Ah the big 2-1! When you first wake up after your Hangover-style birthday celebration, it’s hard to see all the 21-year-old possibilities while you’re sipping water and removing your head from the toilet. It seems like your 21st birthday will never arrive in between ID pass backs and texts to friends making alcohol runs. Sure when you turn 16 and get your license, it’s beyond exciting. And when you turn 18, you’re finally legal with college on the horizon. Turning 20 is pretty cool, too, because you know you can never be on Teen Mom. But there is nothing like your 21st birthday.

Getting carded and finally (legally) getting that shiny wristband that screams “Buy me shots!” is really special, as is getting $21 from 21 different people or having the whole bar sing you “Happy Birthday.” The 21st birthday extravaganza is nothing short of incredible, but the fun doesn’t end there.  Suddenly, you find yourself at bars all the time and grabbing pitchers with lunch before class. The 21-and-up bars aren’t crawling with freshmen, you can drive home under .08, and you can participate in bar crawls.

There’s a whole other world out there when you turn 21, and we’ve got the ultimate bucket list of places you should go once you cross over…

initiating the gallery...

All ready to pack your bags and go? Well not quite yet. First take a look at the gallery and note which bars have the very special CollegeCandy logo. That logo means they’re officially partnering with us for the launch of 21 Cities to Visit After You Turn 21. Each of those bars is offering a special for being a CollegeCandy reader. Here’s what you have to know to claim your special:

1. All specials are valid on January 20th only.

2. You must do at least one of the following: a) check in to the bar on Foursquare, b) check in to the bar on Facebook or c) tweet at the bar and @CollegeCandy.

3. You may only redeem the special once per person.

image via Maksim Shmeljov/Shutterstock

When most people think of Groundhog Day, they probably picture a medium sized rodent climbing out of a hole in an attempt to determine whether we’re going to have an early spring, or if the mountains of snow are just going to keep on coming. But when we think of Groundhog Day, we think of Bill Murray.

You know, Groundhog Day. The movie. You’re with me? Right. Well in Groundhog Day Murray gets to relive the same day over and over again, Groundhog Day, which wasn’t so great for him because he kept messing everything up. But still, we’re a little bit jealous. There are plenty of days in college we’d love to live over and over and over again, and never change a thing. (Editor’s Note: Or the whole thing? Please?)

Here are our top 5:

1. Your 21st Birthday. This is it. The day you’ve been waiting for. The day you take your first legal drink. The day that’s all about you. An excuse to splurge on a fabulous new, totally 21 outfit. Silly hats. Sashes. Maybe even a tiara to go with that sparkly dress? Free shots. Lots and lots of liquor. And the perfect excuse to go up to a boy and ask him if he’ll buy you a drink. The perfect excuse to do whatever you want, whenever you want to. Because nothing is a better excuse for drunken bar top dancing than “It’s my 21st birthday!” It should be noted though, powers that be, that we want to relive our 21^st birthdays, not the morning after hangovers. Read More »

"My name is Lisa Frank and I live at 222 North Wells Street and I was born on...."

You’re totally over the stinky, sweaty frat party scene, and the lines for the bathroom, keg, and beer pong table at house parties is starting to piss you off. You need something new for your weekend festivities… something like, the bar.

Ok, so you’re not 21, but you know as well as anyone that the bar on the corner of campus would let in anyone not still attached to their umbilical cord. All you need is a little fakey fake ID. If you’re lucky, you have an older sister who looks just like you who ceremoniously passes it down to you the minute you hit campus. If you’re not so lucky, you’re the oldest sibling/the only girl/have an older sister who is a giant bitch and won’t give you her ID because “I never had anyone to give it to me.”

But that’s OK too, because everyone knows that Howie with the sideburns on the 4^th floor of the dorm does more than sell weed out of his room. He also has a pretty sweet printer and only charges $100 for an ID that he claims can even scan (!!). So you scrounge up some cash and get yourself a pretty good Fake. The picture is a little blurry and it says you are 22 and an organ donor, but it looks better than some of the other IDs you’ve seen around campus. Overall, money well spent. Read More »

I just turned 20 about a week ago and as I was blowing out the candles on my 10,000 calorie vanilla flavored cake, all I could think was, “I‘m not a teen anymore, but I’m not yet a woman.” Now I know how Britney felt.

My only wish was that the next twelve months whizz by so I can finally be 21.

Don’t get me wrong – I was excited that I will no longer be labelled as a teenager. But being 20 still means that I can’t get into most clubs without using my sister’s ID, or drink myself to oblivion (without my sister’s ID).

I’m tired of my friends having to plan their birthdays or events around the fact that I’m not yet 21 and can’t get into a 21 and above club. Sure, some clubs don’t check IDs when the bouncers think you look older, but  I’m a 20 year old who looks like a 16 year old, so there’s no way that works for me. And the few times I tried, I spent the whole time stressing about whether the bouncer would notice that I wasn’t looking him in the eye, or wearing layers and layers of makeup that made me look like a drag queen.

Once I did get in, I would be so paranoid that someone would notice that I was under age and would have me kicked out of the club that I never had much fun. Not to mention the fact that nervousness, adrenalin, those disco lights and the 2,000 other sweaty people gyrating on the dance floor created a serious drag makeup meltdown. Read More »

It seems like just yesterday that I was anxiously twirling around in pink tights and a princess crown through some dirty frat house with my best friend Fiona dancing to “Everybody Dance Now,” eating chocolate mousse cake, and throwing my Steve Maddens at the boy who I didn’t know at the time would soon become my boyfriend, all in the name of my 20th birthday.

And now, a year has nearly passed, and I am about to turn the big 2-1. It is the day I can not only legally buy alcohol, but the day that all college students look forward to as their last passage into adulthood on campus (at least before senior year). It is the day that I can no longer get sent to student conduct council for underage drinking. The day I can walk up to the bar and order a mojito, legally. I no longer will have to worry about being carded when trying to order a drink somewhere. The day that I turn into a real adult – whatever that means – as decided by the world.

But really, how do I spend this occasion?

In my dream world, I would hire Girl Talk to do live mash-ups of Elton John, Britney Spears, and Guns N Roses while I dance alongside my best friends in dresses that aren’t just from H&M and Forever 21 in some sparkly New York City bar where we throw back pink cocktails in between cupcakes. But I don’t live in a dream world. In fact, I live in Roanoke, Virginia – which is as far from my dream world as I can get for my birthday, especially since there isn’t even a Forever21 of H&M for 60+ miles.

Although the reality of my 21st birthday may not sparkle in a New York City kinda way (however, my nails probably will in a cheap-nailpolish-glittery-concoction type of way), I am not going to let that stop me from having one of the best nights of my college experience. The question of how to do it, though – and not just do it, but do it well – plagues me. Read More »

Most college students like to think that all the drugs and alcohol in the world are at their fingertips once they hit campus. But for us under-agers there are some off-limits places, such as certain bars and clubs. If you’re wondering about the secret world of the 21 and overs, you might start thinking about getting a fake ID. From personal experience, and the experiences of my friends who have fakes, there are a few things you need to ask yourself before coughing up enough cash for an ID.

What am I going to be using it for? If you’re buying a fake primarily just to buy your friends booze every once in awhile, it’s probably not worth it to go through the whole process of getting one. It would be easier to just find an older friend to buy for you. If you want one to get into concerts, bars, clubs, comedy clubs, etc., with friends who also have fakes or who are older, then it’s more beneficial for you to have one. This way you’re at least getting your money’s worth, and you know for sure you have others who can join you in your illegal adventures.

Who am I buying one off of? Some of my friends have gotten fakes from a random sketchy place down in Chinatown. Even though they only paid 60 bucks for it, the ID says that it’s not government issued and a lot of places haven’t accepted them. Needless to say, they got sh*tty fakes. Read More »

Lots of people in the USA like to complain about the drinking age. And by lots of people, I mainly mean those who are under the legal drinking age of 21.

This included me when I was underage. I used to rant continually to any listening ear around me about how hard it was for me to get into bars. I despised the injustice of the photo ID and the fact that I had to constantly verse myself in the full name, birthday, and address of the older friend I was always pretending to be while out on the town.

I had a boyfriend in London and HE was allowed to drink already. It drove me, as he would say, mad. However, now that I’m a few years past the drinking age and a few years wiser, I have come to understand how detrimental a legal drinking age of 18, for instance, could have been to my life.

If I had been drinking (legally) when I was 18, things would be different for me now, I reckon: Read More »

“It’s hard to wrap my head around,” says Ellen Page of her recent Best Actress Oscar nomination for “Juno.”

Hard to wrap her head around, indeed, but not so hard for those of us who have seen the film. I’d give Page the award in a heartbeat, plus, it’s so refreshing for me to see someone who is not either a) over the age of 60 or b) oozing blonde hair and tan lotion up for the honor.

Oh yeah, and did I mention that she’s 20 years old? While the rest of us 20-year-olds are cramming for exams and floundering on our cramped dorm beds, Ellen Page is searching for a gown to wear to the Oscars, where she just might become the youngest recipient ever of the Best Actress award.

Marlee Matlin, with a win at the age of 21, currently holds that honor for her 1986 win in “Children of a Lesser God.” And Keisha Castle-Hughes is the youngest-ever nominee, at the age of 13 for “Whale Rider” in 2003.

With a February 21st birthday, Page will be three days into the age of 21 (her golden birthday!) on Oscar night. Though she says she isn’t a big drinker, I guess we’ll find out how true that is if she bags the award.

Listening to her interviews, Page sounds excited about the nomination, but not psyched. I’m wagering she doesn’t think she’ll win–and given the miserly attitude of the nomination committee, she’s probably right.

But what do CC readers think?

Could she really take the little golden statue home?

Every once in awhile I like going out to bars, clubs, you name it. Buuuuut, I am not yet 21 and I nowhere near look like I am. Because of my short stature, people frequently ask me if I am in high school (and one time even junior high). I know, I know: in 20 years, I’ll be begging for people to think I’m in high school. But for right now, I just wanna pass as 21 so I can go out with my friends. Which is nearly impossible. I still get funny looks from waiters when I order off the adult menu.

So, I got a fake ID. I was lucky enough to inherit an actual old ID of a friend’s after she turned 21. While my friend and I look alike, she is 25 and 5’9. And yet, her ID has worked flawlessly time and time again, even when I don’t wear my seven – inch heels. How does it work, you ask? I follow a few basic steps: Read More »