Just last February, I was planning my 21^st birthday party. Now, I’m facing 22 (or as I like to call it 21+1) straight on. Even though the last twelve months have gone by, it feels like just yesterday I was indulging in jello shots and margaritas. For my 21st. Because just yesterday I was indulging in jello shots and margaritas.

Looking back, though, much has happened in the past year. It seems I’ve learned a lot while Ke$ha put a dollar sign in her name and started brushing her teeth with a “bottle of Jack,” John Mayer proclaimed that he is on the search for “the Joshua Tree of vaginas,” and the Jersey Shore became a national phenomenon.

So here (in no particular order) is what I know for certain after turning 21. Perhaps you youngsters can take a few things from this:

1. Friendships should make you happy — not pissed off : Friends should be so much more than people you dance on tables with and dish about the weekend to. They should be there for you, and you should be there for them. They also should not steal your alcohol on your 21^st birthday and make out with the fraternity guy, all while puking as your boyfriend helps take care of them.

2. Raincoats are amazing: They are often understated and overwhelmingly overlooked when it comes to fashion. But even if they aren’t fashionable, really, you can’t complain when that slicker keeps your from frizzing. Without a rain jacket I wouldn’t have made it through the summer in London. And I think it actually kept me going to class this past semester. Why didn’t I realize this sooner? It doesn’t matter if you have a basic from Lands End or a super sexy trench from Dillards, just get one!

3. Go to the gym: Surprisingly enough, it is worth your time. Who knew? I sure didn’t, until I started going religiously with my boyfriend back in September. If you actually go to the gym and do more than hang out on the treadmill and elliptical for thirty minutes, you can see results. Plus, it teaches you patience on so many different levels.

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[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 BlogLovin, Exercise TV and Any New Books?) 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.]

We all know parents aren’t exactly pros when it comes to dealing with new technology. It took my mom two years to learn how to watch a recorded show off the DVR (I’m pretty sure she still doesn’t know how to actually record anything), and my dad constantly refers to Facebook as “Face-Space”. I’m actually pretty amazed that either of them even knows how to send a text!

That’s why I’ve been loving the site When Parents Text lately — it’s sort of like Texts From Last Night, but instead of random messages about last night’s escapades, each post features a text sent from a reader’s parent (or sometimes a grandparent). They’re all hilarious and filled with the awkward lack of technological and social knowledge that all parents possess. Some of my favorites: “twitter? thats the same thing as quidditch right?” and “Hi leah. Am at a friend’s and he let me get face book. Would you like to be my friend? Dad xoxo” and “Please dont mention on facebook or to your friends we are gone. Do not want to get robbed. Xoxo.”

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Parents sure can be dumb when it comes to technology. They’re like a step above your toddler cousin putting bagels in the DVD player.

So this week we posed the question to our Facebook fans, “What’s the dumbest computer/Facebook/tech question your parents have ever asked you?”

And here are our favorite responses:

“I definitely got asked by my grandfather how to make something vertically below another in a list on a Word document. Apparently, my grandpa has never met the Enter key…” – Ashton Anderson

“does “LOL” mean “lots of love?” – Shannon Byrne

‎“Look my phone guesses what I’m texting to you.  in reference to T9 in 2010.” - Sarah Bilger

“Why are they trying to sell me dick-sucking lips? (In response to a DSL ad.)” – Christina Bischoff

Want to see the rest? Check out our fan page! Want to see last week’s question? Click here! And don’t forget to share your parents’ dumbest questions below!

As a college student I’ve learned that there are just some things that parents will never understand. And I’m not talking about how to change their profile pictures or how to DVR The Closer. I’m talking about the way life is now; the way we college students communicate and socialize and hook-up.  I know I personally joke about my parents living when the dinosaurs roamed the earth, but sometimes, after being forced to explain to them what a sext is, I find myself thinking this could actually be true.

So in case you think you’re the only one with confused parents (why don’t you just pick up the phone and call her! Why do you always have to text everyone!?), this list will help you to see that you’re not the only constantly having to justify to your parents that slapping a bag of boxed wine is a fine way to spend a Saturday night.

1. We drink like champions

Let me just start by saying, parents will NEVER UNDERSTAND why college kids drink so much. I think we can all say that it’s a fun thing to do, a great way to meet people, and an easy way to break the ice with the cute guy across the room. Yet parents will always wonder if a kegstand is actually safe and why taping cheap beer to your hands is fun. Just accept the fact that no matter how many times you try to explain the rules of Beer Pong, parents will think that package of ping pong balls in your room is because you and your friends reaaally got into ping pong this past summer.

2. Hungry? Let’s Order Pizza!

If you didn’t make it to the dining hall before it closed or ran out of pasta to make at your apartment, pizza is usually the first thing to come to mind. Parents don’t understand that it completely normal to order pizza seven nights a week without even peeking inside the fridge. Healthy eating doesn’t really exist in college. Sure we go to the gym and sure we sometimes make sure to order chicken AND BROCCOLI from the Chinese place, but we rarely pull out the food pyramid and consult it. Read More »

It’s finally here, Thanksgiving.  The only American holiday that goes hand and hand with elastic waistband pants. Just a few months ago your parents dropped you off at school with advice like “study hard” and “don’t drink anything out of a trashcan.” Since then, you’ve basked in the glory of freedom and the scent of stale beer and your first walk of shame.

However, you’re still excited to travel home and relax.  Quite frankly, studying and your hoppin’ college social life has wrung you out like a dishcloth and you’re ready for some R&R, hot gravy, and a serious post-feast nap.  It turns out though, freedom has sent everything your mother taught you completely backwards, and you’ve endured some weird habits in college.  Let’s just keep one thing straight, like your orange zubaz don’t quite ‘go’ with your blazer, some college behavior doesn’t transfer well into cute, family time.

Let us examine the do’s and don’ts of being home for a lengthy weekend: Read More »

It’s about that time again.  Right as you’ve settled into campus life quite comfortably, you’re packing your backs and buying mini-bottles in preparation for a Thanksgiving spent with your sometimes-endearing, usually well-meaning family.  Brace yourselves, because the transition back isn’t as easy as the one you made upon leaving home.

Here are 5 Things to Know About Being Home for Thanksgiving:

“Honey, why are you sitting in your room with a bottle of Cherry Burnett’s and that T-Pain song on repeat?”

Okay, so Mom probably doesn’t know who T-Pain is.  And she probably also doesn’t know what pre-gaming looks like.  Meeting up with high school friends for a little reunion?  Avoid the sticky questions by taking your pre-game out of the parentals’ line of vision. Read More »

When you’re little you always hear “Wait till you’re older” from piercing your ears to getting your first pair of heels to sending your very first sext. However, once you hit adolescence, it seems like you’re constantly told to “act your age” or that you’re “too old for” something. Just because you’re in college doesn’t mean you can’t bask in things from the past, K?

Here are ten things you are definitely never too old for:

1. Glitter: Although you got away with wearing glittery lip gloss and questionable glittery eye shadows as a preteen, it doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a little glitz and glam now. Seriously, if Lady Gaga and Katy Perry can rock glitter on a daily basis, so can you. Not sure how to pull off glitter without looking like a five-year-old that got a little too crazy at the arts and crafts table? Add a glittery top coat to your nail polish or go for a subtle glitzy shimmer in your eyeshadow. Want to be a little over the top? Go for the gold in a metallic glittery shirt. Worst case scenario is that you look like a Claire’s employee. Best case: you look hot.

2. Pigtails: Preschoolers aren’t the only ones that can rock this look. While you probably don’t want to be known as “pigtail girl” around campus, going out with pigtails could be a fun and flirty alternative to your everyday hair. You probably had your pig tails pulled up high, so for a more-adult approach to this look that you’re never too old for — sport them lower. Also, pigtails work incredibly well when you’re working out.

3. Licking the bowl of batter: You know you did it when you were younger. Your mom baked a cake and you couldn’t keep your little hands out of the chocolately goodness. Go ahead — dip your finger in the mix. Or, just dig in with a spoon. Or don’t even cook the batter and just go after the cookie dough. You’re definitely not too old to enjoy any kind of sweets — baked or not. Go ahead, no one’s looking!

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Scarred. For. Life.

Our mothers may not always have the soundest judgment in situations regarding appropriate behavior, like when they think chain e-mail  jokes are actually funny and they think flipping through family photo albums with your friends is an enjoyable activity for all.

Note: they’re not.
Seriously.

Poor Lourdes must have a much longer list of Momma Madonna’s to-do taboos, one that must surely include posing for Dolce & Gabbana with her fifty-two year-old cleavage as the focal point.

Look Madge: the world knows you’re a celebrity mom with a young boyfriend and a fantastically fit body, but we really do not need to see it on large-scale prints in department stores and giant billboards in Times Square! Madonna/Madge/Esther/MILF-used-to-be, you are no longer a Material Girl who is Like A Virgin, so please stop pretending. If not for me and my night tremors then, please, do it for Lourdes! Break that contract if D&G won’t provide you with a sweater on set, and give the Photoshop guy (who’s clearly been working overtime) a break!

It’s not like you need the money, Margie. And isn’t the mental health of your daughter worth more than a pile of hundos anyway? Read More »

Whether you’re a first year student or heading back to campus for yet another year of academics and parties, there is indisputably one book you need to bring along with you: Debt-Free U: How I Paid for An Outstanding College Education Without Loans, Scholarships, or Mooching Off My Parents, by Zac Bissonnette.

I know what you’re thinking: Why would I want to read a book about paying for college when I’m already in college and I’m getting by with student loans/ my parents’ generously footing the bill /or a scholarship?

Well listen up, pretty lady – whatever your situation is you will absolutely get some insight about paying for college that will, without a doubt, help you make better decisions when it comes to financially making it through four years, as well as helping you protect your future post-grad life.

Throughout history, paying for college has been a major issue on everyone’s minds. But although it’s something everyone always seems to talk (and worry) about, it is one thing that usually gets pushed to the side in the application process. Students send their applications out, they get their acceptance letters back, and then – and only then – the question of paying for that highly accredited university to which they’ve been accepted pops up. But with the cost of a college education rising at a pace in polar opposition to our economy, financial disaster is almost inevitable.

Without a lot of financial planning, people turn to student loans, which, as any college student who has taken them out knows, are a major stress-factor that can impact the rest of your life. Not only do students feel like they have to take out more and more loans to supplement an income during college, they feel utterly lost, especially in a world where financial aid offices will tell you anything. In Debt-Free, Zac explains “The role of the financial aid office to make sure that the students the school has admitted are financially able to attend – through whatever means necessary.” Because colleges don’t work as financial advocates for students, more and more students are falling down the rabbit hole of student debt. However, consider Debt-Free as a personal guide that will walk you through all things financial in the college world, by whatever means necessary. Read More »

WHAT WERE YOU DOING AT THE BAR AT 2AM ON A MONDAY?!

It happens to everyone: the inevitable drunk dial to your parents.  I’d like to say it’s a freshman mistake, but like the aftereffects of Jungle Juice, it’s a problem that keeps coming up.  Eventually Mom accepts that you’re a Thursday night binge drinker and Dad realizes all that Vitamin Water isn’t being consumed at the gym.

But what happens when you soberly, unintentionally horrify the parentals with your calls home?  Be careful what you say, or else they’ll prove to the world that home schooling can be done beyond the high school level.  Here are just a few points of conversation to avoid…

“Quad is the #1 place to get raped in the whole city.  I read that on the police department’s website, so you know it’s true!”

True story: I’m guilty of perhaps mentioning this over parents’ weekend while we were on a walking tour of my campus.  The following week, I received a care package of pepper spray, an air horn, and whistle.  Eh, at least the whistle came in handy at a Mathletes and Athletes mixer.

“Everyone’s been getting sick from the chicken fingers. They tasted fine to me, though.  I actually went back for seconds.”

Want to give Mom a heart attack?  Better yet, do you want her to recount her own graphic experiences with food poisoning and insist you get tested for worms?

“Dad, hold on a second.  I need to put the phone down and ask the pharmacist a question. *Muffled* Can you tell me what aisle the condoms are in?”

Just hang up and tell him you’ll call him later. Read More »