I’m going to be honest: I’m not dying for Thanksgiving break like the rest of my freshman companions. Everyone around me seems to miss home, miss their parents, and miss their beds so much that they can’t wait to get on a plane.

It seems like everyone’s FB status is something about “ONE MORE WEEK!”– even people who are totally thriving and happy college freshmen.

I, however, am completely happy at school. I love my life here and my friends and I don’t really have any homesickness pangs. Don’t get me wrong; I’m excited to see my high school friends, my family, and – AHEM – Pumpkin Pie, but I just don’t feel so uber excited to go home like everyone else.

But since I am going home, I guess there are a few things I can’t wait to leave behind in the dorms for a week….

1. Shower Sandals. I seriously DESPISE wearing sandals in the shower– even though I have really cute pink Havaianas, the whole concept of needing shoes to shield yourself from germs (when you’re trying to get clean in the first place) really bugs me. Oh, and I will not miss the girl on my hall who must lose half her hair every time she showers — the showers/floors look like a salon post-haircut, pre-sweep. Nasty with a capital N. Private shower, here I come.

2. Not needing a key to get in my room. Simple. I have a ghetto key, not a sliding ID card like many of my friends. I’ll be able to walk into my room with stuff in my hands/not have to drop everything to open my door/look like a lunatic when I have to scramble through to depths of my Mary Poppins-esque Hobo bag to find my keys whenever I need to get something from my bed. Read More »

Kim Cattrall bares it all. And still looks amazing.

Neil Patrick Harris also gets naked. (We prefer Kim).

We heart old people.

Paul Rudd even looks cute at the airport!

Kristen Stewart likes the pot.

Sexy means something different for men and women.

The 5 people who visit at Thanksgiving.

Cute party ideas for you and your girls.

Are Nicole and Joel getting hitched?

Perfect Thanksgiving dinner outfits.

I came to college up north because I insisted on going to a school with all four seasons. I chose Syracuse because I tend to do things in excess. Why have a few days of snow every school year when I can spend 8/9 months at Syracuse freezing and wearing the somehow-still-popular Ugg boot for the majority of the year?

Four years ago I ran outside as the first flakes fell from the sky. I spun around and around with my tongue out reveling in the snow not because it came naturally but because that’s what people always do in the movies. I stayed spinning until a bus pulled up in front of the dorm, almost ran me over, and my friend asked me to come inside and stop embarrassing myself. Even as the winter wore on I got delight out of hearing the crunching snow beneath my feet and writing my name over and over again on ever snowy surface.

But nothing good can ever last and now as the first snow falls, I’m sitting inside wrapped in fourteen layers chugging a large coffee. I made a list of everything in the kitchen and rationed it out so we can survive five months without having to go outside and to the supermarket once. I haven’t been this prepared with food since I won the Oregon Trail in fifth grade.

So I guess the magic of snow has worn off. The first sign was probably when I put a hat on and everything remarked that I looked unmistakeably like a penis. The second sign is when my boots stopped working and I had to wrap plastic bags around my feet so the 3-foot ice puddle wouldn’t give me hypothermia. The third sign was when I made a snowman last year and someone ate the skittle eyes. Ever since then I just can’t look at snow the same way.

So here goes hibernation ’09. It should be a blast.

Tom Cruise looks…hot?

New daddy Pete Wentz heads back to work.

Ed Hardy’s daughter has a Super Duper Sweet 16.

Student groups being affected by national recession.

Another hot designer comes to H&M.

Laura Bush writing a tell-all book? This is gonna be juicy!

Joe the Plumber is now Joe the Late Night Commercial Dude!

House parties are where it’s at.

Kabbalah is boring! (But don’t tell Madonna.)

Tips for preventing holiday weight gain when you head home this week!

When are the creepy teachers gonna learn to stay away from the students?

It’s not official unless it’s on Facebook.

You know the phrase is true. Did you hook up with a new boyfriend lately? Get a new job? Start grad school? You probably updated your Facebook to let everyone know about it. Social networking has acquired a terrifically powerful role in our culture, one which legitimizes every facet of our lives. But what happens when Facebook users begin posting personal details that don’t merit digital high-fives?

Such is the case with a new trend in Facebook groups that actually promote such eating disorders as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Think about your average, “Hell Yeah I Went To Public School!” group and channel all of that enthusiasm towards the idea of starving yourself. Imagine scrolling through a list of your friend’s groups and finding one like “Ana Boot Camp” (which has recently been disabled by the Facebook administration) which attracts users who view anorexia as a fitness goal, not an eating disorder. They’ve even co-opted the name “anorexia” to just “Ana,” as a way of reinforcing the idea of anorexia positively. Members of “pro-Ana” groups collaborate on starvation plans and look to one another for “thinspiration.”

Though the pro-Ana phenomenon has existed for some time on independent websites, the jump from private domains to the certainly more public sphere of Facebook is a new step in eating disorder pride. While Anas (the name for followers of pro-Ana) have lurked online and in private chats in the past, joining pro-Ana groups on Facebook signifies that they are confident in their beliefs and aren’t afraid to share their eating habits with friends.

Newsweek, which published an article on this story this week, interviewed 20-year-old Kate (who declined to give her last name) about the benefits of being pro-Ana on Facebook.

“[On Facebook], there’s a lot of really close networking,” she said, “so you add those people as friends and exchange phone numbers, and when you’re having a hard day, you talk on the phone.” And by joining pro-Ana groups, these individuals are declaring their relationship with eating disorders for all of their friends to see.

The tragedy with the pro-Ana movement is that its supporters are completely oblivious to (or defiant of) the fact that eating disorders are diseases that need treatment. Anas believe that people who deride eating disorders see them as bad habits. Through social networking, they stand to spread their unhealthy message of celebrating anorexia to many more people. Young female Facebook users could be persuaded to turn to starving themselves to stay thin, if the cultural pressure to slim down remains and the cult of pro-Anas expands.

And even if Anas don’t convert everyone to anorexia (they’re not particularly mobile proselytizers), allowing their groups to expand on Facebook would mean tolerating eating disorders, which is an insult to those who truly suffer and deserve medical attention. Thankfully, Facebook administrators have already begun to disable pro-Ana groups, which should be a step in the right direction. Nonetheless, Facebook has evolved as a legitimate medium for trend spotting, and tolerating anorexia should not be another passing headline on the news feed.

[In early adulthood there is an activity that plays a large role in most of our lives; nights out on the town. And with those nights out always comes the question: “What am I gonna wear?!?”

Each week I’ll be putting together a cute and affordable “going out” ensemble guide (that you can tweak to your own personal style and body type, of course) so that maybe that age-old question can be answered a little quicker than usual. And your friends aren’t waiting - for hours - for you to emerge from your room. Just consider me your own (free) personal Rachel Zoe.]

So this week marks the official beginning of the holiday season and Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays of the year; how can you not enjoy massive amounts of delicious goodness, family time, and a four day weekend? It also means it’s time to head on home and see your family and friends who you left behind when the school year began.

It’s more than likely on Friday or Saturday you’ll hit up a party or two and run into familiar faces that you haven’t seen in ages, so looking damn fine is definitely up there on the list of priorities. You wanna prove to your friends, enemies, and possibly your ex, that college is doing you well and you’re more fabulous than ever. Here’s a guide to a vintage-inspired outfit that’ll accentuate your curves and ever-growing hotness, and leave everyone talking. (And, no, it is not a Pilgrim ensemble…though that would be vintage…) Read More »

Here’s a head-scratcher: after months of kooky behavior (like, I dunno, shaving your head and flashing your va-jay-jay all over LA), after the media and public alike had written her off as Queen of the Looney Tunes, America woke up this morning and decided to accept Britney Spears back into the fold of elite pop stars.

Yep, forget the wacko driving-with-your- infant-son-dangling-from- the-driver’s- seat incident, Ms. Spears is a drool-worthy role model again. If you happen to have access to the internet (which I’m assuming you do, if you’re reading this), you can’t be more than a mouse click away from a Britney love fest. Today, her newest album, Circus, was leaked online just one week before its official release, and the world is abuzz with Brit.

How does the album fare? As far as pop records go, Circus ain’t too shabby. We’ve all heard the tour-de-force “Womanizer,” and the new single “If U Seek Amy” (is she referring to Ms. Winehouse? If Britney’s looking for her, she need look no further than a London crack den) is as gritty and caustic as I imagine Ms. Spears would be after a night of boozing. But a lame vehicle for singles (and moolah) this isn’t: the song “My Baby” perked my ears right up. Could Britney–gasp– actually be crooning? Her voice shines through clearly and tenderly on what is a sweet ode to her children.

I’m still confused at how Brit Brit has achieved her massive reinvention. I mean, check her out on the cover of Rolling Stone for godsakes! As she says in the opening to the title track, “There are two kinds of people in this world: entertainers and observers.” If baffling the public counts as entertainment, then Brit, baby, you’re a star.

Check out her album, Circus, on Imeem.com

We love the internet for 3 main reasons:

1. We can do just about everything (shop, date, job hunt, talk to professors) in our underwear.

2. Talk to people and say things we would never have the balls to say in person (”You are being a bitch,” “I totally heart you.”)

3. We can procrastinate on everything in favor of the endless entertainment the inter-webs provide.

The sheer number of blogs and awesome websites out there is astounding…and nearly impossible to navigate. Which ones are good? Which ones are bad? Which ones will flash giant naked men on our screen? (Editor’s Note: Those are my favorite!) Which ones talk about all the stuff I want to hear?

That’s why we are here.

There are so many great college blogs out there and we want to share them with you. Because, after all, we college kids gotta stick together. So, here are a few of our favorites for this week:

1. Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman: She’s cute, she’s relateable, and she’s a she (which you don’t see much of in the blogosphere).

2. Life As a Hyperbole: Even though he totally hated on the Michigan fight song (errrr), this kid is funny and his lists are the perfect distraction during lecture/paper writing/your friend venting about her boyfriend…again.

3. The Old College Try: Another college lady writing about her life. And we can’t stop reading it!

4. Confessions of a Nerd: Makes you think. Oh, and we love embracing Nerd-dom.

“Come on– all the cool kids are doing it.” You probably thought you escaped peer pressure when you got your high school diploma and left all the “Queen Bees” at school behind to hold on to their prom queen crowns for eternity while you moved on to bigger and better things in college.

Sure, college isn’t a catty popularity contest like high school can be, but that doesn’t meant that peer pressure doesn’t exist. In fact, in college, there are thousands of kids on campus who are looking for an opportunity to twist your arm. It can be hard not to say “yes” to a party on a Tuesday night (when you’ve got a midterm at 8 a.m. the next day), or to something “experimental” that you’ll look back on and shudder with disdain in the years to come.

If you don’t think peer pressure exists in college, I have one word for you: RUSH. There are collegiates out there who would sell their souls to join a sorority or a fraternity, and they are willing to do some crazy shizz to get through rush. Get into the Greek scene, and you’ve automatically got a clique of a few dozen new friends. That’s reason enough for some students to go a week without changing their clothes or serve lemonade in a giant purple elephant costume (that is, if Will Ferrell’s running the frat). “Hazing” is now illegal at universities across the country, but that doesn’t mean that the peer pressure of rush week isn’t still in full effect. Some say it’s a college coming-of-age ritual. Hey, to each their own, but still: a rose is a rose is a rose. Read More »

Email your old (BUT NOT TOO OLD, DAMMIT!!!) friend Tuffy at tuffy@collegecandy.com to get answers to your craziest questions. No question is too bizarre or too normal! Ask away! Tuffy’s column runs every other Tuesday.

Dear Tuffy Luv,

I have a question that I’ve been trying to solve for months but it just baffles me. My boyfriend and I have been together for 5 years; he’s really a great guy, but sometimes I just don’t understand him! Like a year and a half ago, we were talking about things we’d like to try in the bedroom. I’m usually the one who is more adventurous so I was trying to encourage HIM to come up with an idea and asked: “Is there anything you’ve really wanted to try but haven’t mentioned because you’re too afraid?” Big mistake.

So, apparently, like every other guy these days it seems, he wants a threesome. However, UNLIKE every other guy… he wants it to be MFM. I was shocked! I mean, what guy actually WANTS that?!? I asked him why on Earth he would want that and he seems to have this idea (I’m sure it came from a porn somewhere, LOL) that it would be amazing for me and he wants to see me pleased. But I don’t want to do it and I’ve told him. I think it’s gross and creepy. But he still seems to think that this would make our otherwise pretty routine sex life (that’s a complaint for another day though) more exciting.

The only problem I see with that story, if he’s so concerned with seeing me pleased, why doesn’t it show in our sex lives? He LOVES being at the receiving end of foreplay, but is rarely on the giving end. He doesn’t like to try new positions and when he finds something that I like, he’ll just do it over and over again until it’s really not that great anymore. I really think that he is self conscious (he still hates being naked around me if we’re not having sex) and afraid that if he tries something new I won’t like it. It’s just frustrating… the only way to get better is PRACTICE! Read More »