I miss my boys. Sigh.

I’m girly to the core.

I love pink (even though no one in New York wears it; what the hell?), I’m fussy about what shampoo I use and, if I had the option, I would wear dresses every single day. I’ve never had brothers and even my dog is a girly girl, but I have always found myself being happiest around the dudes. My best friends are guys, and I definitely prefer nights watching them scream at the TV while playing Call of Duty to sipping cosmos and having Sex-and-the-City-esque discussions with the ladies.

I lived with guys for a year and I loved every second of it. I’m not sure why, but recently I moved in with a girl. And it’s been… different. Sure, it’s nice to have someone tidy and not stinky who DVRs The Bachelor religiously, but I miss my guys. Why? Well, why don’t I just give you 10 lovely reasons.

10. They tell it like it is
Boys don’t write passive aggressive notes, Facebook messages or emails. They don’t hold grudges or sleep with your boyfriend. They’re direct; if you screw up, they yell and it sucks for about thirty seconds, but moments later you’ll be back to bumming it on the couch laughing over South Park like nothing ever happened.

9. They don’t judge
You know that look that girls give you? The up and down look and then the miniature comment along the lines of “You’re wearing that out?” or “You’re funnyyyy.” Yeah, guys? Don’t care.

8. Don’t like doing dishes? No problem!
Of course no one likes living in filth, but I do miss the days of not breaking out in a sweat picking up every little thing, or using a coaster, or, caring about drapes. The days when the dining room table was a plastic beer pong table covered in empty Keystone cans and Solo cups. Sigh. Such sweet memories.

7. Best. Cooks. Ever.
I don’t know if it was just me, but every guy roomie I ever had was a phenomenal chef. Girls would rather get takeout, but the guys would want to do these home-cooked fantastic meals. Thrifty and tasty. Mmmmm.

6. Down for ANYTHING
Tuesday night? Let’s go to the bar. Wednesday night? Let’s go wander around New York or Boston and find the best 24-hour spots. Sunday afternoon? Bar. Basically, any time I would come home, someone would be down to go out or have a good time.

5. Hellooo, friends!
I never had any interest in my guy roommates, but ohmygod, major perk? Guys bring around more guys. Gorgeous, lacrosse guys.

4. Big Brother 24/7
As someone who never had a brother who had my back, it was always great to get a guy on my side, ready to pummel any creep at the bar or punk who tried to wrong me.

3. Unlimited Comfy Clothes
Okay, so maybe they don’t have cute cocktail dresses to borrow on Friday nights, but those oversized sweatshirts are just the thing when trekking to class at 8AM.

2. No drama
Never have I ever dealt with a boy roomie weepy over his exes, drowning in ice cream and romantic comedies.

1. Totally comfortable
No matter what, I was never uncomfortable in my apartment and neither were my friends and boyfriend. Guys welcome people with open arms, and, well, girls don’t. If I’m doing my own thing, my BF always had someone to chat with about football and my friends had someone cute to hook up with automatically. Whenever I lived with guys, it was drama-free and it was home. And I miss it.

If you haven’t lived with guys yet, try it out!

I grew up in the kind of town where you can’t walk down the street without seeing someone you know, and, of course, everyone knows your business. But as great as that all sounds, the time had come for me to spread my hard-partying, college-going, moving-to-the-city wings.

After being accepted to college just outside of Toronto, I thought “why should I wait until September to move?” So I packed up my things and began my life as an adult. I found a gorgeous 2 bedroom apartment right beside my future school to share with a couple friends – the only catch was that the lease started in July, my friends weren’t moving until September, and I would be on my own for two months. I moved in last week, and not only have I learned the joys of being able to walk around naked, I’ve also learned a thing or two about living on your own for the first time.

1. Save yourself the hassle – pack smartly. I got to my new place and decided to unpack dishes and the things I would need for my kitchen first. While this is a great idea, having zero labels on any boxes has left me completely forkless. Spoons? Knives? The cool egg timer I bought for the “once-in-a-blue-moon” occasions I want hard boiled eggs? Yes. But forks? No clue where they went! And it will take me days to dig through every last box in this mess of an apartment to find them. It may be annoying to organize and label your stuff when you pack, but it is not nearly as annoying as attempting to eat spaghetti with a spoon.

2. It won’t kill you to wear the same pair of jeans 2 or 3 times before washing them. Living at home, most of us don’t have to pay $1.90 for wash and $1.60 for dry, but being on your own means shoveling out the cash for clean clothes. Wearing the same outfit twice before washing it is not going to kill us (gasp, I know), and I hate to admit it, but no one else will probably notice. Plus, jeans are always more comfy after they’ve been worn-in for a day…or month (you know it’s true).

3. The novelty of unpacking wears off fast. Sure, I’ll admit, unpacking the first few boxes was reminiscent of Christmas morning. Forgetting the little trinkets from my room that I had packed away months ago gave me a bit of a thrill, but after doing this for 3 hours – it’s just not so much fun anymore. My solution is to tackle each room one at a time, starting with the most important. First the kitchen, then the bedroom, living room, bathroom, etc. This way, things get done efficiently, and by the time you’re sick of unpacking your 2,384th novelty mug, it’s time to put together your bed and re-fold your high school clothes.

4. Black bed sheets are a bad idea. All excited about getting to decorate a new room, I came up with a classy palate of purple and black. To go along with it, I bought a super cute purple duvet and some elegant black sheets. All was well (and looked awesome), until I reconnected with my ex (long story) and… well, let’s just say that having sex on black sheets means I have to spend the money I’ve been saving on washing my jeans to wash my sheets. Sure, they look great, but they aren’t very practical if you plan on getting freaky.

5. I really can do it on my own. Living with the parentals for the last 18 years of my life and having most things done for me had me seriously doubting my cleaning, cooking, and all-around independent living skills. But other than one almost-leaving-the-stove-on-all-night fiasco, things have been going smoothly. Sure, the water in my building was shut off for 8 hours the day after I moved in, but it was dealt with and all was well.

I was terrified leading up to the big move, but things worked out, as they almost always do. I feel like a grown up now and I’m excited to see what other challenges come my way once school starts next month.