Thank you, television Gods.

For a week there, I thought that my beloved Gossip Girl was destined to go the way of The O.C., becoming a drama where the only superior things were wardrobe choices. But after watching episode two of the season, it seems that the drama and romance we cannot live without is here to stay and growing better by the week.

And the guys are looking so. much. hotter. College did those boys gooood.

Well, for some. For Chuck Bass it was that businessman/entrepreneurial drive that turned up his sexy factor. That boy looks good when he’s holding meetings with rich old guys to get his restaurant/sex club off the ground. Too bad dear old stepsister Serena seems to thwart him at every turn. Poor Chuck finally has a vision and a plan to do something great in the future and Serena goes and ruins it for him.

If she didn’t have such an amazing wardrobe (that orange romper? I die) I’d totally hate her. She’s become the annoying little sister and has a knack for messing everything up. I’m pretty sure the same will be said (in 4 episodes, max) of her new relationship with super hottie, Carter Basin. Read More »

I do not miss the anti-fun police.

I’m heading back to my old college this weekend to reunite with friends. And by friends I mean 9am kegstands and a drunken stumble to the football stadium. And as I pack my suitcase full of college t-shirts, flip flops and my cell-phone flask, I’m really starting to miss my college life.

Wait. Who am I kidding? I always miss college life. Every. single. day.

It’s just that knowing I’ll be traipsing through my old stomping ground tomorrow has me extra nostalgic. I’ve spent the past 3 days looking at old photo albums (those are those books that existed before Facebook allowed you to create albums online), drinking to increase my tolerance to college proportions, and crying myself to sleep at 10pm since I have to wake up at 6am to go to work.

After drowning my sorrows in 3 shots of tequila last night, my friends yelled at me to snap out of it. “You’re out of college, woman. GET OVER IT.” But how? How am I supposed to move on from the best 4.5 years of my life (of which, I an only really remember 2.25)? By focusing on all the downsides, of course!

College was the bomb.com, but it wasn’t perfect. There were plenty of things wrong with it, so this week I asked the CollegeCandy writers to remind me share their biggest college pet peeves. Note: I still wanna go back.

Ricki – Univerisity of Michigan: When frat guys pour cheap vodka in Grey Goose bottles and try to pass it off as the real thing.  Boys, we can tell. We’re not that drunk!

Laura – St. John’s : While living down the hall/just across campus from all your friends can be a blast, it definitely sucks when you’re trying to avoid someone (i.e. the BFF you’re fighting with or that guy you hooked up with while you were drunk).  You have nowhere to hide!

Sara C – Fordham: ResLife. Ever notice how the on-campus housing staff want to make it seem like you live in a jail cell, not a home-away-from-home? Thankfully, I live off-campus now, but condescending RAs are THE most annoying thing about college.

Thu – USC: How people have been accepted to a good university and yet still insist on stealing bikes and other property. I don’t get it. Some people just have no integrity. Read More »

As same-sex couples around the country take to the battlefields to fight for their right to marry, American TV is making a mockery of the very thing these couples are wishing for. The collective majority of Americans are against allowing a same-sex couple to enjoy the sanctity of marriage, claiming we should “protect the institution of marriage” and uphold traditional American values. Yet, a new reality show reveals America’s hypocritical nature by turning marriage into a cheap game show.

Hitched or Ditched poses the ultimate ultimatum to a rocky couple: Get married in a week or end it for good. Viewers are drawn to the drama and suspense of whether a couple will say “I do” or be publicly humiliated with rejection. This all or nothing, sh*t-or-get-off-the-pot attitude cheapens the idea of marriage. This show will only reinforce our generation’s cynical attitude that marriages and weddings are nothing more than expensive circuses built around an attention-whoring couple. Something akin to the Speidi extravaganza comes to mind. Read More »

A while back, the editor of this very site put out a query: “Give me a Top 10 list of your favorite High School Movies.” I told her I wanted in – after all, who doesn’t love to indulge in a little HS drama? So I sat down and started listing. Only I discovered that including just 10 was more impossible than winning 8 medals in one Olympic games. And I am no Michael Phelps.

So, I listed 10. The first list of what would soon become many. After posting, many of you seemed quite angry with my decisions. Your comments were full of ALL CAPS and lots of exclamation points!!!! You were upset that I had left some classics off the list. Perhaps you didn’t notice the “Part 1″ in the title, or perhaps you just needed everyone to know of your love of The Breakfast Club.

Not that it mattered; I was clearly coming back for round 2. So here it is – another 10 gloriously angsty high school flicks. Get that Smart Pop ready, ladies; these high school dramas are gonna rock your lockers! Read More »

[I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not the epitome of prim and proper- heck, who really is nowadays? But looking around at the misguided youths of today *ahem drinking buddies*, I’m starting to think that Miss Manners might have been onto something.

While you may never need to know how to greet a duke or how to tell which fork is REALLY the oyster fork, knowing how to deal with people whom owe you money, how much to tip, and how to address the ever annoying licorice-in-teeth conundrum without being rude might actually come in handy in the real world. I'm not trying to be your mother - oh goodness, no - I'm just here to help you out of those little etiquette dilemmas. So here goes: a quick lesson in etiquette. The sh*t you might actually need to know.]

I’m going to be honest: my last break up was over four years ago. So when my editor suggested I do a Miss Manners piece on break ups (“because we all suck so badly at that”), I really had to rack my brains for “polite” ways to conduct a break up. What I found was:

There is no polite way to break up with someone.

Yes, the cold, hard truth is, breaking up with someone is dirty business and – unless the relationship really wasn’t that serious – one of you is bound to end up looking like a mess. While there is no set in stone way of saying, “Hey, it’s over,” or “Sorry but I’m leaving you for your brother,” there are some more or less common sense rules to abide to: Read More »

Life isn’t black and white. As much as we wish we simply loved or hated things, there is often that whole annoying gray area in the middle. Like how we love the idea of a monokini, but we just don’t know if we can pull it off. Or how we love making money babysitting, but hate giving up a Saturday night. Damn you, gray area; you make decision-making that much more complicated!]

Anyone who knows me knows not to call on Tuesday nights. Not only is it Biggest Loser night, but it also happens to be the best night of my week because of one thing only: The Real Housewives. I don’t care if they are from Orange County, Hot-lanta or New York, I can’t get enough of these women.

Yet now that The Real Housewives of New Jersey are on the (polluted) horizon, I’m starting to feel a little confused inside about my love for couture catfights and $16,000 handbags.

Yes, ladies, I’m torn. It’s time to break it all down. Read More »

Some movies make you laugh till your tummy hurts, while some movies inspire you with their message. There are some that make you terrified to sleep alone after watching, or ones that are so graphic and disgusting that they make you puke in your mouth and consequently scar you for life. And then there are  the ones that make you shed a tear (or in my case, bawl my eyes out till they are puffy and swollen).

Those are my favorites. Sound strange? Then tell me you’ve never had one of those days when you just wanted to have a good cry. It’s ok. Everyone needs a little release (followed by a giant brownie) now and then. If you’re having a day like that, check out on of these: my list of the best tear-jerkers of all time. Read More »

Are you in the mood?

Don’t lie to me. We all do it.

We curl up on the couch with a bowl of popcorn, a Diet Coke and soak up every minute of teenage nostalgia, especially the angst-y, heartbreak-y, hormone-driven parts that come with the High School Movie. We may be out of high school, but that doesn’t mean we’re over it. Our very fascination with those 4 years and the events that might have changed our lives is secretly compelling to us. So we watch. And we love it.

And that’s OK. There is nothing wrong with enjoying a little high school drama (and an occasional choreographed dance) again. There is so much to be learned from those flicks and so much happiness to be gleaned from the fact that we are no longer living them.

Just to let you know that indulging in high school drama is a healthy and well-adjusted way to waste your free time, I created a list of the best/awesomely funny/most ridiculous high school movies you will ever see. Read More »

I went to South Beach once. I ate really good sushi, stared into stores that I couldn’t even afford to walk into, and drunkenly slipped and fell on a stair leaving my entire left butt cheek so bruised I had to stand for the flight back to Michigan.  My trip would never have made good TV, which is probably why I am not on The City: too much ass, not enough drama.

The NYC kids (well, except Allie who was busy making porn in NYC) were sick of the dreary winter days so they decided to take a trip to Miami. Should be fun, right? Wrong. Obviously, drama follows these kids wherever they go and, obviously, Jay’s ex-fling (who he denies going home with that night after he and Whit started doin’ the dirty) happened to be at the same bar. Was it because she’s a total stalker? Perhaps.  A Coincidence? Perhaps. Whatever the reason, it turned the drama all the way up. Read More »

You can always tell who in your class is a Drama major. Don’t get me wrong, I’m just as much of a fan of the theatre as the next guy, but there is something very distinct about those who major in the department.

Unlike the business kids or the engineers, the Drama Major is bound to be in one or many of your classes. And he or she will be there with at least 3 of their fellow thesbians. Practicing their lines. You may not be able to recognize them by what they wear, but their overly dramatic speeches (and stage makeup) will surely tip you off.

When called on to answer a question, the Drama Major will turn the moment into a well-practiced soliloquy. They will use hand gestures, complete sentences and enunciate every last syllable. And when called on to read a passage aloud, they will take the opportunity to turn the classroom into a theater. The Drama Major will read with pauses, motions, and may even add different character voices, if the passage calls for it. Read More »