I hate winter. I hate the cold. And I most certainly hate the snow. So it should come as no surprise to you that I am already dreaming of the lazy days of summer ahead. In fact, I don’t even care if they are lazy, I just want them to be warm and sun-filled. Preferably not humid…but I’ll work with it.

As a New Englander you would think I would be one of the many supporters of winter. After all, I used to figure skate and bring my inner tube to the Seven Hills, but somewhere (I blame junior year of college; not sure why) I turned. Maybe it was when I fell in love with all the wonderful things summer had to offer, maybe it was when winter started taking over half of the year. Regardless of the reasoning, I miss summer…and have a horrible case of summer fever.

In the hopes of dragging the rest of you down this long path of Pina Coladas and hot cabana boys, here are the ten things I miss about summer… Read More »

Tuffy Luv is your friendly neighborhood advice columnist. You can find her swinging from buildings…or at TuffyLuv@collegecandy.com. Either way.

Dear Tuffy Luv,

My college program keeps me and my friends in school full time in the summer. I was totally excited to be back at school after our winter internships and see all my friends. Everything was going totally swell. The weather was great and we had one midterm left to go so we started planning a beach trip/camping trip. I didn’t have the same lunch break as my friends so I left some of the detail planning up to them. Anyway, it was a couple a days before we were planning on going camping and I’m hanging out with my best friend. She is literally my only girl friend at college (male dominated programs are tricky that way) and a really important to me. I saw a list of camping supplies on her dresser and asked what was up with the planning and how much money I owed for supplies. And then her exact words are “You’re not going.” I got bumped from the trip because there wasn’t enough room in the car.

I wouldn’t have normally been that upset or mad but one of the people going was her friend that didn’t live in our dorm and never hung out with the group of us that did. She only hung out with my friend who kicked me off the trip. The guys going were a really great bunch but one of them was also the guy that my friend was hooking up with and then later she found out he was seeing some other girl in the winter when he moved away for his internship.

Is it just me or did I totally just get replaced? We haven’t been speaking but I told her I was really pissed off about getting ditched and that we hadn’t tried to get another car or something. She really doesn’t think it was a big deal at all and thinks I’m being dumb for being pissed. I really don’t think I have anything to apologize for but clearly she thinks so since she hasn’t made any effort to talk to me after I told her I was mad. I really don’t want to “cave” and apologize for getting mad but she’s not making any effort to talk to me!

What do I do???

-Ditched. Read More »

After spending all of spring semester counting down the days until summer break started, I’m now faced with the end of summer and even more school.  Where did the time go?  What was I doing when the sun was shining and the waves were crashing?  Oh yeah, I was probably online.  Hazard of the job, I suppose (and of being a college student).

However, I decided that I would not let the rest of the summer go to waste.  I’m going to take stock of all the things I was excited about before the summer began and make sure I do them before I go back to my dungeon dorm room.

Eat A Lot of Free Food – My mom loves to cook for me whenever I’m home.  I don’t have to say anything more than, “I think I’m coming up to visit on Saturday” and she’ll have already bought the ingredients for my favorite meals.  Things like eggs benedict, home-made macaroni and cheese (with six kinds of cheese!! mmm), cherry roasted baby-back ribs and so much more are thrown at me (not literally, although I fully support food fights) from the moment I step out of my car.  Plus, a plate of brownies or cookies that seem to fall into my hands at random times.  Yes, I’ll leave fit to burst and probably need a couple days to sleep off the food coma, but it’s so worth it.  Just thinking about a whole semester of dorm food and ramen noodles makes me wanna go home right now… Read More »

I’ve mentioned this in recent posts, but I always use my summer vacation as a catalyst for next fall’s budget.  Many of you are saving money by living at home, or earning extra cash by taking on a summer job.  However, when the sun comes out, it’s a lot more tempting to go out and spend money.

You might have said “No” to 1/2 price happy hour during the winter, but now your friends can twist your arm to drink overpriced margaritas at a trendy beach bar.  Cutting costs doesn’t have to mean cutting down on fun, however, and if you play your cards right, you can have a kickass summer and barely spend a dime.

1.  Hang out at the lake.

Big beaches can actually cost a pretty penny, when you factor in overpriced parking costs, expensive surrounding restaurants, and the gas money if it’s a major tourist trap that seems worth a 2- to 3-hour drive.  You can still soak in the sun and go for a dip at your local lake.  If the lake is part of a community park, you might have to pay a couple dollars to park, but that money usually goes towards keeping the park clean.

2.  Go fruit picking.

Check out local farms and farmer’s markets and stock of on all the fresh produce that’s yours for the picking.  Whether you visit a strawberry patch, a blueberry field, or stock up on a harvest of tomatoes, you can spend a few therapeutic hours away from the commotion of our high-tech world, and maintain your bikini bod by eating healthy.  Then, go home and conjure up some gastronomic experiments, such as homemade caprese salad (tomatoes layered with fresh mozzarella and drizzled with balsamic vinegar) or a genuine strawberry daiquiri. Read More »

It was hot the other day. I mean, really hot. Like, 94 degrees hot. But, unfortunately, it takes more than an unseasonable heat wave to make my sweet tooth dissipate.

I had planned earlier in the day to bake cookies, but the thought of turning on the oven in the heat made me feel like I was going to melt on the spot. And then, suddenly, I had a dessert altering memory:

When I was a wee brownie in my second year of the Girl Scouts, I went on a camping trip. After roasting the requisite marshmallows, my girl scout leader whipped out a little surprise: we were going to make icebox cake.

The dopey bunch of us gathered around and put together this seeming mishmash and then, the next morning, we were munching on one of the most delicious desserts we’d ever had.

When I once again made icebox cake the other day, I was pleased to discover that the dessert is every bit as delicious as I remembered it–and every bit as easy. In fact, it’s easier–as Girl Scouts, we made it by leaving it outside overnight in the winter. Now you can use–gasp!–a refrigerator!

Here is the (very easy) recipe. Enjoy! Read More »

Now that it’s spring, you and your friends may want to take a weekend trip and enjoy some fun in the sun. Maybe relax on the beach, sip on some cocktails, and catch a tan. But for the more adventurous, outdoorsy type, camping is the way to go.

I never thought I was a camping kinda girl, until my boyfriend and all of his friends invited me a few years back during my sophomore year. No electricity, no air conditioning, no Full House reruns for an entire 24 hours? No, no, no! I need my daily Tanner Family fix!

Needless to say, I got dragged along, and even though I forgot my pillow and had to sleep on a roll of toilet paper, and woke up in the morning staring at a freakishly large spider, I actually ended up enjoying myself and started to camp out almost once a month. Read More »