Oh, there’s no place like home for the holidays! After an overly caffeinated week of library sleepovers and final exams, the perfect way to retreat and rejuvenate is by heading back to your hometown. You know, because of all the overachieving siblings, screaming cousins and the ongoing drama between too many members of your extended family to keep it all straight in your head.

Relax. Really, you deserve to, even if your household environment makes such a task especially difficult to execute during the holidays. In fact, bookmark this virtual manual to ensure that you survive your family over break. Trust me — over the next few weeks, it’ll shock you how slowly time can pass.

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Ever hear the story of the ugly duckling? No? Let me refresh you then. The Ugly Duckling is quite simple a story about an ugly duck. Nobody wanted the ugly duck. Not the mother, not the brothers, not the other birds, not even the gross geese. So the poor ugly duckling ran away from his home to live by himself. At the pond where he made his new home, he would longingly stare at the swans, wishing he could look as majestic and beautiful as them. Until one day, after spending months in a chicken coop and then escaping almost being cooked alive, he returned to the pond and saw his reflection. He was finally beautiful. He was a swan… What a bunch of bull s***.

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All hail Parents Weekend! At some colleges, parents have already graced your dirty dorms with their angelic presence, while other schools celebrate this unofficial holiday in early and late October. Regardless of whether mom and dad have come and gone or have yet to come, we’ve got all the basics to keep floating well above the water during Parents Weekend!

When I was a freshman, I could not wait to see my parents. It was the first sight of normalcy I’d seen in weeks after living with my super crazy psycho roommate. Seriously guys, don’t screw this up!

First, there are a couple of simple rules to follow when hoping to master Parents Weekend. Since mom and dad are going to spoil you silly with gifts, homemade favorites, dinner at your restaurant of choice (we all know you’re picking the most expensive) and maybe even a mini-shopping spree to get you those must-have dorm and wardrobe necessities, we’ve got a detailed list of a few subtle ways to give back. Read More »

[Hey everybody! Sarabeth here with a new feature that, quite frankly, I'm stoked about. Each week I'll be bringing you an album that I feel is particularly awesome in the hopes of building iTunes libraries everywhere! It could be something new, old, hugely popular or fairly unknown, so keep checking back for our suggestions to awesome-ify your music collection.]

Sigh…my and everyone else’s winter breaks are very quickly coming to an end. And while I may currently be spending time at home with the fam, I will soon return to my friends and there needs to be some serious drinking action. Not only do I want to mourn the end of my last semester break of college, but to also drink away this past week with my entire family under the same roof for the first time in a year. For this last weekend of break, I highly recommend AWOLNATION’s debut EP, Back From Earth.

About the Band:

AWOLNATION is the new solo project of Aaron Bruno of Under The Influence Of Giants and Home Town Hero. The name AWOLNATION comes from his nickname Awol, which he’s had since high school.

Top 3 Tracks:

Sail

Dirty Filty Soul

Burn It Down

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"A razor? What are you trying to say, honey?

Christmas is fast approaching. (Five days, but hey, who’s counting?) While I’m sure you’ve already picked out the perfect gift for everyone on your list, I bet you haven’t given much thought to what you’re getting this holiday season.

Well…I have.

I’ve taken my favorite Gleek’s (Brittany S. Pierce!) advice and made my Christmas list early and sent it on its way to the North Pole. But I know that even someone as prepared and as considerate as me (making it easy for my parents by adding what I wanted for Christmas to their Amazon shopping carts) will more than likely get stuck with a few bad Christmas gifts. It’s okay though, it’s a burden we all have to bear, so I’ll brave the post holiday madness and head to the return lines.

I just hope I don’t get anything quite as bad as these gifts. Read More »

I really hate it when people ask me where I’m from. For me, it’s not so simple.

I was born in Quincy, Illinois. I moved to Abilene, Texas when I was eight years old when my mom was offered a huge promotion from the company she worked for. I moved to Austin, Texas for college when I was eighteen, which is where I am now. And then a year ago, the company my mom had worked for for 21 years laid her off (damn recession). My parents were born and raised in Wisconsin, and since I was the youngest of three kids and we were all out of the house, they decided to move back to there.

I can’t really blame my parents for wanting to move back; my mom was especially miserable here in Texas. She HATES hot weather so you can imagine how much she complained during, well, 80% of the year out here. And neither of my parents really had friends in Abilene. The one close friend my mom had relocated for her own job and then there was really no one left. Back in Illinois, I remember my parents having a bunch of friends over for their birthdays. But in Abilene there were no parties; just the family having a quiet dinner with cake. Read More »

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Ew Dane Cook

I think most people look back on their college years with nostalgia, wishing for the sunny football Saturdays, the insane parties, and even the long weeknights nights spent in the library. I’m no different, of course, having had a similar experience with every other American college student. However, my memories are shadowed with another powerful memory: that of my parents’ divorce. I was 19 and in my sophomore year when I heard the news.

Whatever age you are, wherever you are in your life, hearing that your parents are getting divorced kinda rocks your world (not in a good way). I felt like my family was breaking. What’s worse is that I had no idea it was coming. I lived on campus at my school, which was a six-hour drive from my home. I talked to my parents often on the phone, but the kind of things that hint at divorce don’t really get translated during a bi-weekly chat. It was almost as if I was six-years-old again; too young to understand the situation, excluded from all the arguments.

The day I found out was one of the rare occasions when my mom and my sister came to visit me at school. They were there to pick me up and take me on a road trip to my Aunt’s house, just one hour away. I finished my classes, packed my bag, and watched movies with my friend until they arrived. I didn’t immediately know anything was wrong until I got in the car. The mood was tense, false…what was supposed to be a relaxing family weekend already felt uncomfortable and forced. Soon it was out – my parents were getting divorced. Read More »

I’ve been in California for nearly two months now, but everyone I run into asks the same question: “Are you going to move here permanently?” Those back in Georgia frequently ask me “Do you see yourself moving back home?” And of course, with the LSAT on my mind 24/7, the inevitable question of “Where do you want to go to law school?” comes up. Apparently all things post-grad rely on geography!

Where you go to law school matters a lot – especially for where you want to live. If you go to a school that isn’t nationally recognized, job perspectives outside of that region shrink. Am I spending all of my time thinking about law school in the context of location? No – there are more initial factors, but picking a future residence does have a major importance. But how daunting is that? Although it may be a little drastic to say, it really feels like I have to answer “Where do you want to live for the rest of your life?” right now at this very second.

So, the plan was to move out here – get my post-grad life together, and then figure out where to go after I worked hard enough to make my plans happen. Since I’ve been here, a lot of people assume this is where I plan to reside forever. Do I want to end up in Orange County or Southern California forever? Honestly, I don’t know if it’s for me. While California is gorgeous, I still don’t feel like I can call this place home. I haven’t had my “ah-ha” moment of residential happiness. 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, TFLN…), but there are thousands of other sweet sites out there (like Covet, Any Clip, and Live Mocha) 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.]

Ah, summer. There’s something about this time of year that brings back memories of the beach, county fairs, baseball, and, of course, family vacations.  Although at times, my family drove me crazy on those trips and I’d much rather have been anywhere else than with them, there are still tons of great memories of all those long drives to see relatives, camping trips, and visits to amusement parks that filled my summer vacations growing up.

So in honor of both summer (which officially starts next Monday) and Father’s Day this Sunday, I give you: Dads on Vacation. Read More »