It’s official.  The holiday season has started.

I’ve spent weeks and weeks bemoaning the fact that Christmas commercials were airing in November. Macy’s has had their holiday decorations up for months. The Starbucks baristas have been wearing Santa hats since the day after Halloween. “It’s not even Thanksgiving yet,” I kept saying. “Why are people already doing their holiday shopping, why are the decorations already up? The holiday season starts after Thanksgiving. That’s the way it goes!!” The early start seriously upset me. And I refused to take part in it. But now, it seems, I have nothing to complain about.

Thanksgiving is over.

We’ve watched the parade. We’ve carved the turkey. We stuffed ourselves with stuffing and cranberry sauce and ate pumpkin pie until we wanted to puke. And then, when the feeling passed, we ate more. The holiday season is upon us. So I better just get in the spirit. Here’s how.

10. Watch a Christmas movie. Everyone has a favorite holiday movie. So what better way to get into the holiday spirit than by watching Tim Allen in The Santa Clause or the Olsen twins in To Grandmother’s House We Go? There’s always the recently made into a musical, Elf, or the kind of creepy but still enjoyable The Polar Express. Everyone has a favorite. Just find yours on YouTube and enjoy.

9. Order a peppermint mocha or a caramel latte. These have been available since the first of November and although I drank my coffee from Starbuck’s Christmas cups I refused to indulge in a peppermint mocha until the day after Thanksgiving. So after I did some cyber shopping, I went out and got one. It was worth the wait.

8. Decorate your dorm room. Don’t wait until you’re back home to decorate for the holidays. Get into the spirit now. Studying for finals and finishing out a semester that should have ended the day before Thanksgiving is depressing enough without prolonging your holiday cheer. So don’t. Hang twinkle lights. Make paper snowflakes. Throw tinsel everywhere. And while you’re decorating… Read More »

[There are over 100 million sites on the Internet. 100 million! You might think you know about all the important ones (CollegeCandy, Gmail, Google, Facebook…), but there are thousands of other sweet sites out there (like GoFobo, FashionStake, and Philo) and more showing up every day! We get it – it’s not easy or fun sifting through the crap and porn to find those gems, so we’re gonna bring the gems to you. Just sit back, kick up those feet and allow us to introduce you to the diamonds in the internet rough.]

The holidays are almost here again, and if you haven’t finished (or even started) your gift shopping yet, you’re in luck: it’s almost Black Friday.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is the biggest shopping day of the year.  Malls are absolutely crazy on this day: expect huge crowds, long lines at checkout, and parking lot road rage… but if you’re willing to brave all that (and wear a helmet), you can get some amazing deals.

Black-Friday.net posts leaked ads and sale info for Black Friday ahead of time, giving you an edge over the other shoppers.  Come up with your plan of attack before hitting the stores by searching through the ads (which are organized by store and product category) and making a list of items you want to purchase–there’s even a feature on Black-Friday.net that lets you create one and either save it or print it out!  Then, when Friday morning rolls around, you’ll be able to enter each store and go straight for what you need, cutting down on the amount of time you’ll have to spend dealing with all the craziness…and the risk of losing that $9.99 42-inch plasma TV. Read More »

So it’s Thursday.

Thanks to those 5 glorious days off last week, this week feels like its been going on for an eternity. Friday seems so close yet so far away and right now we’re bored. And completely checked out from anything and everything academic.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday have given me my fill of shopping for awhile (aka until next week), and all this Tiger Woods bullsh*t is pissing me off. Who does he think he is dominating all the top stories of every one of my gossip websites? I avoid golf for a reason – it sucks. Enough already!

So what is a bored, Internet surfing college student to do?

Find someone entertaining to stalk, of course. And who is more entertaining than high-heel-sportin’ Suri Cruise?

I know what you’re thinking: what the hell does Suri cruise do besides wear a more expensive wardrobe than me? Well, I bet you didn’t know that she kept an online diary full of her deepest thoughts and feelings.

I agree; who knew she was so computer savvy? And witty? And eloquent?

Not that I’m surprised. She is Suri, after all.

If you’re looking for something to get you through this Thursday until Joel McHale shows up at 8pm, I highly recommend catching up with Lady Suri.

This is bound to keep you entertained for hours.

Besides leftovers and everyone’s inability to wear anything without an elastic waist band, the only thing anyone’s been talking about for the past few days is holiday deals. Every store around is slashing prices, including free goodies and even offering free shipping on any and all purchases. It’s a holiday shopper’s dream, but, being the compulsive shopper that I am, it is quickly becoming my worst nightmare.

Yeah, I enjoy a good deal as much as the next guy (I’m Jewish – isn’t that part of my heritage?), and purchasing all those Hanukkah gifts for less money is muy appealing, but I’m beginning to think all these sales will have me spending a lot more money instead of a lot less.

When it comes to holiday sales, I’m torn.

Love It:
Duh, putting things on sale means getting really great stuff for a lot less money. Especially things for myself. OK, so I know that this time of year is all about the giving, but how can you not shop for yourself when everything is so damn cheap!? A brand new TV for only $500? A new laptop for $400? 25% off everything at my favorite clothing store? Sign me up!

And what could be better than waking up every day to find emails advertising your favorite stores’ great deals? You don’t even have to leave the house to indulge in a sale; you just need to point and click your way to a seriously discounted BCBG dress. Heaven. Read More »

Now there is really no reason to get out of bed on Black Friday.

Part of me gets butterflies just thinking about racks and racks of discounted clothing. I’ve been dreaming of Black Friday since I woke up over the toilet in a Tinker Bell costume on November 1st; the cheap designer handbags, the plasma TVs, the stops at Cinnabon and Auntie Anne’s to refuel, the high of leaving the mall with all of my Christmas gifts and some money left in my bank account. There is just something about being in a mall on Black Friday that cannot be replicated.

Then reality sets in and I realize that while in a perfect world I would be skipping through sales racks, after finishing these freakin’ essays, traveling home and stuffing my face for an entire day, my (Queen-size!) bed is going to be much more appealing than lines at 4 am in the freezing cold. And don’t even get me started on those slow-walking old ladies that always get in my way.

That being said, I will remain in my pajamas and snag the deals I can from the comfort of my warm home as my mother serves me delicious leftovers. For those of you who will be joining me in cyberspace, here are the websites to put at the top of your bookmarks list to ensure you get deals just as good as those over-caffeinated, line waiters pummeling their way through mall crowds. Internet, I love you. Read More »

I am horrible with money. Seriously.

Which is why, for my own benefit (and my loved ones), I need to get my holiday shopping done now before I spend all my money on dresses I don’t need and beers I shouldn’t drink.

Thank God today is Cyber Monday! This silly little day is the day for online sales…like Black Friday, only for us lazy online shoppers.

So, pull out your credit cards, take a deep breath, and check out these sites for some debt-causing holiday goodness!

Get your gadgets on the cheap at bestbuy.com!

Impress those people in your life who value things like iPods and GPS devices the same way we value a hot pair of boots. When you can get your favorite techie what they really want it’s always sure to please.

And just because the prices are good, don’t be tempted to pick up something for yourself! Let someone else treat you to a new iPhone.

40% off at Barnes and Noble!

Books are always a fantastic present. I don’t care if you’re a lit major or one of those people who “don’t read”, B&N always has something for everyone.

If you’re not into buying reading material for someone special, check out their journals, calendars, DVD’s, and games! Read More »