Live in New York City? Like going out on Tuesday nights? Want to drink with us?

If you answered yes (or even maybe) to the above questions, then have we got news for you! In celebration of our January feature, 21 Cities to Visit After You Turn 21, we’re throwing a little shindig at one of our favorite New York bars, Galway Hooker. Spoiler Alert: We also named Galway Hooker the best bar to visit in the city after you turn 21.

CollegeCandy editors, writers, interns and fans will be at the bar on Tuesday the 17th starting at 6:30, where we will promptly be taking advantage of the $4 drinks and telling inappropriate office stories. If you’ve been to one of our parties in the past — or if you’ve heard the morning after tales — you know we really like to have a good time.

So stop by! Let’s chat it up over a few happy hour cocktails! RSVP HERE. And be sure to look out for 21 Cities to Visit After You Turn 21 premiering on CollegeCandy January 17th!

Yesterday, I went out for a late night happy hour with one of my greatest girlfriends. We sat down in a booth, ordered up our California red wine, some pommes frites and got to talking. Happy Hour, might I mention, will be your favorite activity come real world. At happy hour, you discuss life’s difficult moments, relationships and friendships–all to the deepest degree.

Lately, I’ve been noticing something about these happy hours. I jump on them with all of my friends. New friends, old friends, friends from college, friends from high school, friends from work…and I realized something. My friend groups are slowly growing apart. Like a cell, they are pulling themselves away from each other and bouncing into two different worlds where they are altogether different.

In one group, are my college girlfriends. They were the lovely ladies I chose to spend the heftiest chunk of my four years in college with. They share drunken escapades with me, long stories of nights in the library, silly adventures sprouted from hunger, ambition and craved adventure.

In another group, are my newest friends. They are the lovely ladies I have chosen to spend my post-college life with. They share more recent drunken escapes with me, long afternoons in our favorite coffee shop full of recapping old college stories and new ones alike, silly adventures sprouted from a sense of eager ambition, craved adventure and a blank and exciting future.

They are pretty much the same relationships right? So you mean nothing really EVER changes? You guessed it, that’s totally not true. These new post grad friendships and the ones I held so dearly in college have evolved. My college girlfriends have all found men they plan on marrying. They talk about the cuts of wedding rings and their jobs in the office. They are busy and crazy successful, I’m proud of every single one of them. But since my life has changed, my college friendships have carefully drifted up up and away. I’m envisioning the scene in Titanic after the last bit of the ship went under water and Jack and Rose drifted apart in the ocean. They came back together of course, but lost each other for a fiercely cold moment in time.

I’m a flight attendant now. My week by week schedule changes as quickly as a young boy in puberty. I never know what I’m going to be doing day to day or where I’ll be. I’m single and comfortable with it. I have no idea what color my bridesmaid dresses are going to be, I’m not building a home with my boyfriend and, even though I totally know what cut my wedding ring is going to be, I don’t have anyone to share it with (quite yet). These differences have pulled me away from my college girlfriends but have brought me increasingly closer to a new group of girls I’ve found to love.

My post-grad girlfriends are all single, I met them through my new job and we have so much in common it almost freaks me out. We laugh in the name of marriage, love to go out and have fun. Finding this new group of ladies has fulfilled me with personal hope–that there are people out there (my age) that are still like me rooting for a single life out in the town, a hopeful future and lots of crazy stories and juicy laughs.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my college girlfriends. I will always love them with all my heart. But sometimes, I have to accept that my future may be going a different direction than theirs (even if it’s at a slower rate). And that’s OK. Because there are girls out there who share the same beliefs and stories as I do at this very moment. There are woman out there who want to live life and view the world the way I do.

[There are over 100 million sites on the Internet. 100 million! You might think you know about all the important ones (CollegeCandy, Gmail, Google, Facebook…), but there are thousands of other sweet sites out there (like Spreezio, Teach Parents Tech and We Are Hunted) 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.]

Every time I try to plan drinks with my friends, it seems as if we always end up going to the same places. I’d love to try somewhere new, but it’s difficult if you haven’t been to a particular bar before and you don’t know what kind of specials they offer (we’re college students — cheap drinks are a priority)! But all that’s no longer a problem, thanks to DrinkOwl!

DrinkOwl is a handy website that shows you all the drink specials in a local area, listed out on a map, making it super easy to read about and locate bars. Click on a bar for more info, including the address, operating hours, website and the day-to-day specials.

While all that is awesome, what really makes DrinkOwl great is that it allows you to sort through drink specials by type of drink, so you can find a bar that’s offering deals on exactly what you’re thirsty for — whether it’s beer, wine, liquor or mixed drinks. That’s amazing!

And even if you’re already out, DrinkOwl can help you find the next place to stop with their handy iPhone app, which works just like the website by using your GPS location to find drink specials nearby.

One of the best things about DrinkOwl is that it’s still growing, so new bars and specials are being added all the time! Check back often for new additions, and you can even help DrinkOwl  grow by sending in any drink specials you know about!

Next time my friends and I are stumped about where to go for drinks, I’ll turn to DrinkOwl for inspiration!

Remember when you were a little kid, and you’d actually wake up on time for school… just so you could huddle next to the radio and listen for your school to be called on the list of snow days? With winter’s doom impending and temperatures dropping faster than The Situation’s pants, we can’t help but cross our fingers and pray.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

Are snow days something you never grow out of? Or, in college, do they prove that miracles really can happen? Here’s how our anticipation of snow days has evolved since grammar school.

Then: A snow day meant a day off from times tables.
Now: We don’t have to finish copying someone else’s MiniTabs before Stats lab.

Then: We would make a beeline to the street and get all the neighborhood kids together for a snowball fight.
Now: We don’t have to brave arctic winds to walk to class and sit through lecture with snotsicles hanging from our frostbitten faces.

Then: Since we were already up at the crack of dawn, we could take advantage of the snow day and start building a snow man as soon as we got “the word.”
Now: We can go back to sleep for about six hours, and wake up just in time for happy hour.

Then: Snow days meant putting on snow pants and trekking to the biggest hill in town for a full day of sledding.
Now: Snow days mean putting on our beer coat and trekking to the bar for a full day of boozing.

(Note: I love how college students use a blizzard as an excuse to go to the bar, yet even when school isn’t canceled, we deem it too treacherous to walk to class.)

Then: For some unfortunate children, snow days meant driveway-shoveling duty before the parents got home.
Now: After the storm passes, we have to shovel our cars out from behind the snow banks the university plows have inevitably created throughout the parking lot.

Then: We could spend a whole extra day working on our vocabulary exercises!
Now: We could start that research paper that was due three days ago… but who are we kidding? Those episodes of Law and Order SVU aren’t going to watch themselves!

Then: We had an excuse to drink hot chocolate for breakfast.
Now: We have an excuse to drink a thirty-pack for breakfast.

I think it’s clear that snow days are one of mankind’s greatest inventions. Honestly, snow delays and cancellations are one of the top reasons to attend a university in a colder climate. I feel bad for those of you who are earning degrees in Hawaii, Florida, California, or any other season-less state. You will never experience the joys of the world’s most beautiful Get-Out-of-Jail-Free card: the beloved snow day!

Want mas? Don’t worry, there are plenty more faves where this came from.]

[Everyone’s got a morning after story (some of which are way more mortifying than others) and we wanna hear yours! Send it over to us and we’ll post it – anonymously, of course – right here!]

I’ve come to learn two fundamental truths this week: the happy hour does not exist, and breaking and entering is easier than it looks. I’m serious.

If I had known that a quick drink with a friend after work was going to lead to free steaks with married men, a rooftop bar with what may or may not have been a British boy band on holiday, and a late night snack session alone in my friend’s boss’s apartment, I would have worn a better outfit to work that day.  Because that’s my biggest regret of the night… obvi.

But as I was saying before, there is no singular hour that is happy, at least not in my world. Personally, I want each hour to be happier than the next. And I accomplished that, to the max, with my friend Monica this past (epic) Wednesday night. One beer turned into three different bars, multiple drafts, and a gaggle of new male friends with money to spend. So, despite the wedding bands and balding heads, when they offered to take us out to dinner, who were we to say no?

The Bald Brigade took us to a restaurant in the Meatpacking District of New York that can only be described as a steak-turned-whore house. It was like a bachelor pad designed by a metrosexual with a taste for busty women and black satin. But seven courses (and seven gin and tonics) later, we were having a grand old time discussing how many times a week we can eat Chipotle without falling into coma. The verdict: 7 times… but only if you got the burrito bowl with no cheese or condiments, which basically sucks all the fatty joy out of it anyway.

Once that pressing issue was settled, it was off to the rooftop bar at the swanky Ganesvoort Hotel where we replaced our gentlemanly dinner guests with a group of British men who all sported the Justin Bieber hair do and were more than happy to make sure our glasses were never empty. It was around the time I was entering “Leo Your Fiancé” into my phonebook when I realized that …. wait a tick, I live in New Jersey, and it’s now three a.m. and there are no trains going home. And it’s a weeknight. One minute I’m sitting in the VIP section of a luxury hotel with the world on a string, the next I’m homeless and without a change of clothes for work in the morning. How cruel life can be sometimes.

While Monica found it prudent to seek shelter in the arms of a Backstreet Boy, I still had no place to go. That’s when Monica remembered her boss was out of town for the week. PERFECT. She sent me off to a Manhattan address, with only the knowledge that I could find a key to the apartment underneath the mailbox. Next thing I know, I’m entering into a stranger’s apartment and making myself right at home.

I proceeded to: take a shower, making sure to remember to shave my legs; get myself dressed for bed, finding a sassy little nightie in this woman’s top drawer; and eat a late-night snack of cashews and Rocky Road ice-cream. My last fleeting thought before I finally passed out was, I better make sure to position myself correctly in this lady’s memory-foam mattress, otherwise the jig is up! Because surely the empty jar of cashews and dirty ice-cream spoon in the sink wouldn’t be enough of a clue.

I woke up in the morning not 100% sure where I was… or why I had thought it OK to wear another woman’s clothes to bed. Or to even sleep in her bed in the first place. But I made sure to return the nightgown to its rightful place, make the bed, and return the key to it’s hiding spot underneath the mailbox.

As I walked around H&M searching for an acceptable outfit to wear to work that morning (I chose a see-through t-shirt dress, sans panties, and sneakers—I must have still been drunk), I pieced together my night. After giggling to myself in the dressing room (both at my reflection at at the previous night’s shenanigans), I realized that I’d actually learned a third lesson:

If you ever happen to become a boss of any kind, don’t – under ANY circumstances – let the location of your hide-away key slip to your employees. Just don’t.

Sorry, people of the bar, for forgetting to put on undies....

Dear Friends/Family/That Random Taxi Driver That Picked Me Up and Took Me Home After Finding Me Face First On The Sidewalk,

Sometimes I like to drink. A lot. And on those occasions I may or may not (okay, always) do stupid things. It is not me, you see; it is the alcohol. In fact, it is not until the morning after when I am chugging Gatorade and trying to get my bed to stop spinning that I even realize exactly what went down. And I feel bad – really, I do. So, I want to take this opportunity to apologize for it all.

To The Bartender: I am sorry that I hopped over the bar and drank beer directly from the tap. And attempted to spray my friends with Tonic Water. And knocked over that giant stack of glasses….

To My Best Friend: I am sorry that I bit your hand when you tried to take my falafel away from me. Yes, I know I said we would share. I am also sorry that I stole your shoe…and drank a beer out of it. And that I peed in your garbage can. Oh, wait. That was your sock drawer? My bad.

To My Other Friends: I am sorry that I called your girlfriend “Gorilla”…to her face (but I am more sorry that you are dating such a mess). Sorry that I brought that random dude back to the apartment and accidentally took him to your room. I will wash your sheets…and rug. Oh, and your teddy bear.

To The Cab Driver: I am sorry that I didn’t open the window far enough when I was attempting to puke and, therefore, got a lot on the inside of the door. I am also sorry that I only had $2 and 36 cents in pennies to pay you. And I appreciate you letting me give you my Bed Bath and Beyond gift card to cover the rest.

To The Random Person at Dominos: I am sorry that I ate half of your cheesy bread before you came to pick it up. It just looked so lonely on the counter.

To The Dude I Work With: I am sorry that I made out with you at Happy Hour and made you think that I was interested and then laughed at you (and told everyone about it) when you asked if you could come home with me. That was really insensitive.

To My Grandma: I am sorry that my friends and I thought it would be funny to drunk dial you at 3 am to tell you that I just hooked up in a bathroom. I just hope you don’t know what that means.

To The Guy That Lives Below Me: I am sorry that I was in the mood to tap dance when I got home from the bar at 5am. I am also sorry for that loud thump at around 7am; my bed was rocking and I rolled right off.

To That Dude I Met: I am sorry that things didn’t work quite that well. It is really hard to aim/stay focused with 6 vodka/Red Bulls in my system. I am also sorry that I stole that pair of boxers; I couldn’t find my skivvies in the morning and needed something under my dress. P.S. Let me know if you find those…

To That Dude I Met’s Girlfriend: He didn’t tell me about you until the next morning. And that underwear you may find somewhere in his room are mine. Sorry ’bout those.

To My Liver: I am so, so, so sorry.

I hope that this covers everyone… past, present and future.

Anyone wanna hit up happy hour tonight? Let me know!

–Laur

[This post was originally posted by Lauren - University of Michigan.]

Dear Tuffy Luv,

I am an intern this summer between my sophomore and junior year of college, and it is everything I could have asked for in an internship. I love my co-workers, I am always busy, and I feel like I am actually making an impact and not just shuffling paper. Last night, my co-workers and I went to a big group happy hour. I am really close with the team, so they all bought me drinks and had a great time. Unfortunately, I did not eat dinner all night and got a little too drunk by the end of the night – not in a sloppy way at all, but I noticed it myself.

At the end of the night, it was just me and two of my male co-workers, including one guy who I thought had been flirting all night and for the past couple of weeks. I felt so comfortable with him that I think at some point during the night, I started flirting back. We left the bar together, and somehow went on a drunken adventure to attempt to go dancing, and then pizza, and he eventually dropped me off at home. During the car ride, we were laughing and having an amazing time, so much that I did not notice the 10 year age difference between us. I was jokingly punching him, and I remember resting my hand on his face in a very intimate way for too long, and he actually removed my hand from his face. After that incident, it went back to normal and we went back to our conversation and laughing. I cannot tell if he has feelings for me or not, because last night he would keep saying, “You’re 19!” I’m not exactly sure everything we talked about in the car, but I know I was at my drunkest at that point and I’m nervous at what I might have said.

Today at work, it was so awkward and we pretty much avoided each other all day. I don’t want to address it at all, or even acknowledge that the end of last night happened, but I’m not sure where my feelings lie and if he reciprocates them or not. Today, I just feel embarrassed that I let myself get to that point, and that I acted so silly in front of him. What should I do? I know work relationships are inappropriate, especially as an intern, so should I just let everything go and pretend it never happened?

Sincerely,
Not So Happy Hour

Dear Not So Happy Hour,

Well, you pooped where you eat.

It is ill-advised, NSHH, to go around flirting with your coworkers, even if you’re a full-time employee. But as an intern, it is especially disastrous. It looks bad, girl. It makes you look unprofessional. Think of your career, girl! Once you become an item of gossip, you cease to be a professional entity and begin looking like a silly little sexpot.

It’s also dangerous for you as a person. You, as an intern, have no power. You are the bottom of the bottom. You’re not even an actual employee. It may be true that your coworkers love you, but they are still just coworkers; they are not your true friends, and you shouldn’t allow yourself to think they are. After all, how long have you known them? How WELL do you know them? And, for bloop’s sake, they are older and in an entirely different place in their lives. Don’t put yourself in a situation where you give someone else power of your body and your career.

And, yes, it’s unfair that women are more punished for affairs in the workplace than men. It totally sucks and is stupid. It is, however, a fact. Live with the reality and know what you’re up against.

Only two short months into the post-grad working world, and I have already reached my limit. It’s not that I don’t like pencil skirts – much to the contrary I actually think they are extremely sexy and flattering on almost all body types. But the staple black pencil skirt with cute-but-not-too-revealing-top uniform can get really boring, really fast.

So instead of stuffing my closet full of yet more simple, streamlined skirts, I’ve decided to spice them up just a tad with unique details that give an outfit just a ounce of wow factor. I’ve gone on a hunt for pieces that are still totally office appropriate, but keep me from falling asleep when looking at my outfit in the mirror.

The perfect skirt? Banana Republic’s Silk Pocket Skirt.  From a block away it appears to be your standard black skirt, but a closer look reveals understated detailing that takes an outfit from average work attire to office chic.

The length is just right – short enough to be feminine and flirty, but long enough to save you from developing a reputation discussed at the water cooler. I love the silky cotton fabric that is super comfortable and breathable, and those pockets! Not only can I store my 3pm snacks in there, but they add a laidback vibe to an otherwise stuffy outfit.

The best part of the skirt by far is the gathered waistband. The rusching effect is adorably feminine and the pleating that ripples down the front gives movement to your bottom half. I see it with a thin, candy-colored silk top and flats for an office look that still allows a recent college grad to be young and fun.

And this skirt’s lifespan doesn’t end before happy hour. Throw on a pair of heels and a smokey eye and you have a chic, sophisticated look (think glamorous professional) that will go perfectly with that cosmo….or the $1 Miller Lites on special. Whatever.

I love going out with friends for drinks or dinner, but unfortunately, it’s something I haven’t been able to do very often due to my minuscule college student’s budget–until recently, when I found out about SpecialsAgent. SpecialsAgent is an amazing site that helps you find great deals on food and drinks in your area, making it the perfect resource for poor college students everywhere.  With a BFF like SpecialsAgent, you to still go out and have fun with your friends—without going completely broke.

SpecialsAgent has over 20,000 deals and specials from more than 60,000 bars and restaurants nationwide in their database. By simply typing in your location (city and state or zip code) and the date into the search bar at the top of the site’s home page, you’ll get access to every single deal that exists in your area.  The results list tells you everything you need to know about each deal, including: what the deal is (such as, 1/2 off beers or appetizers), what time it’s available, distance from your location (good for when you want something that’s within walking distance) as well as the name and address of the bar or restaurant offering the deal.  And, SpecialsAgent is always looking to include more deals, so if there are any specials that you know about that aren’t listed, make sure you e-mail them to get it added to the list!

The SpecialsAgent search engine also gives you the ability to search their database by keyword, which is pretty awesome.  So you can just type in whatever you’re in the mood for—for example, “brunch,” “tacos,” or “Ketel One”—and SpecialsAgent will find any deals in your area that fit your search.

For some locations, SpecialsAgent also has a feature on the site called “SpecialOps,” which is featured daily on the front page of the site.  A SpecialOp is a super-discounted deal or coupon (like $15 for $30 worth of food at a restaurant) that you purchase in advance that works through cooperative buying—meaning the more that people purchase the deal, the cheaper it’ll be.

What’s more, they’ve also recently launched a free app for iPhone with a search engine like the one on the site as well as available SpecialOps deals, so you can find great deals no matter where you are!

I’ve already found so many great deals on SpecialsAgent that I can’t wait to try with my friends.  I love knowing that I can still have a fun night out – and get exactly what I want – without having to worry about spending too much money!

Sometimes interning in a Big City is really exciting- the celebrity events, the high-profile bosses…even the extra-complicated coffee orders can be fascinating at first.  Other times, like last week, it was completely overwhelming.  Between the oppressive heat wave (hello triple digits) and feeling like something in my brain just wasn’t connecting, I was left in need of a night off to regroup and have some fun.

Trouble is, when you’re one in eight million, the process of finding a kindred soul to cry into your martini with can be daunting.  Of all those people, it’s impossible to narrow the field down to the ones who want to come together in commiseration over receiving little (to no) pay over performing the tasks few employees want to do.  Or so I thought.

Welcome to the age of Intern Parties.  A little bird slipped me the website’s link in an email and just like that I had plans for Friday.  Let me tell you, if you’re a novice to New York nightlife, as I clearly am, Intern Parties will save your social status by bringing interns together every night of the week in trendy New York City bars with zero cover.  Zero. Plus, drink discounts!

Needless to say, after work I ran to get a manicure…big splurge, I know…then it was a mad dash to my temporary home so I could get decked out.

Before you stare at me all agog wondering if I went to an intern meet-up alone, let me clear the air and say, yes, I absolutely did.  Please understand the situation I was in: my best skirt had ballpoint pen all over it from a note-taking session that went horribly wrong, my hair was a frizz ball from the humidity, and my pride was hurt from a boss unhappy with my photocopy skills.  I needed a cheap drink and a cute guy to flirt with me.  I didn’t care how I went about achieving these things.

I arrived at the bar at the same time as two other girls who interned together at an advertising firm.  They were completely friendly and we decided to stick together for the evening.  After all, I don’t mind going somewhere alone, but hell if I’m going to drink alone for three hours.  As the night wore on, the bar filled up with hundreds of interns from all across the city, leaving us all mixing and mingling in a haze of vodka and cheap beers.

Overall the night was a success and I left with a handful of new friends, which is no easy feat when you’re a lowly intern in the biggest city in the country. To all my fellow interns out there, drop me a line and maybe I’ll see you out at one of the Intern Parties.  This is an insider secret too good not to share.