Ah, the theme party. The chance for college students to mix things up for the night….or yet another opportunity to dress up in something slutty. Theme parties are an essential part of college life and you can’t graduate without attending at least one (hundred). But after four (or more, if you’re lucky) years on a college campus, there are certain theme parties that just get old. Really old. Wrinkly, saggy skin old. They’re cliche, they’re annoying, they’re the ones you go to freshman year and, if you’re smart, you never go to again.

So pack up the slutty pencil skirts and white wife beaters, people, because here are 9 theme parties you won’t be indulging in any time soon. (Editor’s Note: That is until you graduate and crave a crazy college party to take you back to the glory days. Sigh.) Read More »

Turning your calendar to the “December” page, a squared off area filled with assignment after assignment smacks you in the face: finals week. In preparation, stress levels rise and complaints begin to trickle from your mouth. “Why does my professor think his/her class is the only class I am taking?” you cry, frustrated by the disgusting amount of work you have to complete in the span of one week.

I, too, have pondered this question many times. It seems that the majority of professors have forgotten what it’s like to actually be a student. They honestly do assume that their class is the most important class available at your university and you have oodles of hours to read 20 chapters of Herman Melville in 3 days.

Raul Ramos, a professor at the University of Houston, acknowledged his total disconnect from campus life during his first 8 years at the university. He then — along with his wife, kids, and 2 dogs — moved into an on-campus dorm in an effort to become more acclimated with the students and their college life.

Although Ramos’ example is a bit extreme and many colleges cannot afford such accommodations, wouldn’t it be cool if professors actually tried to get to know students beyond the classroom?

We’ve compiled a list of 5 ways profs can leave the lecture hall and get inside the heads of their students. Read More »

If there’s one thing a sorority woman knows (besides the names of all her founding sisters/the words to every rush song/the rules to scoring the best room in the house) it’s a theme party. I don’t know if it’s in the official rules of Greek Life but sororities/fraternities and theme parties go together like cheating spouses and Hollywood. Only there’s way less drama. And magazine covers. And Barbara Walters interviews.

That being said, this week we asked our panel of sorority women to weigh in on the infamous theme party and share the best and worst they’ve ever been to.

Looking to throw a great party of your own? You might want to avoid a graffiti bash. Read More »

There is one thing in life you don’t understand until you get into college (besides a cheap vodka hangover).  And that one thing is theme parties.  And the one thing you don’t understand about them is how amazing they are.  Seriously, they should be a religion, or a hobby, or a competitive sport…OK, I know I’m getting a little carried away here but…

Theme parties are the cheese to my macaroni.

They are fashionably expressive, sexy trashy, and if there is anywhere (besides the local dive bar) where anyone gets absolutely crazy – it’s a theme party.  Franzia bags look juicer and beer served up in a red cup looks all the more tantalizing.   In my four years in college I can safely say that I’ve mastered the theme party.  And I think everyone should be given an equal opportunity to enjoy the ropes of a solid opportunity-to-get-creative slutty.

I’m here to fill your brain with theme party kit knowledge.  Go ahead and dedicate a separate bin for your theme party goods.  With the holidays coming (and with them a whole crop of creative theme parties), I promise it will be worth it.  You will need these things to get you through these trying times. Trust me.

Read More »

I admit it: I’m a slave to trends. As much as I’d rather be a trendsetter (like Nicole Richie, not Lady Gaga), I’m regretfully a complete lemming. It’s not that I’m not a risk taker, more so that I’ve been completely brainwashed by the fashion industry (like when professors insist you need to read the text to pass) to like what’s available. And what do they have me head over heels for this fall?

Military style.

Honestly, I never would have liked this style if it wasn’t in every. single. fashion magazine this season. But, alas, it is (perhaps this is the fashion world’s way of tipping their hats to the troops?), so I’ve been on the hunt for a military piece that I feel I can pull off without looking as if I’m waging guerrilla warfare (although I might be if I catch someone wearing it at the same time as me). After all, if I’ve learned one thing about fashion, it’s that I need to wear the trend, NOT let the trend wear me.

And what will I be wearing this season? This awesome piece from American Eagle. I call it a piece because it’s neither sweater nor jacket; it’s more like their lovechild, or as AE calls it, the “Cropped Military Cardigan.”

I love this offspring of jacket and sweater because it’s different than the other military styles that you will never touch again come the last day of fall. It’s inexpensive (at $39.50!) and it’s not deep enough army green to look like pea soup. It’s no military shirtdress, or some trend from last fall dyed green in a desperate attempt to make it cool again. Read More »

Another reason to love Target

Do you send nude photos to your boyfriend?

For real!?

And Linds is back!

Finance your degree the smart way

How to pull off a Jersey Shore theme party

So you’re going to be a freshman. Thanks to your advisor/mom/campus tour/Bed Bath and Beyond advertisements, you think you’re ready. You learned how to do laundry, you’ve purchased the Twin XL sheets, you measured your future dorm room (and cried when you realized you could touch all 4 walls from the middle of the room) and all those A.P. classes have prepared you for the workload that comes in college.

Congrats. You now know about 10% of what you need to know to survive freshman year.

The truth is, there is a lot that happens your first year of college that no advisor (and especially not your parental units) is going to know about. And that’s why we’re here – to get you from Welcome Week through final exams in one glorious piece. And to try and stop you from making the same mistakes we did. Again and again.

You wanna survive your first year of college? Avoid any and all of these freshman year faux pas: Read More »

[Everyone's got a morning-after story and we wanna hear yours! Send it over to us and we'll post it - anonymously, of course - right here!]

It was the Thursday night before homecoming, and a frat was throwing a “Heaven and Hell” themed party for my sorority.  We were to dress like devils and the boys like angels, so I threw on a teeny-tiny LBD, a pair of devil horns from the dollar store and borrowed red patent leather pumps from my friend. Naturally, a bunch of my sorority sisters came over to pound (too many) shots before stumbling heading out to the frat house.

When we got there, we headed downstairs (“hell”) where everything was decorated with flames and black tarps on the walls. Interesting.  We headed to the bar where we were given Solo cups of a red mixed drink, contents unknown.  After a couple refills, I was completely, utterly DRUNK, so I headed upstairs (to “heaven”), got on the dance floor and promptly found a cute boy to grind with.  Read More »

Yup. That's my bedroom.

I was just sitting in my bedroom last week Facebook stalking people “who I totally don’t care about” from high school when my bedroom floor started to fill with water.

Despite not majoring in investigative detective work, I was able to quickly figure out that the water was coming from our washing machine. My roommate switched it off, I slipped on my rainboots, and we got to work mopping up the mess. I thought we had cleaned the whole thing up and it was safe to go back to searching for updates on the high school prom queen (she’s in a committed relationship, he must be cheating on her!).

I was very wrong. The water kept leaking and before long it was coming under my bedroom wall. Nothing was safe in my room and despite my best efforts to build towel barricades, the water kept flowing. I immediately regretted giving away the snorkel I had stolen from a “scuba divers and sluts” party back from junior year. In under ten minutes my bedroom had transformed from an oversized closet with a bed to a set from the filming of Titanic Two: Jack’s Resurrection.

Things were getting more dangerous (for my shoe collection piled on my closet floor) by the second and our super was taking his sweet time coming upstairs. Finally he arrived, saw the utter chaos and said “I would have come sooner if I had known it was that bad.” As if my screaming into the phone “THIS IS THE END” and setting off SOS flares outside my windows didn’t send that message. Read More »

So it’s 9pm on a Thursday night and you just found out that you have a theme party to go to. Ballin right?

Okay, so what are you going to wear, and just as importantly, what are you going to put on your face?

Getting your 70’s makeup to match up with your Flower Power dress can be tricky. So here’s a quick reference guide for how to do your decade makeup from “20’s Great Gatsby gal” to “80’s (Like a) Virgin.”

The Roaring 20’s: Skip your bronzer and opt for some light colored face powder; skin during this time was pale. Exaggerate your lip lines by outlining a cupid’s bow shape above the top lip and fill in with a deep red hue. Keep your eyes dark as well with thick coats of mascara and black liner. Keep shadow dark, either black or grey. This classic look will really help your eyes and lips pop. Accessorize with a feathered headband and dangly earrings.

50’s Desperate Housewife: Whether you are playing a housewife or Marilyn Monroe, the 50’s was also a classic makeup time. Like with the 20’s, keep lips a deep red and outline with a liner to help keep the color inside. Keep skin pale but accentuate your cheek bones with a rosy blush sweeping upwards to create a natural blush line. Contrary to the 20’s, keep your eyes light except for extra coats of thick mascara over curled lashes. Pull your hair back into a bun or create loose curls. Accessorize with a penciled-in Marilyn mole or pearl earrings. Read More »