Being back under your parents’ roof for Thanksgiving comes with a cornucopia of blessings, such as mom doing your laundry, shopping sprees and overeating until you actually consider braving the Black Friday crowds just to purchase a pair of jeans with an elastic waistband. However, being back under mom and dad’s watchful eye can be treacherous, as well.

This isn’t dorm life anymore. You can’t order Dominos at 2 a.m. and feed it to your late-night booty call in bed. That wasn’t OK in high school, and, believe me, it still won’t be appreciated by your parentals now. You may be a big, bad college student, but there are still some house rules that you must abide by.

That being said, here are some guidelines for navigating life at home for the Thanksgiving season:

Do enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with your entire extended family and celebrate with a glass of wine.

Don’t crush cans at the dinner table like you’re at a frat party. Because when asked what you’re thankful for this Thanksgiving, you’re great-aunt Susie won’t be laughing when you say “the morning after pill.”

Do have a few friends over for a Thanksgiving Eve pregame. There is nothing that my mom loves more than having my friends over to recap our lives over wine and snacks before she drives us to our night’s destination.

Don’t invite your entire Facebook friends list and set up a beer pong tournament on the kitchen table. Getting the family dog trashed may seem like a cool idea now, but the moment your parent’s feel it’s safe to come out of hiding in their bedroom, you’ll be getting an earful.

Do go out with friends and relive your high school glory days at a good ol’ fashioned house party.

Don’t attempt to use your fake I.D. at the local bar. There’s simply no good explanation a group of kids from various different states spanning the continental U.S. have gathered together to spend Thanksgiving in a small town in Jersey. It’s just not believable.

Do continue the search for a mate. High school boys do a lot of growing up in college; you never know what old crush or summer fling will need rekindling.

Don’t get drunk and sneak them into the basement. Experience has taught me that being awoken to breakfast-in-bed by mommy can turn quite ugly when a naked boy joins the party.

Do use protection.

Don’t ask your dad for it. He may agree, but it will most likely be a shotgun he brings out, not a condom.

You’ve been warned.

Do you know what today is? No, it’s not just the CollegeCandy.com editor’s half birthday – it’s the International Day of Peace! A day where people around the globe come together to reflect on the world peace we (and all those Miss America contestants) yearn for.

In honor of this beautiful day, I started thinking about my own personal wars I’ve been fighting. I’ve held onto a lot of grudges in the past year and I think today is the perfect day to wave the white flag and let them all go. Because there is nothing more freeing than peace.

I’m ready to call a cease-fire and here are a few of my former enemies I’ll be burying the hatchet with today:

The R.A. that stole my fifth of gin. I know I probably shouldn’t have been walking around with it in public. But it was so tiny and bite-sized and it packed such a big punch that I couldn’t bare to part with it. That is until you snatched it from me. I might have gotten a $50 fine, but at least I escaped alcohol poisoning that night. Peace and thank you. Read More »

Living in the dorms is one of the most essential college experiences. Years from now, you’ll tell your friends and family of all your adventures and mishaps. You’ll never forget those obnoxious fire-drills at 3 am, the industrial blue carpeting, how hard it was for you to climb up into your bed…whilst drunk.

Most of all, when you look back you’ll remember the people you spent these times with, and all the friends you made. But when it comes to dorm buddies, there are the good friends (they don’t steal your shampoo and they grasp the concept of hygiene) and then there are your dorm BFF’s…

The Aspiring DJ: As annoying as his incessant Facebook messaging may be, the DJ is a good dorm friend to have. Not only does he have vast knowledge of the hottest clubs in town, he knows the cheapest best nights to go. His iTunes shared library is effing awesome and he’s always happy to demo his spinning skillz at whatever event you’re hosting (AKA whatever themed pre-party you’re having in your room, he’s happy to bring an equally festive mastermix). Not only is he the life of the party with his hilarious and entertaining personality, but he has a special place in his heart for nightly AYCD party buses. He wants as many of his friends at all his gigs as possible, so you’re always on the V.I.P. list when he MC’s at da club. Read More »

I learned more my first week at college than I did in my entire life. And I don’t mean academically. I mean socially, financially, emotionally and drunk-ly. Some things took longer to figure out than others (that I should visit the ATM before I get to the bar, to avoid extra fees and my tendency to tipsily make it rain) and other things took mere minutes (don’t eat dining hall hot dogs).

But there are 5 things that every freshman should figure out their very first week on campus. Consider this College Life 101: Intro To The Best 4 Years of Your Life.

The go-to hangover breakfast spot: For those mornings when a Gatorade and toast just won’t do the trick, you need to find the most happening breakfast place near campus. This is not only important for the mornings when you need to take things to-go (back to your bed where you can lie in the dark while watching Daisy of Love marathons), but also for the social aspect of morning-after breakfast. Because everyone knows, after the party it’s the after party…and after that and the hotel lobby… it’s IHOP.

So, on those mornings when your inner monologue sounds like “Hahalalala definitely still drunk and my hair and makeup still look great!” you’ll know where you and your girls can go to re-cap last night’s madness while chowing on carby goodness and watching people walk in wearing their clothes from the night before. Read More »

Now that I’m halfway done with my college career (a pretty cushy place to be, considering I have two more years before the real world), I anticipate all the bright eyed and bushy tailed freshmen about to invade the dorms and use fake-id’s at all my favorite bars. Putting myself in their shoes, I wish that someone had been there to give me advice for my college career (all I got was my Mom telling me not to hook up with any fraternity boys until Spring semester). So I dove in head first and learned a few lessons of my own.

I learned the value of my dry erase board to my social life, I learned that “attendance optional” classes are not always a good thing. I learned that I should always have an assortment of costumes readily available, and that sharing drinks with my friends meant sharing drinks with whoever they made out with (and whoever they made out with…) All of these were very important lessons, and I’d like to share some of the pearls of wisdom I gained my freshman year. Read More »