Being awkward is an art form honed over many weekends spent singing out-of-key karaoke and talking about people when they’re right behind you. Of course there are a variety of ways you can be awkward, and not all of them are created equal. Surely it’s worse to be the awkward girlfriend than it is to simply be the awkward girl in class, right? Not necessarily. While we’ll likely explore both of those scenarios in the future, today I’m going to teach you how to be the awkward girl at the bar. Because she’s everyone’s favorite. Duh.

It’s not easy being awkward. You need to remind yourself of this simple fact every time you see someone out and about actin’ a fool. It takes an unnatural amount of ignorance, indifference and social ineptitude to truly be the mayor of Awkwardtown Saloon. Fear not, perfectly-average CC fans! Keep reading and perhaps one day you can be as cringe-worthy as the girl in the purple fringe skirt enthusiastically grinding against the guy who simply DNGAF.

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Alex loves rainbow sprinkles, retro bromances, and cultivating an iTunes library superior to yours. Most days, though, she just wishes she was Beyonce. Got something to say or a good conspiracy theory you’re just dying to share with someone? Follow her on twitter @AlexandraRane or on Tumblr.

[Lead image via CREATISTA/Shutterstock]

Somewhere down the line I realized that women don’t dress for men but rather for women. I think, for the most part, guys don’t really care what we’re wearing as long as we’re there and paying attention to them. They don’t know what high-waisted pants are or that wedged heels are back in for summer, they just know that we wear clothes and we usually look pretty hot wearing them. I’m not saying that they don’t appreciate the effort that we take time out of our day to look nice for a date or a party, but they’re not really analyzing the outfit like women do. Guys say things like, “You look amazing!” Girls say something like, “I love that necklace!” Girls look at the detail, men look at the big picture. (Ah, and it’s true for relationships in general with men!)

While men don’t pay too much attention to our wardrobe, I will say that there a a few things that we can wear (or not wear for that matter) that will make his heart flutter. I have gathered this list from 1) personal experience, 2) magazine articles I’ve been reading since I was 13 and 3) romantic comedies. And while these 9 options are a surefire way to get any guy to drool a little, the most important thing a girl can wear is confidence!

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Katie is finishing up her undergrad at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. She enjoys wasting hours on Facebook and tweeting things no one cares about. When asked the question, “Do you do marathons?” She promptly responds, “Of course! Which show?” Follow her @KatieGarrity! Or read her personal blog where she talks about Ryan Gosling and hummus a lot here! 

[Lead image via PonomarenkoNataly/Shutterstock]

On my university’s campus, seeing a (seemingly) happy couple walking hand in hand across our Yard is as rare as a Blue Ivy sighting. Undergrad lovin’ is a sketchy subject – partly because of our crappy male-female ratio, but mostly because no one knows how to define a relationship. We’re always talking about them, though.

Last week as I waited in an office to get my résumé revised, I chatted with some old coworkers. I posed a simple question: How was your Valentine’s Day?

Everyone had different stories – the girl with the long distance boyfriend, the guy with multiple Valentines (one for the morning, day and night!), my friend with a guy who isn’t her boyfriend (yet) and Magz. Magz told me about a cutesy date with a girl that she’d been ‘talking to’ for a while. I noticed that she avoided using the term ‘girlfriend,’ though.

“I know she’s not involved with anyone else. I’m not really interested in anyone else, either,” she explained to me.

So doesn’t that make them official? And couldn’t she just say so?

Not so much.

My office pals informed me that there are several distinct phases before one enters a relationship. There’s flirting, talking, dating and Facebook.

Read on and be enlightened, young grasshoppers.

When you flirt with someone, you’re getting to know them. This usually involves texting back and forth. Magz said that the biggest indicator of a potential who wants to talk to you is them initiating conversation. For example, she met her current homie/lover/friend in class. They were working on a project, and the convo went from history to hubba hubba in a matter of days.

After ‘flirting’ comes ‘talking.’ This is the make it or break it phase. The talking phase may begin with a good morning text and end with you both falling asleep on the phone that night…if you’re special enough to get a call. Conversational skills are crucial here. There’s nothing more annoying than the one word text: Hey. ’Sup? Cool. Kay. STOP.

Once you cross the ‘talking’ threshold, you advance to ‘dating.’ Like actual face-to-face interaction. My mind was blown when I found out that some people delve into dating without going through the talking phase – plenty of my friends pick up guys at the most random places and have something set up for the next weekend. Apparently, the ‘real’ way, according to my ex-coworkers, is to establish a connection before cocktails. And then dating brings up the issue of exclusivity. Should you pawn in other potentials for just the one? I guess that depends on personal preference.

However, you definitely have to be exclusive in order to receive Facebook status. When your relationship status on Facebook changes, you know it’s real. You’re claiming your new boo in front of Zuckerberg, your friends, family and the Facebook creeps in the corner. If that isn’t romance, I don’t know what is.

Flirting and dating and texting and talking…oh, my. The dating world and its titles is way too complicated for me.

CollegeCandy, how do you define your relationships?

Unfortunately, when it comes to girls there is no “She’s Just Not That Into You” book to prepare you for the art of the pick-up. The first impression can make or break you, and you certainly don’t want to embarrass yourself (or, worse yet, bruise that fragile male ego) by going after a girl who just isn’t interested. Don’t push too hard for a girl unless you are sure she wants it, and take it from me — if a woman likes you, you’ll know it.

Here’s how to tell:

1. We sneak a peak at you whenever possible. Most of us ladies don’t want to make it too obvious, so we’ll secretly stare at you. Whether it be from behind a computer in the library or from behind a book in class. Chances are, if we dig you, we’ll be trying to catch a glimpse of all you have to offer. If you just so happen to catch us, we’ll turn away as quickly as you can say 1-2-3.

2. We “bump” into you on the dance floor. We’ll take note of where you are dancing and slowly relocate our group closer to yours. Then, we just might drop it down low (low low low) and “accidentally” bump into you, just to catch your attention.

3. We are very interested in hearing you about talk about you. We love eavesdropping in your conversations and listening to what you have to say — especially when you are talking about yourself. Telling your buddy about the touchdown you scored at your football game on Friday? We can’t get enough! If you are standing next to us at the bar, we might even join in the conversation!

4. We laugh at your jokes. Even if they aren’t funny. Let me be the first to tell you, nine times out of ten, you aren’t funny — even when you try. But if we like you, we will still belt out a laugh for you — even when everyone else around remains silent.

5. We compliment you. While we won’t come out and say we’re into you, we give subtle hints by throwing compliments your way. Compliments like “nice shirt,” or “hey, you look great in green,” mean we think you look good. But when we lean in with an “Omigoddd, you smell so good! What are you wearing?” that means we want to get closer to you.

If we do two or more of these, we are definitely diggin’ you, so if you’re diggin’ us too, come make conversation! We’ve been waiting!

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Fall is in the air

Ladies, we have all been there. It’s summer. There’s a bonfire. You look fabulous in your bikini. You’ve had a drink (or two… or three…). And that guy is hot. And you just want him to notice you and become your cabana boy for the next three months. It happens. But there is a very thin line between flirty and creepy.

Fortunately for you fabulous CollegeCandy readers, I’ve devised a simple yet effective checklist to ensure that your fine-tuned flirting skills do not wander into stalker territory. 

• Making eye contact across the party floor while dancing? Flirty. Climbing on top of a table, shouting his name, and then ripping your shirt off and throwing it in his direction? Stalker.
• Biting your lip, just a little bit? Flirty. Gnawing on your lip in a way that appears as if you’re attempting to stop yourself from stealing his liver? Stalker.
• Sending him cute text messages to hang out? Flirty. Repeatedly texting him to figure out his exact location, company, and activity? Stalker.
• Planning to look hot at a party amongst friends that you know he’s attending? Flirty. Crashing a party you know he’s attending, even though you don’t know anyone there except him and you haven’t been invited? Stalker.
• Inviting him to coffee? Flirty. Watching what he orders at a coffee shop and then tracking him down at his summer job a few days later to ask him how his grande white chocolate mocha was on Thursday? Stalker.
• Making him laugh with your go-to funny story? Flirty. Laughing way-too-hysterically at everything he says? Stalker.
• Surprising him on his birthday with a homemade cake? Flirty. Surprising him everyday by waiting outside his door or watching him through his windows? Stalker.
• Cute comments on his Facebook status or photos? Flirty.  Repeatedly Facebook chatting him to get his attention, “liking” everything he posts, and attacking other girls who post on his wall? Stalker.

The line between flirting and stalking is thin. There can be too much of a good thing – lip biting, hotness, attention-seeking. If you start to feel a little crazy, you probably are a little crazy. So chill out by the pool or eat an extra slice of pineapple. No need to wander into “Stalker Land” because that is a label that is hard to shake. Stay cute and classy, ladies. And remember: if you feel suddenly desperate to get his attention, take a few deep breaths and think before you flirt… or else, you might get called, “stalker.”

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The following is a guest post by our (nerdy yet totally helpful) friends at Hack College. Check ‘em out for all your techy needs. They’re like the nerdy boyfriend you never had but always needed.

In case your campus missed out on likealittle.com‘s viral explosion during your finals, you should probably check it out once everyone gets back to school and the hormones start raging.  The amusing service allows anybody to flirt anonymously from across the room.  You simply say where you are on campus, your target’s hair color and gender, and a flirty message.  The publicly available flirts become an incredibly amusing Twitter-like list for all to enjoy.

The site hit 20 million page views in just six weeks, and was getting a million more each day (but I assume that has died down with the semester ending).  The viral growth here at Trinity was nothing short of amazing; a new message was popping up about every 30 seconds during finals studying nights, the vast majority of which were from the library.  Considering that my school only has about 2400 people, it was a stunning level of engagement. It could have been a finals week flash in the pan; we’ll know a lot more in January, but it’s definitely worth checking out your school’s page when you get back.

By the way, they’re also hiring interns.

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