Dorm life is a double-edged sword. Getting along with your roommate is amazing…letting her get away with a filthy mess isn’t. When your room is messy, your life is messy.

I remember freshman year when I was stressed beyond all belief, had 2 midterms a day for 3 days, and basically stopped sleeping. By the end of day 2 my bed turned into a dumping ground for everything from clothes to empty food containers to looseleaf papers and textbooks. With nowhere to even entertain the idea of sleep, I very nearly had a mental breakdown.

So, while you may think it’s totally worth it to let the mess grow until it’s time to go home for Thanksgiving, these quick and easy organizing tips will keep you sane enough to get through midterms, finals and (most importantly) those Friday night impromptu pre-game sessions!

Step One: Get a (big) garbage can and USE it!

I don’t think you’re stupid but I am going to assume you’re lazy. So, this is why I say you must get a big garbage can and throw away everything you don’t need. Old notes, papers that are cluttering your desk, old chinese food containers. Get it out of the room!

You live in a virtual shoebox, right? It’s time to accept the fact that you only have room for the essentials: a bed, desk, that handle of Georgi that you’re hiding from the RA in the back of the closet. That’s it. Then? Take the trash out (regularly)!

Feel better yet? Read More »

Seeing as I have to work almost every night of the week and I don’t have cable…or a TV…I don’t get the shear joy of watching Gossip Girl as it airs.

But what I do get is sharing the joy of Gossip Girl after it airs. This week, I’ve decided to pseudo live blog. Because with an episode name like Poison Ivy, you know this sh*t is going to be good!

And if you missed the episode? Consider this your cheat sheet so when your girls ask if you watched tonight at dinner…you’ll be able to join the convo.

What will happen with Dan and Serena? Will he ever forgive her? What will happen with Serena and Blair? Will she ever forgive her? And what, pray tell, happened between Dan’s dad and Serena’s mom??

I’m so excited. And now that I’m settled in my bed with my ice cold can of Budweiser and my YouTubed episode of Gossip Girl, let the drama begin…

Part One

How cute is Dan with all the knicks on his face from shaving? Endearing.

HAHA. The choir is singing Glamorous. AHAHA.

Wait, they’re only Juniors… yesss. This insures at least one more fabulous year of Gossip.

I love Jenny, she just talked like a Latina girl while making fun of Dan’s inability to shave.

I love that vest Serena’s throwing on. Tres cute. Grey knit is big for fall. Oooh and I love the grey suede boots. They look like knee socks, BUT NO! Adorable. Read More »

Getting fashion inspiration from TV and movies is nothing new. I can remember riding my bike around my neighborhood during the summer after fourth grade, dressed just like the girls from Now and Then singing “Knock Three Times.”

Of course, there wasn’t a boy who looked like Devon Sawa and no mystery to solve, but if there had been… well, I totally looked the part.

Emulating a star’s style is easier than ever and with Starbrand and the CW Style Shop, all your favorite TV looks are only a click away. And what better time to try out someone else’s look than in college, when you haven’t quite figured out who the hell you are?

With these online TV looks categorized by brand, episode and character, your favorite pieces are easy to find. And best of all, no arduous searching through website after website looking for a really awesome pair of jeans. All the denim in these shops is to the minute.

They have also made it easy to shop for cute basics and affordable outerwear. It’s like having a whole rack of awesome clothes pulled from every different virtual store.

They’ve already done all the work, and for a lazy college girl, these websites are ideal. Work is a word we tend to avoid at all costs. I mean who hasn’t worn their pj’s to class at least once?

Check out the fall fashion gallery after the jump! Read More »

What do you do on a Sunday morning when you’re seriously hungover and jonesing to dish on last night’s juicy gossip from the Kiss on the Lips party?You brunch.

And, obvs, when the elite mix brunch with alcohol with DRAMA shit goes down. And, oh did it go down.

With the Serena and Dan monumental hand holding last week, there were sure to be some significant hand moments in episode 2. And oh, did they deliver.

There was the wave that Dan gave Serena at the end of their date. I KNOW. A wave? Come on, Dan!

Serena was perplexed as well. And Dan felt he had blown all chances so he ends up at the Palace waiting for Serena to explain why he was so nervous and waved instead of totally sucking her face.

Meanwhile, Serena goes over to Blair’s for their requisite Sunday morning caps, croissants and Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Blair lets Serena in on the news that she knows about Serena and Nate totally DOING IT on a bar at a wedding a year ago. (Classy, Serena!) Read More »

I was on the phone with my friend MK last night and I was like: “MK, Did you SEE Gossip Girl last week?”

And she was like: “Oh my God, Lauren. I’m totes obsessed.”

And I was like, “Obvs, MK! The horrible acting, the great music (anybody else catch Peter, Bjorn and John in the first scene?), the awesome clothes, what’s NOT to love??”

We clearly share a mutual love for all things fashion and all things cheesy teen television, which is why I was so excited about to let MK in on my little Gossip Girl fashion secret:

There is now an online Gossip Girl store.

Not that I would buy (or could afford) Serena’s $450 dollar Tory Burch sequin dress that she wore on her date with Dan, but unlike poor little me, these characters have stylists.

And obvs, they’re much better than raisin-faced Rachel Zoe.

The best part about fashion is the way the individual pieces are mixed. And although I consider myself fashion forward, sometimes I don’t know how the hell to spice up a great piece. I usually just throw on something lowbrow and have all-together missed an opportunity to show my personality by mixing and matching pieces I wouldn’t necessarily expect.

Which is why I was taken by the styles on Gossip Girl in the first place. If you weren’t obsessed with Serena’s gold dress cum cropped jean jacket and black tights ensemble, you, my friend have got problems. It was fab. Check out the Gossip Girl Fashion Gallery after the jump! Read More »

I have a special place in my heart for terrible teen television. The O.C., Degrassi, Instant Star, South of Nowhere, Dawson’s Creek: I just can’t get enough of it. The cheesy acting, the terrible love dramas, the catty bitch fights. I LOVE IT.

Which is why I am pumped for my newest terrible teen television drama Gossip Girl. Being an angsty teen is hard enough but when you’re rich, pretty and living on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, life is so bad it’s good. I’m pretty sure I watched the trailer five times because I was THAT excited.

There have been reviews. The New York Times profiled the show while five real UES Manhattan girls watched the first episode. And a few have even written that Gossip Girl is nothing to gossip about. But this is no Arrested Development, people. This is bad television.

The acting is sub par and the plotline monotonous (teens drinking and doing it… not anything new), but this time instead of sunny California it’s New York City.

And a location change is enough for me to be interested. It’s new! It’s fresh! It’s probably awful and I love it. Read More »

We all fall in love with the dorky character. Usually the Hollywood “dorks” are along the looks line of Adam Brody or Penn Badgley (who, FYI, is playing another nerdy persona as Dan Humphrey in Gossip Girl this fall).

If all the nerdy guys looked like that, you’d be hard pressed to find a dork without a leading lady.

Although the “unlikely” character always gets the girl in the movies, its usually not so in real life. And it’s these unlikely Hollywood celebs that have made an unlikely impression on the general public: people think they’re sexy.

Seth Rogen is the one on the list that is really a no-brainer. He was the chubby awkward pothead in Knocked Up that made Katherine Heigl, and America, love him. So of course he would make the Most Unlikely to Be Sexy list.

And if you saw him in Judd Apatow’s two other films, 40 year Old Virgin and Superbad, then you loved him before Knocked Up and you certainly love him after.

The other on the list is Tina Fey—smart, funny and HOT. Come to think of it, shouldn’t she be on the most likely sex symbol list?? Read More »