Do drink, don't drink yourself dead drunk. That stopped being cool and hilarious in college, bro. Don't worry about what your drinking, but if someone calls you on it and you know you'll get defensive about your appletini which was light on the tini, don't order it. Similarly? Don't drink the PBR if you don't react well to being called a red neck and / or a hipster. Usually something along the lines of, "Sometimes I like drinking swill." or "sometimes I like drinking candy along with my alcohol" tends to work.

Do talk to women, but don't be an idiot. Common interests are an easy in, but when in doubt use FORD. Which is...Friends, Organizations, Relatives, and Dreams. I think.

Do learn what kind of atmosphere a bar has, don't try to go against it. If they're blasting loud music and you can only carry a conversation by screaming at each other, chances are you're not supposed to really meet people there so much as grind / hump against them.

Do take the thirty minutes to work on your physical appearance, especially your face since it's pretty fucking important. If you know something's coming later in the day it is not at all a bad idea to wait till then to wash your face (don't do it twice, nothing says unattractive like skin so dry it starts to flake off). Shave. I tend to advocate a safety razor but do what you're comfortable with.

As cute as the quiet / shy type may be, parties are their antithesis, and for you it's also the place they're going to be the hardest to read. And by hard to read I mean you end up in a cop car and spend a night in jail because you misread her and she was just on edge the whole night. I'm not joking when I say that getting her number and a vague promise of coffee in the future is probably the best outcome for this, especially if alcohol becomes a factor, because chances are she either doesn't know her limit, or has no grasp of what kind of drunk she is, and of course we all know that in social situations you're no longer responsible for your actions the moment you're past the legal limit, unless the cops get involved while you're drunk.

Learn the difference between confidence and simply being aggressive. Aggressive is what a bad car salesman does. Confidence is what truck has on a rocky mountain trail. Which often means less talking, and more doing. And if you're explaining you're losing. You either should have made it clear ahead of time, or you shouldn't have done it from square one.

Stop using the term "friend zone." Women tend to think if you're not forthright about your intentions, that you're not interested, and if you bring it up later its just one big hassle. Especially if you're the beta-max player type who plays captain nice of the friendship boat until she has some sort of crisis and you just throw your pile of emotional baggage on top of her's.