It’s June 21 – and (hopefully) we all know what that means- the official first day of summer! Now that we’ve all been out of school for a while, most of us have settled into our warm weather routines. There are certain activities that are only acceptable in the summer months, and here are the ones I am looking forward to most…

Aw, look at Blake Lively on the cover of this month’s Glamour, all sun-kissed and flawless and fully clothed (why she denied those nudes were hers will forever perplex me – those are the most elegant bathroom photos I’ve ever seen). As you can tell by the headlines of this month’s issue, Glamour is reveling in summer superficiality – tips on battling humidity hair, finding the best shorts for your body and a little bit of unnecessary warm-weather specific slut shaming are all present in this issue (apparently if you’re topless at the beach, you’re asking for creepers to take photos of you..silly me, I thought those women were just trying to avoid ugly tan lines).

Of course, the best part of the issue is the insight into how males feel when they’re naked.

Glamour says: 21 percent of men suck in their stomach the first time a woman sees them naked.
Jasmine says: I suppose this could be another distraction to prevent premature ejaculation. But seriously, I wish we could all just be secure in our bodies and stop waiting for people to chastise us because we have more than 1.6 ounces of body fat. Our society’s fixation on the idea that “perfection = thinness” is not helpful to anyone. Read More »

All these smart phones and iPads have made life pretty convenient. News stories are a button away, exercise apps can amp up our workouts and no one can ever complain of boredom with constant access to Fruit Ninja. The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) recently came out with a pretty sweet app all about students, trends and news. It got me thinking, we are in need of one super app for college girls designed to make our lives just a little bit more fun and easy.

Want to rock college? Yeah, there (should be) an app for that.

1. Class Schedule Synched With the Besties: You won’t have to waste any more time figuring out when you can all “do lunch.” This feature will do the work for you

2. Digital Version of your Campus Newspaper: Because that way, you might actually read it.

3. Access to the Grub Hub App: Save your address and credit card details. Maybe even your favorite orders. Pita Pit has never felt closer.

4. Local Happy Hours and Specials: It’s hard to keep them all straight. We know Wednesdays are half-off of wine night, but friendly daily reminders that it’s buy one-get-one-free or 10 cent wing night could really help us save a buck or two.

5. Professor Rankings: A quick and easy way to tap into Rate My Professor.com or whatever service your school uses. Signing up for classes will be a breeze.

6. Jokes on Mondays: Because we hate having a case of the Mondays and sometimes a few popsicle jokes are all we need to get going. Knock Knock…

7. Calorie Counter: Sadly not all campus coffee shops have the calories listed underneath the mocha frappuccinos. Oh wait, you don’t want to know?

8. Social Calendar: Wouldn’t it be nice if on-campus social events were just updated into a nicely organized calendar? You wouldn’t have to be bombarded with Facebook event invites every 5 seconds but also wouldn’t miss anything cool because you refused to sort through the spam.

9. Weekly Microwavable Recipes: We may finally be off the meal plan but are pretty far from cooking up a storm. Put down the lean cuisine, there are other options out there.

Jon Hamm’s new look has us swooning

Men weigh in on what makes a woman a slut

Eeeeww: 51 year old ‘Green Mile’ actor marries a 16 year old

There is now a virtual pregnancy suit for guys

Emotions that have been invented by the internet

4 habits you need to adapt this summer

Heidi Montag emerges in the public eye again

Beyonce’s mom is more of a diva than the singer!

Justin Timberlake loves being single

Continuing with the theme of whining about Bentley’s departure, and by that I mean new beginnings, Ashley and her crew flew to Chiang Mai . I’m not sure if it was the heat, the punches to the head or random Thai men jumping in the water, but this was by far one of the most awkward episodes.

Also, ABC promised me that I would get some good ol’ Bentley drams going down…they lied. They lied big time..instead they left us with a “dot dot dot” and a week to think about what will happen. Will the men all leave Ashley? Will Ashley be shown the footage? Will Bentley’s hair look okay when he makes Ashley cry again? …so many gosh darn questions!

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WTF!  Deep-fried kool aid exists?!

‘Vampire Diaries’ Stars Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder are dating

Brad Pitt is looking yummy in his new movie

A collection of our favorite hot guy gifs

How to dress like ‘Skins’ favorite, Effy Stonem

Watch the evolution of Ryan Reynolds’ abs

A handy guide to this summer’s new shows

Stylish travel gear we really want

Lady Gaga shows us that the carpet matches the drapes at the Much Music Awards

There are a lot of inconsistencies between real high school and the way high school is portrayed on TV shows. For example, the fact that TV high schools let students chill aimlessly in the hall every 10 minutes or how they obviously never have any homework since their fictional lives are way too action-packed to have time for anything like that.

But, regardless of the unrealistic differences, we watch and try to relate to these shows… although, it’s pretty hard to relate to a certain class of fictional high school students when none of them ever seem to graduate.

When Ryan Murphy, the producer of Glee, announced that he would be graduating the cast of the show and bringing in new people, I was a bit surprised, but definitely relieved. Yes, the characters we’ve all come to know and love will be missed, but would you really want them to be 3-year super-seniors?

Check out some of the other shows that decided to make their students stay back over and over again for the sake of high ratings.

Do you think it’s okay for shows to “graduate” and replace their original cast, or would you rather see the cast of your favorite show stay in high school forever? Do you remember any other shows whose cast members never seemed to grow up?

[There comes a time in every girl’s life, (usually after a third or fourth martini), when she realizes “Damn, I need to do something… travel to Europe, take up Chinese, get married…someeeething! I need to change my life.” Finding myself in one such rut and without the cash-flow for a capricious jet-set to France, I decided to live by the book, take the plunge, and tackle the Benrik challenge. If you have never heard of Benrik’s This Book Will Change Your Life, crawl out from under the rock you have been living under, wipe the tired crust from your eyes, and listen up.]

Week 2- Task 1

Day 356: Carve Something in a Tree

There is a tree stump the size of a mini-van in my college town of Ann Arbor, MI.  It is on the farthest north side of the “Diag,” or the center of the University of Michigan’s central campus. If you want to know what scandal I wrote on that multi-century year old tree, you now have a summer road-trip destination. Head on over to the Midwest, (make sure to stop by one of our famous Coney Islands Restaurants), find the larger-than-life tree stump, and if you let me know what it says, I’ll buy you a beer!

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The other day, I decided to inventory my tank tops. I split them up into super casual (boyfriend tanks, etc.), casual or dressy and just dressy. And you know what I found? My casual or dressy pile was nearly empty. It’s so hard to find a tank top that work equally well for a day at the beach and a night out! Dressy elements like ruffles and chiffon get destroyed in a game of frisbee, while a boyfriend racerback just won’t cut it at a classy joint. And then I came upon the Gentle Fawn Shoreline Top.

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This time the Dude’s List examines 11 reasons why “it’s not me, it’s you.” Deal breakers and heart breakers are like snow flakes. But here are 11 of them for you to get a closer look at. As always, I’m not advocating that all/any of these reasons are fair/legitimate/mature but they’ve been used. Let’s get down to the nitty gritty where guys tend to draw the line and call it quits.

1. “I Really Have To Focus On My Career Right Now”

The age-old question: Happiness or success? (Okay, it’s not that old of a question and that’s not always the question.) A lot of guys are trapped in their ambition. Or a slave to it. Or just really, really narcissistic. Sometimes the job comes before the relationship. It’s a choice. Is it the right choice? That’s not for me to make a judgment on. Every relationship versus job scenario is filled with more variables than cafeteria mystery meat. In this economy, careers are harder to build but women are everywhere, right? I mean, who can be happy in the unemployment line? Some guys are wired to believe that they can’t be happy at home unless happy at the office. Not advocating, just observing. And sometimes I observe guys moving across the country for a dream job, leaving their girlfriend of three years behind.

2. “You Deserve Better”

Have you heard this? Or said it? Did you mean it? Did he? It’s a rewording of “it’s not you, it’s me.” Because now no girl will ever believe that excuse since it’s entered the kingdom of cliché. But hey, some guys do self-sabotage their relationships and truly can’t appreciate what they’ve got, think they’re not worth it, and so break up with you because they think it’s only a matter of time before you realize you could do better. You know what I say to those guys? “F*ck you!” If you ever got this break-up speech, count your blessings, because you were done a favor…even if it felt like a kick in the tits in the moment.

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