Like most families, mine gathers around the dinner table on Thanksgiving and (after making fun of each other for a few minutes) shares what they are most thankful for that year. Growing up, I hated this tradition; it was so cheesy and lame. But now that I’m an adult (and an adult that comes from a family that never says nice things about one another), going around the table at Thanksgiving allows me to tell my family how much I love them…

And suck up for better presents come Hanukkah.

But really; it’s important to stop and show gratitude for all of the things we typically take for granted. Like my new niece; yes, even though she peed on me last weekend, I am thankful to have her in my life. Or the fact that I not only still have a job, but I have a great job (and a liquor store right next to my office!). Or my incredible friends who support me and laugh at my jokes… even when we all know they’re not funny.

Gosh, when I stop to think about it, there are just so many things I am thankful for. Maybe I should really show some gratitude year round….

But anyways, being that we’re really freaking close to Thanksgiving dinner (stuffing!!!), I thought I’d ask the CollegeCandy writers to share what they’re thankful for this year. (Apparently everyone’s giving thanks for their boyfriends… whereas I’m giving thanks that I don’t have one so I can eat as much pumpkin pie I want on Thursday night…) Read More »

"So....Emmy....where's your boyfriend?"

Like nearly every other college student on the face of the planet, Thanksgiving Break is something that I am eagerly anticipating. The dorms are always busy and fun, but everyone appreciates a little break now and then. There’s nothing quite like going home, eating my dad’s brownies, watching movies with my sister, and taking my dog along on runs.

I do love the holiday of Thanksgiving as well. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pie, and my little cousins dressed up as pilgrims, all my extended family gathered into my Grandma’s kitchen to say grace. I am blessed with a crazy bizarre extended family, the best kind to have in my opinion, and they are always the highlight of my holidays.

But as much as I love them all to death, sometimes their questions can be a bit too much. While I appreciate their interest in my life, I don’t feel the need to explain the details of the break up with my long term boyfriend to my uncle while waiting in line for cranberry sauce. Similarly, having my conservative aunt question me about boys that I might marry while she calmly serves out pumpkin pie just takes away my appetite!

Now, I understand that my aunt grew up in a very different culture than I do. Yet it truly does make my stomach full of turkey turn to hear this woman I am related to tell me that the most important thing for me to do in college is to meet the man I am going to marry. I love my aunt, but this idea of success disgusts me.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I definitely picture marriage eventually in my life plan. And I have nothing against people in long term relationships. Up until recently, I was one of them myself! Read More »

"Mom! Can you bring me some ice cream??"

It’s your last class of the week and it’s creeping by even more slowly than usual. You flip through your stack of Power Point slides. Twelve pages to go and only twenty minutes left in the class. There’s no way you’ll get out of here on time thanks to that ass in the front row who raises his hand every 3 minutes.

You aren’t paying much attention to the prof (why should you? You’ve got the entire lecture printed out in front of you) and instead are counting down the minutes until you’re back home for the weekend eating your mom’s famous burgers and showering without flip flops.

Class finally ends and you run back to the dorm. You only have an hour to pack before you need to hit the road. You dig your suitcase out from under your bed (“That’s where my round brush went!”) and throw it open. You don’t need a lot for your two day retreat; you don’t plan on doing much besides lay around on your parents’ couch and raid the pantry. You toss in a few pairs of sweats, one nice outfit (because your mom has made it clear that she didn’t buy you all those nice jeans to have them sit in the closet) and some very basic toiletries. You’ll just use mom’s shampoo/ conditioner/ hair dryer/ makeup… if the need arises.

There is still plenty of room left in your bag so you drag your laundry bag out of your closet and start filling up the suitcase with your dirties. You’re sure your mother’s empty-nest syndrome will be alleviated with a few loads of your laundry. And if nothing else, at least you’ll be able to do it for free.

Once your bag is zipped – which required a lot of pushing and a gallon of sweat – you change into something that won’t leave your mom yelling at you for looking like a hobo, dab on a little makeup, throw the necessary books/laptop into your messenger bag and head out. Read More »

Recently, CollegeCandy ran a post asking if our generation can really “have it all.” What we got back were some accounts of people trying to stuff as much as they could into their lives and hoping they could carry the weight for as long possible.  Sound unhealthy? Yes, and we all know it, even if we’re doing it too (and who isn’t?).

Take a breath.  I’m gonna let you into a little secret: you don’t have to. Not only do you not have to, you really can’t!  Helen Fielding, the creator of one of our favorite literary characters, Bridget Jones, says that we can’t.  During a recent speech at the Oxford Union,  Fielding cited the idea of “having it all” as a modern disease making women feel the need to live up to the images and expectations of an idealistic society that are thrown at us from all sides.  A modern disease?  Awesome.  Now we have to worry about this AND swine flu.

However, Bridget Jones certainly couldn’t do it, so why should we feel the need to overstuff our lives?  Think of all the things you love about Bridget – she’s human, she makes mistakes (awesomely hilarious mistakes!), she knows how to have a good time, she’s dedicated when it counts, etc, etc.  We love her because she is all of us!  What she definitely isn’t is a trembling, stressed-out activity freak that might collapse at any moment just because she wanted to fit just one more thing into her life… and then feel like a failure when she can’t. 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.]

This past weekend, my bf invited me to have Easter dinner with his family. After already weaseling my way out of both Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner, I knew I was going to have to come up with a GOOD excuse this time. Unfortunately, he caught me off guard and I think I stammered something along the lines of “Er… can’t…. brother… stay home… babysit… sorry!” into the phone. His response? “Great! Bring him with you.” Crap. So in honor of my 2 hours of awkwardness (kidding!!! uh..sorta), here is how to manage: Read More »

Beware, your mother is on now Facebook. You don’t believe me? Well, CNN has the proof. They are reporting that women over 55 are the fastest growing group on Facebook. That’s right, your mother is sending you a friend request at this very moment.

Maybe you’re part of that lucky minority who hasn’t received that email yet, the email that will crush your boundaries and make you curse the social network’s very existence. That may be true, but your mom may still be just a click away from invading your personal Facebook space.  Studies show that “there are now about 1.5 million female users older than 55 on the site — roughly a 550 percent increase over six months ago.”

Unfortunately, my mother is among this statistic. Read More »

Happy Post-Easter-Monday! I don’t know about you, but I hit the snooze button 5 times this morning before I could get my ass out of bed. 12 hours of Peeps, Cadbury Eggs and Jelly Beans had me on a serious sugar high last night (I went to the campus gym at 11:30…for real), but left me in some sort of diabetic coma this morning. And heading back to class after a long weekend?

Yeah right.

The only thing that really got me moving out of bed was a little hair of the dog that bit me… in the form of an Easter Egg filled with Starbursts that I found under my pillow. Thanks, roomie!

Anyways, a long weekend at home with the family was pretty tubular (yeah, I’m trying to bring that word back), but there are just some things about going home that are less than rad (yup, trying to bring that one back, too!): Read More »

I know you’re all still swamped with the work you neglected over spring break and don’t even want to think about the fact that exams are just around the corner. That’s why I hate to break it to you, but if you’re planning on sacrificing your summer for an internship this year,  the time to start searching, applying, and interviewing was yesterday. But don’t worry – you can still start now!

Whether you’ve already pledged to yourself that an internship will be beneficial to your eventual career, or this article only just now put the idea into your head, it can be difficult to know where to look. After all, if we are going to spend the summer working for little or no pay, we want the best damn internship out there, don’t we? As a bit of an intern connoisseur (I have five under my belt), I’d like to help steer you in the right direction. Read More »

[This post is courtesy of our gal pal, Marie Claire.]

Most of the time I see jealous and overly possessive guys driving their girlfriends away.    They appear to be controlling and insecure.

But, then again, if you don’t act jealous at all, you look like you don’t care.  Sadly, I’ve seen women admit that it’s nice to know that their guy is a little jealous or possessive of them.

So let’s go over the characters in our lives that may make our significant others jealous: Read More »

“Americans for Prosperity” push their  no stimulus petition.

Martha Stewart doesn’t like your family and your clutter.

The science of smooching.

Westminster pups get the LOL effect.

Runway looks for under $100!

Got milk? Chris Brown doesn’t.

Crimped hair is back… I wish I were joking.

The Jolie-Pitt angels terrorize a hotel.

Katherine Heigl, and T.R Knight quit Grey’s. Say it ain’t so!

7 deadly dating sins and how to avoid them.

Who needs vitamins?