Holiday music always helps put me in the season, especially when the weather ain’t so frightful and the fire, chestnuts and Jack Frost are practically non-existent.

The Maccabees are all about making the holidays come to life with the smooth sounds of their a capella group. Their latest hit, which features a collaboration with Matisyahu, is just what you need for Hanukkah Hump Day. What’s Hanukkah Hump Day? Oh it’s just what we call the midpoint of the Hanukkah festivities.

We’ve featured the video below, so while you’re busy pouring the manishevitz and fryin’ up the latkes, you can feel a little extra festive alongside The Maccabees.

Happy Hanukkah!

Just when you think Ryan Gosling can’t get any more amazing, he goes and gets himself a new meme. And not just any meme, it’s a Hannukah themed meme. It’s like the dreidel keeps falling on gimmel and my heart is collecting all the gelt. (Whoever understands that reference wins my last leftover Bat Mitzvah party favor. What is it? Hint: it involves a picture of me in all my 13-year-old glory.) But seriously, all rabbinical humor aside, it’s officially my favorite tumblr of the day. So do yourself a favor and check it out by clicking right here.

Jenni may or may not have printed all the photos out to give to people for presents in lieu of gifts that cost money. You can follow her on Twitter here @MayorJenni.

The funniest women on TV

Adding these items to my Christmas and Hannukah wishlist

Dealing with your commitment phobia

Tackling holiday shopping on a student budget

Meanest ‘Millionaire Matchmaker’ moments…say that 10 times fast

Celebrity Pancakes!

How to date a coworker without being creepy

The seven deadly websites

Of course Tavi can sing too

Here are some of the more harmful holiday practices and how we can tweak them to make them more eco-friendly without any less holiday cheeriness.

Gift Giving:
Every year we all spend our precious time and money picking out the perfect gifts for our loved ones.  Unfortunately, what may seem like the “perfect gift” to us may not be so appreciated by the recipient and end up as a throw-away by the time spring cleaning rolls around.  Avoid this potential waste while saving your own time and effort and give them something they will actually use.  Go for gift cards to their favorite stores so they can pick out something they’ll want.

Another idea is to stray away from buying “stuff” and give experiences to your loved ones instead.  A massage at the local spa for your mom, tickets to the big game for your dad, or a backstage pass (slash nosebleed section ticket) to the Jonas Brothers for your little sis should do the trick.  Plus, all of these gifts have the potential for you to include yourself in on the action (minus the J Bros, thanks).  Happy holidays to you!

And if none of those ideas strike your fancy, there are tons of eco-friendly gifts that will make everyone – including Mother Earth – happy.

Keep the travel to a minimum:
While it’s great to spend time with loved ones during the holiday season, it can become a little exhausting for the family and for the planet.  Spare your fam the holiday traffic, fights over the radio station, and tons of air pollution and keep it small.  Instead of driving from family member to family member, invite them all to one place for a holiday dinner or small party.  Not only will it reduce the stress of the holidays, it will also take a load off of the planet.  If you just have to go see Aunt Edna this year, consider renting a hybrid car (Zip Car, the greatest business ever, has plenty for rental, either for a few hours or an entire day!) for the journey to save on gas and increased mileage on the family minivan.

Get off your butts!:
For some reason, “family time” during the holidays now tends to include TV, going to movies, or playing Wii tennis (thanks, Walmart commercials).  My advice? GO OUTSIDE.  For those of you lucky enough to have snow during the holidays, go build a snowman or have a kids vs. parents snowball fight like old times.

If a food coma’s got you feelin’ a little sloth-y, go on a leisurely walk around the neighborhood to check out the over-the-top decorations or stay in and play Apples to Apples.  Not only will you save electricity and energy, but you’ll actually get to spend time with your fam that doesn’t involve your Mom’s awkward comments during Nights of Rodanthe about how Richard Gere is “such a hunk.”

Reuse your wrapping paper:
As much as I would like to think that I could convince you all to wrap your gifts in recycled newspaper, I know that’s just too tacky, even for us poor college students.  The next best thing?  Save wrapping paper, tissue paper, bows, and gift tags for next year.  This will cut down on holiday waste and save you a butt-load of money next year.  Another great tip that I picked up from my Mom is to re-use all those holiday cards as gift tags for the next year.  Just carefully cut around the writing to get some free, unique, and recycled gift tags for next year’s gifts.

What do you to green up your holiday?
Don’t be a Grinch – share your tips with the rest of us!

Despite the end of the year being one of the busiest times, it is important to think about giving to others and taking time to make a help those in need. Here is a list of easy and simple ways to get involved in making a difference this season:

Adopt an Angel, Be a Santa
Consider adopting a needy person for the holiday season. Giving Trees are everywhere right now (from your local Wal-Mart to your mall’s JCPenney, and many colleges have them up in their common areas) allowing you to choose the name of a person in need and help them out. You don’t even need a lot of money to do it! Every name comes with a list of wants; you can purchase just one thing off of that list (usually something simple like shampoo or groceries), or gather a bunch of friends to go all out. Your $10 purchase will really make someone’s Christmas.

Ring The Bell
You know those red kettles outside of grocery stores and on nearly every street corner in big cities, often accompanied by a Santa ringing a hand-bell? They are sponsored by the Salvation Army and have been around since 1891, providing homeless and needy with nice sit-down meals for Thanksgiving and Christmas. When walking out of the mall this holiday season, drop some of your spare change into those kettles, because any amount of change will be put to towards hot holiday meals for those in need.

Give an Unwrapped Toy
Toys for Tots simply asks for a donation of an unwrapped toy. This program, sponsored by the United States Marines, has been around since 1947, and all it calls for is you to drop off an unwrapped gift at any of its toy collecting sights. Need to find a donation spot? Click here!

Get Bakin’
Are you good at making gingerbread houses or baking cookies? Put your domestic skills to good use and make a local nursing home a batch of your favorite cookies or drop off a gingerbread house. Since the holiday season is often considered to be a time for presents, children are often the main focus – but it is important to not leave anyone out. Many elderly living in nursing homes are left by their families during the holiday season, and dropping off something to brighten their day would mean a lot. Contact your local area nursing homes and assisted living centers to see how you can help.

Drive Yourself Crazy
Your college is probably having some kind of drive.  In fact, if your college is like mine, you probably have two or three drives going on at once, so pick one drive that you most want to participate in and go all out. Get together with your friends for a stitch n’ bitch and knit the night away – someone out there could really use a homemade scarf. Not into knitting? Go collect cans with your best friends. Pick a neighborhood and politely go from door to door asking if there are any spare cans the family would like to donate this holiday season. Many people will be glad you stopped by, because through your good deed, they will feel like they did something good themselves! Don’t have time to participate? Donate an hour of your time to help sort all the collected items from whatever drive you want. The club or organization will greatly appreciate the help, too.

Eat-Out
As the holidays approach and the semester comes to a close, how many end-of-the-semester Christmas get-togethers are you going to have? You’re going to need a reservation for that big group of friends, and booking through Open Table is the best way to do that.  Open Table has pledged a full meal to domestic hunger-relief organizations (such as America’s Second Harvest) for every dining reservation made through the website. With nearly 49.1 million Americans living in food insecure households (meaning the availability of food and access to it) in 2008, just your reservation alone can provide someone a meal. To make reservations with Open Table, click here!

Give the Gift of Activism
Not sure what to get a friend, but know they are passionate about something? Consider making a donation in their name. For example, my sister is studying abroad in South Africa for the next year and she is particularly moved by the townships outside of Capetown, so I am making a donation in her name to an organization that provides South African township children with the opportunity to go to college (These Numbers Have Faces). Is your friend really heated over the Health Care reform and Stupack amendment issue? Maybe you can donate some money to Planned Parenthood to keep fighting the good fight. Wish you had time throughout the year to work in an animal shelter but don’t? Send $20 into the ASPCA!

Want more information or other ways to get involved, check out these websites:
Feeding America
The Salvation Army
Goodwill
Toys for Tots
List of Nonprofit Organizations
Volunteer Match

Giving: Lets you show someone how much you care. When you find that one “perfect” gift for someone, you are ecstatic to see their reaction.

On the other hand, you then have to find the same perfect novelty for everyone else in your family or circle of friends, or else it might seem like you were playing favorites.

Receiving: Umm, hello? Free sh*t. Perfect opportunity to ask your parents for stuff you want but can’t afford on your own.

However, if you get a hand-knitted sweater from Nona with giant snowmen on the front, it’s not like you can return it, exactly. So you better perfect your gritted-teeth-smile and thank you.

Giving: You can use it as an excuse to buy something you want that’s still shareable. It’s like killing two birds with one stone: see a top you love? Buy it for your roommate, and borrow it every chance you get. Or, get your boyfriend a pair of hot concert tickets – obviously, you’ll be his date.

The downside? You will blow your cover if you buy your dad Britney’s new Circus CD.

Receiving: You get to see how much people love you, because they clearly want to shower you with gifts! And they might surprise you by being uber-creative and getting you the gift you never realized you wanted, but now can’t live without (my roommate wins that title this year).

The cons? If you didn’t buy a gift, or just threw something together, you will look tacky when the other party gives you the best present ever. Who knew getting wonderful presents could be so hard?

Giving: You can flaunt your creativity as a shopper, as well as the fact that you know your recipient so well that you’ve found the best gift, ever.

Unfortunately, this will burn a hole in your wallet, and if you cant’ find the perfect gift for everyone on your list, you’re still bound to succumb to mindless giftcard swapping.

Receiving: No matter what, it’s still free items. And with the economy in its present state, we can all use free stuff.

Just be careful – trying to be economical and regift any of your received goods can be detrimental if you regift the wrong thing to the wrong person. It might be better to just suck it up and sell your new Oster on Craigslist.

So, in an attempt to avoid an ulcer or an unfortuante road rage incident, I vent to you, dear reader. Please feel free to join in and comment about anything–really, anything–that pissed. you. off. this week. Let it all hang out. I feel you.]

People who shout the name of movies as the previews roll: Obviously, people who talk during movies are a**holes. That’s why the cute food from the concession stand urges you not to! And previously to my last cinematic experience, I could care less about the people who talked during previews (I mean, most of the time I’m not even there yet so I can’t hate.) Then I sat behind a guy who was of the mindset that I had entered his private theater, and was in for a treat as he displayed his psychic/ trivia powers. As soon as the trailer had been running for 5 seconds, he would confidently (and really effing loudly) shout the title of the movie being advertised. Seriously?! The only thing worse than this habit was the beaming look he kept giving his wife, who reluctantly high fived him when he got one right. This is why I have Netflix…

Lack of the Yuletide spirit. Maybe it’s just because I live in Florida and the closest thing we’ve got to snow is the shaved ice on the rims of tropical drinks, but I still don’t feel like Christmas is in less than 4 days (despite department stores putting up their decor the day after Halloween). I mean, there’s a lack of lights on houses, the malls are still empty, even my Christmas tree doesn’t have that magical scent. I guess the economic blues have replaced the seasonal mirth this year. I’m not demanding carolers or anything (although a good rendition of “O Holy Night” hits the spot every time), but please, if there really is a Santa Clause (or a Hannukah Harry) send me a little seasonal joy.

The Houdini Friend. We’ve all got that one friend. She’s awesome, sweet, hilarious– and one of your favorite drinking buddies. What’s not to love? And then you are reminded with her next whirlwind crush. She’s got a pretty reliable two week relationship lifespan… with every new guy she meets. She becomes so enamored for the first 5 or 6 days that you don’t see her at all, and her disappearing act could earn her a spot in Vegas (hence the title). The next thing you know, she’s calling you to constantly to bitch about Prince Charming’s flaws (who knew you could find so much to complain about in one week?). Finally, you end up consoling her as she breezes through boxes of Kleenex (she really thought this was finally the one) before insisting that you go out for a girls’ night. Requisite dancing around to Spice Girls, getting ready and pre-gaming ensues, then BAM! Homegirl has slinked off into a secluded corner to be wooed by the newest Flavor of the Week…

Stupid co-workers: Namely, that girl you’ve been training for the last… 2 months. Whether she’s f**king up the official phone greeting, he’s the guy who just can’t seem to grasp the concept of his minimum wage schtick, or she’s the hostess constantly overloading you with (or worse, neglecting to give you any) tables. You dread working with them, just because you know that your day or shift will be inundated with absolutely idiotic questions. You’ve subtly hinted to your boss just how incompetent they really are, but just don’t have the heart to come out and scream : “FIRE THAT DUMBA**!” It’s ok. You can post it on the comments—we understand here.

Beach days are over, flip flops have been thrown to the back of the closet, and our skin has gotten so dry our resemble a reptile. Hello, winter!

We might be feverishly counting down the days to summer, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy December, January, and February. Hey — at least they’re not as rainy as March (usually). The next time you start cursing because you can’t feel your fingers…or toes…or face… reflect on some of the best winter offerings. Besides, if it was sunny and warm year round, we’d have to be perpetually ready to don a bikini.

1. The Holidays

First there’s Thanksgiving break, and the excuse to gorge yourself on home-cooked meals (a welcome change from the dining hall); then, after some grueling finals, winter break rolls around, with Christmas and Hannukah following closely behind. Lights and decorations are everywhere, NSync, Mariah Carey, and Adam Sandler take over the airwaves with “Merry Christmas (Happy Holidays),” “All I Want for Christmas is You,” and “The Hannukah Song,” respectively. And then there’s the long-awaited return of the Starbucks Gingerbread Latte.

By the end of December, winter is only half over, and we get to look forward to party hard on New Year’s Eve, with Valentine’s Day rolling around just a few weeks later. As winter trails off, we can say goodbye to snow over pints of Guinness for Saint Patrick’s Day, and then we have nothing left to celebrate until July. Thank you, winter, for giving us school vacations, seasonal treats, and an excuse to drink heavily at themed bar nights.

2. An Excuse to Layer

‘Tis the season to accessorize! There’s no way we could show off a cute new pashmina in 90-degree humidity, or color coordinate knit sorell caps, gloves, and scarves. Without a drop in temperature, we wouldn’t be able to jazz up a sweater dress with a chunky belt, sweater boots wouldn’t have even been invented, and there would be no room in our closets for cashmere!

3. Winter Sports

Football season gives way to basketball season, and students across the country get to continue to show their school spirit as their teams vie for a spot in one of the many tournaments across the country. For die hard fans, these tournaments also mean….ROAD TRIP! I mean, if you really can’t stand the cold, you can always pick a tourney in a warm climate – preseason tournaments so far have included the Maui Invitational and the Anaheim Classic. And that’s just b’ball getting started — take it from a Big East veteran, nothing will warm you up like a half-gallon thermos of beer at Madison Square Garden while you join thousands of other die-hard fans.

Of course, the list of winter-centric games goes on. Ice hockey, skiing, snowboarding, and skating are reason enough to brave the frigid temperatures, and if you can get your hands on a snowmobile and a few acres of land, you won’t even miss the beach. Who says you have to gain weight over the holiday season? With all these winter sports, it’s easy to find fun ways to burn calories. Hell, next time it snows, organize a snowball fight and tone your biceps while pelting your roommate!

4. The Romance Factor

Okay, seriously? Snuggling by the fire… or, if you don’t have a fireplace, an excuse to stay in bed under the covers for the whole day. There’s also the excuse to dress like a naughty Santa’s helper, a la Mean Girls to seduce your man, and with some mistletoe around, you’re bound to lock lips with the hottie of your choosing. Also, the winter sports previously mentioned can be a great ice-breaker (no pun intended). You can flirt over the snowbanks and then take a hot shower together to prevent frost bite. Can’t be too careful! If Currier and Ives proves to be an aphrodisiac, you get to celebrate your newfound relationship by bringing the honey home for the holidays.

5. The Scenery

If you can catch the first snowfall before the snowplows hit, it’s gorgeous. When the hills are mounds of white, the trees are shrouded with snowflakes, and the sun gleams off of an ice-covered pond, winter can make you forget about the stress of midterms and holiday shopping…until the world wakes up, shovels out their cars, and turns the Norman Rockwell-esque landscape into a mound of muddy sludge. Sure, the leaves turn pretty colors in the fall, but there’s a period between fall and winter where the trees are just barren, ugly, and dead-looking. Once the first snowfall hits, it’s an instant reminder of why we love regions that have all four seasons, and why we’re willing to deal with the cold year after year.

If you had fun on Halloween, just wait and see what the Festivous season has in store. Here are some ideas so you can throw your own rager for Christmahannukwanzakuh… or whatever you celebrate.

Tacky Christmas Party

Now’s the time to dig out the sweater you got last year from Aunt Millie – the one with real pom poms sewn on to represent snowflakes, with bedazzled reindeer flying across the front. If you don’t have your own tacky Christmas sweater, rummage through your mom’s closet or hit up the Salvation Army. These parties have been gaining quite the reputation over the last few years, with party goers trying to out-ugly each other. Decorate with lawn ornaments from the Clearance rack at K-Mart, and serve Malt Liqour to your guests. Who doesn’t love a white trash Christmas?

Hannukah Song Party

Who says you have to put your Halloween costume in the closet on November 1? Give your best celebrity costume another go by throwing a party where everyone goes as their favorite character from Adam Sandler’s “Hannukah Song.” Once everyone gets nicely buzzed, the phrase “OJ Simpson- not a Jew!” will echo through the halls, and “Put us together- what a fine lookin’ Jew” will be the pickup line of the night.

Gingerbread Tran Party

Cross-dressing meets Christmas. Need I say more? If you love Angel from Rent, this party will be right up your alley. Another fun evening? Rated X holiday baking. Who ever grows out of decorating pervy gingerbread men and women? Throw on an apron, grab a rainbow of frosting choices, and let your dirty little imagination run wild. Then hand out the tasty treats to everyone on your floor. See if your RA turns as red as Rudolph’s nose.

Naughty or Nice Party

Which list are you on this year? Think of this as the holiday version of a “Heaven and Hell” party. It’s a great excuse to wear your red bikini in December. Other costume party ideas? Dress up like your favorite Christmas song (and yes, Justin Timberlake’s D*ck in a Box counts) or your favorite holiday story character (Ralphie, anyone?).

Of course, with limited time, and in the midst of finals, you may opt to have a straight holiday party, where everyone can wear their normal clothes. That’s no reason to forego the holiday drinking games just because you don’t have time to plan something elaborate.

Play “Drinking Dradle,” where every side of the dradle is designated with a rule, e.g. “Drink one shot” or “Social.” Better yet, play it just over a week to put new meaning to the phrase “Eight Crazy Nights.”

Have a Liquor Grab Bag. Have everyone bring something potent and throw it into a box, still in the brown bag. After everyone’s chosen their “gift” for the night, you can be a Grinch, and make everyone take a swig without opening the bag to see what they’ve chosen, or you can play Tiny Tim and let your guests trade to promote some good old holiday cheer.

Still too busy to really get into the holiday spirit? Half-ass the party by making red and green jello shots or serving up some warm, wintry cocktails. The best part about a holiday party? You can splurge for an ice luge on the back porch, and it won’t melt until spring.