Remember when you were a little kid, and you’d actually wake up on time for school… just so you could huddle next to the radio and listen for your school to be called on the list of snow days? With winter’s doom impending and temperatures dropping faster than The Situation’s pants, we can’t help but cross our fingers and pray.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

Are snow days something you never grow out of? Or, in college, do they prove that miracles really can happen? Here’s how our anticipation of snow days has evolved since grammar school.

Then: A snow day meant a day off from times tables.
Now: We don’t have to finish copying someone else’s MiniTabs before Stats lab.

Then: We would make a beeline to the street and get all the neighborhood kids together for a snowball fight.
Now: We don’t have to brave arctic winds to walk to class and sit through lecture with snotsicles hanging from our frostbitten faces. Read More »

[It's pretty obvious that the average CollegeCandy reader has some very strong opinions. Opinions that she likes to share with everyone on the site. We love a strong woman (unless she happens to be charging at us with her fists raised), so we thought we'd give her a real forum to discuss her thoughts, feelings, and perspectives. Every Friday I'll be featuring a hot topic (like free birth control! ) and leaving it up to you, the readers, to duke it out. So, read it and get your debate on in the comments section below!]

From Stanford to Florida State there are certain traditions that hold true in college across the country - homecoming, welcome week craziness, wearing flip flops in the shower, and getting up close and personal with your toilet after way too many shots on Friday night. College drinking has been a hot button issue for a long time, and there’s always been the question of who should step up and be responsible for it. Some recent reports have said that schools aren’t doing enough to curb excessive drinking – but should it be up to the schools?

On one side, colleges do have a responsibility toward their students’ health and that should at least include doing their best to distribute information and make policies that help keep students from chugging down the booze until it’s stomach-pump time. Also since many colleges are a major epicenter for the towns they’re in, often the school’s policies spill over into the surrounding communities, which in turn helps to curb the bingeing overall. And whether it’s fair or not, colleges are the only ones who really have jurisdiction in these kind of situations since it’s not a legal issue, so it has to be up to the schools to try and keep students (at least reasonably, sorta) sober. Read More »

Attention college grads: put down your martini for just a moment and check out the new poll conducted by Gallup.com.  The results show that 71% of college graduates like to get their drink on, compared to only 58% of those with a high school degree or less.

Think about the last time you got your buzz on.  Was it last night?  The night before?  This morning? I’d venture to say it probably was in the not-too-distant past.  While some scientists might be scratching their heads over this significant drinking gap, I can think up a few explanations for this post-university bender we find ourselves on.

Duh, the economy’s got us all depressed.
A lot of us are unemployed.  You may have a job working at Baby Gap, but that’s not a career.  The general lack of a 9 to 5 schedule means we’ve got more room for late nights out and hungover mornings.  And when you’re a twenty-something folding shirts or scooping ice cream all day, you often need a drink to soften the blow of “Is this my life?” moments.

Sometimes the booze is free.
If you’re living with your parents to save on rent, chances are you don’t have much money to spend on alcohol either.  You’ll never get those student loans paid off if you bankroll your friends at the bar, but invite them home and drink the good stuff courtesy of Dad’s liquor cabinet. When it’s just sitting there, how can you say no? Read More »

Over the past few months, I’ve written a lot about how nervous I am to graduate, to leave college for good, and enter the real world. I’ve felt scared, nervous, anxious, and every other emotion that comes naturally to a graduating senior.

I’ve stressed about my lack of job, the economy, and how the heck I am going to figure out things like insurance, paying bills, and not drinking on Sunday nights. But despite all my reservations about leaving the wonderful world of college behind, I’m also really, really, fantastically excited to graduate.

Like many of you, I’ve had the best time over the past four years. I literally cannot imagine my life any differently. When I was a senior in high school, leaving my comfort zone for a college over 2,000 miles across the country was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make. But it was also the best decision I’ve ever made. I knew no one and had no friends. But four years later, I’ve found a network of teachers, mentors, and peers that have helped me grow into the person I want to be. Who knows what my life would be like without the people I’ve met or the experiences I’ve had here in college? Read More »

Mother Earth Says: No balloons!

As 2009 winds down and 2010 looms ahead, we all begin thinking about the important things in life.  I think most of us can agree that at the top of our list would be one of the most important things of all – throwing an epic NYE bash!

As always, I will be the one to 1) ruin your fun by saying that your party is killing the earth and 2) make it even better by replacing your old faves with your soon-to-be new ones.  Here are some of the most crucial aspects to throwing an eco-friendly, yet equally bitchin’ New Year’s shindig.

1) Choose eco-friendly champagnes.  This article on TreeHugger.com has a great list of organic sparkling wines at all price ranges.   If you’re like me and still too poor to afford a bottle of anything over $7.99 then you can still opt for the favorites as long as they’re grown and bottled as close to you as possible.  For example, if you’re a California girl, such as myself, you have the pleasure of sippin’ on BevMo’s finest.  That’s right, I’m talking about Cook’s and Andre.  You’re welcome.

2)  Use real champagne glasses. I know you are all classy ladies out there, so kick the red cup habit and get something real stylish.  If you can’t afford the cost and the injuries that result from broken glass, opt for acrylic or plastic champagne flutes.  Just be sure to recollect them at the end of the night so you can use them for your party next year (or next week). Read More »

There is always that one friend that is the sparkler at every party. And I mean every party, because she never misses one. Infamous for dancing on tables and singing louder than the rest when Miley’s “Party in the USA” comes on, she’s a party animal and you love her just the way she is. She’s the one you call to find out the best pregame, party and after-party for the night. So really, you owe her.

If you need help finding the perfect present for the party animal in your life, here are some helpful gift ideas for the girl who loves life… and loves it a lot more when there’s booze involved. Read More »

[It's pretty obvious that the average CollegeCandy reader has some very strong opinions. Opinions that she likes to share with everyone on the site. We love a strong woman, so we thought we'd give her a real forum to discuss her thoughts, feelings, and perspectives. Every Friday I'll be featuring a hot topic (like losing our summers!) and leaving it up to you, the readers, to duke it out. So, read it and get your debate on in the comments section below!]

Let’s be honest – no one (at least no one who wants hot, dirty sex) waits until they’re 21 to try an alcoholic beverage. Alcohol is so ubiquitous at high school and college parties that the red plastic cup is practically the official symbol of underage consumption. And yet, even in the face of this almost universal fact, the legal drinking age in America continues to be 21 (as if we didn’t have enough problems getting our hooch!).

Now that the Amethyst Initiative - a group of over 135 US college and university presidents who want the drinking age lowered - is making the rounds, the debate has gotten even hotter – and since we’re the ones it really effects, it seems like it’s time we weighed in! Read More »

Mmmm beer cake.

I love drinking alcohol, but weekend after weekend of beer pong and vodka shots can get old. So I got to thinking…how can I spice up my weekly binge drinking sesh?

I hit the web in search of some “unique,” “fun” alcohol ideas, and out of these keywords came the most glorious idea I have ever heard.

Cake-tails.

It seemed so simple. Why had I never thought of this before? Why drink my calories when I can kill two birds with one stone? Gobble down baked goods from the snack table while still getting my drink on?

Within minutes I had an entire list of cocktail inspired recipes and alcohol based desserts that I knew my friends would be all over. (No seriously, if they tackled my kitchen table I wouldn’t be surprised).

So here are some of my favorites. Try them out for your next girls’ night or bring it to the house party on Saturday. (If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, make 20 mini bunt cakes for a delicious Beer Pong game.) You will most definitely be everyone’s favorite guest. Let’s be real, who is going to say no to alcohol-and-dessert-in-one? That’s right, absolutely no one.

Plus, our favorite girly cocktails can continue to live on despite the fact that the cutest thing we can drink in a beer-soaked-frat-house is a jello shot – and even that’s a luxury.

Read More »

"I shouldn't have eaten that 2nd hot dog..."

It’s College Game Day. Do you know what that means?

For most college guys out there, it means it’s the best day of the week and college football has arrived! It means tailgating, day drinking, cheerleaders, phenomenal food, and most importantly: field goals, sacks, tackles, and touchdowns.

There are a lot of girls who wake up on Game Day just as excited as the boys for the glory that is college football. These football girls know their team, their key players, their opponents, their weaknesses, and also, most likely, who the hottest players are.

Not one of these girls? Well, you can be. Football fanatic or not, here’s some tips every college girl should know to be prepared for game day. Read More »

New Year’s Eve, many moons ago, I spent the end of the evening hugging the toilet at my parents’ house. I recall my mother saying, in that all-too-knowing tone, “See Blair, alcohol is poison.”

“Thanks, Mom. Blahhhhh!”

At that moment, while I agreed completely, I still felt like telling her to shut up. I needed her back there holding my hair, not scolding me for drinking “poison.”

Never would I have imagined – in my wildest dreams! – later reading articles boasting, “Alcohol is Good for You!”

But here we are in 2009 and it’s been proven that wine, and now beer and liquor, provide certain benefits to the body. Read More »