Got something awesome everyone needs to know about? A really singer? A wicked new book? A product, like Yes To Carrots,  that truly changed your life? Email your “The Know” ideas to Jill@collegecandy.com or tweet me and I’ll pass them along to everyone right here, every week. Make your kindergarten teacher proud and share!

Sometimes you just need an escape. An escape from studying, an escape from friends who cause unnecessary dramz, an escape from the 12 lbs of laundry that take up 99.9% of floor space in your room… You get the idea. Escapes are essential.

For me, I need an escape from everything this week. I just want to shut the door to my room, turn off the lights and pause life for just a few hours. Maybe get a bit of extra time to sleep. Maybe I’d finally be able to read the 3 months worth of magazines that are stacked up on my bedside table. Maybe just lay there…and do nothing.

I’m pretty sure everyone is up to their eyeballs in reading and papers and exams right now, so for this week’s The Know I’m gonna give you three things that you can do when you need a little Zach Morris-style Time Out on life and to escape from whatever annoyingly stress-filled sitch you’ve got. Read More »

I made a very interesting discovery at work yesterday (we’re researching investigative story ideas), and if any of you readers live in NYC and spend time outside of the Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods in Union Square, you may have witnessed what I’m about to discuss: The Freegan Movement.

Freegans are people (sometimes homeless, but often not) who commit to living a life of limited participation in the conventional economy. They believe that food and shelter are a right as opposed to a privilege, and they are opposed to the fact that homeless people live on the city streets when there are vacant apartments that exist under the grip of capitalist landlords.

So they go scavenging, or “dumpster diving,” for unspoiled food that has been thrown away, and they often recover non-food items like toiletries and electronics. Freegans (a combination of the words “free” and “vegan”) essentially oppose the purchase of any item in attempt to boycott the corporations responsible for human rights violations, environmental destruction, and animal abuse. Read More »

After four years (or more, if you’re lucky) navigating your familiar college campus, it’s time to face a new, not-so-familiar world. It’s time to find a new favorite pizza place, a new mani/pedi shop, and a new bar with cheap specials on Wednesday nights. Oh yeah, and for many of you, you have to find some new friends with whom to frequent those locations.

Finding your place in this next phase of your life isn’t always easy. In fact, as I’ve said before, it’s really freaking tiring.  But there are some tools out there to help you hold onto the familiar and survive the scary unknown. Here are your soon-to-be post grad BFFs:

1.   Skype: Oprah’s obsessed with it and for good reason. All you need is a computer (clearly, you’ve got one since you’re reading this), a webcam (there are cheap ones available on Amazon or at Wal-mart) and some internet (which you can jack from any of your new neighbors who aren’t smart enough to lock that sh*t down). You download the program for free and then talk to any of your friends in the world for free, face to face. So, if you’ve got one friend teaching English in Korea and one friend doin’ the political thang in DC and you’re sitting at your parents’ trying to find a job, you can still “get together” weekly for some old time recaps. Read More »

When you’re trying to get in and out of the shower as quickly as you can to head on to bigger and better things, (a.k.a the beach), it can be easy to bypass seemingly unimportant tasks.  You probably wash your face, your body and your hair, but do you take the time for proper exfoliation?  I’m guilty of this myself, especially in the summertime when my skin doesn’t seem so dry and flakey.  But that all changed yesterday.

While walking in Trader Joe’s, I found myself in the beauty aisle (because it’s right by the wine) and fell in love with a sea salt exfoliating grapefruit scrub. It smelled delicious, so I threw it in my basket (along with TJ’s cookies, some cereal and the best dark chocolate covered pretzels on this planet). When I got home I ate a few pretzels, tore off my clothes and took my new salt scrub to the shower. And what a lovely shower it was. It took only one go with my new salt scrub to remember why exfoliating is so important. Read More »

Like everyone these days, it seems I am living ever so slightly north of broke. Thus, I collect a running list in my head of the best and cheapest cheap-o finds around, so I can maintain a lifestyle I can both enjoy AND afford (and because credit card debt has taken on a new place in my nightmares).

Below are some of my absolute faves. Got some of your own? Please, please please, let me know!

1. Two Buck Chuck: Well, in the case of my Trader Joe’s, it’s Three Buck Chuck – it seems to vary depending on where you are. BUT $3 for totally decent wine is aces with me! As a sidenote, the genius wine guy at my local shop told me that anything between $5 and $20 is generally not worth it. The cheap bottles are every bit as good as the mid-range ones (like $7-$15) so don’t bother! Cheap wine can be good wine!

(1B. I’ve got to give a shout out to Trader Joe’s in general. I cannot get enough of this store, because it has delicious bargains, and makes my goal of cooking my meals at home to save money totally attainable. It also has so much awesome frozen, pre-diced, pre-cooked food. Excellent finds for those of us both poor and busy!)

2. e.l.f. (or Eyes, Lips, Face, if you want to get technical about it): Go to eyeslipsface.com for THE BEST beauty bargains around. I’m not exaggerating; it’s genius. It is to my adult self what Wet ‘n’ Wild was to my elementary school self. All their stuff is well-formulated and pretty, and it is all….wait for it…..$1!! That’s right, one dollar! Eyeshadows, liners, mascaras, nail polish, you name it, all in a huge range of irresistible shades. And I do mean irresistible; the hardest part is not going insane and buying everything you could ever want, because you think, “hey, it’s only a dollar!” and then you’ve spent $50. Oops. Read More »

[Welcome to my Weekly Love List, a list on all things I love. Because if I love them, well, obviously you should love them too. As the Backstreet Boys song says (and yes, I am actually quoting them) “My Love is All I Have To Give.” So with that throwback, here are this week’s list-worthy things…]

1) Trader Joes Chicken Lime Burgers. These bad boys are my new obsession. 150 calories, 19 g of protein, all natural, and SO quick to cook. A great way to change up your veggie burger routine, or a great snack in between classes that will keep you full (unlike that 100 Cal Pack obsession of yours which leaves you hungry .4 seconds after you finish it).

2) I live in Chicago. Where it is always cold. And snowy. And my eyes water and then freeze leaving icicles on my eyelashes. True story. But yesterday it was 65 degrees! I couldn’t help but think: Spring! Summer! Bathing Suits! So while I am not going on Spring Break, I did find an adorable bathing suit from Gap (yes, Gap!) that I can’t wait to wear…when the snow melts and I don’t have to wear ear muffs everywhere. Bonus: it comes in a two-piece AND one piece option (for those of us who don’t feel comfortable letting those pizza-and-beer-nights show…).

3) Essie’s new “One of a Kind” Spring 2009 Nail color. It’s a reddish orange that screams trendy, but not over the top. Funky and, you know, cooool. Oh and bright (and by bright I mean that perfect balance of bright enough for spring, but not too bright for March). Read More »

So it seems like everyone is buzzing about the benefits of organic things these days. I’ll admit, my family is all about organic foods; Trader Joes anyone? But organic makeup seems to just be making its way to your local mall. Toting a heavy price-tag and boasting health benefits, organic makeup seems pretty legit.

But the Katie Couric in me has decided to investigate just how legit this organic makeup is.

First off, let’s make this Organic 101 for a second and define what it means to be organic. Organic products are products that are produced without pesticides or other chemicals. They are also produced in a way that is environmentally friendly, as toxins are not released into the air. The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) has now made standards that regulate which foods can be deemed organic. Although usually more expensive, organic foods can be better for you, so the same should be true for organic makeup right? Turns out, not so much.

I decided to check out my best friend, Sephora, to see just what organic products they offer. Sephora is stocked with three “organic” brands: Care by Stella McCartney, Juice Beauty and NVEY Eco. Each brand claims to be pure, luxurious, and certified organic. Looking through their products they look pretty great: Care is big on moisturizing skincare and NVEY has some really pretty eyeshadow kits.

Too bad that upon further research the term organic kinda seems like a hoax… Read More »

[Welcome to the fourth edition of my Weekly Love List. A list, on all things I love. Because if I love them - well then obviously you may (and should) love them too. As the Backstreet Boys song says (and yes I am actually quoting them) "My Love is All I Have To Give." So with that throwback, here are this week's list-worthy things…]

1. The Amazon Kindle.

I l.o.v.e this gadget. A super light weight, hand held device that lets you download entire books in under a minute. It holds up to 200 books, magazines, newspapers and blogs. You may think you like the feel of a book better but trust me – after playing with this bad boy for 20 minutes you will be obsessed too. It is the best for travel, for class books, for everything. I adore it. What I don’t love is the $359 price tag… so ask your parents for the holidays. And think about it this way: what you spend on the Kindle you save on books, because every book is $9.99 or less on the Kindle (and you save paper! And bookshelf space! Your allergies will thank you!!). Read More »

You know you like it and can drink it by the bottle, but what else do you know about wine?

Do you pick out the perfect bottle to have with dinner by closing your eyes and randomly grabbing one? When someone says, “This malbec has a rich palate, but is a bit short on the finish,” do you just smile, nod, and agree? I thought so. It sounds like you need to meet Jon and Ted, the two guys behind 2 Guys Uncorked.

I mean, you already know one thing: wine is good. So, why not learn a few more things about it, so you can sound smart and enjoy wine even more than you already do (um, or maybe that’s not a good thing?). 2 Guys Uncorked review wine, but they do it in a fun, youthful way. They’re not pretentious, they don’t use words you can’t understand, and they actually review wine you can find.

In fact, all of the wines they review can be bought in either Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods. Oh, and they’re also affordable. You won’t find any $200 bottles of wine on their site because most of the wines they review are in the price range of $3.50-$20. Anyone who reviews a $3.50 bottle of wine is OK in my book.

With an easy-to-use website, you can browse their reviews or search for specific wines. And if you have no idea what you want, you can just tell the wine guys your occasion. Use the pull-down menu to let the guys know you want a wine that is good for anything from “weekend fun” to “celebrating” to something for “making a good impression.” Read More »

Hey ladiiiiiiiies!

Aren’t you sick of your man going to Home Depot every weekend (word!) to buy more big-steel-things with levers and springs and stuff (uh-huh!) when he should be taking out the trash (snap, snap)?

Well the time has come, girls: Her Depot is here!

Her Depot – yes, I’m serious; that’s the moniker – is a “sister store” of the popular chain of home improvement stores…with a female twist!

Instead of purchasing important items like snowblowers and aluminum siding you can buy real home essentials like flowers, storage bins, furniture, flowers, super cute kitchen stuff, pottery and flowers.

Ladies love flowers – am I right, ladies? Read More »