Bring in 2010 the right way.

This is not one of those weeks for me.

After a particularly excruciating weekend, I’ve come to realize a few things. First of all, Patron doesn’t sit well with an entire bottle of white wine. Secondly, if you go to an NHL hockey game on a Sunday, do not expect anything to get done that evening. Finally, and most relevantly, I need some serious guidelines when I go out.

Hence, this week I’m providing a survival kit for New Year’s Eve, the blurriest and biggest party night of the year. Here are 10 things everyone must have to ensure the biggest, baddest, awesomest, most memorable (with the help of that digital camera, of course) night.

10. Tacky 2010 glasses
I was mourning the end of these bad boys at the end of the year, but someone figured out how to make them for 2010. Score.

9. Champagne
This one is a given. Please upgrade your champagne choice from “the cheapest thing in the store.” Bad champagne = bad, bad hangover. I speak from experience. Trust.

8. Anything sequined or with sparkles
This is the one night of the year that you can dress up like Lady Gaga going to a disco and get away with it. Abuse the power. Buy those ridiculous sparkly heels you’ve been eying in Bloomingdale’s. And pair them with some leather leggings.

7. The buddy system
USE IT. Seriously, whether you’re staying local for NYE or hitting up the city, have a friend (or twelve) with you. No one likes being lost in some random Montreal club seconds before midnight. Especially when there’s a creepy mustachioed man standing next to you, looking for someone to smooch.

6. Snow tires on your car
Again, speaking from experience. Are you driving to some location that is not next door to you? Get those snow tires on that piece. Unless you’re south of the Mason-Dixen, then you should be in the clear. The past two New Years it has been blizzarding the entire night. Apologies to my friends who had to put up with me driving in the first place, and then suffer post traumatic stress from the skidding and near-death icy experiences.

(Note: I’m sure I don’t need to say this, but if you abuse #9, leave your car in that parking lot and get a cab. Snow tires will not help you if you’re elbow deep in Moet.)

5. A dude. Any dude.
You must make out on New Year’s Eve at midnight. Seriously. Another no-brainer.

4. Greasy food
You wanna have a successful resolution this year? Try, “Eat lots of greasy diner food,” because you will. Lots of it. Better get it all ready before you head out for the night (stock up on frozen pizzas or at least put Domino’s into your phonebook); you’re going to need it for the inevitable next day hangover. And the night of. And the entire week after.

3. That gross sweater your grandma got you
To keep you warm. And to accidentally lose.

2. A camera
With a strap. You don’t want to start 2010 with a busted camera after you “put your hands up,” “nodding your head like yeah, moving your hips like yeah” and fling that thing across the room. Plus, you look hot and there should be 128 pictures on Facebook come January 1 showing that to the world.

1. Knocking Live Video App
Even better than a camera. I know, I know, I’m a huge iPhone nerd, despite my former Crackberry addiction, but this ridiculously amazing app allows you to shoot video and share it with your friends live and in real time. So if for some reason your bestie starts macking it with Justin Timberlake (or some Larry King lookalike), simply whip out your iPhone and share it with the world. Seriously? Streaming video for all your New Year’s Eve shenanigans? Take that, blackout!

Hope you stopped by the card store on the way back from class because today we are celebrating proper punctuation, spelling and, of course, the ever important verb-noun agreement. I don’t know about you, but nothing grates on my nerves more than bad grammar. My eyes bug out, my brow furrows and I forget what I was reading as all the words seem to melt into that one misplaced apostrophe.

Maybe I’m a nerd but I just can’t get passed it. For this reason, I think we need to celebrate National Grammar Day the right way.

Being that the local bars don’t seem to be offering any specials for this momentous occasion (what, can’t a girl get a shot for outstanding English?), I thought we could celebrate by learning a few things. Yeah, we’re all in college, but judging from my recent IMs, emails and texts, it looks like our higher education left a few things out.

So open the Tostitos, check out these 5 common grammatical errors, and let the party begin!

The holiday countdowns have begun! Most of you are already at home enjoying your first week of winter break (and the rest of you are suffering through that last annoying final). Either way, ’tis the season for holiday gatherings, and I can’t think of anything that goes better with mistletoe, ugly sweaters and egg nog than some holiday tunes.

Some are old, some are new, and some are new versions of the old favorites (Radiohead doing ‘Winter Wonderland’? Hell yes!), but all will put you in a great mood no matter what holiday you celebrate!

Host your own pre-game pre-holiday party here.

So hook up your laptop speakers, bust out your 40’s & get ready to pre-game harder than those other kids party.]

I thought this week I’d create the most obvious pre-game playlist: songs about drinking. Alcohol is obviously a staple in our society, so what better way to celebrate it than by throwing back a couple cocktails while dancing around to alcohol-themed jams? That’s what I thought.

Get your drink on here.

[If you have suggestions for future playlist themes or have a track you really think should be included in a future installment, let us know in the comments!]

In this weekly series, actress / model and fabulous CC blogger, Jen, will be using her makeup know-how to teach us all how to look flawless in class, out at a party, or grabbing coffee with that cutie from Psych 101.]

Got a big nose? An ugly birth mark? Something else on your body that you just really, really hate? Have you ever asked yourself why?

This week, instead of focusing on products and tips to enhance our beauty, we want to stop for a moment and be thankful for the beauty we all already possess. No advice for bronzer here. No tips for the perfect bun. Just you. As you are.

I frantically searched for my phone in my mess of blankets. Must make it stop ringing before head explodes. “Hello,” I croaked when I found it, barely able to get the words out of my parched mouth.

“We are ridiculous,” Sara groaned from the other end, sounding equally as down for the count as me.

“This needs to stop,” I agreed, as I knocked over the glass of water on my nightstand. The glass of water I had meant to down before I passed out with my clothes still on (somehow I took my contact lenses out, go me!).

Yet again Sara and I had gone out agreeing we wouldn’t drink a lot, and yet again some kind stranger had bought us round after round of shots. And we accepted (because I’m pretty sure there’s a law that says you can’t turn down free alcohol). And yet again we were paying for it; and regretting it.

So, we decided we’d go two full weeks without drinking. Two weeks proving we could have fun without going out and going crazy. Two weeks without waking up with pounding headaches and feeling like we need to stay in bed the entire day. Two weeks without having to call each other first thing in the morning to find out exactly what happened the night before and wondering just how big of fools we had made of ourselves. We are getting too old for this ridiculousness. We wanted to see if we could go two weeks without drinking at all.

“OK, let’s do it,” I said, knowing I would have no problem swearing off alcohol. The thought of drinking was already making me sick.

“Yes!” Sara replied, “except I probably can’t this weekend, I’ve got plans.” Her high school friend was coming to visit and they were planning to go out on the town.

“Ooh and I have to go to my family reunion vacation for a week,” I realized. Not drink on that vacation? Not an option.

We mentally went through the rest of our summer calendars and realized there was no good two-week spread in which we could not drink. I mean, it’s the middle of summer; so precious and so fleeting. There are only so many days where margaritas and mojitos are acceptable. And we want to force ourselves to throw that all away? Was this drinking hiatus really necessary?

By the next day, fully recovered from our hideous hangovers and ready to sip some sangria on Newbury St. we had changed our minds completely. We decided that what we need is simply to drink more responsibly. No more shots. No more full bottles of wine before going out. Stopping when we have a good enough buzz going on.

Drinking responsibly will prove more than just stopping cold turkey, right?

So, the drinking hiatus only lasted 5 minutes, but it allowed my friend Sara and I to have a serious chat about our summertime habits and come to terms with the fact that we’re growing up and should probably start changing our wild ways.

Of course, drinking a bottle of wine before going out is fun sometimes and seems perfectly reasonable when you’re dead-sober and have completely forgotten what a hangover feels like. And that’s OK, especially when you’re with friends who you can trust not to leave you in any sketchy situations. But that bottle of wine should probably be reserved for special occasions and celebrations. Instead of celebrating every Friday night, maybe we’ll stick to celebrating every other Friday night for now. Baby steps, baby steps.

I’m currently writing this as I sit by the lake while on my family reunion with a pomegranate vodka martini by my side. Trust me, I’m trying to be responsible. I’m trying. But family reunions are no time for that. Right?

And then I started thinking about the college bar scene. At first, all I could focus on was how amazing it was – the cheep beers, the adorable boys, the cheep beers – but I quickly snapped out of it.

I just miss it so much!

Anyhoo, I began to think about the 6 types of people you meet in college bars. And here you have it:

1. The Popped Collar Boys: You will find these dudes by the bar, making unfunny jokes at very high levels, flirting with the bartenders, macking on cute girls nearby, and racking up an obscene tab on their dad’s credit cards.

They are the most generous guys in the bar, which they need to be to achieve their #1 goal of finding a hot lady to take home.

They sport expensive clothes, travel in packs and either gel their hair or wear their hats cocked 23 degrees up and to the left.

Likes: Pink shirts, girls with big boobs, money, Grey Goose

Dislikes: People who call them out on their douchey-ness, being ignored by the bartender

Upside: Free booze!

Downside: Running your hands through that brittle hair

2. The Really (Reaaaaaaaaaaaally) Drunk Girls: You know what these look like; mostly because you have been one at least once in your life. No matter what the reason, these girls decide to pre-party with long games of Quarters, Kings and “Let’s Take Shots of TEQUILA!” They stumble to the bar, scream when Madonna songs come on and attempt to dance by throwing their arms over their heads and shaking their asses.

Likes: Alcohol, late night pizza, someone to hold her hair back when she hurls

Dislikes: Any song that is not from 1989, water, falling on the sticky floor

Upside: Hello, easy sex!

Downside: Hello, puke in your bed!

3. The College T-Shirt Boys: These guys don’t care about anything but the game on the TV. In fact, they didn’t even realize it was $1 pitcher night and only came to this bar to watch the 51″ plasma tv.

Likes: Sports, beer

Dislikes: All the really (really) drunk girls blocking the T.V. while dancing to Madonna

Upside: You know what he is interested in right off the bat, low maintenance

Downside: A t-shirt? At the BAR?

4. The In-Town-To-Visit People People: These pieces of fresh prime meat are like Kobe steak in your ground beef world. Visiting friends are at the bar for a good time…for a short time. The visitees want to make sure the visitors fall in love with the school and realize just how awesome it is, so they do their best to get the visitors drunk and happy. Like finding them someone to make out with. Late in the night, you might even find said visitor in the corner singing your school’s fight song.

Likes: Everything. It is all so new and exciting. Oh, and talking about how great his or her school is.

Dislikes: Everyone saying how shitty his/her school is

Upside: Knows no one, leaving tomorrow

Downside: Can’t walk of shame it home in the morning cuz he/she doesn’t know their way

5. The Over-Protective Girls: Back off, asshole. These girls will not let their friend be alone in a corner with you, let alone head home in a cab. Especially if you are a numero uno (see above). Their friend is out with them, damnit. She will not ruin girls’ night to be with you! So back off. She came in a pack and she is leaving in a pack. And most likely, she is the cutest girl in the pack of overprotective girls who are being overprotective so no one goes home with a guy and makes the others feel ugly.

Likes: Food, cats, vibrators

Dislikes: Boys who like their cute friends more than them, cute friend

Upside: ??

Downside: So many. So so many.

6. The Celebrating the End of an Exam People: Definitely the most generous people in the room, end-of-exam people are out to get wasted and have a good time. Period. Oh, and they want everyone else to have fun too, so don’t be surprised if they start buying rounds for people in close proximity. You will hear them screaming answers to exam questions and telling their “asshole prof” to “f*ck off.” This group will show up to the bar in sweats – having just left the exam – and go from wary to wasted in 10 minutes flat.

Likes: Booze, not studying, partying all night

Dislikes: Their prof, the lines at the bar, the fact that they won’t know their score for weeks

Upside: Totally in the mood to party/have a good time

Downside: Pillow talk will consist of the exam, how hard it was, and hours of calculating their score