It seems ex-flames Ryan Gosling and Sandra Bullock are having some fun fun fun again in Austin this weekend.  The  couple was spotted making the rounds in Sandy’s home town at the annual Fun Fun Fun Fest on Auditorium Shores.  There’s no doubt the two make a cute couple, but we gotta say, seriously Ryan?!? You could do better. And by better I mean me. Yes, me. Choose me Ryan!

Update:  Turns out, the girl in the photo is not Sandra Bullock, but rather The Girl With The Dragon Tattoos’ Rooney Mara.  Ryan is in Austin filming with legendary director Terrence Malick.

]]> http://collegecandy.com/2011/11/05/ryan-gosling-sandra-bullock-fun-fun-fun-fest-austin/feed/ 7 ccandystaff Ryan Gossling Sandra Bullock http://collegecandy.com/2010/10/11/your-official-guide-to-weekend-getaways/ http://collegecandy.com/2010/10/11/your-official-guide-to-weekend-getaways/#comments Mon, 11 Oct 2010 19:30:14 +0000 Alex- University of South Carolina http://collegecandy.com/?p=74838 ]]>

If you’ve got today off from class, then good for you.  I’m glad you’re taking this opportunity to watch reality TV marathons and binge eat 100 Calorie Packs.  There’s no shame in that.  But next time you’ve got an extended weekend, perhaps you should round up your besties and hit the road.

Austin is oh-so trendy (in a good way) and boasts delicious culinary treats.  How can you say no to a making s’mores right in a restaurant?  Hit up Boston if you’re in the Northeast.  From potential celeb sightings to swank clubs, Beantown’s got it all.  If you’re feeling stuck in the Midwest, head to Minneapolis to take in some cosmopolitan activities.  And Savannah is great for all you Southern students.  Steeped in history and boasting the most attractive locals this side of the Mississippi, it is not to be missed.

Or maybe you want to take your long weekend in another country?  Toronto could be the city for you.  Oh, and the legal drinking age is 19…bonus!

Fall semester is in full swing and it’s starting to feel like you’re doing the same thing every week. Class. Study. Drink. Hangover. Poor Theme Party Costume Choice. Homework. Switch things up by taking advantage of a long weekend or your fall break (if you’re that lucky) by checking out our Weekend Getaway guides.   We’ve already covered Boston and Toronto. Today we’re celebrating Austin.

Austin is somewhere I’m glad to call my home. It’s a city that’s big enough to be exciting, but at the same time small enough to be super friendly. There is always something to do here, making it an optimal destination for Fall Break or a long weekend away from campus.

Why, you ask?

Well for starters, if music is your thing, Austin is definitely the place to be. We didn’t earn the name “Live Music Capital of the World” for nothing. Secondly, we’re far enough south that “Fall” to the rest of the country still feels like summer. Have a cute swimsuit you got at an end of season sale? Bust it out here! Thirdly, the University of Texas, Austin’s major university accounting for 50,000 students, doesn’t have a fall break, so that means NO CROWDS! And, really, Austin is just all around fun. I mean, the slogan for the plethora of funky locally owned business is “Keep Austin Weird!”

If that doesn’t entice you, perhaps this will:

Tourist Spots:

South Congress – More affectionately known as “SoCo,” this, to me, is the best place to shop, eat, and get a great feel of the Keep Austin Weird mentality. More specifically, you can check out Lucy in Disguise with Diamonds; this crazy costume shop that has just about everything imaginable (and we all know that every college student needs to keep a few costumes in her arsenal!). Have a sweet tooth? Check out Big Top Candy Shop, an old fashion candy store that even has a working vintage soda machine! My favorite part of SoCo is the view of the Capital building/downtown skyline. Seriously, bring your camera.

Barton Springs Pool - This natural spring stays at 75 degrees year round. Mmmmmm. One of my favorite parts of Austin is how green and beautiful our parks are, and this is to me the best place to enjoy that. Like I said, it’s still in the 80′s during October, so enjoy the heat before you have to go home to the harsh reality that winter is fast approaching!

Food:

Kerbey Lane Cafe – This 24 hour place is great because it pretty much has everything, and is also vegetarian, vegan, gluten free and friendly to just about any dietary need. What makes is amazing, however, is the pancakes. You have never tasted anything like them. So fluffy, so flavorful, and sooooooo good. And you’re in luck because during the fall they have pumpkin pancakes, AKA the best thing that’ll ever happen to you.

Guero’s Taco Bar – You can’t go to Austin and not get Tex-Mex; it’s just not right. Guero’s has some of the best in town, and also has some divine margaritas. If it sounds familiar, that’s because it’s a favorite of Quentin Tarantino and was even in the movie Deathproof.

The Salt Lick – This is isn’t technically in Austin, but totally worth the 25 minute drive out of town. Located in Driftwood, The Salt Lick is most likely the best barbecue you will ever have the pleasure of eating. The meat is fall-apart-in-your-mouth tender and delicious. But be warned: on a typical Friday night it’s at least an hour wait. Totes worth it, though.

Nightlife:

6th Street – This is where Austin gets interesting. There are more bars on about 5 blocks of 6th Street, aka “dirty 6th,” than is probably in your entire hometown. They shut the street down to traffic just about every night. With all of these bars in close proximity, there is always a good band playing and cheap drinks to enjoy. No wonder Dirty 6th is a haven for the drunken crazy college kids.

Warehouse district – If you prefer a classier bar experience, go two blocks over to 4th street for the warehouse district. Just as many bars but with fewer people puking in the streets. My favorite place to go after a long night of drinking is Halcyon. It’s small, cozy, has interesting local art on the walls, and, get this, you can make s’mores. They bring out a plate of marshmallows, Hershey bars, and graham crackers with a little mini campfire and skewers. You can order a small order for 2 or a larger order for 4, and it’s so much fun!

So there you have it: a long weekend in Austin. If that doesn’t sound like a great trip, I don’t know what does. Hope to see you soon!

I came into college with a well thought-out plan of what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to go to film school, live in Los Angeles, be a writer for television and maybe one day direct movies.

I never figured a boyfriend into my whole equation.

So now that I have one it feels like I have to somehow stick to my plan and ambitions while figuring in someone else’s. It’s MUCH harder than it sounds.

I’m from a medium sized city that was boring as hell growing up. I couldn’t wait to go to a big college in a big city to get away. I like being busy, I like having a lot of people to befriend, and I love being so close to Austin’s famous sixth street and live bands. I’ve always been a city girl and I want to stay a city girl. Matt, on the other hand, is a homebody. He’s from a small city and would much rather go back to live there (or somewhere like it) after college. He hates big cities because the driving is too dangerous, crime is high, and he is very content staying at home every night. Even though we’re in the same major, he wants to work at small town TV stations while I want to work in Hollywood.

Big difference in opinions…so what do we do about it?

I bet you’re thinking that this is supposed to be the part where I shed my somewhat wise opinion on the matter, but honestly, I don’t know what to do either. I want to be my own woman but if I’m going to stay with Matt the rest of my life (and that’s my plan) there’s going to have to be some sacrifices. It comes with the territory. And these sacrifices aren’t even something I mind. Yeah, when I started out on this journey I had big, lofty goals of Hollywood, but things have changed and now I’ve got something else (something wonderful) to consider in my planning.

I’ve laid the ground rules out and Matt and I have come to a few conclusions. He’s agreed to put my career first because he can pretty much work anywhere with what he wants to do. That means that it’s up to me to choose which city works best for me and he’ll make it work. That being said, I’m not going to force LA down Matt’s throat knowing how he feels about it, so I’m going to look everywhere but LA first.

And that’s where we’re at. He’s making concessions for me and I’m making concessions for him. We’re both holding onto our futures and our plans, they’re both just a little different than how we first imagined them. And I don’t know how this is all going to work, but it’s working for now and that’s all that really matters.

Anyone out there got some advice for people in this sort of situation? Have you given up your future to follow someone else? Has someone done that for you? Share!

The plane has crashed into the Hudson River. OMFG.

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A graph of Obama expectations.

More and more people are looking for love online these days and I’ll admit, I’m one of them. I honestly don’t know where else to find a date besides the typical bar/club scene, which seems much more conducive to finding a one night stand than finding love. I don’t work in an environment where I meet eligible bachelors, I pretty much know my friends’ friends so getting set up isn’t really an option. So where else do you look? People tell me I should do something I enjoy; a cooking class, hanging out in Barnes & Noble, join some sort of sports league and I’ll meet a guy who shares similar interests with me, but as social as I am, I’m not one to go to a cooking class alone, and I have yet to meet a guy in B&N. So that leaves me with the internet.

Sure, it’s scary and I’ve had my fair share of weirdos or guys who were several inches shorter than what they claimed, or sent pictures from when they were 10 years and 50 pounds lighter, but I’ve also been taken on some pretty amazing dates and met some really cool guys, some of whom I’ve remained friends with. Obviously, my prince hasn’t come along, but maybe the timing just hasn’t been right. I’ve tried a lot of the sites out there; match.com, Plenty of Fish, okcupid, Craig’s List, eHarmony and even Jdate (yes, I’m a shiksa who likes Jewish boys). Thus far, I’ve had the best luck on Craig’s List and the worst luck with match and eHarmony (the one that claims it’ll help you find your soulmate), but as I’m still single, I haven’t had the luck I’m really looking for, so I decided to try out a new site, it’s called crazyblinddate.com, and yes, it’s crazy.

Crazyblinddate.com is run by the same people who run okcupid and it works like this: You go onto their site and click which city you live in (so far they only cover Austin, Boston, Chicago, LA, NYC, and San Francisco), then you choose if you’d rather go on a single or a double date. They inform you that you will be set up on a date at either a bar or a coffee shop (your choice), but you won’t see a picture of them or have any communication with them before your date…can you say, yikes?!?

At this point, you create a profile. Your profile consists of the basics; first name, date of birth, gender, sexual orientation, height, body type, ethnicity, religion, and education level. After that they go into more in-depth questions; “You’ll know because I look like…”, “Things I’m good at talking about…”, “What I expect of a date…” and “Before we go on a date you should know…”. After you answer these, they ask you another series of questions, which they inform you your date will never see (why ask then?). Basically they’re questions about how picky you are when it comes to intelligence, attractiveness and how far you’re willing to go if a date goes well. After that, it’s time to upload your picture. Once you’ve got your profile done and have confirmed your e-mail address, you’re set.

You tell them when you’re available for a date (they’re usually pretty last minute, like that day or the next, though you can go for something further in advance) and you answer some questions about what your preferences are for location/area of the city and your date (ethnicity, height, education level, etc.). This is where I start noticing glitches.

They tell you that your date should not be too far away, but when I click in neighborhoods reasonably close to me, I am told that I need to broaden my horizons for a better chance at getting a date, didn’t they just tell me to keep the date in my ‘hood? Once I add a few more neighborhoods, they tell me I’m being too picky in my preferences and that I’m more likely to get a date if I’m more open-minded. Okay, seriously, I have height and educational preferences, I can’t help it. I’m sorry that I don’t wanna get set up on a date with a 5’6” high school drop out, but I know right off the bat it’s not gonna go well. So I keep my preferences the way they are and hope that they can scrounge up someone for me.

So far, I’ve been offered three dates; they both e-mail and text you when they have a potential date and you have to check them out and see if you want to accept. What you get to check out is a blurred picture of the person, and all the info from their profile. I must admit, reading these guys’ descriptions, I wonder how in God’s name I’ll recognize them in a bar (unless they’re the only brown haired, brown eyed, athletic guy at the bar). I haven’t accepted any of the dates, two of them didn’t work for my schedule and one of them I just got a sense wasn’t going to be a good match for me. So today I log on to see what they have brewing and I’m told that they “almost have a date” for me and there are 29 people they can match me with if I’m a little less picky. They suggest changing my required maximum age and minimum education level. Again, I don’t want a 42 year old who flunked out of college, sorry.

So now I continue to play the waiting game to see if they find a date I feel is worthy of my time and energy to see if it’s possible to find someone you click with if you’ve never had any contact with them or even know what they look like. The saga will continue once I find a date, so stayed tuned kids, things could get interesting…

Being that most of us are ridiculously broke, Happy Hour is Ecstatic Hour, easy on the bank account and good for the soul. CollegeCandy wants to assist you all in saving your money to pay for those student loans, and give you some of the best Happy Hours in your cities so that all the dough you acquire from long work hours, can be well spent.

CHEERS!

Austin, TX- Carlos ‘n Charlies Happy Hour: 2-7, plus live music!

Doc’s Motorworks- Happy Hour:4-7 plus daily food specials. $2 pints of Miller Lite? Sign me up.

Saba Cafe- Happy Hour: 4:30-7 half priced cocktails and $5 appetizers!

DC/Arlington- Gua’rapo- Happy Hour: 5-7, drinks and tapas specials. Plus Hookah!

Iota Club and Cafe- Happy Hour:5-9, half off wine, $2 select bottles. Live music, local bands.

Irelands Four Courts- Happy Hour:4-7, daily food specials. Wednesday= 55 cent wings?! Live music also!

Boston, MA-Grendel’s Den- Happy Hour: 5.30-7, sangria, impressive beer selection and a mix of international foods.

The Avenue- Happy Hour: 4-7 25 cent wings, and dollar drafts. Need I say more?

Sweetwater Cafe- Happy hour daily, and kitchen open until 1am. Live music and locals favorite.

Chicago, IL-Sheffields Wine and Beer- Happy Hour: Daily pint specials, $2 cans, lunch specials and beer garden!

Vintage Wine Bar- Martini nights, complimentary wine on live jazz nights and daily specials. $5 pizzas..mmmm.

Billy Goat Tavern- Ridiculously cheap burgers and drinks. Con? No credit cards accepted-but, still totally worth it.

Phoenix, AZ-Dos Gringos Mexigrill-Happy Hour: 4-7 or 10-2am, 1/2 tacos, and patio bar. This place is rad.

The Monastery- Happy Hour: 3-7, bar snacks, volleyball, darts, and in the summer you can grill your own food. Plus, free taxi’s for those of you who accidentally have too many jello shots.

Maloney’s Tavern- College hang out, jumbo martini mondays, and pub grub. Easy on the wallet. Amen.

Portland, OR- Saucebox - Happy hour:4:30-6:30, $1-5 menus, and unique cocktails. Great vibe, loved by locals, delicious enough to stay for dinner.

Hubers- Happy Hour:: 4-6 and 9:30-close. PLUS, $1.95-2.95 appetizers, smoked turkey quesadillas anyone?

Tiger Bar- Happy Hour- 4-9, $3 food specials. Live music, Karaoke, atmosphere…and again, I’ll repeat, cheap FOOD.

Those are just a few major cities with great Happy Hours, more cities to come…

What cities would you like to see?? And from what we’ve listed, any great places we should know about? Tell us!

UT – Austin surveyed 52 men who were asked to test the scent of 18 worn t-shirts worn by women in various phases of their menstrual cycle. Almost all of the guys in the experiment, 1 guy was gay – so his doesn’t really count, found the shirts worn during the girl’s period to be the most enticing.

Sadly, this is when a woman is least fertile…therefore, least likely to get pregnant.

But, when Aunt Flow comes over to stay no one is really excited to jump into bed anyway…

So, other than all those religious fundementalists who think womens’ ovulation is dirty and unnatural, every other man thinks it is when we are at our sexiest.

The question is, how eager are WE to have sex during our period?

I mean, I knew I was Harvard-caliber, I just didn’t have the grades– I was above grades! I could have totally gone Ivy-League if I had wanted to, but I chose the route of a small school with a philosophy, a mission (and a respectable ranking).

My freshman year, I ended up at a small liberal arts school that was ranked #30. Not bad, considering it was ranked #25 in terms of selectivity. I figured its teeny endowment brought the main ranking down. I was satisfied, my family was satisfied, my peers were satisfied. I had landed.

But when I got to college, of course, I realized that these rankings meant absolutely nothing. What did I care about my college’s freshman retention or alumni – giving rate? And the insidiously low student to faculty ratio was moot if you were in a crappy class in which none of the other six students talked. I found myself pining for large, anonymous lecture classes. Did I wanted a lower – ranked education?

The old, corny adage rings true over and over again: college is what you make of it. Seriously. All campuses have pretty trees and old buildings. All student bodies have geniuses and idiots. Yale has a dining hall. Podunk University in Mississippi has a dining hall.

And they both have horrible food. It’s all the same.

Therefore, I totally support the abolition of college rankings, and it looks as if the movement is picking up some deserved speed. The notoriously antiestablishment Reed College in Oregon (which has been called the most cerebral college in the country) has always shirked the ratings, and more colleges are jumping on its ship. As today’s Chicago Tribune stated: in a letter to colleges across the country, 12 college presidents have announced that they will abstain from filling out U.S. News’s annual survey and risk a fallen rating for the betterment of the college admissions process.

I don’t think too much about prestige or the name-brand of my college now that I’m actually here. Truth be told, the tiny, #30 ranked college I went to is not a whole lot different than Texas, which bears the scar of a different ranking (#1 Party School! yeahhh…). Just goes to show: the important is not where you go, but where you’re going (and, um, graduating).

Okay, so clearly I don’t dance like Britney Spears (although I guess she doesn’t really dance anymore either), and I know I don’t look like Aubrey from Diddy’s Danity Kane, but hey, when no one is looking, I can shake my ba-dunk-a-dunk, pop and lock and even do a spin or two. And I swear if I take a quick (like speed of light quick) glimpse in the mirror I can see a six-pack of my very own. Hey a girl can dream right?!

Well now, we can do more than just dream. Thanks to my favorite dance studio on earth, NYC’s notorious Broadway Dance Center, you can take dance lessons from the best of them. Famous for choreographing moves for the rich and famous, today’s hottest choreographers are heading out on the Pulse Tour 2007-2008.

Chris Judd (J.Lo’s ex), Making the Band’s Laurie Ann Gibson, Brian Friedman (choreographed Toxic, I’m a Slave For You and choreographer/judge on “So You Think You Can Dance”), Wade Robson (worked with *Nsync and Britney Spears- also known for being the dude Brit cheated on Justin with. Oopsie.), Shane Sparks, David Scott and Mia Michaels (all have a resume full of clients Us Weekly worthy) are heading out to teach y-o-u how to take it to the floor.

Making stops in Miami, Chicago, Minneapolis, Las Vegas, New Jersey, Georgia, Austin and more you can spend an entire weekend learning to shake it just like J.Lo.

So while I may not have Aubrey’s abs (I’m working on it!! I’m ‘X-Flow-ing’!) at least I can now impress my mirror with her moves.

For more information on prices, locations, registration info and staff visit the Pulse Tour’s Official Webiste