There's Finally A 'Bachelor' Premiere Date

If you're completely obsessed with all things Bachelor Nation like I am, Monday night was probably bittersweet for you. There was bad, which was Bachelor in Paradise wrapping up for the season, but then there was good, too — like Chris Harrison finally announcing a premiere date for The Bachelor with Ben Higgins. Unfortunately, we still have a pretty long wait ahead of us, which is another reason why BIP should have lasted well into the fall. Get ready to mark your calendars: The Bachelor premieres on Jan. 4, and I don't think you need me to tell you that's a really, really long time from now.

Think of all the things that will happen between now and Jan. 4 — pumpkin spice-flavored food and coffee will have come and gone, the holiday season will be over, and all of our other favorite TV shows will be back from their summer hiatuses. In the time between then and now, there's a good chance that either Kaitlyn and Shawn or Jade and Tanner will have ended their engagements (because with the Bachelor curse, anything can happen), and who knows if Chris Bukowski will have come out of retirement by then.

In the meantime, though, there are plenty of ways to pass the time, including but not limited to...

Stalking The Cast On Instagram

And other various forms of social media. I highly recommend Ashley Iaconetti's Twitter, because I love her.

Watching Chris Harrison Host Everything

Who Wants to Be A Millionaire, next week's Miss America pageant... this guy is everywhere.

Checking Out Bachelor Creator Mike Fleiss' New Show

It's called Love at First Kiss , and involves people kissing as soon as they meet and deciding whether or not they want to date based on that single kiss. Do you even need more details than that to know it's going to be a hit? It's set to premiere Oct. 21 on VH1, and will hopefully satiate our needs for reality TV love at its best.

Applying To Be On The Show

The only thing better than watching The Bachelor? Being on The Bachelor. They're still casting Ben Higgins' season, so hop to it!

Jan. 4, please get here fast. I need more Ben H. in my life!

Image: Felicia Graham/ABC