Lady Gaga is starting to scare me.

That guy’s got nice…brows?

So Transformers 2 is that bad?

Michael Jackson and Will.I.Am. collaboration?

Fireworks are really dangerous. For real.

Simon Cowell most definitely wipes his ass with hundos.

July is pretty much here (I know – where the eff did June go??), and I can’t help but notice more American-themed fashion/toys/food crowding the retail shelves just about everywhere.  At first I was confused (I mean, that red, white, and blue dress is cute, but wasn’t Fleet Week a while ago?), then it dawned on me…Independence Day.

After about a minute of feeling guilty about almost forgetting our Nation’s birthday, I started to remember why I adore the 4th of July so much.  I get to spend time with my family, spend all weekend drunk and in the sun, and eat massive amounts of food.

This year, however, I decided I wasn’t going to puss out after just three servings of barbecue.  So, I did a little research and gathered some tips from the masters (read: the competitors in the yearly Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating contest!).  Now you guys can join me in celebrating the founding of America the only way that is appropriate – by eating more than anyone else on the planet.

Don’t Starve Yourself Beforehand – When you starve yourself, you’re actually making your stomach shrink (in addition to being a pretty bad move in general).  Keep eating before the big day and you’ll  keep your appetite up.  Besides, who wants to rock that crazed, hungry person look during the family picnic?

Prepare Your Stomach - Assuming that you aren’t Takeru Kobayashi, you probably don’t eat like a maniac on a normal basis.  Therefore, you might have to stretch your stomach out to make room for all those amazing Independence Day meals (ribs? burgers? corn on the cob? Droooool).  Use this week to chug water and chomp on mad lettuce – you’ll expand your stomach in no time (thirds, much?). Read More »

Summertime.

Time to work on our tans, hang at the beach (or on some sick yacht if you happen to know the right people), and wear all those totally cute clothes that only work for three months out of the year.  Summer is a great time to bust out pastels, white linen and, one of my personal faves, seersucker.

I know you may be thinking that seersucker is old-fashioned and outdated, but there are tons of options out there that are stylish, modern and work well for all different types of gals.  The best part about these pieces? You can totally find them for $50 and under (and I did!). So go ahead, let yourself get sucked in by this whimsical print. Read More »

A laptop, a weekend vacation, a TV, an entire new wardrobe…$700 can sure get you a lot. But it almost can’t get you a pair of kicks. That is, if you want Kanye’s newest line of Louis Vuitton sneaks that cost $700 (tax not included).

Yes, seven. hundred. freaking. dollars.

So what is so special about these shoes that they would cost more than my entire summer wardrobe? (What? I shop at Target…) I mean there’s gotta be something, right? Maybe a built in trampoline or secret compartment full of diamonds?

Nope!

They come in literally every color and style (so do my Nike Shox, and I’m pretty sure those don’t come close to $700),  and they are from Louis Vuitton (which is pretty cool, I guess). And Kanye made them, so they must be the best shoes in the history of the world. At least according to him.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not buyin’ it (literally). I’m pretty sure nothing going on your feet is worth that much money. Unless, of course, these things actually let me walk in Kanye’s shoes. Since they don’t, I’ll be spending my money much more wisely: on a new laptop.

Confession time: I quit my (stable-ish well-paying, super fun) job a couple of weeks ago to go to culinary school for baking next year. Was this an awesome decision or a terrible one? The jury’s still out, but the way I think about it, the more time I have to devote to desserts, the better. So I’m leaning toward awesome.

To celebrate my decision, I’m using this week’s DIY to share an incredible buttercream frosting recipe with all of you. You can use it to frost a cake, cupcakes, cookies . . . or to eat it straight out of the Tupperware with some pretzels when you’re dealing with a breakup. Stop buying this stuff and make it yourself.

Ingredients
(Makes enough buttercream for one standard-size cake with 12-16 servings)

1/2 cup vegetable shortening (such as Crisco)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup heavy cream Read More »

I had a friend visiting me this weekend and even though my life is in shambles, I was determined to impress her with my knowledge of New York and my ability to stand on the subways without falling at every stop (an extraordinary feat due to my complete lack of coordination). If she happened to have a good time, that would just be a bonus; the main focus was on her being impressed with my new life.

So my other tri-state area friend (she’s from NJ despite what she may tell you) and I found what looked like a cheap Mexican restaurant known for great food and greater margaritas. Unfortunately, as I’m discovering more and more, online reviewers cannot always be trusted. We arrived at the restaurant and it resembled a cross between an abandoned truck stop and a dive bar in Rochester. So obviously I was way excited to eat there – there’s nothing less harmful than bad Mexican food.

Sadly, my friends weren’t as willing to risk a few shooting stomach pains so we ended up looking for a new restaurant. However being as this was my first time on the Lower East Side, (excluding my visit to the tenement museum) and the streets aren’t numbered, I had no idea where to go and or even how to get back to a main street. But I had to keep up my appearances of knowing what I was doing so I marched along pretending like I knew where we could find dinner. And after making a few circles (purposefully, I told my friend) around the area, we found a place for dinner – only an hour after we planned to eat. Read More »

"Oh, but which one do I choose!?"

Want all o’ yo’ questions answered?! Email Tuffy Luv at TuffyLuv@collegecandy.com to be featured in the Tuffster’s weekly column!!!

Dear Tuffy Luv,
I can’t stop to think about this guy, I hope you can help me and give me some advice. (Sorry for the long e-mail in advance.)

So I met Chuck in school last year, he lives across from my dorm. Since we have the same major and in the same year, we studied for exams together throughout the whole year. At first, I didn’t think I would ever be attracted to him since he is not the type of guy I usually fall for. But I don’t know why, ever since school ended I been thinking about him a lot. Also, during school, my friends keeps telling me that Chuck likes me, and I should give him a chance. And he did act a little weird around me when he was drunk one night and wrote me a little note with hearts. But the thing is I already dropped a lot of hints, and I am not sure if he’s just not that into me or he is just slow and shy.

Chuck lives in a different city, so when school ended, he move back home. Chuck’s friend Steve, however, lives on my street. Since we are the only two people from my school that live in my city, we’ve hung out a couple of times. I can feel that Steve likes me, but I only like him as a friend, and I am not sure if by going to movies with him I am leading him on. One of my friends who works with Chuck said that during one of their convo, Chuck told her that he knows I went to a movie with Steve. Part of me kind of wants him to know, because I want him to be jealous (that’s if he would), but the other part of me was really annoyed by this news, because I feel like he is the type of person who would back out if he knows his friend like me. I haven’t talked to Chuck at all ever since school ended; I sent him a message on FB, but he didn’t reply. Read More »

There is no doubt that in some way or another, every person out there has been affected by the economy. Between businesses getting shut down, people getting laid off, or the millions who are losing their homes, the list of disasters seems endless. But we, as college students, are not immune.

We all know that there have been some crazy budget cuts for colleges, but did you know what that means for you? Any idea what might be coming next for your school?

Just ask the cheerleading team at Florida International University. Oh wait, never mind. You can’t, because as of this week, they do not have one. That’s right. The nationally recognized cheerleading team, currently ranked fourth in the country, has been eliminated as part of an effort to cut 1 million dollars from FIU’s athletic budget for the coming school year. Read More »

You’re in a sweaty basement playing beer pong. You and your partner – who you happened to pick up next to the keg – have finally been taken down. You chug the final four beers from the other side of the table and let the next team take their spots.

For the rest of the evening, you and cutie partner boy tell the tales of an awesome game…while rubbing each other’s backs and making flirty/inappropriate comments between beers. Before you know it, you’re outside on the driveway eating his face like he’s a giant slice of late night pizza. (Mmm, pizza.)

“Wanna go somewhere?” He asks.

“Obvi,” you answer as he’s grabbing your hand and leading you back to his place. You stumble down the street, making out at every stop sign and red light you encounter.  Soon you are back at his dorm which, thankfully, is a single. Also a single? His bed. Read More »

Coach launches cheaper Poppy line.

What should your brow shape be?

Heath Ledger on Vanity Fair.

OMG! A caffeinated Wendy’s Frosty?!

Which was more tragic: MJ’s life or death?

Women are even better at manual labor!?