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11 Illustrations That Sum Up How Exhausting Modern Dating Can Be

Been there.
Julie Houts

Ever feel like a tiny part of your soul dies with each consecutive bad date you suffer through? Illustrator Julie Houts feels your pain.

The 29-year-old womenswear designer at J.Crew has gained quite a following on Instagram thanks in part to her witty, all-too-real takes on modern work life (oh, joy, another depressing desk salad for lunch!) and modern love.

Her drawings on the performance involved in dating are particularly relatable. Really, who hasnโ€™t experienced this real-life nightmare?

pls no ๐Ÿ”š๐Ÿ”œ๐Ÿ’€

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Or had a โ€œconversationโ€ with a dude like this?

Or worried if anyone in the universe would ever come to appreciate your distinct highbrow/lowbrow taste?

Idk its just really hard ๐Ÿ˜”

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Too. Real.

Houts said her dating illustrations are โ€œvery muchโ€ drawn from personal experiences.

โ€œI used to go on marathon weeks of dating where Iโ€™d be meeting people three or four days a week. It was sort of emotionally exhausting,โ€ the Brooklyn-based artist told The Huffington Post. โ€œWhile Iโ€™ve never punched myself in the face to get out of a date like one of my characters has, Iโ€™ve definitely fantasized about it during the course of a bad one.โ€

Collectively, Houtsโ€™ dating illustrations remind us of Carrie Bradshaw, if the โ€œSex and the Cityโ€ protagonist had a much darker sense of humor and a Tinder account. (Of course, Carrie would hate Tinder, but damn, think of all the material sheโ€™d get out of it for her column.)

lol bye ๐Ÿ‘ค

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Though Houts herself is no longer single โ€• โ€œThe cruel gods of Tinder finally decided that I had suffered enough and smiled upon me,โ€ she joked โ€• sheโ€™s still drawing about love, relationships and dating.

โ€œThe truth is, Iโ€™m a pretty miserable dater. I just try to find the humor in dates,โ€ she said.

๐ŸŒธ๐Ÿ’๐ŸŒท๐Ÿ’๐Ÿ•ธ๐Ÿ€๐Ÿ‘ฝ๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ’ฉ

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See more of Houtsโ€™ work about dating and relationships below and browse her new print shop, too.

๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘ƒ๐Ÿป๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ’ค๐Ÿ’ค๐Ÿ’ค

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๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿปsry new phone who is this๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿป

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Ever gross yourself out so much you have to just go to sleep as a sort of cleansing ritual? ๐Ÿ‘€๐ŸŒ

A photo posted by jooleeloren (@jooleeloren) on

๐Ÿค”๐Ÿค”๐Ÿค” #fun #flirty #girl

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When I am direct ๐Ÿ‘‹๐Ÿป #send

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