When I was little, I couldn’t wait to get older. I imagined myself as a very cool teenager driving a car. I would go to college and continue to be thoroughly awesome. After that, I would graduate, get a kickin’ job, and buy a house. Or something.

As I got older, however, the reality of the future hit me. It’s not all rainbows and butterflies. Even driving a car is dangerous! From giving birth to the apocalypse, let’s just all agree that the future is absolutely terrifying. Read More »

“Oh.Em.Gee.  And then I woke up in his bed and he had peed all over his Superman sheets after we made out for four hours.”

“If one more person raises their hand in class and asks what time the final exam is as it is written in the 80 page syllabus, I’m going to vow to never eat a scone from the caf ever again. And that’s serious.”

“I think somebody farted in class today and I hope it wasn’t the hot dude. I really like looking at him and that would totally ruin things for me.”

These aren’t conversations I have anymore. In fact, I can’t even believe I used to have them. They are completely pointless, entirely stupid and absolutely glorious.  Ok FINE, I wish I still talked about this kind of stuff on a daily basis – but things have been a little different in my new post grad life. I never said people don’t fart in meetings rooms, but they aren’t sexy and I won’t tell anyone about it.

I’ve noticed a huge shift in my conversations lately. They’re like, slightly grown up. Flash Notice: I still talk about sex, flatulence, snot and totally gross 5-year-old boy things – just bare with me while I try to sound cool and old. Here are the top five new things I’m chatting about these days (that I’m not quite used to yet): Read More »

When I was little, I used to grab those big light pink seashells and press them against my right ear. I would close my eyes and hear the soft hums of the ocean. After a few moments, I would look up in the sky and wonder how on EARTH the ocean could fit into one little shell. What forces were allowing one of the biggest things on earth to speak through a pretty oceanic form of calcium??? How DID the ocean DO that??

I wish life was still that simple. Or not simple, whatever.

Now when I listen to a shell, I laugh silently inside – unable to go to the place where I was so long ago. Little, unemployed and…sheltered. After moments of pressing the shell so hard against my ear, it started to itch – I realized I was 23 years old and listening to shells in my little cousin’s bedroom during a wedding shower…

Anyway, I was extremely inspired by my shell discovery. I’ve been getting into a bad habit lately of being unable to go past what I think I’m capable of. Let me explain. When I was in college, I was the shell. Ok, when you stop laughing and snorting snot all over your keyboard, please keep reading. 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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But which home is home?

We’ve been following Charlsie, a 2010 grad, on her journey through the post-grad life, from the big move to the big job hunt to the major “Is this real life?!” moments. And now, with fall in full swing, she’s got something else weighing on her mind.

Whether we want to believe it or not, the holidays are approaching. I know, it feels like summer just started – even though it really just ended – but the reality is that temperatures are dropping, leaves are starting to change, and before we know it, it’ll be time for turkey, presents, and busy shopping malls. Like many people, I’m left with the question of where to spend the holidays at.

In college, it was so black and white. For the holidays, I made the seven hour drive home to my mom’s for Thanksgiving break and winter break. My dad isn’t a big fan of celebrating the holidays, so whether he spent the season with my sister and me or not – it didn’t matter to him either way. So, when the holidays started to come up in discussion with my family, I immediately figured I’d go home to Atlanta.

But I can’t help but feel like I’m leaving someone else behind, no matter what kind of holiday location choice I make. And since plane tickets nearly cost an arm and a legs these days, it makes things even more complicated. Really, it seems impossible to please everyone. Read More »

As a little girl, I always knew I would go to college. It was the way I would make myself in the world. Throughout college, I had endless internship opportunities. In fact, I had to turn down many of them because I couldn’t work them all at once. I had the chance to live in New York City for a summer and for a month of January. I studied abroad in London. I was asked by the English department at my school to complete an Honors Thesis – something only a few students are asked to do every year. I thought I did everything right, and figured my post-graduation experience would be equally as exciting as my college prospects.

Surprise! I haven’t even graduated yet, and nothing has gone the way I thought it would or how I want it to, and with graduation next weekend – it’s time to come up with a game plan for the ominous future.

Originally, I thought I wanted to attend graduate school and work towards a higher degree in English literature. I spent the entire fall semester working on taking the GRE exam, filling out graduate applications (and spending major money on sending them out!), and writing the most intense essay of my undergraduate career to send along to my program choices. In the midst of all this, I spoke with my academic advisor who told me “Charlsie, don’t worry about it – I think you’ll get in wherever you want, you’ll have the option to choose where you want to go. You’ll do great.” Despite the stress and pressure I felt from all this, her reassurance told me to expect the best and relax about my future. Read More »

Put down the diet pills!

Michael Douglas wants to legalize Marijuana!

Want to accessorize like a star?

The future according to Star Trek.

Rihanna and Jay-Z bond over sushi.

Love after graduation, is it possible?

Yesterday I was having a lovely day with my boyfriend. We ate pancakes for breakfast. We went for a walk around our neighborhood. We talked dreamily about the future the way you do on a sunny Saturday morning.

And then, out of no where, the conversation turned sour.

I don’t remember how we got there, but for some incomprehensible reason, the conversation led him to say this:

BOYFRIEND: Well, you do have a little tummy.

He unwisely pats my tummy.

ME: (turning into a shrieking monster) WHAT?!

BOYFRIEND: No, I love it! It’s cute!

ME: IT’S CUTE THAT I’M FAT?!

BOYFRIEND: No! No, that’s not what I meant! It’s just that you’re getting older–

ME: WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!??!!??!! Read More »

Okay, I was aware that I would have to worry about a midlife crisis somewhere down the road. But not for at least another 20 years when I would suddenly feel the need to date much younger men and buy a bright red convertible.

Apparently, I will have a life crisis sooner than I previously thought: the “Quarterlife Crisis.”

It’s a relatively recent phenomenon that is now recognized by many therapists and professionals in the mental health field, and refers to the years out of college when reality sets in. Technically, it is “a period of anxiety, uncertainty and inner turmoil that often accompanies the transition to adulthood.”

Awesome, can’t wait. Basically, young, twentysomethings realize that their entry level jobs suck and that a successful career isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Ahhh, please don’t make me graduate on Sunday! I don’t want to deal with life, especially this new crisis that I will apparently go through. Read More »