, but it can also be disappointing.

Case in point: I was super close with a guy in college, and everyone thought we liked each other (we didn’t). The rumors alone weirded out my friend, because he wasn’t sure if he should believe them. We worked through it, and when he transferred, we kept in touch. One summer, I went to visit him, and it was like nothing had changed…until we had sloppy, drunken, mismatched sex later.  I think it happened out of sheer curiosity, and we learned that our naked bodies simply don’t mesh well together.

We said our goodbyes the next day and pretended that it never happened. The end.

6. A Girl. But You’re Straight.

If you want to experiment, college is the perfect time and place. When I was in college, it was the norm to see girls making out at parties or bars, for no reason other than shock value and attention. Then Katy Perry’s runaway smash “I Kissed a Girl” came out and glamorized same sex experimentation.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with same sex relationships, and nothing wrong with experimenting. But making out with your girlfriends can lead to just as excruciating an aftermath as a one-nighter with your guy friend.

Anybody out there have any experiences that fall into any of the above categories? We’d love to hear them, along with any other types of awkward sexual situations that we should all learn to avoid.

[Photo courtesy of thenoyes.com]