Sex and the City ruled my life for a very long time. I’m only 22 years old, so I didn’t watch the show when it was actually on HBO (because I was 9-14 years old when the show was on TV and watching Lizzie McGuire instead), but now I have seen every episode three hundred times on DVD and have grown to love these characters as if they were my own BFFs. Carrie was always my favorite because I loved the men she dated (AIDEN!) and wish I lived her life as a fabulous writer in NYC. I would listen to her narrations and hang on every word. Whenever she’d begin a sentence, “And I couldn’t help but wonder…”, I knew words of wisdom were about to follow.

But now I have a bone to pick with Ms. Bradshaw. Looking back, she said some of the most asinine and ridiculous things that a woman can say.  I’ve watched reruns on TV and said, “Seriously, Carrie? C’mon.” I’m sure the writers wanted her to sound witty and funny (and most of the time she is!) but sometimes I just don’t get it. So I’ve compiled a list of what I think to be some of Carrie’s not-so-bright moments. Maybe you agree wholeheartedly or maybe you worship Carrie and think she can do no wrong. Take a look and decide!

Many women dream to walk in the Manolo Blahnik Heels of Sex & The City Star, Carrie Bradshaw. She lives a fantasy life, along with her fantasy husband, in New York City. Almost every girl’s dream, right? But Carrie’s missing a few strings in the head when it comes to fashion choices. Some of her outfits look like she got them out of a fantasy world — yep, straight out of the sky! WHAT WAS SHE THINKING? Come on Carrie, you can do better than this…

Try not to cringe after checking out some of her most horrendous outfits!

If you just started seeing someone new, chances are your relationship is going to go through some stages. These stages happen in almost every relationship (I don’t have a PhD in relationships or anything, I’m just going by my own experiences). So here are some stages that you and your new bf or gf will probably go through. And if you don’t, your relationship will probably end in a terrible break-up that has you eating a gallon of ice cream every day for a week (just kidding…you’ll only eat a gallon the first break-up night).

1. Butterflies and rainbows

So you two just started dating, and obviously everything is perfect. You want to spend every minute with each other and you can’t keep your hands off each other. You’ve forgotten who your friends are because you haven’t seen them in a week; you’re too busy being complimented on how perfect you are.

2. You meet the friends

If you already know each others friends, you’ll probably skip this. But if not, he gets to meet your friends and you get to meet his. He’ll definitely love drinking cocktails with you and your girls at your favorite Asian-fusion restaurant followed by a Grey’s Anatomy marathon. And I’m sure you’ll have a blast hanging with his bros playing XBox while drinking Red Bull and eating 4-day-old pizza. YUM!

3. Your first fight

Uh-oh. You guys went out last night and  another guy hit on you, and now your BF is upset. Or he forgot to mention that his “friend” who he went to lunch with was really his ex. It’s okay though, you won’t break up. Everybody has to fight eventually (just don’t fight like Sammi and Ronnie).

4. Sex

This stage doesn’t have to be number four. It can be number one or number five or anywhere in between, but having sex with someone new is a big thing. You’re letting them see all of you, and sex means this person most likely means something to you (unless you’re Paris Hilton or Kim Kardashian, then sex means you get a reality show).

5. I love you

This is the leap into the next stage, once you say “I love you,” your relationship is no longer new. As Carrie Bradshaw once said, “Everything before I love you just doesn’t count.”

I respect Sarah Jessica Parker a lot, both as an actress and a fashionista. As an actress because, somehow, her charisma and charm made Carrie Bradshaw – an intrinsically unlikeable character – the icon for a generation. Even though the show has been off the air for seven years, and the movies haven’t done anything to improve Sex and the City‘s legacy, women still proudly identify as being a “Carrie,” even though Carrie is kind of ridiculously self-centered and emotionally immature (Mr. Big over Aidan? Really?!). Of course I also have to respect SJP as a fashionista, because she is fearless, not afraid to mix different patterns, and is willing to embrace any aesthetic. She’s always fun to watch, and I love that in a fashionista.

black jacket – Charlotte Russe, $42.99//black pants – NY&Co, $42.95//white kitten heels – Endless, $22.95//white tank – Express, $14.99//black tank – Old Navy, $8.00//blue statement bag - Zappos, $28.00

This outfit consists of a lot of versatile basics, which I think is always a good, solid look. A black coat with a black tank layered under a white tank is striking, but simple. Combined with some pants that have subtle leather finishes, this becomes a sleek and polished look. White kitten heels are a cute and functional shoe choice (though if you’re like me, you would probably recreate this with heels at least twice as high, or perhaps a more vibrant color). SJP chose a dark blue statement bag, which is an interesting choice, and a lot less predictable than a black or white bag. This is a perfect low-maintenance aesthetic that still looks well thought out and put together.

Not even Carrie herself wants to go back!

Carrie Bradshaw is an icon. Her lifestyle is completely unattainable (you show me a columnist for a New York paper who has a closet full of Manolos, and I’ll shave my eyebrows). She’s the most fashionable woman in New York, and she’s not even real. Don’t tell me you have never looked at a wacky dress and thought, “That’s SO Carrie.”

She’s an aspiration. You know you’ll never have her closet or her men or her friends who always seem to always have time to grab lunch with her despite their real jobs. She’s pure fiction, but I still love her. And let me be clear, I know she’s self-centered. I know she only talks about herself when Miranda’s mom dies or when Charlotte learns that she can’t get pregnant, but her whole aura is still fabulous.

And now she’s going to be ruined.

The CW is as close to closing a deal to create The Carrie Diaries as Carrie was to marrying Aiden. The Carrie Diaries is Candace Bushnell’s prequel to Sex and the City and follows Carrie through her senior year of high school.

Being a huge Sex and the City fan, I read The Carrie Diaires when it came out, and it made Carrie a normal high school girl saving her virginity for the right man. WHAT? I don’t want to see Carrie on the small screen as a NORMAL, VIRGINAL girl. I want fabulous Carrie. Flawless Carrie, who seems like she never had an awkward phase. Glamorous Carrie who simply shot out of the womb wearing Manolos!

I don’t want to see her with pimples on her face wearing a Hollister hoodie. That makes her just like me. Just like everyone else. The Carrie that we know is a sexpert, not a high school senior wondering why everyone else is having sex but her. I don’t want her living in a town that isn’t New York City. It was bad enough when she went to Paris (I don’t even want to talk about Abu Dhabi).

How am I supposed to want to change lives with Carrie when she’s cramming for a Bio test? I don’t want that. I want my Fendi-toting, Big-dating, sex-writing Carrie; the one I’ll never be.

What do you guys think? Would you potentially tune in to see Carrie as a teen, or do you want to preserve the truly great Carrie HBO gave us so long ago?

So there’s been a lot of talk here on CollegeCandy lately about slut shaming, casual sex, and what exactly defines a girl as “whorey.” Instead of clearing all of that up for you with this post, I’m probably just going to create another grey area, but hey, that’s what life is all about, isn’t it?

Right. Okay.

So I want to talk to you ladies about one night stands. Casual sex. Hookups. Booty calls. Those guys you sleep with once and probably never see again. The reason I want to talk to you girls about this is because a lot of you are probably cringing right now, recalling your last one night stand, the last time you slept with a guy and then walked home in last night’s clothes, the last time you had casual sex and then felt guilty about it. In fact you’re probably feeling guilty all over again right now. And I want to tell you to stop. Stop cringing. Stop feeling guilty. Stop second guessing and over thinking and feeling bad about yourself. Because you know what? Casual sex is okay. And you know what makes it okay? The fact that you wanted to have casual sex.

Because when it comes down to it no one can set your boundaries for you but yourself. You define what is right and wrong for you, good and bad for you. You’re in control. And if you’re okay with it then just be okay with it. Don’t try to justify your actions or your reasons to anyone but yourself. If you’re okay with the way you live your life, then, really, that’s all that matters.

Not being all that big on the one night stand myself, it took me a while to figure out how I wanted to approach this post. And of course my musings (just like everything else in life) brought me back to Carrie Bradshaw and Co. The Sex and the City girls. If anyone could make you feel less guilty about doing what feels right in the moment and going after what you want it would be these ladies.

I thought back to the episode where Carrie was featured in a photo shoot entitled Single and Fabulous. But at the end of that title there stood a question mark (Single and Fabulous?) rather than an exclamation point (Single and Fabulous!) and all of a sudden Carrie had herself questioning whether or not she believed there should be a question mark or an exclamation point at the end of that sentence. So, Carrie goes out and has a few drinks and she meets a guy. A guy she flirts with and kisses and almost takes home. She doesn’t. Because she realizes that if she slept with him she wouldn’t be sleeping with him because she wanted to but because she felt like she needed to prove something to herself, that she really was single and fabulous.

So Carrie goes home alone that night, but she doesn’t always, not when she doesn’t want to. And for Carrie that’s why casual sex is okay, that’s why she doesn’t feel guilty. She’s had more than her fair share of one night stands, and she’s okay with that because when she brings a guy home she does it because she wants to. She doesn’t feel guilty about the casual sex she has because she is in charge of her choices, she makes her decision. She defines her own boundaries and does what’s right for her. (That being said even if you’re not feeling guilty after a one night stand, but you’re still feeling unhappy you might need to reconsider the reasons why you’re gravitating towards casual sex. ) You shouldn’t feel guilty about indulging in a one night stand. Why?

Because you had fun. Because you weren’t expecting it to be anything more or anything less. Because casual sex is okay. Because you define your boundaries and no one else. Because you enjoyed it. Because you wanted it.

So if that’s what you want, go out there and get it. Do what you want to do.
Just do it safely.

Look out ladies, Carrie and co. may be heading to a theater near you all over again.

Thought these single and fabulous girls were gone for good? Well, you thought wrong!

According to our favorite celebrity insider Popeater, there are rumors of a third Sex and the City in the works. And this one would be a prequel, based off Candace Bushnell’s The Carrie Diaries. The books chronicle Carrie during her teen years, but the movie would focus mostly on Carrie’s move from Connecticut to Manhattan, detailed in Summer and the City. (Get all the gory details here!)

Don’t worry, they won’t be calling in SJP and company to airbrush their way back to teendom. Instead, it’s rumored that if and when this prequel does get made it will be Blake Lively playing Carrie Bradshaw, as she takes on her “first few months in NYC and the beginning of her relationship with an older man.”

Wait…what?

Now I loved Sex and the City back in its HBO days, but don’t these people realize it’s time to let it go? I mean, the show ended for a reason. They ran out of story lines (and birthdays) and the girls all got their happy endings. Then they went and completely tore apart those happy endings in the first movie. And the sequel?  Well that was just one big Abu Dhabi disaster.

So why would they even want to make a third movie, new cast or not?

Insiders say they hope that a prequel will “breathe new life into the story.”  But isn’t it maybe time they just let it die?

Okay, before you throw your Choo Steve Madden heel at me, give me a chance. I know “adding sparkle” to your wardrobe sounds like some weird thing Carrie Bradshaw/one of the Real Housewives of Atlanta would do, but trust me: adding a little bling to your wardrobe is the best way to beat the cold-weather fashion blahs. Items with sparkle – sequins, beading, even shine – are quick and easy ways to pump up the volume on your fashion statement.

While you might reserve your sparkle for nighttime festivities, a necklace here or a sparkly cami there (NOT TOGETHER. Sorry, just wanted to make that clear) can add some flavor to your daytime look. So even if you’ve only had 20 hours of sleep over 5 days, you can still shine.

Still not sold on sparkle? Check out these fab 15 items, and I’m sure you’ll be agreeing with Carrie (and me!) that “sparkle” keeps life interesting.

[Click the image for all the deets.]

Come back tomorrow for a tutorial from our Budget Stylista on how to make this sparkle look work!

This week, as I caught up on my favorite fall shows (and watched some Sex and the City reruns) I couldn’t help but notice a running trend: female friendships. Sure some shows were about shopping (or singing while shopping) and some were about saving lives, but at the heart of it all, were some pretty cool chicks.

The kind of best friends every girl wishes she had.
The kind of best friends that will risk their lives to help you, the kind that will stand by you through anything, the kind of best friends that will…let you raid their closet. (Hey! It’s the little things that matter.)

These girls aren’t real, but we all wish they were. So, in my first ever Weekly Ten (yeah, I’m new so get used to me!) I’ve decided to pay tribute to what I consider to be some of the best fictional BFFs out there, past and present.

10. Santana Lopez, Glee
She stood by her BFF as Brittany came to terms with the idea that Brittany S. Piers could be just as fierce as Brittney Spears. And she shared a dream sequence with her. And it was hot.

9. Phoebe Buffay, Friends
Come on, you know you want her to write an out of tune, off-key song about you.

8. Elle Woods, Legally Blonde
Even though she was in law school she still managed to take time out of her day to teach her friend the bend and snap. Now that’s true friendship.

7. Caroline Forbes, The Vampire Diaries
Did you see last week’s episode? The newly turned vampire kicked some werewolf butt while saving her best friend’s vampire boyfriend. Who does that!? A BFFAEAEAE, that’s who.

6. Veronica Mars, Veronica Mars
When her best friend was brutally murder she didn’t just get mad, she got even.  Nothing stopped her from knowing the truth, not even being trapped in a freezer and left to burn.

5. Hermione Granger, Harry Potter
The girl leaves behind her family and her friends to help Harry fight the Dark Lord. (Shut up. No, I won’t say his name. And yes, I know my inner geek is showing.)

4. Cristina Yang, Grey’s Anatomy
She operated on her best friend’s husband while there was  a gun to her head. Best. BFF. Ever.

3. Lorelei Gilmore, Gilmore Girls
Not only was she Rory’s best friend, but she was also the coolest mom a girl could ever have. She did everything for her daughter, from helping her study Shakespeare to helping her find her favorite hangover food. That’s love.

2. Blair Waldorf, Gossip Girl
Okay, so maybe you don’t want to be one of her minions. Or on the receiving end of her “Blair Waldorfing.” But she and Serena? They’re the real deal. Next time Blair heads off to Paris for the summer, can she take me with her instead?

1. Carrie Bradshaw, Sex and the City
Big said it best when he told her friends, “You girls are the loves of her life. A guy’s just lucky to come in third.”

Who are your favorite TV/movie BFFs?
And is it just me, or do you want to find your own BFFs and give them a big ol’ hug?

Got a special place in your heart for top 10 lists? We do and we’ve got some doozies.  Get ‘em all out right here.

Have you ever watched ‘Sex and the City’ and thought about how you and Carrie Bradshaw would totally have been BFF if only you had met in high school? Well, now you can meet the 17-year-old Carrie in Candace Bushnell’s new young adult novel, ‘The Carrie Diaries.’ But this Carrie is a little different from the one we fell in love with on TV and the big screen. Bushnell doesn’t bother sticking to some plot points from the television show — a point that is obvious only to the nit-pickiest ‘SATC’ fans. Like your friends here at PopEater.

In ‘The Carrie Diaries,’ Carrie is a virgin until her senior year of high school. But recall that the TV Carrie once told Charlotte that she lost her virginity in the eleventh grade in Seth Bateman’s smelly rec room on the ping pong table. (Editor’s note: Oh, the glamor of high school!)

Teenage Carrie is quite the gourmand, spending a whole day making coq au vin for friends. “I’ve recently discovered that cooking is a great way to distract yourself from your problems while providing a sense of accomplishment,” young Carrie explains.

What else is revealed in The Carrie Diaries? Find out right here.