I’ve mentioned this in recent posts, but I always use my summer vacation as a catalyst for next fall’s budget.  Many of you are saving money by living at home, or earning extra cash by taking on a summer job.  However, when the sun comes out, it’s a lot more tempting to go out and spend money.

You might have said “No” to 1/2 price happy hour during the winter, but now your friends can twist your arm to drink overpriced margaritas at a trendy beach bar.  Cutting costs doesn’t have to mean cutting down on fun, however, and if you play your cards right, you can have a kickass summer and barely spend a dime.

1.  Hang out at the lake.

Big beaches can actually cost a pretty penny, when you factor in overpriced parking costs, expensive surrounding restaurants, and the gas money if it’s a major tourist trap that seems worth a 2- to 3-hour drive.  You can still soak in the sun and go for a dip at your local lake.  If the lake is part of a community park, you might have to pay a couple dollars to park, but that money usually goes towards keeping the park clean.

2.  Go fruit picking.

Check out local farms and farmer’s markets and stock of on all the fresh produce that’s yours for the picking.  Whether you visit a strawberry patch, a blueberry field, or stock up on a harvest of tomatoes, you can spend a few therapeutic hours away from the commotion of our high-tech world, and maintain your bikini bod by eating healthy.  Then, go home and conjure up some gastronomic experiments, such as homemade caprese salad (tomatoes layered with fresh mozzarella and drizzled with balsamic vinegar) or a genuine strawberry daiquiri. Read More »

Okay, so maybe I’m jumping the gun here a little bit, but I am SO effing unbelievably ready for summertime! I am itching to return all my boring, barely cracked textbooks to the book store to receive less than 10% what I paid for them and bubble in the last circle on my Scantron before my brain explodes with information I will probably not remember in a week.

Finals are killer and, really, the only thing keeping me going right now, besides multiple grande caramel frappucinnos, is imagining that in a few weeks I will be dreamily grillin’ poolside while sipping strawberry margaritas and donning sparkly flip flops.

So, even if summer is a miniature blip on your radar right now, I hope this playlist of chill tunes will keep you sane. Seriously ladies, summer is so close I can almost feel the peeling, dry skin on my uber pasty shoulders. Oh summer, you can’t come soon enough.

Summertime..and the livin’s easy at CC. Listen here.

Happy Cinco De Mayo, ladies! Hopefully you can take a break from your regular drinking studying to celebrate a big moment in the history of Mexico. And hopefully you’ll honor that country to our south the right way, instead of just grabbing a bag of Tostitos, a bottle of Corona, and a surgical mask.

After all, this isn’t just any Tuesday – it’s a holiday! You gotta make things special on a holiday. And the way to make this particular holiday special is by pulling out all the stops when it comes to your cocktails of choice. You could just grab some margartia mix and blend it up for you and the girls, or you could do something totally different and totally tasty that will knock everyone’s socks off. And probably pants.

We scoured the internet to find some pretty cheap and unique Cinco-De-Mayo-worthy margaritas. From chocolate to Jell-O shots, these are cocktails no one will forget. Even on a day devoted to forgetting everything. Click on the image to get the recipe, then do it up. (We highly recommend the Skinny Girl Margarita. It’s low cal and incredibly tasty. We already had one this morning. And, yes, it’s only 10 am.)

Enjoy! Read More »

Until about 5 minutes ago, I thought Cinco De Mayo was a holiday to celebrate the invention of the pinata. Or tequila. Or those make-you-wanna-kill-yourself hangovers that only come from a full day of drinking tequila. What? That’s pretty much what the holiday means to most college students, right?

When someone hands you a pint of Jose at 8 am on May 5th, you don’t ask what you’re celebrating – you put on a sombrero, plug your nose and take a swig. Then you do it again and again and again, screaming “Viva La Mexico!” and “I’m living la vida drunk-a” until the sun goes down and another fantastic drinking holiday has come to an end. Read More »

It’s finally feeling like spring outside. So this week I traded in my knee-high snowboots for flip flops,  my sweaters for tank tops, and my Bud Light drafts for margaritas with cute little plastic umbrellas.

When it hits 50 in March in Northeast Ohio, we pull out all the stops.

So, in celebration of springtime, I created a playlist of some good, old fashioned rock n’ roll favorites that you can put on while you’re lazily sipping (…or quickly bonging) your favorite beverage…outside. Without a jacket. Or Uggs.

Listen here.

With the economy suffering, a lot of airlines have slashed their baggage allowances.  This season, more than ever, it’s important that you pack wisely when you’re heading out to the golden coast of Spring Break wonderland.  And, really, there’s no reason you should be packing everything but the kitchen sink, because each morning the  “what to wear” dilemma probably consists of the options, “solid bikini,” “patterned bikini,” “string bikini” or “tankini.”

No matter where you’re headed for a week-long holiday this spring, there are a few things you definitely DON’T need to bring.

1. Your laptop. If you can’t go a week without updating your Facebook status or checking out Perez, it’s sad.  And if you can’t go a week in paradise without updating your Facebook status or checking Perez, it’s scary.

2. Your entire shoe collection. Shoes can take up the most room in your luggage, and if you’re heading to a beach resort, you really only need a pair of flip flops for the beach, a cute pair of strappy heels for partying, and a pair of sneakers for touristy excursions.  You’re not going to miss your knee-high boots. Read More »

OMG OMG OMG. Spring break is here (or almost here?)!! It doesn’t matter if you are going to Mexico, Florida, or just heading home; it’s time for some vacay, baby! No more studying. No more class. NO MORE ALARM CLOCKS. For a whole week!

We’ve been preparing for this for weeks! Some of us have been building up that base tan with a little fake and bake, while others have been more focused on getting their livers ready for the main event with daily margaritas.

Can you tell we’re excited?

We have been freezing our asses off for months and now it’s finally time to throw on a bathing suit (and a dress to cover up the extra winter poundage) and head to the beach. Hell. yes. Let’s just hope we don’t make the same mistakes we’ve made in spring breaks past…

This week, the CollegeCandy writers weighed in on their biggest spring break regrets. We can all learn a few things from these bad decisions and poor planning: Read More »

My obsession with bathing suits started a very long time ago. I still remember begging my mom for something new and neon every time we went to Target. Pool parties were better than Christmas, and I used to don a bikini to help Mom and Daddy wash the dishes (true story.) And then I grew boobs. And butt. And self-consciousness. Suddenly, the joy of putting on a bathing suit and eagerly anticipating super soakers, sprinklers, sand castles and snorkeling fins turned into anxiety about love handles, saggy elastic, way too much rear exposure and the horrors of anything that jiggles.

Well that’s bulls**t.

Bathing suits are supposed to be fun, flirty and cute. We wear them when we’re supposed to be having fun, not stressing because we’re not as surgically enhanced as the girl next to us or investing in last minute sarongs. With Spring Break steadfastly approaching, it’s time to check out the best bathing suits out there and re-vamp our ideas about swimsuit shopping.

So grab a trusted and honest friend, remove the necessary body hair and spray tan yourself silly (it seriously helps in dressing room fluorescents) and let’s shop. Read More »

Usually when somebody says “back to the grind,” it’s a pretty negative thing. But here @ CC, we try to focus on the alternative meaning of “grind.” Yeah, you’re probably back in classes – which means awful roommates, 10-page papers & dorm food, but it also means the night life & all the theme parties, margarita nights & bar-hopping equated with college.

So, this week we’ve provided you with some jams to get you back in your “grind.” Some are fast, some are slow, but they’re all sure to take your mind off whatever you really should be thinking about this weekend. Enjoy, ladies! Read More »

Men. Boys. Dudes. We love them, we hate them, we’re better off without them, and we are ALWAYS looking for them. We all know it’s hard to meet a quality man (and we all know the men we don’t want). So what do you do when you’ve exhausted your typical go-to options? Here you have it gals:

The 5 BEST places to meet men (According to ME!)

Sporting event- Let’s face it, most men love sports. Men also love women who love sports… and women who wear baseball hats (trust me on this one). And being in a college town, there is no shortage of men or sporting events. So grab a baseball hat and head to the B-ball game!

In line for The Dark Knight (or insert other highly anticipated dude-flick here). Think about how many hours YOU waited in line for the Sex and the City movie, surrounded by all that estrogen (which confused your body so much that you got your period, TWICE). How happy would you have been if there was some man-candy there (gay or dragged along by his girlfriend clearly doesn’t count). Now reverse the sitch. 100 dudes, 1 chick. And a chick who is also waiting to see Batman (in a baseball hat)?! Done aaaand done.

Class: We all have that cute boy in class. The one who comes looking like a disheveled mess who was out partying all night – on a Monday - but is actually smart and eloquent and totally into today’s discussion (but not in the teacher suck-up sort of way). Class is a great time to actually get to know someone – because, lets face it- if you would have met him last night at the bar, chances are nothing would have come of it. So suggest a study date! Read More »