According to University of North Carolina professor Kevin Caneiro, there’s a new disease lurking on college campuses nationwide. Dubbed  “Laptop-itis,” it is the result of excessive use of laptops and cell phones with symptoms ranging from worsened posture to pain in the backs, necks, and wrists of students everywhere.

Caneiro’s concern regarding this ailment is understandable – we don’t need an entire generation of hunchbacks, after all – but in the grand scheme of things, Laptop-itis is the least of our problems. Really, there are plenty of larger issues we college students should be worrying about. Like Athlete’s Foot from the showers. Or Mono from all those frat party makeouts.

Or any of these:

Laundr-phobia:  Often striking halfway through the semester, students present with an unhealthy, all-consuming fear of the laundry room (usually stemming from an uncertainty of how to use the machines).  Symptoms include a lack of underwear, crusty stains and a less than desirable smell of mildew permeating from their overflowing hamper.  In extreme cases, Laundr-phobia’s effects can be disastrous (and foul), often leading to ridicule and friend loss.  While there is no known cure, temporary reprieve is available during long weekends at home with mom. Read More »

When I was growing up, my dad always told me, “Caitlin, be prepared.”

I’m pretty sure he was referring to things like school work and job interviews, but I took that advice to heart….with beauty supplies.

Thanks to my dad I never leave the house without my big bag of beauty essentials. You never know what could happen on your way to class – blisters from your shoes, a sudden monsoon, laughing so hard you cry off all your mascara – so it’s best to bring along a few things to save you from a makeup meltdown. I’ll share with you all of my must-brings that have gotten me through all of my beauty emergencies and then you can customize your portable beauty bag to hold whatever you like (yeah, stacks on deck, Patron on ice…). Read More »

[Life isn’t black and white. As much as we wish we simply loved or hated things, there is often that whole annoying gray area in the middle. Like, we love going home to the parentals', but we hate having to live with their rules. Or we love power hours, but hate cleaning up the empty cans in the morning. Damn you, gray area; you make decision-making that much more complicated!]

I live in my Rainbows. Period. No matter if it’s spring or fall, cloudy or sunny, hot or cold. No matter if I’m heading to a class, rocking out at a concert, or lounging by the pool. My Rainbows are constantly my go-to shoe, but sometimes – I admit – they’re just not a very good shoe choice.

So, my dear Rainbows, I’m totally torn…

Love Em:

There’s many reasons why 99% of the time you see me (and the majority of the other girls on campus), I’m in my Rainbows. They’re arguably the most comfortable shoes ever made, thanks to the leather construction and cushioned sole that molds to your feet (you can even see the layers of leathery softness!). And if you want more comfort, you can even buy ‘em double-layered! Can you say “heaven”?

Rainbows come in a ton of varieties. You can choose your color (white, brown, or black), material (leather or cloth), and straps (thin or thick). Not that it matters; whatever you choose, Rainbows always match your outfit and make you look 100% Cali-cute! Read More »

[It doesn’t matter what school you go to, what state it is in, how big it is, whether it is public or private, all girls or coed…there are experiences that all college students share.

No matter how crazy you think your personal situation is, it is not just you. So, let’s bring it all out in the open. Right here. Because you are not alone - we’ve all been there before.]

It’s Friday (or Saturday, Sunday…or any day that ends in “y”) and you are gonna hit the town with the ladies. You crack a beer and sip it in front of your closet as you figure out which low cut top and jeans to wear. The stereo in your room is blasting a little Lady Gaga to get you in the mood. Once you are dressed and properly accessorized, you gather your friends together for a little pre-party dance party.

Soon it’s time to go, so you throw on your favorite pair of going-out stilettos and make your way to the party. They aren’t comfortable, but you convince yourself that by the time they start hurting you will be too drunk to notice.

You walk to the party, holding hands with your BFF and having the “I love you so much” conversation that only happens when you are 3-4 drinks in. Upon arriving at the gathering, you make your way to the keg and fill up your red Solo cup. And the night officially begins.

There is dancing, there is drinking, there are laps around the room to see just which cute boys you may want to flirt with.

And then the pain sets in. Read More »

Listen to me: your mom is not coming with you to college.

There is not going to be anyone there to feed you soup when you have a cold or hand you band-aids when you’ve had too much to drink, fall, and cut yourself on glass. There is only the student health center and they don’t want to hear about your minor ailments; they’ve got a whole campus worth of people with real problems. Like broken limbs… and broken condoms.

Because of this you have to be prepared to take care of yourself when it comes to the minor things: the tummy aches, the colds, the bumps and bruises. And you have to be prepared.

Below is a handy dandy list of things you’ll need to build your very own medicine cabinet. No more unnecessary trips to the Health Center (where they probably can’t help you anyway), or crying to your mom on the phone. Well, you can still cry on the phone, but at least you won’t have to leave the house to get some Pepto.

1) A container

First things first – you’re going to need a place to store your medical supplies. This can be an under-the-bed plastic tub or a cool toolbox you decorate with stickers. Anything you want really, as long as it’s storable. And make sure that whatever you pick can hold a few 20 oz and cans.

2) Band-Aids and Bandages

This is the most basic part of your kit; the thing that you will probably be using most of all. You should stock up on band-aids of all sizes. You never know what you might need one for: blisters, shaving nicks, paper cuts, drunken falls. Also keep a few ace bandages handy. Thanks to the combination of stilettos and alcohol, sprained ankles and wrists are inevitable. Read More »

My mother is 100% Italian. My father, a 100% Irish. My brother got my mother’s olive skin tone: the two of them could sit outside for hours, lathering up in baby oil and bake to a beautiful golden brown. I was the fortunate one (insert sarcastic undertone here) who got my father’s Irish skin. The two of us can’t go to a windy afternoon baseball game without using SPF 45, unless of course, we want to find ourselves covered in sunburn and blisters.

Last summer, I thought I was invincible when it came to the sun. My friends can get tan with SPF 4 or 8, so why couldn’t I? On two various occasions, I felt the effects of not listening to the realistic side of my brain in terms of summer sunshine. I spent a week in June in San Antonio, Texas, where it was roughly 95 degrees every day. As this was a more family-oriented – go out to dinner, do family related things – sunbathing took a back seat, until the last dreaded day, when I thought it was appropriate to lay at the pool, for three solid hours, with nothing – and I mean, not a drop of sunscreen – on my body. Read More »

I have walked enough miles in bloody shoes and hobbled down too many roads to realize that band-aids just don’t cut it for blisters. While interning in New York my senior year of college I tried every form of blister protection: special blister band-aids, moleskin, Dr. Scholl’s and at the end of the day I was still soaking my feet in Epsom salt baths and cringing with every step.

Luckily, I didn’t give up. I tried every product in or around the foot care section of Duane Reade before stumbling upon an ingenious blister blocker: surgical tape. It stays on for the entire day and is thin enough to not create any discomfort between your feet and your oh-so-fabulous shoes. It works great as a preventive blister measure; and in my case so many times, after the fact to keep those shoddy band-aids in place.

Even better, though, is the fact that it is clear; making it less obvious you’ve wrapped your feet up like a post-op patient.

While my surgical tape is always in my purse, there are a few new blister protectors out on the market gathering rave reviews. Read More »