It was mid-blowout that we realized we would also be missing another class to finish up our hair and then lurk in Neiman Marcus until someone offered to do our makeup. But, oops — haha! We feigned concern for only the briefest of moments. Fast-forward a few hours: My date was making out with another girl in front of me. My best friend’s date had spilled a Long Island iced tea (oh, college) down her dress three minutes into the party. We had somehow turned on each other and, both breaking into a Medium/Large sob, went home early. The next morning in the cold light of day, we finally realized the error of our ways. It was so obvious. Five hours of getting ready plus boatloads of cash does not equal fun. Eureka! It was our “The limit does not exist!” moment.It suddenly all made so much sense: While getting ready for a big night out is undoubtedly part of the fun, the more effort and money I put into a night, the more pressure there was to have a good time. By the time I got to the actual party or date, I would be so anxious about it, that if even one minor thing went wrong, I would get upset. And so our theory was born: The more time and money you put into a night, the worse a time you'll have.Or, if you consider it as an issue of ROI or, Return on Investment, it goes like this: If you pour all your hopes, dreams, and leftover spending money into one night, you expect a high return. Your date better happen to pick you up in a vintage Aston Martin and whisk you front row to an Adele concert or you had better have a run-in with a celebrity at a bar. Much to my chagrin, I also later discovered that dressing as if I had tried so hard in fact repelled all the potential partners I had so desperately wanted to talk to me. Firstly, trying too hard is not sexy at all. Secondly, if you’re busy flipping out about your hair not falling the right way, you become unapproachable and no fun. And finally — and this is the really ironic kicker — if you are preoccupied with how you thought things were going to turn out, you miss opportunities to make them turn out that way, or better. You miss that person staring at you across the room, you miss the chance to befriend the DJ, you miss the chance to make out with a stranger in a photo booth.