Oh St. Patty’s day. The only day it’s okay to lie and say that you are a wee bit Irish and take a shot toasting the green isle.  It’s also okay (and damn well expected) to add a little green to your routine.

Yes, including your makeup.

Don’t worry – you won’t look like Kermit… or Elphaba from Wicked. There is a perfectly acceptable way to put green on your face. And that involves subtlety. Shy away from neon greens or green lipsticks; instead, layer on the green shadows, liner and mascara for a festive yet totally classy look.

Who knows? You may even continue to rock those greens all year long. Plus, no one will be able to resist a pair of sparkling green eyes.

So give green a chance with these great green products! Read More »

I love St. Patrick’s Day. I love parades and shamrock stickers and Irish soda bread. I love getting very drunk and being festive on the one day of the year that anyone can be Irish. That being said I do not enjoy getting very drunk off of green beer. Something about green beer feels unnatural to me, like my insides are being coated in that slime from Nickelodeon and frankly the novelty wore off after my first pub crawl when my tongue stayed green for days.

But what is St. Patrick’s Day without green beverages? Will I be forced to drink average colored beer if I nix the food coloring? Or worse yet, will I get my “Irish and Proud” t-shirt revoked?

Well I’ve got news for whoever wants to go up against this Irish lush – I will not be taken down without a fight! Not while there are plenty of other delicious green concoctions floating around, anyway. So don’t panic, I have some St. Patrick’s day drinks that are just as fun and twice as effective. Read More »

New Year’s is long gone.  The singles just finished drowning their emotions in V-day bar specials.  What do we celebrate next? Ahh… St. Patrick’s Day.  The most nationalistic holiday that still manages to include people of every gender, race, culture, and alcohol tolerance.

St. Pat’s is the holiday that has never been sugar-coated with false meaning or wholly commercialized by Hallmark (sure greeting cards exist, but who really gives them?).  So make sure you embrace your inner Irish and do it up right on March 17.

1.  The Booze.

To throw a full-on Irish bash, you have to have an appropriate alcohol selection.  Well, what do you know? GoIreland.com happens to have a handy list of the most popular libations of the Emerald Isle, in case you’ve never heard of Jameson or Guinness.

Make sure you bar is stocked with whiskey, irish cream, and the beer they call “a meal in a can,” but don’t neglect some other favorites.  Other popular beers include Murphy’s Stout, Kilkenny, and Smithwick’s.  Cider is also a favorite.  If you’re a perfectionist, you might try to get your hands on some Meade or Poitín.

But perhaps I’m getting ahead of myself.  We are college students after all – mix up some Green Appletinis and make a few trays of lime Jell-O shots, and you won’t hear any complaints.  Really want some green magic to happen? Try to get your hands on the ultimate green liquor, absinthe, and let the green fairy fly. Read More »

While Mardi Gras may certainly be cause to celebrate, there are probably some Mardi Gras traditions that should never leave New Orleans. If you plan on enjoying some Mardi Gras festivities on your campus today, keep these things in mind:

Flashing your girls is a bad idea, no matter what the reason. Whether it’s to score some beads that the frat guys are carrying around campus, at the guy at the front of the line at the cafeteria so he’ll let you cut in front of him, or to your professor in the hopes of scoring an A.  Also, don’t carry around armfuls of beads and hurl them at any girl wearing a low-cut top unless you want to get bitch-slapped.

Boozing on the way to class is a bad idea. Although drinking on the streets is totally normal in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, you probably won’t be able to get away with that excuse if you try to follow suit on campus today.  Also, don’t try to turn your roommates’ food at breakfast into a makeshift King Cake.  She probably won’t appreciate it when she goes to bite into her fruit salad and comes down on a hard plastic baby instead. Read More »

So, the Super Bowl is on Sunday.  Do you know who’s playing? I do, but that’s only because the Today Show is playing in the background and they can’t stop talking about it. It’s not like I don’t care about football – I actually sorta love the sport – it’s just that I prefer those college kids playing for glory and not the pros playing for millions.

Anyways, this may be the biggest sporting event of the year, but that doesn’t mean it’s my biggest event of the year. Or yours. This week, I asked the CollegeCandy writers to tell us what their “Super Bowl” is every year; their big event, their day to sit around eating guacamole and 7 layer dip. Ok, maybe not the last part, but you get the idea.

What is your Super Bowl?

Amanda – Wagner: Any big celebrity scandal feels like the super bowl to me. When Britney went after the paparazzi with an umbrella… oh my god, I bought every tabloid and read them all in one sitting.

Ashley Elizabeth – CU Boulder: That one day when you get all dressed up and that boy finally notices!

Marissa – High School Senior: The first day of summer. Summer solstice kicks off the season of no school, my birthday, the beach, warm weather…did I mention no school?

K – GWU: Definitely going to a rave. Best flipping time of my entire life and I want to epically return once a year.

Madison – Puget Sound: The post-Christmas sale week. You know, when everywhere from Target to Nordstrom has everything that you wanted (but didn’t get) for Christmas, but for super cheap. Amazing. Read More »

There’s just something about things blooming, birds chirping, and tank tops that makes me want to write out fancy invitations and say, let’s celebrate!!

Maybe it’s the the non-stop celebrations around this time, i.e. Valentines Day, St. Patty’s Day, Easter, Spring Break (yes, I consider this a holiday)…but even though I didn’t rise from any graves or invent green beer, I’m all about creating a holiday of my very own.

Any excuse I can create to bake sh*t, and get a group of my favorite people into a small room to eat, drink and be merry, I’ll take it.

So if you’re anti-holiday, consider this fun idea an excuse to step away from studying for a minute or an hour (or 24 of ‘em), and chill out, bake, drink mimosas, lick the beaters…etc.

Yes ladies, it’s cupcake time. The whole ritual of baking is calming and though scones are delicious, I prefer my tea/champagne with a cupcake. Why? Because they are God’s gift to man, so enjoy them.

Here are some of my FAV recipes: Read More »

St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th, MISSION AT HAND: Find. green. beer.

Oh? Is that just me?? No, it isn’t. I’m on a mission for two things: green beer and a leprechaun.

I’ve already found the pot of gold, and I’m spending last year’s treasure on this year’s beer, so I’ll leave some wealth for you all…::hint hint::…it has something to do with a rainbow (a slightly watery, chunky rainbow)…

Though green beer is delicious, in every way, it is not so delicious if there’s nothing to soak it up and then ends as green bile regurgitated on your friends shoes, if you know what I mean.

And who doesn’t enjoy an excuse to eat potatoes, or hearty stew?

Being that I am someone who has been vomited on, I would like to make sure that doesn’t happen to ANYONE, EVER. AGAIN. Please kids, eat a substantial meal before drinking green beer and green eggs and ham all day, I’d really appreciate it.

I will even assist you with some ridiculously good recipes. Deal???

You eat, my babies. No vomiting. Don’t drink and drive. And if you aren’t wearing green, I will pinch the sh*t out of you. Capiche?! Read More »

March 17^th is a wonderful day. Besides kicking off my birthday week (March 21^st and I love diamonds, if you were wondering), the 17^th of March also happens to be the day that we celebrate my favorite of Saints, the one, the only, Saint Patrick.

Like most people under the age of 30, St. Patrick’s Day is one of the top 3 holidays of the year, after Christmas (or Hanukkah) and before the 4^th of July. It is a day spent celebrating St. Patrick, one of the Patron Saints of Ireland.

Or, a day getting completely shitfaced and waking up in the morning with green teeth.

Which presents a problem on years such as this one when St. Patrick’s Day is on a Monday. Meaning, classes are in session.

I’ve been there. And I learned some difficult and painful lessons that I think everyone can – and must – learn from. Because when your friends decide to skip lecture and attend Keg and Eggs at 6am it will be hard to say no. You will rack your brain trying to come up with reasons why you too should not throw caution (and your Philo book) to the wind and partake in the festive meal. You will tell yourself that it is just one beer and you will be fine to make it to that review session/presentation at 4.

But take it from me. You will not be OK. It will not be one beer. And there is no way in hell you will be ready for anything besides cheese fries come 4pm. Read More »