Since most of us won't get near those nasty tubs in the communal bathroom, I've got a few better ideas for relaxation...

October is a busy month. Between midterms and registration, and finding the perfect Halloween costume, things can get pretty crazy there for a while. But it’s important to remember to take a step back from it all for a while. Relax. Enjoy the little things. Relieve some stress.

Here’s how…

10. Indulge in some junk food. This probably isn’t the best advice, since eating your feelings isn’t exactly healthy, but chocolate cures all. At least for a little while. So just indulge for a little bit. Something sweet, or something salty, or something sweet and salty (chocolate covered pretzels…mmm…). Just a little pick me up. Besides, isn’t dark chocolate good for you anyway?

9. Dance it out. Yes, I am totally ripping off Grey’s Anatomy here, but the “twisted sisters” know what they’re talking about.  Dancing is an excellent stress reliever and you don’t even have to have any rhythm whatsoever. (Trust me. I would know.) Just enjoy yourself. And relax.

8. Shop. “You know that thing when you see someone cute and he smiles and your heart kind of goes like warm butter sliding down hot toast? Well that’s what it’s like when I see a store. Only it’s better.”  Oh Becky Bloomwood, I couldn’t have said it better myself.

7. Get that heart rate up. “Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy.” –Elle Woods. (I apologize for that one but Legally Blonde was on WeTV this week.)

6. Organize and categorize. Maybe it’s just me but I’ve always found the process of putting things in order to be extremely calming. Freaking out about a big test? Make a study schedule. Nervous about a date? Plan the perfect outfit. Once you know exactly what you’re doing it will be a lot easier to get it done.

5. Get in some quality BFF time. Whether you and your friends are staying in with pizza, beer, and bad TV, or heading out in heels, a good old fashioned girls night cures all. Who cares about what’s happening next week when you’re having the time of your life right now? Let loose. Have some fun. Let your friends distract you. Nothing will seem as bad the next day (except maybe that hangover…).

4. Curl up in bed and watch a movie. Or you know, have a Gossip Girl marathon. The point is that losing yourself in someone else’s drama will distract you from your own. Whatever you have going on won’t seem nearly as terrible after you’ve seen Jenny Humphrey’s eye makeup.

3. Laugh. Search some YouTube videos. Visits Texts from Last Night. Call up your funniest friend. Look at last weekend’s Facebook pictures. Just let off some steam and enjoy some absurdity.

2. Catch up with CollegeCandy. You need some downtime to just breathe and be? Put on your favorite pair of sweats, get comfy, grab your laptop and start reading. Want to feel inspired? Check out this article. Or maybe you need a good laugh? Morning after stories will do that for you.  Or just scroll through the feed and see what you missed.

1. Make a list. Like I said when I took on this column, list making is my life. It keeps your organized. It makes you feel like you have some semblance of control of everything going on around you. It gives you a focus for just a little while. It makes you feel good when you get to cross something off.  And the results are always entertaining.

How about it, ladies? Has this week been as stressful for you as it has for me? What do you do to let off some steam? Let me know in the comments below!

This week, as I caught up on my favorite fall shows (and watched some Sex and the City reruns) I couldn’t help but notice a running trend: female friendships. Sure some shows were about shopping (or singing while shopping) and some were about saving lives, but at the heart of it all, were some pretty cool chicks.

The kind of best friends every girl wishes she had.
The kind of best friends that will risk their lives to help you, the kind that will stand by you through anything, the kind of best friends that will…let you raid their closet. (Hey! It’s the little things that matter.)

These girls aren’t real, but we all wish they were. So, in my first ever Weekly Ten (yeah, I’m new so get used to me!) I’ve decided to pay tribute to what I consider to be some of the best fictional BFFs out there, past and present.

10. Santana Lopez, Glee
She stood by her BFF as Brittany came to terms with the idea that Brittany S. Piers could be just as fierce as Brittney Spears. And she shared a dream sequence with her. And it was hot.

9. Phoebe Buffay, Friends
Come on, you know you want her to write an out of tune, off-key song about you.

8. Elle Woods, Legally Blonde
Even though she was in law school she still managed to take time out of her day to teach her friend the bend and snap. Now that’s true friendship.

7. Caroline Forbes, The Vampire Diaries
Did you see last week’s episode? The newly turned vampire kicked some werewolf butt while saving her best friend’s vampire boyfriend. Who does that!? A BFFAEAEAE, that’s who.

6. Veronica Mars, Veronica Mars
When her best friend was brutally murder she didn’t just get mad, she got even.  Nothing stopped her from knowing the truth, not even being trapped in a freezer and left to burn.

5. Hermione Granger, Harry Potter
The girl leaves behind her family and her friends to help Harry fight the Dark Lord. (Shut up. No, I won’t say his name. And yes, I know my inner geek is showing.)

4. Cristina Yang, Grey’s Anatomy
She operated on her best friend’s husband while there was  a gun to her head. Best. BFF. Ever.

3. Lorelei Gilmore, Gilmore Girls
Not only was she Rory’s best friend, but she was also the coolest mom a girl could ever have. She did everything for her daughter, from helping her study Shakespeare to helping her find her favorite hangover food. That’s love.

2. Blair Waldorf, Gossip Girl
Okay, so maybe you don’t want to be one of her minions. Or on the receiving end of her “Blair Waldorfing.” But she and Serena? They’re the real deal. Next time Blair heads off to Paris for the summer, can she take me with her instead?

1. Carrie Bradshaw, Sex and the City
Big said it best when he told her friends, “You girls are the loves of her life. A guy’s just lucky to come in third.”

Who are your favorite TV/movie BFFs?
And is it just me, or do you want to find your own BFFs and give them a big ol’ hug?

Got a special place in your heart for top 10 lists? We do and we’ve got some doozies.  Get ‘em all out right here.

Even though my days of filling out college applications are long gone, I can still remember the frustration of trying to set myself apart from my classmates. AP classes. National Honor Society. Varsity Soccer. Spanish Club. The list goes on.

The trouble is, nowadays, colleges across the country receive thousands of applications from students with exceptional grades, tons of extra-curriculars, volunteer work, and a stellar essay (even if it’s BS).

So how does one prove themselves more worthy than their peers?
Tufts University thinks that YouTube is the way to go.

Ever since Legally Blonde came out, I’ve always thought a college application video was a great idea! And apparently, so do a lot of other people. So far this reading season, Tufts has received about 1,000 1-minute long vids showcasing everything from weird talents to remote-control elephants to DJing at a rave (yes, really).

While videos may not be the best way for a high school senior to choose their dream school (may I suggest a campus tour?), they just might be the new best way for colleges to choose their incoming student body! Wouldn’t you want your school to see who you REALLY are, rather than just a list of your (totally exaggerated) accomplishments typed out in size 12 Times New Roman? After all, we’re so much more than that! Our friends and family love us for our quirks, why shouldn’t the Dean of Admissions?

Even though I didn’t have the chance to do this back in ’07, I think it would be cool if other schools followed in Tufts’ footsteps and gave students another way to set themselves apart. After all, college admissions is one of the most important times in a young person’s life – if they’re gonna do it, they should be able to do it right.

What do you guys think?

Be still my heart.

Chick-flicks have always been my favorite excuse for simultaneously whining and crying about my lack of a boyfriend, and also day-dreaming about improbable romantic movie scenes happening to me.

Even though we usually tear up (or start flat-out bawling, depending on your current romantic situation), no girl can resist the chick-flick. Or, more accurately, the dreamboat main characters that make our hearts swoon for 90 minutes (and then again when we watch the DVD alone on a Friday night and cry into a bowl of Thai food). Those boys are just so…perfect. And I can already tell – because I’ve watched the trailer 47 times – that John in Dear John is going to be the same way. I mean, he’s the quintessential bad boy with a heart (and rock hard abs). And have you seen him crying in the commercials?

I get all hot and bothered just thinking about it.

Which is almost the same reaction I have to these 10 mega-hunks – the hottest, sweetest, greatest and most adorable chick-flick leading men of all time. What girl wouldn’t fall in love with (and possibly have to change her pants after thinking about) these boys?

1. Johnny from Dirty Dancing

Really, all I should have to say is, “Nobody puts baby in a corner.” If that doesn’t do it, I don’t know what will. Johnny has to be one of the favorites in chick-flick history, because, seriously, who doesn’t want a tall, dark, handsome man who will love you no matter what your father says and can use his big, muscly arms to lift you over his head in a choreographed dance routine?

2. Patrick from 10 Things I Hate About You

Patrick is the bad guy that every girl wants to find, and it doesn’t hurt that he’s a total hottie. And then when he shows his sweet side? Sigh. I don’t know one girl who didn’t want to be in Kat’s angry shoes when Patrick skips across the bleachers singing ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You’ to her in front of the entire school.

3. Jack from the Titanic

Let’s face it, Jack was gorgeous even when he was shivering in the water with icicles hanging off his face. He was just so real, honest, respectful and knew how to make a woman feel beautiful and alive. Jack’s probably the only guy in the history of movies that proved it was better to have loved and lost than never loved at all. (He also makes girls like me want to use cliche lines about love, which says a lot.)

4. Landon from A Walk to Remember

I don’t know one girl who didn’t walk away from this movie not in love with Landon. We can’t help but fall for his bad guy act, and watching this opposite pair fall in love is too cute for words. Oh yeah, and he’s pretty hot, which makes me wonder – what ever happened to Shane West?

5. Noah from The Notebook

I am constantly amazed at how ‘The Notebook’ can make me cry like a baby no matter how many times I’ve seen it. And yeah, that’s pretty much all because of Noah. Even without the fact that he has classic chick-flick good looks, Noah’s passion for Allie is something that every girl dreams of experiencing. He loved her from the moment he met her, and for him, there was really never anyone else.

6. Lloyd from Say Anything

There’s nothing more adorable than a guy doing anything for love. And that includes holding up a radio, playing ‘In Your Eyes’ outside of the object of his affection’s room. A boom box has never been so romantic. And a nerd has never been more appealing.

7. Jonathan from Serendipity

A (very sexy) man who will try desperately to find the woman of his dreams even though he doesn’t know her last name? My god, who doesn’t want a guy like that? (Especially in a world where we can’t even get the boy we love to text us back!)

8. Danny from Grease

No matter how much we want to dislike Danny Zuko for being such a jerk to poor Sandy, we can’t. Maybe it’s the perfect hair, or the charming things he says, or maybe it’s all that black leather. Either way, Danny is the bad guy we all want to see turn good for the girl. And it doesn’t hurt that he can sing – I know I’m not the only girl who wanted to jump him after his sad song at the drive-in.

9. Edward from Pretty Woman

Sure, he picked up a hooker on the street, but he also made that hooker’s every dream come true. And showed her respect. And defended her. And was a perfect, sexy, rich gentleman the entire time. And after seeing her new wardrobe and blingin’ necklace, Edward made us all want to give hookin’ a try.

10. Emmett from Legally Blonde

I’m not usually one for a guy with a brief case and khakis, but Emmett just does something to me. Maybe it’s his brains or that cute floppy hair, or maybe it’s every girls’ desire to have someone who believes in them and supports them no matter what. Drool.

Okay, so I guess I let Hollywood feed me that stereotype.

However, once I started freshman year I started meeting some great girls (who were none of those stereotypical adjectives) and who were also in sororities. The contrast baffled me, so I decided to investigate.

Sororities are pretty big on my campus and something like 35% of girls go Greek. That fact and all the nice girls I had met led me to sign myself up for the 2 week long process of rush. My floor friends all signed up too, but I was still pretty iffy about the idea. I told a few home friends and their reaction was…well less than enthusiastic. I got responses like; “Are you serious?” “Why would you do that to yourself?” and “You are not a sorority girl!” Even my mom, who went Greek in college, said that it might not be for me. These people were the people that knew me best, so I thought that they were probably right, and I prepared to pull my name off the list of about 700 girls.

I deliberated for a while and ended up setting everyone else’s input aside (where it should have been in the first place). While my friends meant well, what did any of them know about being Greek? It is simply impossible to judge such a huge population of college girls based on Legally Blonde. So I kept my name on the rush list, for the primary reason that if I backed out before I had given it a fair shot, I knew I would feel regret and always wonder “what if.”

So I rushed, which at my school is literally rushing around. You go from house to house, sometimes in heels, meeting tons of girls. There are four rounds, “Go Greek”, “House Tours”, “Philanthropy”, and “Preference Rounds”. At the end of each round you rank the houses and they, in turn, rank all the “rushees.” Not gonna lie: it was a little nerve-wracking and exhausting. But as I walked around the houses and met the girls it became easy to sense where I belonged and where I didn’t quite feel comfortable.

In the end I picked a house and they picked me and I got to meet so many people that I would not have otherwise. People that are now my best friends and sisters. At such a big school, going Greek provided me with a smaller circle, girls to have fun with and girls to study with, girls to take care of me when I needed help and a place to feel comfortable.

Rush, of course, doesn’t turn out the same for everyone. Some people find houses, others don’t. I have a friend who regretted not rushing freshman year and rushed as a sophomore. In the end she dropped out of rush, but at least she could now say with certainty that it wasn’t for her. Even if you rush and end up not liking it you will meet so many more people. You could meet girls you like and choose to be friends with, but not sisters with, after the process. Or you could meet girls that dislike rush just as much as you end up bonding over disdain for the process. Or you could rush and find a sorority that you want to be a part of. You could find yourself a place where you are comfortable and happy, and what could be better than that?

Either way, I encourage rushing because it’s something you don’t get to re-do later in life. Give it a shot and you’ll be regret-free either way.

Case in point: In college, I majored in English, and I was one class shy of earning a film minor. My final semester of college, no film classes that would fulfill my final requirement were offered, and even though I had taken film classes that weren’t part of the minor’s plan of study, they wouldn’t give me the “Film Studies Minor” title unless I took a class that wasn’t freakin’ available. I still get riled up about that, as you can see.

Anyway, I was seeking a Masters degree in English, though I really enjoyed Film Studies as well. Now, when you apply for a grad school program, you might have to choose a field within the realm of your chosen subject. For example, many English programs divide their grad students into Rhet/Comp or Lit majors; my friend is currently getting a PhD in Psychology, but her specialization is Early Childhood Development. So while you may earn a degree in a broad major like Politics, Journalism, or Philosophy, you may have to narrow it down to a specific topic when you apply to grad schools.

That being said, I discovered that North Carolina State had three “tracks” for its English grad students to choose from: Composition and Rhetoric (boring), Literature (why not?), and Film (What?? Film?!? Score!). I hastily applied for the film track, and eagerly awaited acceptance to NC State. I surpassed all of the school’s entry requirements, such as GPA and GRE Scores, and I sent two awesome writing samples, which were essays I wrote that analyzed some classic films.

NC State was my first choice school at the time, hands down. So imagine my surprise when I got REJECTED. I was shocked. I was so surprised, in fact, that I mustered up the balls to write to an admissions rep and ask why they didn’t want me. Where had I gone wrong? Applying for a film track.

I mentioned that many English programs ask students to choose between Rhet/Comp, Literature, or some other derivative of English language. It’s basically a matter of checking a box, so I’d assumed the same was true of the film track. Because I hadn’t thoroughly researched the program at NC State, I hadn’t realized that the film track is incredibly competitive. While I would have been a prime candidate for the literature track, I was trying to compete with kids who had majored in film studies, students who had written, directed, and produced actual films while I was writing about camera angles in Hitchcock flicks.

Reapplying for the Lit track was out, so I blew my chance at studying at my number one grad school, simply because I didn’t know what I was doing when I tried to choose a program. Then, when I finally began my career as an English graduate student, I quickly realized that even the literature track wasn’t right for me. I had loved the variety of English classes available to me in undergrad, and surpassed my minimum credit requirements by signing up for elective classes like “Literature Goes to Hell,” “Fiction into Film,” “Contemporary Irish Literature,” and “African American Children’s Lit.”

My grad school program, however, followed a strict plan of study, and while I thoroughly enjoyed “Modern American Drama,” I absolutely hated reading a 1600-page epistolary novel in my 18th Century British Lit class. Furthermore, I had decided to get a Masters degree with zero intentions of going on to a PhD, and English is the kind of major that people usually study because they want to end up a professor or because they want to do research in the field. That being said, the required “Practicum in Teaching Composition” and “Art of the Bibliography” classes weren’t exactly fulfilling to my interests.

As I said last week, it’s vital that you spend the time to research the schools and programs you are applying for. Look at a sample plan of study. If you want to get a Masters degree in History, but have no intention of studying anything prior to 1965, you might be disappointed. It’s also in your best interest to actually understand how competitive a program is, so you don’t waste $50 applying to a program that you are grossly unqualified for.

Lately, though, it seems Broadway producers are trying to attract a more youthful audience. Not only are there a slew of Disney shows (Tarzan, The Lion King, and the new Little Mermaid), but there’s even a musical adaption of Ms. Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. That’s one I can’t quite picture…. Elle and her pink stationary are cute in the movie, but I think she might be slightly annoying being all perky, and singing at the same time. A little overload maybe.

One I can’t wait to check out—the new show being put together based on The Flaming Lips’ album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. Obviously the music is going to be trippy, and great, but with Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip) in charge of the script, it’s bound to be awesome. And Mr. Sorkin himself has a little drug history under his belt to add to the already psychedelic music of the Flaming Lips.

While the show focuses mainly on the one album in which a young Japanese girl battles robots, tunes from other Flaming Lips’ album are bound to pop up. The show may be a few years away, but I’ve already started my countdown for tickets.