My recent Love Lists have had a theme. So when putting together this week’s list, I tried to keep to cohesive. Tried to keep a theme throughout, and then I thought: who needs a theme when all 5 things are so Love-List worthy? Isn’t luuuuurve a theme?

So this week’s theme is now renamed: 5 things Jill Loves this week that you should too. Because if you’ve learned anything by now, it’s that- well – I have pretty good taste. I don’t steer you wrong and I know what I’m talking about.

So here are this week’s 5 things I love that you should too.

The Perfect Spring Dress. Perfect for day (big camel bag, gold woven sandals, ivory shades and a cute scarf or headband) and perfect for night (nude or gold pumps/wedges, small metallic clutch, camel belt around the waist, gold bangles). The color just makes me happy. And ready for Chicago to warm up from its current 50 degree status since it’s – um – MAY.

Matt Kearny’s new song: Closer to Love. This little ditty will pair perfectly with your iPod,  a sunny day, iced coffee, and the perfect spring dress (see above).

Starbucks Vanilla Roobius Tea. Seriously heavenly. My mom told me about this God-send and if it’s one thing I learned (begrudgingly), it’s that she always seems to be right. About everything. Especially beverages. I tried it for the first time yesterday and this bad boy does not disappoint. To cut the cals, ask for one pump of syrup and pair it with soy or nonfat milk. It’s 100% pure summer bliss. That I am sipping on as we “speak.”

Real Life Twitter. The truth is ALWAYS funny. Really, I LOLed.

MixMyGranola. We’ve talked about this before, but I am so in love with it I can’t shut up about it. You can make your OWN granola from start to finish. A healthy blend for breakfast (think fruit, nuts and organic base) and a “late night mix” for when healthy is not the first thing on your mind (peanut butter balls, choc chips and gummy bears anyone?). It comes in a cute canister with the name of your special blend on it, in addition to the exact nutrition info! It’s perf for gifts and ever more perfect for a gift to yourself. After all, you deserve it. Why? Because you’re you.

Happy almost-Easter! Have you stocked up on your Peeps and Cadbury Eggs? Not you, Passover people – unfortunately you don’t get to partake in the tasty treats. You also don’t have to deal with the Easter Creep-sters, though, so that’s a plus.

Anyways, it’s Friday and we’re ready for a night in with some hot chocolate and a good (self-help) book. We would go out and par-tay, but we had a long week (as usual), full of life lessons:

College on crutches? It sucks.
Sex is good, but being wanted is better.
Gavin DeGraw is as funny as he is talented.
All those bad habits are just not worth it.
Vitamin Water is now almost calorie-free!
There are a lot of things guys just don’t know about us.
Pretty people have it really easy.
Lindsay Lohan deserves a break from the paps.
There are a lot of things we won’t miss when we graduate.
There are lots of pros to having a boyfriend…
And lots of pros to not having one…

Whew. We’re pooped. Nothing a big bowl of (free!) granola can’t fix!

Granola is a tricky little bugger. Sure, it seems like the healthiest choice to pick at the dining hall in comparison to the other less-than-appealing options, but the truth is that granola can pack a ton of fat and calories if you’re not careful. Like, you’re-better-off-eating-the-Lucky-Charms kinda calories. Luckily, a new company (and my new obsession) has provided a solution: customized granola mixes.

Yup, that’s right! At mixmygranola.com, you choose every single thing that goes into your very own special mix.

How does it work? There are four easy steps:

First, you pick your base (options are organic granola, french vanilla granola, organic muesli and low fat granola), and then you can add in dried fruits (I chose dried mangos, bananas and raspberries…yum!) and nuts (omega-3 rich flax seeds for me). To top it off, if you want to add some treats to the mix, pick from “extras” such as gummy bears, yogurt covered pretzels and chocolate chips.

And that’s all! Just click to order and within a few days, you’ll have a (large) container of ready-to-go granola. Mine came within two days after I placed the order and I must say, it is delicious. It even has the exact nutritionals for my personalized mix pasted right on the side so I know exactly what I’m eating, unlike when I pour a fatty bowl of the stuff in the caf. I just measure the stuff into single serving plastic baggies and grab and go on my way to class. Easy, healthy, delicious.

OMG I’m so in love. And you can start your very own love affair with mixmygranola. CollegeCandy linked up with the men behind the blend and are giving a $25 gift certificate to a very lucky granola-lovin’ CollegeCandy reader. Just tell us, in the comments below, what your ideal granola combo would be and we’ll pick a winner. You have until 5pm on Tuesday, April 14th to get your entry in. We’ll announce the winner on Wednesday, April 15th.

Yay granola!