The 4th of July.  An excuse to drink beer, dress up in festive clothes and eat late-night salty munchies… all day. Sounds like a typical college weekend and it is oh-so-welcomed after 2 months of spending our weekend nights at home with our parents playing Scrabble.

But what to wear?

Not only is it day-to-night activities, but you don’t want to pull a George Banks and be a total party pooper (that’s why we invited you!) avoiding the red, white and blue all together, but, then again, you don’t want to be so obviously festive that you look like a walking Old Navy ad (or a pro wrestler). Thank God I’m here!

I can dress you from the beach to the fireworks so all you have to do is show up, grab that Corona and hot dog and enjoy. Read More »

While Halloween now is more closely associated with finding a (slutty) costume and drinking Halloween inspired beverages, as a kid, there was nothing better than going door to door loading up on enough candy to last you till the 4th of July.Only problem is, my mom – the smart woman that she is – knew her life would be torturous through July if she let her three hyper children keep that much sugar around.

So every year, my two older brothers and I would have to dump all of our coveted, prized candy into the middle of the table. My mother then carefully separated the candy into piles – Milky Ways in one pile, Twix in another, Candy Corn in another, and so on. She then handed a bucket to each of us and, one by one, we would go around taking our pick and filling our buckets.

Once they were filled, the rest of the candy went to inner-city kids whose neighborhoods were too dangerous to trick-or-treat in (which now I see was a very noble thing but at the time I couldn’t understand why they deserved my candy gold. After all, I spent three long hours in the cold with clown makeup on my face, saying stupid poems at people’s doors while they filled my bag up with all that deliciousness). Read More »

I have never liked blueberry pie. In fact, I would even go beyond that—I’ve always thought it was disgusting. I am not the biggest fan of fresh blueberries, either, but lately I have started to like them more and more.

Despite all of this, last week I could not stop thinking about how I really wanted to make a blueberry pie. Why did I think this… why? I have no idea. I am still unable to explain it. But I suspect it was divine intervention, because the resulting blueberry pie was THE BEST THING I HAVE EVER EATEN.

The recipe is dunce-free (not that CC readers are dunces, of course) and uses fresh berries, which I suspect is the real reason for my enthusiasm behind this pie. All previous blueberry pies that were set in front of me were either a) made from cans of blueberry pie filling or b) things that I refused to eat because I was under the impression that I hated blueberry pie. Read More »

Here’s a simple Q&A to get this party started.

Q: What’s better than ice cream?

A: Ice cream cake, of course.

Q: What’s better than ice cream cake?

A: Ice cream cake that’s not very bad for you—low-guilt ice cream cake, if you will.

Q: How are you going to impress your friends and family on the 4th of July?

A: By making them this beautiful, low-guilt ice cream cake!

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, roll up your sleeves and get ready, because this is the simplest ice cream cake EVER. It has four ingredients: Read More »

Here, take this quiz:

Independence Day should NOT mean independence from:

(a) your good sense

(b) your panties

(c) reality

(d) all of the above

Okay, obviously the answer is (a). And if you believe that, skip the rest of this article.

But seriously, Independence Day marks our freedom as an independent United States of America, and for some reason, this has morphed into a gigantular party day.

Which, look, is fine by me. I love partying.

However, may I suggest, for your own sake, that you stop a tequila shot short of blacking out? Here are the top reasons why:

(7) Missing the festivities

I mean, if you can’t remember it, how the flip can you enjoy it? That totally sucks! Especially when you find out you managed to do #6.

(6) Ruining your chances with a hottie

Yes, the odds for this increase dramatically if you are blacked out. During such a state sometime in my sophomore year of college, I allegedly once asked a potential hook-up if he was gay. Um, yeah. That didn’t work out in my favor. Read More »

Here at CC, we’re always looking for new and exciting ways to party. Especially when it comes to the 4th of July and alcoholic drinks associated with the holiday. The only thing is, one of your editors spent 25 years being completely unaware of the tepid, headache-inducing splendor that is Franzia. Below, she is schooled in the ways of celebrating with boxed beverages.

The holidays are bright, florescent reminders of how many friends we really have and how clouded our social calendar really is. Lots of us had barbecues and rooftop firework watching parties to go to this July 4th, romantic rendezvous with a special someone under the stars, or giant, patriotic family celebrations where we engaged in our own eating contests (the only prize being a giant stomach and instant regret).

But what if you were one of the many who didn’t do anything special? One of the many who stayed home with nowhere to go, or anyone you really felt like hanging out with?

Then you’d be me.

You see, this 4th of July I was sick. Real sick. A narcoleptic coughing, sneezing, melty-eyed kind of sick. Who knows how I got it. Germs are everywhere in this city. I probably caught it from the pharmacist who handed me my hand sanitizer.

In any case, the plans I had made to grill chicken and watch the fireworks by the water with friends were down the toilet. At least for me.

So what did I do? Well, I watched TV for a while. And then I made some hot dogs because I wanted to try and stay in the spirit of 4th of July grilling. And then I got caught in the middle of a huge fight. Read More »

The 4th of July. No work, no worries, and a full day dedicated to barbequing and relaxing. I can think of no better way to celebrate independence from our current best ally than sitting on a back porch (or fire escape, whichever suits your needs) and drinking a nice cool glass of something alcoholic.

Have I got the perfect girly cocktail for those 4th of July needs. It’s chilled, fruity, and when served with blueberries and a hint of whipped cream, it’s patriotic.

Watermelon Mellow

• 8 cups diced watermelon (about 1/2 of a small watermelon, plus slices for garnish)

• 8 ounces lemon vodka (make sure it’s chilled)

• 7 ounces simple syrup*

• 1 can coconut juice

• 1 lemon

Put your diced watermelon in the freezer for 30 minutes. Afterwards, put all the ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth. Read More »