I love giving presents. I love the face people make when opening up the specifically picked gift, hearing the sounds of the wrapping paper tearing. I love the hugs and thank yous, the ‘Oh my god! You totally shouldn’t have (but I’m secretly really really glad you did)’s.

However, I hate the process you need to take to get there. I guess you could say I hate being thrown into a crowd of about 5,376.5 people all on the same mission. It’s like survival of the fittest except the contestants are fatter and will kill you to get the prize.

So, to help every other last-minute shopper out there, here are ten gift ideas that are sure to warm the hearts of the loved ones in your life. Or at least make them wince with an unappreciative ”Yeah, totally love it.”

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‘Tis the season for giving, so go and give some love.

When I was a kid, I had some pretty awesome toys. Pretty Pretty Princess, the plastic Polly Pockets with huge wardrobes, the Barbie Dream House and awesome outside water toys all kept me entertained for hours. While my toys were cool, they were nowhere as cool as the toys the kids have today. I’m seriously jealous. Maybe I’ll add some of these to my Christmas list this year…

We college kids are absolute masters when it comes to stretching the dollar—we share textbooks, swap party outfits, take rolls of toilet paper from public bathrooms and chug as much beer as we can when playing pong at other people’s apartments. So when we give gifts this holiday season, we’re definitely making sure we’re getting as much bang as we can for every single one of our bucks.

Which is why I figure that this year, we should give gifts that also give back to others around the world. If you’re gonna buy something for someone, why not buy the something that also helps someone else? It’s basically multitasking—you’re crossing people off your Christmas list and making a positive difference. And if you shop online, you can do it all without even getting out of bed.

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What are some other gift ideas that also give back?

Ashley is a UC San Diego grad who is holding on way too tightly to a potential career in magazines and goes to Vegas all too often. She’s fascinated with celebrities and strawberry beer and doubles as a pathological texter/emailer/blogger. Feed the addiction with tweets @cashleelee. Thanks in advance.

Alright, here’s the deal: Target, Macy’s Inc., Gap Inc., Kohl’s Corp., Toys “R” Us Inc. and Best Buy Co. are all opening on Thanksgiving to boost sales. Target employees will have to start their shift at 11 pm, meaning in order to survive the Black Friday madness they have to sleep in the afternoon. They have to sleep to prepare for work instead of spending time with their families on a holiday that is about giving thanks for the things you love. Target employee Anthony Hardwick has started a petition, which has already gained over 37,000 signatures in protest of the change in holiday hours.

I say good for you, Mr. Hardwick! What is going on with the holiday craziness? I remember when the holidays were actually celebrated in the month that they fell. I used to go into stores in October and only see Halloween decorations, but in recent years it seems corporations are trying to fast forward everything all the time. I don’t want to see Christmas decorations in October! I don’t want to see cornucopias and turkeys until November 1. And I most certainly don’t want people to be forced to give up one of the most family oriented holidays for the sake of Christmas sales!

Black Friday used to be a novel idea when the stores opened at normal hours. People would stand outside in line waiting for the doors to open, and it was crazy. But now, stores have surpassed crazy. It’s called Black Friday not Black Thursday, and there is absolutely no need for stores to open on Thursday night. I don’t care how much you think sales will go up. These stores are ruining holidays for their employees. Sure you can say that it’s their job, but it’s not fair to them in any capacity. People should not have to leave their families to work on holidays. How about you stop robbing families of their time together and open stores at normal hours?

If stores stop opening so early, then shoppers wouldn’t have a choice but to wait. Call me crazy, but I’m pretty sure people would still go shopping and would be relieved that they themselves don’t have to cut time with the family to go stand in line and risk getting trampled. Think about it. When a store isn’t open, what do you do? You wait until it’s open. Or you go somewhere else, but if every store holds off until normal store hours, no one would lose business.

I want the holidays back. I watched a Christmas movie last night on ABC Family, and Thanksgiving hasn’t happened yet! Why?! Everyone needs to chill out, we only have so much time to live our lives so why are we rushing everything? We live in a fast-paced world, but we need to slow our roll. I’m afraid that next year Black Friday sales are going to start the day after Halloween, and Thanksgiving will become obsolete. This is getting ridiculous, and it needs to stop.

It’s probably the latter. But still, I can’t help but think that there are certain shopping experiences that really would be made easier if they could be done with some booze in hand…

1. Swimsuit shopping. Bring on the shots. If it were up to me no woman would ever have to endure such a horror sober. Take a shot of tequila before trying on any one piece. Two for tankinis. Three for bikinis. By then, they’ll all look great.

2. Holiday shopping. Holiday shopping is super stressful and extra annoying because you don’t even get to keep any of the stuff that you spend so much time picking out. You’re giving it all away. So next December get your peppermint mocha or eggnog spiked before you start your shopping.  I think it will go a lot more smoothly…

3. Lingerie Shopping. Similar to the swimsuit shopping experience, except the lingerie doesn’t stay on for nearly as long. Go with wine for this shopping experience. Take your girlfriends and have a little bit of a fashion show, and sip some red wine as you do. It’ll relax your nerves for when you buy the lingerie… and for when you use it.

4. Shopping for School Supplies. With book prices these days drinking while book buying should be mandatory. For every $50 you spend, take a shot. For every $100, chug a beer.  Do it before you head out on a Thursday night and you’ll kill two birds with one stone- school supply shopping and pregaming.

The possibilities for such occasions are endless. Tell me ladies, which shopping experiences do you wish you had a drink in hand for?

Wrong!

It turns out, retailers have got your back and are actually going to reward you for being such a slacker….er….good student. Today, Free Shipping Day, over 1,000 online retailers are going to let you shop from the comforts of your futon and ship it to you for free (yeah, that’s not just a creative holiday name, people) with guaranteed delivery by Christmas Eve!

OK, so this might not be the best timing for those of you who were blessed with the last freaking final exam of the week at 3pm today and are huddled up in the library as we speak with zero time to shop, but for the rest of us, this is the sort of deal that makes us believe in Santa again. (Plus, you can always decompress after that killer exam than with some online retail therapy, am I right??) And it’s even awesome for those of us who don’t celebrate Christmas, as we can do a crapload of online shopping for ourselves and use all that money we would have spent on shipping for something extra fabulous.

Eeek! I’m more excited than when I found out NKOTB and BSB were going on tour together!

Check out all the participating stores at FreeShippingDay.com, then bust out that credit card and do your thang. Happy shopping, CollegeCandies!

The holiday seasons are all about eating too many dips, spending way too much money on frenemy gifts, and watching Elf on repeat. This year we’re prepared to take the stress and the frustration out of holiday gift giving by giving you the ultimate gift guides to buying the perfect presents for your favorite people (and we’re splitting into 3 different price ranges so you can choose the gift based on how much you actually like the person!). So set this series as your favorite because all week we’re bringing you the best.

It’s tough to buy gifts for the friend who loves to read. The choice should seem obvious, shouldn’t it? Buy a book. But what type of book? What has she read? What does he want to read? Hardcover or paperback? New or used? The questions are endless. And that’s before you even get into accessories. Are bookmarks too cliché? Will she even use them? Are all those gadgets really necessary?

All valid questions. But more importantly, all answerable questions. College Candy is breaking down the answers for you. With prices ranging from $11.99 to $139 we’ve got all your bases covered, from the books, to the book lights to the book shelves.

So no more standing in the middle of Barnes and Noble staring at the stacks of bestsellers attempting to figure out which one is actually worth reading. I’ve done the hard work for you and scoured those (cyber) shelves to provide you with the best gift options for the bookworms in your life.

Get even more gift giving inspiration in CollegeCandy’s Holiday Central!

She works out 6 days a week. She avoids the dessert buffet in the cafeteria. Her favorite hobbies on Facebook include running, yoga and lunges (and do not include brownies, TV marathons or couch time). She has magazine subscriptions to Shape and Self and her bookshelf looks like one you’d see in Jillian Michaels’ home library.

And you have no freaking clue what to get her for the holidays. I mean, carrots are a bad gift idea, right? And you know she needs a new sports bra, but that would be weird…

Worry not, young lass. Here are 9 gifts that are sure to tickle your health freaky friend’s fancy.

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Get even more gift giving inspiration in CollegeCandy’s Holiday Central!

The holiday seasons are all about eating too many dips, spending way too much money on frenemy gifts, and watching Elf on repeat. This year we’re prepared to take the stress and the frustration out of holiday gift giving by giving you the ultimate gift guides to buying the perfect presents for your favorite people (and we’re splitting into 3 different price ranges so you can choose the gift based on how much you actually like the person!). So set this series as your favorite because all week we’re bringing you the best.

We all have that friend, you know, the one who has the perfect outfit for every occasion. The one whose wardrobe makes your mouth water. The one whose every outfit looks like it stepped out of the pages of Vogue. She spends hours studying fashion magazines and style blogs and would rather be shopping than anywhere else. She knows exactly what she wants and exactly how to make it happen. Style is her sixth sense. So how do you even attempt to go about buying a present for someone with that type of shopping experience?

You get her something else to add to her fabulous wardrobe.

I’ve done some fashion magazine studying myself these last few days and found you ladies the perfect gifts for your fashion forward friends. Not only are all of these items absolutely on trend, but they’re also absolutely affordable, and any one of them would be a welcome addition to a fashionista’s wardrobe.

Get even more gift giving inspiration in CollegeCandy’s Holiday Central!

The holiday seasons are all about eating too many dips, spending way too much money on frenemy gifts, and watching Elf on repeat. This year we’re prepared to take the stress and the frustration out of holiday gift giving by giving you the ultimate gift guides to buying the perfect presents for your favorite people (and we’re splitting into 3 different price ranges so you can choose the gift based on how much you actually like the person!). So set this series as your favorite because all week we’re bringing you the best.

Parents are notoriously difficult to shop for. I mean, how do you do justice to the people who brought you into this world and then continued to give you everything? A homemade “free back massage” isn’t going to cut it, ladies. Luckily, our guide will help you show the love and gratitude with gifts that are appropriate, thoughtful, original and, most importantly, wallet friendly.

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Need more ideas? Come back all week for ideas to give everyone on your list (the BFFs, the boyfriend, the party girls in your life…) this year!