Here are ten things you are definitely never too old for:

1. Glitter: Although you got away with wearing glittery lip gloss and questionable glittery eye shadows as a preteen, it doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a little glitz and glam now. Seriously, if Lady Gaga and Katy Perry can rock glitter on a daily basis, so can you. Not sure how to pull off glitter without looking like a five-year-old that got a little too crazy at the arts and crafts table? Add a glittery top coat to your nail polish or go for a subtle glitzy shimmer in your eyeshadow. Want to be a little over the top? Go for the gold in a metallic glittery shirt. Worst case scenario is that you look like a Claire’s employee. Best case: you look hot.

2. Pigtails: Preschoolers aren’t the only ones that can rock this look. While you probably don’t want to be known as “pigtail girl” around campus, going out with pigtails could be a fun and flirty alternative to your everyday hair. You probably had your pig tails pulled up high, so for a more-adult approach to this look that you’re never too old for — sport them lower. Also, pigtails work incredibly well when you’re working out.

3. Licking the bowl of batter: You know you did it when you were younger. Your mom baked a cake and you couldn’t keep your little hands out of the chocolately goodness. Go ahead — dip your finger in the mix. Or, just dig in with a spoon. Or don’t even cook the batter and just go after the cookie dough. You’re definitely not too old to enjoy any kind of sweets — baked or not. Go ahead, no one’s looking!

4. Sleeping With A Stuffed Animal: Just because you’re in college doesn’t mean you have to leave your favorite stuffed animal at home, you know the one that you have been sleeping with since you were two years old. While you probably shouldn’t bring your Beanie Baby collection and your CareBear stuffed animal set along with you, you don’t have to give up your best bed buddy entirely now that you’re 21. However, we do recommend you refrain from setting up your Polly Pockets on your dorm desk.

5. Reading Books For Girls: Who says that just because you’re an English major writing a thesis about Shakespeare’s heroines that you can’t appreciate your favorite book as a fourteen year old? Even though you aren’t writing essays about the importance of Harriet the Spy, it doesn’t mean you can’t go back to those old books you loved. Now that you’re older, maybe you’ll get something entire different out of them. Also, just because you never got the chance to read that Judy Blume novel you wanted to read, you don’t have to give up hope. Read it! No one will judge you reading a book for a high school girl. You can still feel young at heart with each turn of the page.

6. Disney Movies: Every group of girls should at least have a Disney night throughout their college career. Remember how you loved The Little Mermaid so much? Watch it. You don’t always have to watch rated-R movies and crappy comedies about bromances. For so many kids, Disney was a main staple, so chances are that you and your friends will all have your own opinions about the best movies and the best Disney princesses.

7. Calling Your Parents: So you had a bad day in class — call your mom and cry about it. Although you may feel silly calling your mom to cry when you’re away at college, it’s not silly at all. You used to do it all the time, back in the days of glittery lip gloss and tutus. Not only will you feel better to be consoled by your mom or dad, you will make your parents feel like you still need them. In fact, call your parents frequently. I’m not talking about every day, but check in and say hi. Just because you’re out of the house doesn’t mean you can’t count on them. However, I think it’s safe to say that the one time you shouldn’t call your parents is when you’re drunk…all you need is one slurred word and they’ll have campus safety on the lookout for you.

8. Top 40 Hits: Just because it’s 2010 and the Backstreet Boys haven’t had a major hit in a few years doesn’t mean you can’t rock your body and sing along to “I Want It That Way.” In fact, you’re never too old for top 40 hits from back in the day. Remember when Britney was a school girl with pigtails? If not, you should re-vist this because no matter how grown up you are, pop music can still make you feel whatever age you were when it was a hit. Instant nostalgia anytime, courtesy of iTunes and the radio!

9.  Old TV Shows: You are never too old to go back and re-watch TV series’ such as Boy Meets World, The Adventures of Pete and Pete, and Clarissa Explains It All. In fact, you’re never too old to indulge in the drama of your favorite coming-of-age WB (remember when it was called the WB?) shows such as Dawson’s Creek, Felicity, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. While these shows might be a blast from the past, it doesn’t mean you can’t watch them with as much glee as you once did.

10. Saying “When I Grow Up”: Just because you’re “grown up” now doesn’t mean you can’t think of the future and what you want it to bring you. With the same vigor that you possessed when you were dying for your mom to paint your nails, get excited about the future and when you “grow up.” Don’t be scared to say things like “I’ll get botox when I grow up” and “I can’t wait to grow up and not drink boxed wine.”

Shopping for a man who constantly tells you to stop shopping is a really tough job.  Father’s Day is right around the corner and I can’t help but feel the tie/socks/homemade tchotchke trifecta is a little overplayed, but what do you get for the man who thinks Teva sandals and pleated khakis are socially acceptable?

Well, I’ve got a few ideas of what he’ll love, as well as a few hints at what to stay away from.

Good Idea: A gift to sponsor a child from Africa
Bad Idea: A positive pregnancy test to sponsor your lovechild.
He’ll feel culturally aware and very on-trend now that Sandra Bullock has joined the club of adoptive parents helping kids in need.  Just make sure it’s not your kid that’s needing the charity.

Good Idea: A subscription to a magazine about on one of his hobbies
Bad Idea: A year’s worth of Playboy.
Cameras, cars, home restoration, and wildlife?  All acceptable.  Bush and boobs?  Not so much.

Good Idea: A new money clip
Bad Idea: A new money clip because you stole his old one last weekend and lost it (and all the money inside) at the bar.
Make it monogrammed, not covered in beer muck and dirt.

Good Idea: A bunch of DVDs he’s been wanting
Bad Idea: The box of old VHS tapes you found in the basement labeled Taxes.
Shutter Island, Invictus, and 2012 have all come out recently and are guaranteed to be guy-friendly.  Give Dad a bonus gift and shove those “Taxes” further back into the closet so Mom doesn’t flip out like it’s 1983 all over again.

Good Idea: Tickets to the Bon Jovi tour
Bad Idea: Tickets to the Glee tour.
Help Dad reminisce on the days when he had big hair, ripped jeans, and a motorcycle babe calendar hanging on the garage wall.  Remember, the gift is for him, not you.

If all else fails, go with the sure bet: buy him a steak and offer to mow the lawn.  Look who’s the favorite daughter now?

And then we get to eat bagels and lox and cake. Yum.

I didn’t think it was fair that only Jews atone for their sins on a yearly basis. I mean, I know we all have a few things we’re sorry about (or should be sorry about!). So I opened up my big Jewish arms (probably all that kugel) to all of the CollegeCandy writers to join me on this holiday and repent for their sins. They all turned me down on the whole fasting thing, but here are their apologies for their biggest sins of 5769…er…2009.

Kayla – California State University, Sacramento: Dear, Boyfriend. Please forgive me for always using up the squirt bottle of fake butter.

Kari – Florida State: Dear Boyfriend, Please forgive me for thinking dirty, dirty thoughts about Alexander Skarsgard at a somewhat unhealthy frequency.

Maddie – Tufts: Dear boss: Please forgive me for spending so many hours on Facebook this summer while I was at work. If you hire me again, I promise not to log in once.

Kim – Stanford: Dear 7/11 gas station, I’m sorry that my friend pissed in your cooler and stole a pack of gum while I looked on and laughed and you called the police and they pulled us over after about 5 blocks. Our bad.

Melanie – Northeastern University: Dear Liver, Please forgive me for my 21st birthday this upcoming Monday.

Nina – Michigan State University: Dear Ex, please forgive me for Googling your current girlfriend. I didn’t find anything good anyway.

Lauren – University of Michigan: Dear Random Guy Whose House Party I Crashed: Sorry I stole those Bagel Bites and cooked them in your microwave. And also sorry for busting in on you having sex when I was trying to sneak said Bagel Bites out the back door…which was actually your room.

Samantha – UC Santa Barbara: Dear Papa. Please forgive me for having sex in the back of your brand new Mercedes. Also, please forgive me for driving it far too recklessly as a getaway car (same night), wearing only an orange Victoria’s Secret push-up.

Thu – USC: Dearest friend. Please forgive me for posting and tagging all of those embarrassing videos of you even after you told me not to. They were simply too hilarious.

Elizabeth – University of Missouri: Dear high-school math teacher, please forgive me for throwing up under your desk at winter formal senior year… Lesson learned: Brandy and Bacardi don’t mix, especially on an empty stomach.

Cristina – Michigan State: Dear “forgot to ask your name but I know you’re a sophomore, too”: Please forgive me for making out with you and in the sweaty graffiti party basement and then running away to never catch your name.  A true Cinderella story.

Elise – Stanford: Dear Mother, please forgive me for interpreting the word “Emergency” during the use of my credit card to include the immediate need of frozen yogurt.

Zahra – Northwestern University: Dear Various Weird Men that Hit on Me on the Street. Please forgive me for rolling my eyes when you pay me compliments. I shouldn’t insult your creativity like that since you always seem pretty delighted with your pick-up lines.

Elizabeth – UC Berkeley: Dear liver.  Please forgive me for my alcoholic tendencies.

Carly – Grinnell: Dear downstairs neighbors, please forgive me for working out at 8 a.m. most mornings in big thumpy shoes on the thin wood floor.

Ricki – University of Michigan: Dear Steph – Please forgive me for yelling at you at 2am last night.  Trust me, no one was thinking clearly at that point.

Kiki – University of Missouri: Dear Dad. Please forgive me for shutting the garage door on your  brand spankin’ new SUV. This is why I drive the ’94 Dodge pick up truck.

Sarabeth – University of Texas: Dear guy who sits behind me in Bio; please forgive me for reading gossip rags during class…I know it’s distracting. My B.

Ness – Sheridan: Dear Dad, please forgive me for spending oodles of your money to move away and attend college. Hopefully you’ll get your money’s worth some day when I’m a famous writer. Love you!

Want to clean your slate? What do you need to apologize for?

They love their daughters, no matter what. Basically, I’ve put my dad through hell and back, and I’m well-deserved to be blamed for his heart problems. My dad is the father of two girls, both in college. Despite all we’ve put him through – from going through private education, “borrowing” the credit card, bringing home boys with less than ideal traits, throwing a two hundred person rager when left alone with the house, accidentally drunk dialing him, and subjecting him to The Hills and Gossip Girl every Monday night – he still totally loves me. And it takes a lot.

Dads protect their little girls from everything. Though he never pulled out his shotgun and cleaned it in front of any of my potential suitors, my dad has done whatever he could to protect me from a broken heart. And broken bones. And scary boogey men. He’s kept me safe and I love him for it.

When I was younger, my family moved around a lot. I mean, A LOT. I moved to a new state about every two years, and even though I adapted fairly quickly to my new schools, I would occasionally get very anxious in the evening about my upcoming day at school and the potential monsters under my bed and in my closet. After thoroughly scoping out my room for any bad guys, my dad would promise me every night, “Don’t worry about tomorrow, because today is the day you worried about yesterday.” Kind of corny, but it help me feel safe and reassured and it’s a phrase that still protects me to this day.

Dads guide their kids through life. Without dad, I’d never learn how to throw a baseball, balance a checkbook (still working on that one), appreciate a good classic comedy, do laundry, or make the best French toast in the universe. Seriously, you should try it. So. Good.

My dad is the coolest. He knows the best shows on television, gets me tickets to all my favorite sporting events, and he still manages to take me and my friends and family on the bombest vacations every spring break and summer. Helloooo, Miami! Alright, so maybe his “cool factor” doesn’t exactly meet up with everyone’s standards, but I think it’s amazing that he hasn’t missed a single episode of David Letterman in, like, 100 years, and can quote every Mel Brooks’ movie. I’m pretty sure I was the only little girl in grade school who was unknowingly repeating lines from “Blazing Saddles” and I think that’s pretty cool.

No matter what I do, dad can’t stay mad at me. He’s always by my side, cheering me on and challenging my every decision. Oh, and when I ask for $10, he’s always giving it to me.

I love you daddy; here’s to the most deserved holiday of the year! Now go shower your dads in ties and pens, take them to brunch, and let them golf all damn day.

Melanie currently interning in NYC, taking full advantage of all margarita specials and those blonde summer boys. Stalk her on Twitter: @tinkermellie

For anyone else in my position, never fear; you can still have a good day without shelling out wads of cash. Here are a few ideas for spending time with your dad instead of money.

Day at the Park – Some of my best memories with my dad are from when we’d go to the park to fly kites during the summer. Why not relive some childhood memories that were equally as good for dear ol’ dad? Even if you didn’t do stuff like this when you were a kid, there are plenty of ways to hang out with dad outside: toss around the football, go for a hike, have a picnic. Options abound in the great outdoors.

Day in the Kitchen – This is for the dad’s who cook/grill. Why not plan a big Father’s Day meal and cook/grill it together? Dad will love showing off his skills (I know mine does), not to mention get some quality time with you. You could also bake him some special “I Heart Dad” cookies or cupcakes… and let him lick the bowl. How could he not love that?

Day at the Game - Fitting with our low cost theme, look into local sporting events for cheap tickets. In my hometown we have an indoor football league with $10 tickets and colleges who have free admission to their baseball games. Dig enough and I’m sure you’ll find something you and your dad can enjoy together.

Day in the Workshop – My dad’s a handyman, so I was thinking about doing a project with him. As long as you don’t mind getting a little sweaty, you can make anything from a birdhouse to a new bookshelf to the treehouse you always wanted but never got as a kid. You could even take some old furniture you have and get dad to help you turn it into something brand new. Let your creativity run wild with this one.

All in all, giving your dad a full day of undivided attention will make his year. That’s all he really wants anyway – at least more than another tie or coffee mug. Just put a little thought into it and your dad will love whatever you come up with.

If you are single, that means it is a day to fill that lonely void with family, football, frosting-covered desserts. If you are in a relationship, that means it is time for some meeting of the parents, whether your boy is meeting yours, or you are heading home with him for the holiday.

You meeting his parents? You will do fine – moms always love their son’s girlfriends.

Is he meeting yours? Well, that is a whole different story.

Many of us don’t think much of this moment; we just want our parents to meet the new dude in our lives. But to guys, meeting the parents is huge. Momentous. Monumental. OhMyGodSheWantsToGetMarried!!!

At least that’s what I gathered from my ex boyfriend who ran to the hills when I invited him to my parents’ for dinner. I thought maybe he didn’t like burgers, but as one of my male advisors explained, the meat was the least of his problems. It was the dinner guests that were the real issue.

Why is it such a big deal? Why can’t guys just man up and handle a free dinner? Let’s see what a guy had to say…

In that same frame of mind, I’ve been looking at my so-called grown-up friends to see how their lives are different from my own, searching for things that would tell me when I’ve become one of them, or if maybe -gasp- I’m already there. Here is what I came up with.

5 Signs that you are now entering Adultsville:

1. Bills. Gone are the days of blissful ignorance as to how the lights stayed on at home or the hot water kept running. Now those infuriating little statements just keep slipping through the mail slot. Phone bill, gas bill, waterworks, eating away at your paycheck- your new pair of shoes! It was a lot more fun when you had an allowance.

2. Your parents are asking you to drive them places. You thought it was your ticket to freedom when you got your license, huh? Wink, wink. Mom and Dad were just waiting for the day when they wouldn’t have to take you anywhere and you could start chauffeuring them around. Now it’s, “Honey, can you take me to the doctor’s on Monday?” and, “Oh, could you stop by the grocery store after work and pick some things up for me?” Don’t forget doing someone else’s errands: “Your sister’s done with soccer practice at 6.” Some kind of freedom.

3. All-weekend benders are history. As are weekday parties. The day has finally come when you realize that Tuesday and Wednesday nights just have to be for sleeping. And that in your older and wiser state, hangovers now take two days of recovery instead of the normal one-day junk food-eating, sweatpants-wearing, movie-watching spree that used to be all you required. Oh where did our beer (or Smirnoff Ice) chugging days go?

4. Better sex. This may be one of the few perks of being an adult. Maybe your libido isn’t what it was when you were 19 (although for some of us, it’s even better ) but you know more about your body now. You know what you want, and you aren’t afraid to say it. Who wouldn’t be satisfied with that?

5. And last, but by all means worth the most: You are making the choices now. The big Life-Changing Decisions. With no Mommy or Daddy to dust you off and tell you “I told you so” when it doesn’t work out. The consequences for your actions fall squarely on your own shoulders. Most of the time, we’d like to think that we have enough experience and common sense by this point to make reasonably good judgments. Most of the time, we completely miss the mark.

The sign of your newly earned adulthood is your next move- to get up and keep forging ahead, even if you have to wade in the muck of your mistakes. Only little kids get to go back to bed and let someone else sort it out.

Being an adult is not all pink and posies. And you still have the option of staying a kid forever- the path that some people, much to the chagrin of the rest of us, decide to follow. (Cough, Cough, dear, sweet “significant others” going out with their buddies on poker night when their mothers are coming the next day and the house is still a mess.)

On the other hand, there’s a real liberty and sense of accomplishment that comes from knowing you are the one who gets to reap the benefits of all your responsibility and hard work.

…Hmm, yeah. Not feeling that just yet. I guess I’m not quite there. I’ll see ya on the other side. Until then, I’ll be over here on my futon, nursing my hangover with a beer.

I think giving your significant other a heads-up of things to avoid before the grand introduction is the right thing to do. (I.E. wearing that OSU Beavers t-shirt is a bad call, and under NO circumstances ask my dad about his TV.) And I would like to assume this philosophy is a common ideal – the whole wait until you are sure someone is decent and going to be around for a while before you dive into “the family introduction”, and give them a short prep-course before the big event.

But, if I were to assume that I would be wrong.

This weekend I was completely blindsided by an impromptu Meet the Parents. And by impromptu I mean, my current gent and I were (unbeknownst to me) 15 minutes away from from his parents house and he suggested we stop in to “pick something up.”

Meet the parents?? This was a bold strategy considering we have only been dating a few weeks, and as I glanced at my reflection in the mirror and then looked down at my outfit, my nervous panic of the potentially “big step” in a relationship was dwarfed by the panic over my appearance. This was not an appropriate first-impression-look I had going on.

I am a person who takes first impressions very seriously. Ideally, when meeting the parents I like to have ample time to prepare; actually wash and style my hair, put on some make-up (not too much of course), and pick out a respectable outfit (maybe a nice cardigan…). Basically I like to make sure parents don’t look at me in horror and wonder if their son needs an eye exam, which I am sure is the exact feeling my new guy’s parents had after one look at me.

This sneak-attack meet the parents came the morning after a night of serious partying, and I had been lured out of the house with a promised day at the river – a fun day on the water with friends, drinks and getting tan. Figuring I would just be getting in the water as soon as we got there, I skipped my usual make-up routine, haphazardly threw my booze-soaked nasty hair up on top of my head, threw on a pair of the shortest shorts I owned (assuming they would be discarded on the river bank about three minutes after arrival) and a sequined tube-top (I’ll blame that choice on the remains of alcohol in my system); this is what I looked like when my gent of about three weeks decided to introduce me to his parents.

I was breaking out in a cold sweat with every passing second as we neared their house. I frantically searched through my bag for anything to help redeem this outfit (to no avail), and even “jokingly” asked, ‘You really want me to meet your family looking like this??” His casual, “Why not?,” reply was actually making me wonder if he did need an eye exam.

Thankfully, the meet the parents (which I might add, turned into a two hour Meet the Parents lunch) ended up going surprisingly well – my appearance and wardrobe taken into account. But as we left, and I commented on how his parents were probably going to ask he never again bring a street walker to the house, it struck me that maybe to him—or thinking more in depth, guys in general—meeting the parents is not that big of a deal. Maybe, to guys, it really was just “stopping in” and didn’t mean more than that.

But, I am not sure that is how it should be. Meeting the parents for the majority of us opens the Pandora’s box of questions like, “How serious are things with you and _________? “or, “Where did you two meet?” And even worse, the inevitable, “What ever happened to __________?,” a few weeks after he stops returning your calls. So, for all you guys out there (or girls), who just don’t think meeting the parents is a big deal: It is.

Please be courteous and give your respective significant other enough of a heads up to shower… and not wear something with sequins.

[Photo courtesy of dearsugar.com]

I find sexual fantasies to be both extremely liberating and enlightening. By opening myself up to any possibility – mostly things I would never do in the flesh – I learn a lot about myself and what turns me on. I can act out entire scenarios in my head and prepare myself for new situations that may arise sometime down the road. And, of course, I get to do something a little naughty with people I would never have the opportunity to be with in real life.

Like the dad of the kids I babysit for. I know that fantasy is as cliché as they come, but there is something so sexy and forbidden about that bond between babysitter and dad. He is sexy, smart, funny, and adorable with his kids. I know it’s so wrong, but I can’t help but wonder what it would be like to have him drive me home, kiss me, then take advantage of me in the back of his Mercedes.

Or my Psych professor. Real original, I know, but as over-done as this scenario is, it doesn’t make wild sex during office hours any less tempting. Or sneaking him into my sorority house for an afternoon siesta any less dangerous and totally hot. The fact that it is so off limits only makes me want it more.

My fantasies are always about people I cannot be with, in places I cannot go, but knowing how much I enjoy them in my head, I have really started to branch out and try new things. No, I am not going to try and seduce some married men (as awesome as it is in my head), but allowing myself to open up and imagine new things has made me realize just what turns me on. And it makes the real thing sooooo much better.

I think lots of women are embarrassed by their deep, dark fantasies and therefore do not discuss – or even entertain – them. If you fall into that category, you are doing yourself a great disservice. Take some time to really think about it; you will definitely enjoy the results.

Start now….and share your fantasies with us.

No, not that way. Come on.

Aiken has artificially inseminated his “best friend” and producer, Jaymes Foster, who is in her late 40’s. Clay has even decided to be a father in earnest (no, not that way) and help raise the little tyke. The baby is due in August, which means that they’ve managed to keep this under wraps for a while now.

I would like to offer my congratulations to the future parents. And so, as a gift (for some reason, I wasn’t invited to the baby shower) I’m going to give Clay some advice on how not to horribly scar and embarrass his child.

1. Don’t Smile.

You’ve recently bought a new smile, Clay, but I’m sorry, adding huge ceramic teeth to an already startlingly creepy face is a bad move. If you catch your infant child unawares, he may think that you are a beaver monster and never trust you again.

2.Stay on Broadway as long as you can, especially if it means that you don’t have time to record a new album. Spamalot is the most unironically brilliant job for you and it has a certain cool, broadway cache that your child will find a lot cooler than all of the middle-aged fan clubs you’ve inspired.

3.Get a haircut. Okay, this is more for my sake than for your child’s. But I promise Clay Jr. will appreciate it too. When your hair style has been unfavorably compared to Phil Spector’s in the height of his crazy, it’s time to try something new.

4. Don’t let your child get on the internet. Ever. At least don’t let him or her do a google image search with your name if you want to maintain any sort of authority. While you are setting some ground rules, outlaw this video, too.

I know this may have come off as a little harsh, but such is the nature of celebrity. In all seriousness, I’m sure that Clay will be a lovely parent, singing to his child constantly. Which reminds me…

5. Don’t sing to your child constantly. You have a lovely voice, so everyone once and a while is okay, but don’t be like so many other musical artists who feel compelled to sing things that they could easily just say.