Something a little more hardcore than Cosmopolitans and dancing. So, my girls and I decided to slip on our cowboy boots, grab a few longnecks and gear up for a rowdy country concert.

What we forgot were the actual cowboys'most males at the concert were with girlfriends. By our third beer and halfway through the concert, we were over the love songs and power ballads. We sat disappointed in the gridlocked parking lot when two cowboys knocked on our window.

With smiles that would make a dentist faint, they asked if we knew any party spots.

Tired and disillusioned, we politely declined the attempted pick-up and gave them directions to the bars. I noticed the cowboy had an accent, but completely missed where he said they were from. Or maybe I was just in awe of his blue eyes, dark hair, tight shirt, even tighter Wranglers ' you get the idea'I couldn't hear. So I asked my friend Kate.

'Some place in Georgia, but who knows if that's true'? Kate said, adding, 'God, I'm jaded. It's like he tells us his name is Mike and I'm like, 'Sure it is. If you say so.''

All four of us laughed, but it was a sad truth. We no longer believed men anymore. It wasn't like we had some daddy complex. It was simple. We had been straight-up lied to too many times.

I hate being cynical, but more times than I'd like to admit, a guy has been nothing but a sweetheart to me and all I can think is, 'Just get to it. What do you really want'?

Then again, more times than I'd like to admit I have fallen for the, 'I really like you but don't want to date you, but we can make out ' did I mention I really like you'? lie.

I'm not blaming anything on guys. Ever since we were little, we've been lied to via fairy tales. Prince Charming never lied to Cinderella. He didn't throw her some tacky pick-up line. He didn't try to spike her drink. In fact, he gave her a shoe!

Besides Stan, my UPS man, no guy has showed up at my door with a pair of shoes. And my only 'white knight' experience occurred a few months back when I tripped on some stairs and the guy in front of me (unwillingly) broke my fall.

He did ask me for my number, but it wasn't for a date. It was to send me his dry cleaning bill seeing as I spilled my Java Chip Frappuccino all over his shirt.

Real life isn't a fairy tale. It's full of lies, let-downs and dateless nights. It's no wonder we are tired of love by the time we reach adulthood.

For 20 years, we've been brainwashed into striving for the unattainable sugar-coated romance.

Let's not kid ourselves; the fairy tale doesn't exist. People lie, they cheat and they steal. Screw Prince Charming'I just want a decent human being.

So, we have to make up our own 'reality tale''someone who calls when they say they will, is respectful and caring, intelligent and, if it's not too much to ask, likes dogs.

All the meanwhile, we must continuously kiss off the lying toads.