It's the moment of truth, little lady.

We’re well into another new school year and to honor that, we at CollegeCandy are bringing back the fan-favorite series, “We’ve All Been There.”  (We tried to get another national holiday/long weekend for you guys but it’s way harder than we thought so this will have to do.) Every week, Lauren from the University of Michigan will comment on the common experiences all college women share – like class registration, the dreaded muffin top or, everyone’s favorite activity, procrastinating. Read, relate, cringe and enjoy.

Your boxes are unpacked, your bed is made, and your parents have left the building. You are officially a college student.

Woohoo! No more living under their rules. You are a free adult livin’ the dorm life. It takes a few days of getting used to, but you’re finally feeling settled. You’ve even sorta mastered the cafeteria slop. This whole college thing isn’t so hard after all.

That is, until you need to do a little #2 in the public bathroom down the hall. The one every other girl on the hall also frequents to shower, wash up, dry her hair, and do her business. Girls you don’t know. Girls you want to befriend. Feeling the stage fright, you’ve been unable to go for days and, between the cafeteria salad bar (roughage!) and the frat party jungle juice, it’s been rather difficult.

But now it’s time and you have no choice but to suck it up, drop the pants, and take care of business.

The feeling hits you fast. You drop everything you are doing (read: log off of Facebook) and do a little walk/run to the bathroom. You fumble with your keys as you unlock the door, then quickly pull it closed it behind you. You listen for anyone in the shower. You can hear some water running, so you scurry into a stall before anyone can see your face. After safely securing your door, you crouch down to see if any of the other stalls are in use. Thankfully, you are alone.

You turn to the toilet and notice some splash on the seat. You bend down and get in close to determine if it is some inconsiderate squatter’s pee, or maybe a little splash back from the toilet. Regardless of what it is, you are going to have to wipe it up before you let your precious cheeks hit the seat.

You grab a giant handful of toilet paper and wad it up, creating a thick barrier between your hand and the toilet seat. Then, gagging and turning your face away from the situation, you quickly wipe the seat, toss the paper in the toilet and flush it with your foot.

Phew. Now you’re ready.

You sit down and mentally prepare for your first public poop when you hear the door open and a few girls walk in.

“OhMyGod,” you think to yourself. “I can’t go with these girls in here! What if I make loud noises? What if I make the bathroom smell? They may see me or recognize my leopard print slippers! It’s social suicide.” You contemplate sitting silently until they leave, but it seems they are doing the same thing. Besides, after 10 days of zero bowel activity, holding out is really not an option. So you go with plan B: distraction.

You begin coughing, tapping your foot, and rolling and unrolling the toilet paper – anything to cover the sounds of what is happening in stall #3. Though it’s not the ideal sitch (and it’s nearly impossible to do your business and cough at the same time), you do manage to complete your task in a timely fashion without any embarrassing sounds or smells (well, really offensive ones, anyway), and even sneak out of the bathroom before anyone in the neighboring stalls can see your face. Or the sweat marks under your arms.

Yesssss, success!

– Yeah, we’ve all been there and it’s awkward. But if there’s anything we learned it’s that Everybody Poops, so don’t be afraid. By the end of the semester, you’ll be taking magazines, books and even your laptop in there with you and chatting with the girl next door. You may even wonder how you ever did it alone.

This holiday season, I urge you to make a resolution that you will actually keep, and that is to take better care of your environment.  Not just because it’s a good thing to do, but also because it’s a gosh darn easy resolution to stick to.  Having a greener existence is all about baby steps, which translates into easy success without all of the leg work.  Here are some of my favorite tips to get you going to a greener and happier you!

Potential Resolution #1:  “I will get all of my books from the library.”
First of all, this is probably something most of us do on a regular basis anyways.  Second of all, it saves you money and storage space.  Buying books not only wastes a lot of paper and binding materials, but it also takes a lot more energy to package and transport.  If you absolutely need to have a certain book at hand, such as a textbook for a class, see if any of your friends are in the class and ask them to go halfsies on the book.  You’ll save money on those ridiculously expensive textbooks and you always have the option of checking it out at the library if you get in a bind.

Potential Resolution #2: “I’m no longer going to put up with junk mail.”
Now you really don’t have an excuse not to pick this one up, considering that nobody actually enjoys getting junk mail.  The first step is to go paperless with as much as you can – bills, bank statements, etc.  Then check out Precycle.  For a minimal fee, Precycle will stop most of your junk mail and send you a reusable shopping bag with 2 CFL light bulbs.  It’s pretty much the same thing as adopting “getting cool free stuff” as your NY Resolution.

Potential Resolution #3: “I’m going to put a water bottle in my toilet’s water tank.”
Ummmm….WTF?
I promise there is sound evidence behind this one.  According to The Daily Green, filling up a water bottle with water and a little sand and placing it in the water tank will make your toilet use less water when flushing.  How, you ask?  By displacing the water in the tank so that it can’t fill up all the way and thus, uses less water per flush.  Some other great ways to reduce your water bill include turning off the tap when you’re brushing your teeth, timing your showers so that they don’t exceed 10 minutes, and keeping a cold pitcher of water in the fridge so you don’t have to keep the faucet running to get to the right temp. And how easy are all of those!?

Potential Resolution #4: “I’m going to save on gas.”
And guess what?  It doesn’t even include driving less!  Just driving the speed limit, especially on the freeway, can increase the efficiency of your car and save on gas.  Also, if you have the choice, take the route that has the least stop and go.  For example, opt for the freeway over going through town, unless there is tons of traffic on the freeway.  Also, try to plan your errands out in advance so you can avoid the rush hour and get all of them done in one fell swoop.  Lastly, keep your car in tip top shape and it will use less energy.  Pay special attention to your tires – flat tires are less efficient and cause your car to use more gas to go the same distance.

So which one will it be?  Let me know what you resolve to do this New Year’s and how you’re gonna stick to it!

Well, 2009 doesn’t just mean cool cars and advanced cellphone technology. It also means new and improved products for the potty.  Take a look at some of these new things that make the bathroom experience that much more pleasant. Don’t ask me why or how I found these. Seriously.

Poof
This latest product does exactly what it says. It literally makes the smell of your poop go “Poof!” This liquid deodorizer traps the odors of the big brown boys in the water, releasing a refreshing scent of Japanese mint to fill the air. Unlike an air freshener that can just leave the bathroom smelling like misty grossness (fresh spring breeze + poop = fresh and springy poop), Poof traps the odors before they can even try to escape the toilet. No more worries about having to hold it in after your hot date at a Mexican restaurant.

Go girl
Whoever said guys are the only ones that can stand when going to the bathroom? Just because they get to avoid the unsanitary toilet seats that get exposed to way too many butts in a day, doesn’t mean we can’t too!

iCarta
Okay, so this one may be a tad bit unnecessary, but it sure is freakin’ cool. It’s a toilet paper dispenser with a built in iPod dock and speakers. Because pooping is so much more fun when you’re doin’ it with the Kings of Leon.

LavNav
If you’re like me, even the slightest light can wake you up and keep you up. Especially when that light comes from the bathroom when you have to do a little pee pee in the middle of the night. But you know from experience that attempting to take a middle-of-the-night bathroom trip sans lights only leads to wet floors and a giant bump on your head.  Welcome the LavNav. This automatic light turns on when you approach the toilet in the dark, and turns off after you leave, lighting up only the areas you need. Best part is, this energy efficient product uses really cool red and green light. It’s like a disco toilet.

Other fun idea: bring your laptop. There is some sort of sick pleasure that comes from IMing your friends from the bathroom stall. What, just me?

Your boxes are unpacked, your bed is made, and your parents have left the building. You are officially a college student.

Woohoo! No more living under their rules. You are a free adult livin’ the dorm life.

It takes a few days of getting used to, but you’re finally feeling settled. You’ve even sorta mastered the cafeteria slop. This whole college thing isn’t so hard after all.

That is, until you need to do a little #2 in the public bathroom down the hall. The one every other girl on the hall also frequents to shower, wash up, dry her hair, and do her business. Girls you don’t know. Girls you want to befriend. Feeling the stage fright, you’ve been unable to go for days and, between the cafeteria salad bar (roughage!) and the frat party jungle juice, it’s been rather difficult.

But now it’s time and you have no choice but to suck it up, drop the pants, and take care of business.

The feeling hits you fast. You drop everything you are doing (read: log off of Facebook) and do a little walk/run to the bathroom. You fumble with your keys as you unlock the door, then quickly pull it closed it behind you. You listen for anyone in the shower. You can hear some water running, so you scurry into a stall before anyone can see your face. After safely securing your door, you crouch down to see if any of the other stalls are in use. Thankfully, you are alone.

You turn to the toilet and notice some splash on the seat. You bend down and get in close to determine if it is some inconsiderate squatter’s pee, or maybe a little splash back from the toilet. Regardless of what it is, you are going to have to wipe it up before you let your precious cheeks hit the seat.

You grab a giant handful of toilet paper and wad it up, creating a thick barrier between your hand and the toilet seat. Then, gagging and turning your face away from the situation, you quickly wipe the seat, toss the paper in the toilet and flush it with your foot.

Phew. Now you’re ready.

You sit down and mentally prepare for your first public poop when you hear the door open and a few girls walk in.

“OhMyGod,” you think to yourself. “I can’t go with these girls in here! What if I make loud noises? What if I make the bathroom smell? They may see me or recognize my leopard print slippers! It’s social suicide.”  You contemplate sitting silently until they leave, but it seems they are doing the same thing. Besides, after 10 days of zero bowel activity, holding out is really not an option. So you go with plan B: distraction.

You begin coughing, tapping your foot, and rolling and unrolling the toilet paper – anything to cover the sounds of what is happening in stall #3. Though it’s not the ideal sitch (and it’s nearly impossible to do your business and cough at the same time), you do manage to complete your task in a timely fashion without any embarrassing sounds or smells (well, really offensive ones, anyway), and even sneak out of the bathroom before anyone in the neighboring stalls can see your face. Success.

Yeah, we’ve all been there and it’s awkward. But if there’s anything we learned it’s that Everybody Poops, so don’t be afraid. By the end of the semester, you’ll be taking magazines, books and even your laptop in there with you and chatting with the girl next door. You may even wonder how you ever did it alone.

As much as I would love to silently judge your drunken mistakes, I can’t help but  laugh it off, talk about you to my friends and hope that I just caught you after you had a horrible week (which is slightly understandable, right?) However, in most cases, I caught you in your element, flashing the party your new bedazzled thong while sloppily trying to climb up on the beer pong table to dance.  Ohh, here we go…

There are a few ways that you can tell you’re “that mess” the entire party is talking about (but you can’t hear because you’re busy screaming the lyrics of “If You Seek Amy”).

- Dancing with your arms above your head…to every song…on a table.
- Tossing your cookies on people or just barely before reaching the bathroom.
- Falling down (or even up) the stairs in front of everyone.
- Crying over…literally anything and everything
- “Oh my goddd i lovvee you!”
- Not being afraid to make out with that random guy (or girl) for a few pictures.
- Passing out in random places and finding “please insert here” with an arrow pointing down on your stomach when you wake up.
- Slowly disrobing at a rate of… every five minutes or less.
- Finding yourself hugging the toilet bowl at the end of the night tighter than when you hugged your teddy bear a decade earlier

Well, home girl, don’t sweat your already smeared makeup off, because I’m not criticizing!  This letter is for you drunkies who have taught me many valuable lessons from you’re absolutely annihilated nights.  After much observing of your dazed decisions, I don’t want to say “WTF is wrong with you!?” What I really want to say is Thanks.

Thanks for making me look so much better, mature, put together, and all around sexy while standing next to your drunk ass.

Thanks for being brave enough to steal that 40 oz. from the fridge, and then dumb enough to hand it over to me, FO’ FREE!

Thanks for running down the street screaming with just a tank top and jeans on (in 30 degree weather), allowing the cops to easily spot and tackle you before they get to me.

Thanks for leaving your jacket at the party. I love my new fleece!

Thanks for passing out in the bathroom so I could start flirting with the guy you were falling all over all night.

Thanks for drunkenly opening a tab and offering free drinks to everyone standing around you.

Thanks for giving me and my friends something to laugh at that night, and days later.

But most importantly, Thanks for teaching me how NOT to act at a party.

So, let’s bring it all out in the open. Right here. Because you are not alone - we’ve all been there before.]

The Phone in the Toilet:

You put on your cutest (and tightest) jeans for the partayyy. When you arrive at the house, you drop your jacket in your friend’s room, take a few shots and head out to the living room to mingle. Your best friend is coming late/the boy you want always texts you late-night, so you keep your phone on vibrate in your back pocket so you can feel it when it rings.

You take more shots. And more. And drink a lot of beer. You laugh, you party, you begin to feel really drunk.

And, OMG, you have to pee so badly.

You head upstairs to use the bathroom; it’s gotta be cleaner than the one on the main floor, not to mention the line is probably shorter. Ugh – it’s not. You pull your phone out of your pocket in hopes that your boy-toy has sent you a “where you at?” text message, then shove the phone back into your pocket when the door opens and two people (looking particularly happy) walk out.

You run into the bathroom, lock the door, and stumble as you attempt to pull your jeans down. Just before you get them below your knees you hear a plunk and, HolySh*tNoEffingWayOhMyGodOhMyGod, your phone is in the toilet.

You spin around and see your brand new Blackberry sinking to the bottom of the bowl. On the one hand you are happy – the bowl was empty. On the other, however, your brand new freaking Blackberry is in the toilet. And you won’t be able to get any texts from the boy!

You start to freak out. Then you realize you are standing there with your pants around your ankles, your phone in the toilet and your bladder full of beer. What do you do first? Pull up your pants? Grab the phone?

“Focus,” you tell yourself. You pull up your pants and reach into the toilet to grab your phone. Unsure what to do, you grab a giant wad of toilet paper and begin blotting the phone. You try to turn it on; it makes a really weird noise.

You continue to freak out.

At this point the line for the bathroom has gotten longer and the line dwellers angrily knock on the door. You grab some more TP, try to compose yourself and decide to find someone who can help (which is difficult since you can’t call anyone).

It isn’t until after you leave the bathroom and the next person runs in that you realize you still really have to pee.

If you are lucky, your phone is not completely screwed. If you are completely screwed, just imagine trying to explain it to your parents when you ask them for a new one.

So, let’s bring it all out in the open. Right here. Because you are not alone - we’ve all been there before.]

Hugging the Bowl:

You started the evening out with the girls and a few shots of vodka to the tune of Bon Jovi blaring from the stereo. Then you moved onto the party, where you couldn’t not play 10 rounds of flip cup, followed by a game of beer pong. You were feeling good – really good – so you decided to give into the boys and do a keg stand.

After all, you had to show them what you’re made of.

When your feet are firmly back on the ground it hits you: you are totally f**ked up. The room is spinning, the floor is rocking and all you can think about is getting home and dying.

But you don’t want anyone to think you are a wimp (because you’re not!), so you pull one of the girls aside and whisper, “I’m tired. I think I’m gonna go,” which comes out more like, “I’m <hiccup> tiiiired. I <hiccup> mthink I’mgomna <vurp> go.” Your friend offers to go with you.

You stumble home, run straight to the bathroom and strip down to your bra and underwear. Your friend brings you water in the bathroom as you crouch over the toilet and start spitting into the bowl. Your knees hurt already, but you are not leaving the bathroom until you puke, dammit.

Your head hurts. You feel like hell. You are never EVER drinking again. Please God, you pray, if you let me make it through tonight I will never drink this much again. Please god. PLEASE. I swear. No more alcohol. Ever.

And at that moment, you mean it.

You keep spitting into the toilet, opening your mouth and willing something other than saliva to come out. You try pulling the trigger (hey, it works for bulimics!), chugging water, or anything else that just might bring up all that beer.

You give up hope, grab the garbage can and begin to head back to your room when – YES! – it comes. Lots and lots of it. Beer, vodka, and the Jimmy Johns #6 you scarfed down for dinner. Vomiting has never felt so good. You welcome the heaves, celebrate the bile, and as quickly as it started you are done.

You are sweating. There are tears in your eyes, but sweet Jesus you feel great.

You pour yourself a glass of water, brush your teeth, grab the garbage can and head to your room where you quickly pass out.

When you wake up in the morning you feel great, and after some scrambled eggs and toast you are ready to hit the bottle again.

Come back next week for more moments of misery that we can all share. Like all those damn drunk texts.

We’ve reached the mid-way mark of October, and that means that we at CollegeCandy are really psyched for Halloween. We’re definitely still pondering what to wear on the 31st, but when it comes to children’s costumes, there are a few get-ups we’d rather not see prowling the streets.

The following is a list of Halloween costumes for children to avoid, containing several funny, inappropriate, and unsafe outfits we’d rather not see on our younger siblings and babysitting charges.

1. Pinocchio with Strings

A Pinocchio costume is all well and good, but the strings on this thing look really unsafe. Can you imagine this kid running around all hopped up on chocolate in the dark? That sh*t is gonna get tangled. And based on this photo, I don’t know what these strings are suspended from–maybe the kid’s chaperone is supposed to hold them? Putting your kid on a leash for Halloween. Nice.

2. Corpse Bride

This costume sort of looks like Lindsay Lohan’s “ex-wife” costume from Mean Girls. But what’s truly frightening here is dressing up your little sis as a sexualized, virginal corpse. Not so hot.

3. Austin Powers

I’ll definitely admit, when I first saw this costume I laughed my ass off. You can almost hear this kid snarling, “Yeeeah, baby!” But in order for him to pull off The Spy Who Shagged Me with charm, he’d have to know a thing or two about mojo. Maybe it’s best if we let boys be boys for now, since we all know the guys will start pimpin’ sooner or later…but hopefully not before they outgrow their Huggies.

4. Tween Pink Leopard Dress Costume

Ugh. There are SO many things wrong with this outfit. I wouldn’t wear it as a 20-year-old woman, much less a preteen girl. If you take off those ears, this poor child looks nothing less than a prostitute. Let’s see… ho collar? Check. Cheezy pink leopard print? Check. Lingerie gauze? Check. Slutty pleather miniskirt? Check. Revealed navel? Check. Hooker heels? CHECK. How did that old Ludacris song go? Oh yeah: YOU’S A HO.

5. Native American

Maybe this is just me, but I think this costume is really racist. It’s one thing if you want to dress up like Pocahontas, but it’s entirely another if you’re just a Native American. Would it be funny if a Native American child dressed up as a Colonial? My mother grew up just down the road from a Native American reservation, and I know costumes like this wouldn’t fly back in her hometown.

6. A Toilet

Seriously, you are asking for your kid to get a few swirlies with his Starbursts if you dress him in this. Flush this idea, people. Flush it down.

[Seen any other horrifying children's costumes this year? Let us know!!]

Saturday night: You’re at a frat party. You just won three consecutive games of beer pong. You don’t think twice about drinking your cups, despite the fact that you’ve seen the ball land in other peoples’ used cups, roll along the basement floor, and watched the ball pass between thirty-something unwashed hands.

What gives?!?

Obviously, beer pong isn’t the most sanitary party game out there. But you have the “water cup,” right? That cup of tepid, dirty water is totes gonna disinfect that old, recycled ping pong ball (that was most likely found under someone’s bed 10 minutes before party time). Or not.

Some microbiology students at George Washington University decided to test exactly how detrimental to your health beer pong can be. If you like beer pong, you may want to skip this article.

After a somewhat mild night of beer pong, consisting of eight students and thirty beers, the budding scientists collected samples from each of the beer pong cups and the water cup. What’d they find? A haven for germs. Bacteria from the E. Coli, salmonella, and pneumonia families were present in every single test tube containing samples from the game. Oh, and that water cup that everyone used to clean the balls? That was the most infected, and housed the most bacteria growth over night.

This study centered on beer pong only, but what about other potentially sickening games? When’s the last time you did a kegstand, putting your mouth on the tap that’s been who-knows-where after a dozen other people slurped down a few seconds worth of brew? How about the time you stood in for flip cup, and rotated through other peoples’ cups round after round?

We put our mouths everywhere when there’s cheap beer involved (and some of us really put our mouths everywhere), but we’re super cautious about where we place our ASS when we’re in a public place? Just some food for thought.

Not that you have to quit beer pong — hell, no! To be just a tad cleaner, change out the water cups and beer pong balls throughout the night, and keep your own beer cup to drink out of after the ball hits (just dump the shot’s worth of beer into your own cup).

Alcohol is bad enough for your immune system; don’t give germs a better opportunity to take up residence in your body.

Do you like brushing your teeth with toilet bowl water?

Because if like most people, you keep your tooth brush on the bathroom sink — that’s essentially what you’re doing.

Yummy.

After coming across the article “The 16 worse places to stash your stuff” in Prevention magazine, I felt enlightened and educated. But mostly I felt nauseas . Apparently, when you flush, the 3.2 million microbes per square inch of germy-gunk in your toilet bowl is propelled as far as 6 feet, settling on the floor, the sink… and your toothbrush.

Fix it: Keep your toothbrush in a cabinet

Some other tidbits to keep you healthier, slimmer and not so icky.

The worst place to set your handbag: the kitchen counter

Typing the words Marc Jacobs handbag and gross in the same sentence makes me shudder… but between lecture halls, bars, restaurant floors, airports and restroom stalls, that treasured tote of yours has more than its share of icky-icky stuff on it. Including… fecal bacteria.

Fix it: Put your bag in a drawer or on a chair, anywhere except where food is prepared or eaten.

The worst place for your sneakers and flip-flops: in the bedroom closet

Traipsing through your apartment in shoes you wear outside does more than just make your carpets dirty. According to a study, lawn chemicals tracked inside a house remained there for a full week. Shoes also carry in pollen and other allergens.

Fix it: Keep your shoes in a basket by the door. If your pumps stay off the lawn, you can keep them on in the apt— otherwise, carry them.

The worst place to cool leftovers: in the refrigerator

We all know the song… “When you’re walking down the hall and your teacher saw it all- diarrhea…” so unless you want to be stuck at home all weekend begging for Imodium A-D, let your leftovers cool to room temp before sticking them in the fridge. It can take a long time for the temperature in the middle of a big container of hot leftovers to drop, creating bacteria ready for you to consume when you come home ready for some late-night muchies.

Fix it: You can safely leave food to cool on the counter for up to an hour after cooking,. Or divvy up hot food into smaller containers and then refrigerate — it’ll cool faster.

The worst stall to pick in a public restroom: the one in the middle

The center stall has more bacteria than those on either side. You won’t catch an STD from a toilet seat, but you can get a whole slew of germs if you touch a dirty toilet handle and then neglect to wash your hands thoroughly.

The worst place for a workout reminder: stuck on your post-it and picture covered fridge

A visual nudge can help — but only if you notice it- which you are most likely not going to do when you’re reaching for the ice cream and your fridge is covered with pics from last months bar crawl.

Fix It: Put your note near a decision point. Set an alarm on your phone 30 minutes before you want to workout that says “change for the gym now!” or keep your workout DVDs near on your coffee table.

“Just remember: The boost you get from a reminder is usually short-term, so change the visuals often.”

The worst place to stand during your first few fitness classes: front and center

You might think that you’d want to be near the mirrors so you can check your form (or check out the cute instructor) but your sweat sesh will be more motivating if you can’t see yourself. By not being able to see yourself in the mirror, you won’t be nervous about what you look like or what others think of you when you are rocking out to those 1980′s Jams. The Result? a hardcore workout.

The worst place to keep medicine: the medicine cabinet

Your bathroom gets hot and steamy which is great for shaving your legs, or even getting the wrinkles out of the dress you want to wear tonight. But it’s not uncommon for your steamy bathroom to reach 100°F — well above the recommended storage temperatures for many common drugs.

Fix It: Store your meds (including Birth Control) in a cool, dry place, like in your dresser.

The worst place to set fruit before washing it: the kitchen sink

You may associate the sink with soap and water… but of everywhere in your house/apartment- the kitchen sink sees the most bacteria. (Even more than the toilet)

Fix it: Don’t set fruit in the sink and if a blueberry falls into the sink while washing, throw it away.

The worst place to use earbuds or headphones: on an airplane, train, or subway

Studies show that if your jamming to Kanye in a noisy environment, you probably crank the volume too high. A Harvard study found that in reasonably quiet surroundings, music remained at a lower level- but when background noise was added — 80 percent of those in the study boosted the volume as high as 89 decibels, a level that risks long-term hearing damage.

Fix It: Invest in a pair of noise-canceling headphones —Two good options: Sony MDR-EX51LP ($40; sonystyle.com) and Etymotic Research ER-6i ($149; etymotic.com).

Your future children will thank you.

The worst place for your TV: wherever you dine

Think you can watch the latest episode of Celebrity Rehab or the Hills and still eat a normal portion? Think again. Watching TV while munching will keep you from noticing how much you are truly eating.

Fix It: Don’t eat in front of the TV!

*For the full list of the 16 Worst Places to Stash your Stuff, Click Here