But, let’s try for just a few minutes before diving into the luck o’ the Irish, to look at the week that was:

- We learned Lindsay Lohan is clearly running out of the “revenue” she gained from her leggings line, because she has resorted to suing an innocent T.V. commercial. Milk-a-wha?

- We discovered jobs after college, are indeed possible! Yet another reason to celebrate this weekend.

- We welcomed back our favorite cast from the Upper East Side this week on Gossip Girl. Thank goodness, I needed a little Chuck Bass in my life…now if only I could get him in my bed.

- We looked at all of the awkward elements Facebook has to offer.

- We looked at the best commencement speakers (and the luckiest bastards who get to hear them) of 2010.

- We were disturbed by the thought of condoms for kids. Barf.

- We discovered that some students have started grading their professors. And it’s about time!

- We began following one College Candy author in her attempt to make fitness fun.

- We established the ‘rules of rebound’ so we could handle it like a champ.

- We watched Kathryn Bigelow make history and saluted her for being such an inspiration to women everywhere. And for getting a seat in front of her ex husband at the Oscars!

So here’s to another great week [raises glass of homemade green beer].
Cheers!

Are two (hot, old guy) Oscar hosts better than one?

What you didn’t see at The Oscars….

Hey Ke$ha – don’t diss Britney, OK?

Scariest red carpet looks of all time.

10 tips for doin’ the nude makeup thang.

Zach Galifianakis makes me want to stay home on a Saturday night.

Everyone’s got their own predictions of who’s gonna win (or, more realistically, if anything can beat Avatar), so we thought we’d make things interesting and turn it into a little contest.

The Rules:

You have between now and Sunday, March 7th at 3pm ET to choose who you think will win for Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Actress in a Supporting Role, and Best Director. Make your picks (you have to do all 6 or you will not be eligible to win!) and leave them in the comments section below.

We’ll keep a tally as we watch the show (and sip on a delicious Champagne cocktail!) and at the end of the (long, looong) night, we’ll see who got the most correct and send them a $200 gift bag courtesy of Tarte Cosmetics, our absolute favorite makeup line. (Seriously, check out their website. This stuff is awesome.)

If there is a tie, we will take all the top scorers, put their names in a hat (or the empty bowl that was once full of Doritos before we got our hands on it) and draw a winner at random.

The winner will be announced on our Facebook Fan Page and on Twitter on Monday, March 8th at 12 pm ET. (Yes, that means you gotta become our fan or follow us on Twitter to win!)

And that’s it. Check out the nominees below, make your predictions, then watch and see if you’ll be the big winner at the end of the night!

Good luck!

The Nominees:

Best Picture:
Avatar, The Blindside, District 9, An Education, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Precious, A Serious Man, Up, Up in the Air

Best Actor:
Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart), George Clooney (Up in the Air), Colin Firth (A Single Man), Morgan Freeman (Invictus), Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker)

Best Actress:
Sandra Bullock (The Blindside), Helen Mirren (The Last Station), Carey Mulligan (An Education), Gabourey Sidibe (Precious), Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia)

Best Supporting Actor:
Matt Damon (Invictus), Woody Harrelson (The Messenger), Christopher Plummer (The Last Station), Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones), Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds)

Best Supporting Actress:
Penelope Cruz (Nine), Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air), Maggie Gyllenhaal (Crazy Heart), Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air), Mo’Nique (Precious)

Best Directing:
James Cameron (Avatar), Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker), Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds), Lee Daniels (Precious), Jason Reitman (Up in the Air)

We know your usual drinking habits tend to favor your wallet instead of your taste buds, but there’s something about The Oscars and Natty Ice that just don’t mix.  It’s a glamorous event so it requires a glamorous (drinking) menu. We found two cocktails worthy of this red carpet, so invite the girls over and wow them with a few of these:

Champagne Hotel California Cocktails
- 1 ounce tequila
- 2 ounces pineapple juice
- 2 ounces mandarin orange juice
- Top it all off with Champagne

Show off your bartending skills:
Mix the tequila and juices with ice. Strain into a serving glass of your choice. Add in Champagne and cheers!

Peppermint Patty Martini
-1 ounce vodka
-1 ounce chocolate liqueur (such as Godiva Chocolate liqueur)
-1 ounce peppermint Schnapps
-Peppermint stick or peppermint and chocolate reception stick

Show off your bartending skills:
Blend the vodka, chocolate liqueur and peppermint schnapps with crushed ice in a cocktail shaker. Pour into a frosted martini glass and garnish with a peppermint candy stick.

Want to throw in a game to make it more exciting? (Lord knows the fun starts to fade after three martinis and a few long-winded acceptance speeches…) Have everyone come early and throw down $10. Then set up a spreadsheet where everyone has to choose the winners in every single category (or even just the biggies). Watch the show, find out who has the most picks right and the winner gets the entire pot!

This Sunday, the 82nd Annual Academy Awards will air at 8 p.m. on ABC! We at CollegeCandy are obviously super excited for all the usual reasons: red carpet fashion, trying to predict the winners (will anything actually beat Avatar?) and of course, an excuse to put on a cocktail dress and drink on a Sunday.

But this year’s Oscar show has even more awesome-ity (yeah, we’re making up new words over here) to be excited about:

1. HOTTIES.
I’ll shamelessly admit that 90% of the reason I watch the Oscars is that hot guys look even hotter in formalwear. This year it seems that a disproportionate amount of hotties are nominated- George Clooney, Colin Firth, Jeremy Renner, Matt Damon…no matter who takes home the awards, I think the night will be a win-win in terms of eye candy.

2. The Best Actress Award
Lots of hype is surrounding this category this year, and rightfully so. Will it be seasoned veteran Meryl Streep for Julie and Julia? Sandra Bullock for playing Leigh Anne Tuohy in The Blindside? Or newcomer Gabourey Sidibe for her groundbreaking role in Precious? All of these lovely leading ladies are deserving, so it’ll be a nail-biter to see who takes home the gold.

3. Brangelina
With rumors of a split constantly showing up in the tabloids, it’ll be interesting to see how they appear together on the red carpet. Or if they even show up! Everyone wants to see what Angelina will be wearing (aka how flawless she’ll look), and if Brad is still sporting that fugly facial hair. Most importantly, will they give Ryan Seacrest the interview he missed out on last year?

4. The Hosts
This year, the Oscars will be hosted by funny guy Steve Martin and hot-older-guy Alec Baldwin. Both of whom I have inexplicable crushes on. Since Martin has hosted twice before (and earned an Emmy nom for it!) and Baldwin hasn’t, it’ll be the perfect mix of experience and fresh personality. And honestly, it’s Alec Freakin’ Baldwin; if he brings half of his 30 Rock humor to the stage it will be a very successful show.

5. The Situation?
I know the Academy Awards are a classy event (i.e. it’s not okay to lift up your shirt on the red carpet), but you never know! The Jersey Shore cast has so far been invited to the Grammy’s and New York Fashion Week, both being completely irrelevant to them, so it might not surprise me to see them at the Oscars. I know I’ll be lookin’ out for Snooki’s pouf and a six pack of abs before the show.

Every year, there’s one Oscar newcomer who designers would kill to get their dresses on.

Jennifer Hudson had the spotlight in 2007 when Vogue editor-at-large Andre Leon Talley took her under his wing. French actress Marion Cotillard was the one to watch in 2008 after her breakthrough performance in ‘La Vie en Rose.’ And everyone was eager to see what Freida Pinto would be wearing on the red carpet in 2009.

This year, all eyes are on Gabourey Sidibe. The 26-year-old rookie earned a Best Actress nomination for her work in ‘Precious,’ and fashion designers are clamoring for her attention.

“We’ve been offered dresses by all these huge designers,” her stylist Linda Medvene told USA Today. But Gabourey and her stylist have already chosen — she will be donning a Marchesa gown on Oscar night.

Why is everyone so excited about Gabourney? Read the rest here.

We college girls love our morning-after recaps: reviewing the highs and lows (or extreme lows…like slipping on dirty bathroom puddles and falling to the ground) with our closest friends. We laugh, we look at pictures, we wipe last night’s mascara off our faces.

This morning, after a night filled with glamorous Oscar parties, I have to wonder if the celebs are doing the same. Is Kate Winslet sitting in bed flipping through all those selfies she took with her Oscar? Is Dev Patel sipping coffee with Frieda Pinto laughing about that awkward conversation she had with Sean Penn? Is Sophia Loren regretting all that Botox she injected in the limo ride over to the show?

And what do you think Hugh Jackman is up to? (Note: We imagine it doesn’t involve a shirt. Mmmm.)

The Oscars definitely lived up to (and exceeded) all expectations last night. The Judd Apatow short was hilarious, the musical numbers were entertaining (even if Beyonce didn’t really sing), and the surprises were endless. I mean, who knew Anne Hathaway could sing? We were thrilled for all of the winners…and even more thrilled that Angelina Jolie got knocked off her pedestal a bit by our BFF, Kate Winslet.

All in all, we were thoroughly entertained. We just want to know: what did you think? What were your favorite parts of the evening? What could you do without? Let’s recap it together in the comments section below!

We’ll have to wait till Sunday to see what happens, but this whole possible situation got me thinking how any of us could have (or already have) that inevitable run-in with an ex and his new love, and what we should and shouldn’t do when we find ourselves in the same situation:

DON’T run in the opposite direction – Chances are if you saw him, he saw you too. Running away looks pathetic, awkward and could result in injury. Trust me on this one. The stress of the sitch may cause blindness and that poor freshman walking behind you falls to the ground a lot faster and harder than you’d think.

DO look good – What better way to make the guy feel like the a-hole he is than by reminding him what he’s missing out on?  Of course, there’s always the chance that you’re going to run into him when you’re least expecting it, like at Starbucks first thing in the morning before you’ve had a chance to shower and you’re still wearing sweatpants and last night’s makeup.  In that case, just be extra charming and act like nothing is bothering you at all, making him wonder why he let you go in the first place and his new girl wonder why she isn’t as laid back and cool as you are. (Also, hold onto that coffee really tight; your nerves could get the best of you and dumping a scalding hot Mocha on the new girl could not only be seen as a little insensitive, but is also a waste of some damn good coffee.)

DON’T punch her in the face – Or call her names to her face, either.  You’ll just look like a bitter jerk, so be the bigger person and kill ‘em with kindness. Then talk about what a bitch she is to your friends when you get home.

DO keep things brief – Make that man think you have better places to be and better things to be doing with your time than spending it talking with him. This also protects yourself from saying something stupid. Something like, I don’t know, “Yeah, things are good. Had some great sex last night. Not as good as with you, but he tried…” Not that I know anything about that…

DON’T be too flirty with him – Instead of making him miss you, you’ll probably end up just looking desperate. And you don’t want him back, anyway! Greener pastures, my friend. Greener pastures.

Any other advice/horror stories?

We’ll have to wait till Sunday to see what happens, but this whole possible situation got me thinking how any of us could have (or already have) that inevitable run-in with an ex and his new love, and what we should and shouldn’t do when we find ourselves in the same situation:

DON’T run in the opposite direction – Chances are if you saw him, he saw you too. Running away looks pathetic, awkward and could result in injury. Trust me on this one. The stress of the sitch may cause blindness and that poor freshman walking behind you falls to the ground a lot faster and harder than you’d think.

DO look good – What better way to make the guy feel like the a-hole he is than by reminding him what he’s missing out on?  Of course, there’s always the chance that you’re going to run into him when you’re least expecting it, like at Starbucks first thing in the morning before you’ve had a chance to shower and you’re still wearing sweatpants and last night’s makeup. In that case, just be extra charming and act like nothing is bothering you at all, making him wonder why he let you go in the first place and his new girl wonder why she isn’t as laid back and cool as you are. (Also, hold onto that coffee really tight; your nerves could get the best of you and dumping a scalding hot Mocha on the new girl could not only be seen as a little insensitive, but is also a waste of some damn good coffee.)

DON’T punch her in the face – Or call her names to her face, either.  You’ll just look like a bitter jerk, so be the bigger person and kill ‘em with kindness. Then talk about what a bitch she is to your friends when you get home.

DO keep things brief – Make that man think you have better places to be and better things to be doing with your time than spending it talking with him. This also protects yourself from saying something stupid. Something like, I don’t know, “Yeah, things are good. Had some great sex last night. Not as good as with you, but he tried…” Not that I know anything about that…

DON’T be too flirty with him – Instead of making him miss you, you’ll probably end up just looking desperate. And you don’t want him back, anyway! Greener pastures, my friend. Greener pastures.

Any other advice/horror stories?

Woohoo! It’s Friday! I don’t know about you, but I am in a great mood! Beers tonight and no alarm clock tomorrow morning, baby. Sounds like perfection to me.

But there is something else adding a little swing in my step this morning (yes, I just said that and yes, I did have a venti Starbucks this morning): rumor has it the writer’s strike is o-v-e-r, OVER. At least everyone thinks it is.

According to Disney CEO Michael Eisner (who, I guess, is part of this whole thing), “a deal has been made, and [the writers will] be back to work very soon.” The deal still has to be presented to the writers, which will happen on Saturday, but Eisner is quite confident it will be accepted.

Which gives me the perfect excuse to get my drink on tomorrow night.

This is the best news I have heard since Britney got out of the hospital and started flaunting her panties all over town…again. I will finally have something to look forward to when I come home from work. I can finally stop watching the train wreck that is Real World/Road Rules Gauntlet #3,476. I can finally feel better about paying for my DVR since it will actually have something to record.

Think of all the glorious TV we will have back!

Grey’s Anatomy: I actually had to Wiki this since it has been so long, but last time we saw the staff at Seattle Grace Dr. Bailey was experiencing major marital problems, McDreamy was moving onto the nurse with the great smile, Izzie told O’Malley’s mom about the affair and Meredith was probably bitching about her “awful” upbringing. How excited are you to find out what happens next? Will Miranda’s husband leave her? Will Meredith finally realize what a sexy man she has and stop mucking it up with her non-existent-yet-she-thinks-they-are-huge issues?

The Office: A Thursday spent without Jim Halpert is not worth having. Even if the bar by my house has $1 pitchers. Just the idea that I can have Jim, Dwight and the entire Dunder Mifflin office back in my life is enough to make me want to get up on my desk and dance (something I usually reserve for Saturday tequila nights).

Gossip Girl: Blair and Nate. Nate and Chuck. Nate and Serena. I haven’t slept in weeks worrying about my friends on the Upper East Side. I considered taking some sleeping pills to get me through, but the Cirque Lodge is currently booked through ’09 and I didn’t want to risk the addiction. Thank God I can finally find out what is going on and sleep peacefully once again.

The Oscars: After the less than thrilling SAG awards and the rumors that the Grammy’s may be shot to hell as well, I started getting a bit nervous about the fate of the Academy Awards.

What the hell is Joan Rivers going to do?

What am I going to talk about for the entire month of March (besides my birthday, cough cough)?

Thank goodness I can stop stressing; with the strike ending the Oscars and all their fashion glory are a comin’.

The only bad news in this whole thing is that it might be up to two weeks until any of our shows return. After months, however, another two weeks is nothing. Just enough time to finish my book, clean my apartment and get my DVR ready for its 2008 comeback.