In the myriad of online dating woes, whoahs and what-thes, I quickly learned that it all went a lot better if I embraced the adventure more often than I wallowed in the disappointment of men dressed up in pilly, faded fleece or the open-mouth chewers or the one who cried when I declined a second date.

Being open to seeing who I was when I dated men who were very different than anyone I'd been attracted to or committed to before, meant that I got to try on different versions of myself, too. Sometimes that felt the good kind of uncomfortable and others, it was a terrible fit. With some dates, I got a little thrill to let a hidden part of myself emerge, and other nights, I could not wait to slip back into familiar old me.

Hiker grrrl, adventurous eater, late-night clubber, spontaneous road tripper, super-sexy intellectual, early riser, sleeper-inner -- I had fun when little parts of me had time (and a companion) to surface. And dressing the parts eased the nervousness, eye-rolls and sometimes, exhaustion of giving one more date one more try.

My biker boots got a lot of wear. As did a particularly low-cut wrap dress. And my cross-trainers, piles of leather cuff bracelets and pleather jeans. Oh, and hairspray. Gobs of hairspray.

I thought off all that dating dress-up when I spied these gorgeous - and temporary - tattoos on Etsy boutique Pepper Ink last week.

I could not stop staring at the vintage illustration tattoo of a bouquet of blue and white wildflowers. I love that they are handmade, come in custom designs and last up to five days (that could factor in several well-scheduled dates, mais non?).

Want to play the playful part? How about this little paper airplane reminder to let go? Or (temporarily) put on some tough-grrrl attitude? There are lots of skulls and giant-antlered buck to choose from. Declare your affection? A pair of sailors, an XO or a name personalized out of a sumptuous font could call to you, too. But the flowers? Oh, man. Hard to pass on those, if only for one hot night out to see a show or meet someone's disapproving mama.

AND since these temp tats are only $6 each, you don't have to decide on just one, just like you don't have to narrow down your weekend plans to just one date. While you're adding these all to your Etsy shopping cart, I highly recommend getting this one, too.

You know, for your next court appearance/break-up text session/conference call/moment of worry about what comes next. Hell, order four or ten. Just slap that tattoo reminder on your wrist any time you need six bucks' worth of therapeutic deep breaths.

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. This is just me oohing and ahhing over the pretties.

Wednesdate Night rebel-mama tattoos (sort of)