As most of you know, Punxsutawney Phil woke up and saw his shadow this morning, alerting us that, yes, there will be six more weeks of hell winter. What a prick!  Six more weeks of bundling up like an Eskimo for the walk to class?  Six more weeks of a constant runny nose and ghostly white complexion? Six more weeks that my wardrobe will consist 100% of sweatpants and Uggs?

As cute as he may be (just look at that face!), we’re pretty much loathing Phil right now. Lucky for that little guy, it’s too cold outside for us to load on the layers and head to Punxsatuwney to hunt him down (JK, PETA!). And if we were willing to stick our icy cold feet into a pair of still-wet-from-yesterday Uggs, there are a few other people we’d be going after first:

1. ABC: While the rest of the world is hating on NBC for the whole Conan debacle, I have a major bone to pick with the ABC suits. Canceling Ugly Betty? What the hell? That show has the humor of Glee, the high fashion of Gossip Girl and the drama of The Bachelor. Maybe if you didn’t change its airtime so much more people would know when to watch it and tune in!

2. Gisele Bundchen: The Victoria’s Secret Angel looks like this after having a baby in December (clearly this is a pattern with them, given the post-baby bodies of Heidi Klum and Adriana Lima). She also reports that she didn’t have to wear maternity clothes during the pregnancy. If that’s not enough to make you hate her, don’t forget that her husband and baby daddy is NFL hottie, Tom Brady. GAH! Read More »

As stores begin to release their spring lines, I am finding myself torn.

Of course I can barely contain my excitement at the thought of wearing floral mini dresses and buying a pair of the must-have pastel jeans. But then I catch a glimpse of my leather jacket thrown over my chair and feel a pang of guilt.

Will my go-to winter pieces ever understand that I don’t have a choice? Come spring I will be forced to stuff away my motorcycle jacket in a box with my cashmere sweater and leather boots, and lock them away until next winter. And for a while I will forget about them, too excited by the fact that white pants and open toed shoes are back in my wardrobe. And they will sit there, cold and lonely, until the snow begins to fall once again. Read More »

“Winter Wonderland,” “White Christmas”…sugarcoat it all you want but winter sucks.  Unless you are a skiing or snowboarding fanatic, you feel my pain. I didn’t even like sledding as a child; you got to the bottom of the hill, OK, then what? You run back up to the top, your hands numb, then do it again? Awesome.

Seeing my own breath has never fascinated me and a constantly running nose has never been a favorite of mine. There’s just no happy medium with winter.  I hate it, I hate it, I hate it. And now I’m going to complain in a more organized manner: Read More »

Winter is one of my absolutely favorite seasons.  It houses Christmas, New Year’s, my birthday, and best of all, snow.  And to me, snow means one of my favorite activities: skiing!

Whether you’re a seasoned snowboarder or a bunny-slope warrior, the ski slopes have something to offer us all (even if it is only hot chocolate in the lodge cafeteria).  Surprisingly though, considering I kiss the snow every 5 feet, skiing isn’t always the most environmentally friendly activity. Between the lifts and the plows and the resort hot tubs running all night long, skiing can leave quite a mark on Mother Earth. But it doesn’t have to.

If you’ve got plans to hit the slopes this season, keep nature and a few of these things in mind:

Are the slopes graded or cleared?
This one’s tricky because it’s a little hard to tell whether you’re skiing on a graded or cleared slope.  A cleared slope is created by cutting down trees and shrubs to make a smooth downhill run.  A graded slope is like a cleared slope on steroids.  Bulldozers are brought in to scrape off the top layers of the soil to make the run unnaturally smooth and hence, boring.  This leaves that particular ecosystem in ruins, causing erosion and decreasing plant biodiversity.  Plus, it takes a lot more resources to maintain because the natural infrastructure isn’t in place to maintain itself.  When you have the choice, ski on a cleared slope to challenge yourself and save the environment.
Read More »

You’ve seen the commercials (and most likely remember them because they used to discuss “the big O”), but have you actually perused Overstock.com? The site might be overwhelming to some, but that is because it is chock full of awesome deals on clothes, shoes and accessories (in addition to home goods, decor and linens). Overstock.com brings you items that are marked down by up to 80% (!!) and they ship fast and cheap. Could you think of anything better?

Overstock is a website that can fit the needs of everyone and if you haven’t given it a go, you most definitely should. To get you started, here are a few of the hundreds (maybe even thousands) of items they have for under $20. Read More »

As someone with very dry skin in the winter and hands that are prone to breaking, cracking, bleeding, etc., I think I have probably tried every brand of hand cream in the nation.

Bad for me (my wallet and my cracking skin), but great for you; I’ve made all the unfortunate purchasing decisions so you don’t have to.

Just in time for the bitter cold, I’m going to share my knowledge with you so you know which creams to slather on and which to leave on the shelves.

Aveeno “Intense Relief” Hand Cream
Let’s start with the worst of the worst, shall we? This cream is basically just a lie in every way. The Aveeno website claims that the cream forms “a protective glove against the elements.” If “protective glove” means “greasy paws,” then I’d say the claim is accurate. Seriously, you’re probably better off lathering up with a can of WD-40; at least that stuff is cheap. I can’t touch anything for at least 15 minutes after I put this lotion on because I’ll leave grease stains all over it. Also, if you care about moisturizing your hands and sealing up cracks, avoid this stuff like the H1N1 virus. It provides temporary relief, but that’s about it.
My advice: NOT recommended. Read More »

Those of us east coasters lugging our duffels and a month’s worth of mom’s cooking back to school have the added joy of doing it in below freezing temperatures. I’ve feared losing some toes to frostbite one too many times in the past couple of weeks and it has left me scolding my Uggs for not being able to keep out the frigid air.

When I underestimated the size of a puddle and then spent the rest of the afternoon squishing through my errands last week, I reached my breaking point.

As much as I love my cozy Uggs during the cold winter months, the truth is, they just aren’t doing the trick during this extremely harsh visit from Mother Nature. That being said, I have added a new item to my wish list (and I am kicking myself over the fact that I couldn’t have come to this realization a month ago when I could have added it to my Christmas list instead).

I’ve seen a ton of people wearing them around campus and I too need to get myself a pair of Sorel Caribous boots.

They are warm, they are comfortable, and best of all they are waterproof, AKA no more freakin’ puddles and mounds of slush leaving me soaked down to my socks. Read More »

J.R. speed-skated his way to my heart. OMG, did I just write that?

Half Filipino.
Half Polish.
One hundred percent heartthrob.

Let’s talk J.R. Celski.

He’s single, he’s 19-years old, and he’s an amazing short track speed skating sensation competing for Team USA in the Vancouver Olympics. And he’s officially your reason to tune in!

J.R. has been skating since he was a mere three years old when his parents gave him Playschool roller skates for his birthday (I can’t even remember what I got for my third birthday – cake, maybe?). Since then, he’s been dedicating his life to skating, but it wasn’t until he found out about speed skating on ice in 2002 that he realized this was a passion not to be joked around with. So he swapped his wheeled skates for some 17 ½ inch blades, moved from the roller rink to the ice rink, and thus began his journey to the Olympics. And boy, has it been quite an adventure.

J.R.’s hard work and focus has allowed him to win several medals, including a recent silver at the World Championships. Then, in September 2009, he finally got the opportunity he had been waiting for his whole life: a chance to compete in the Olympic trials. He was doing a phenomenal job and then, just like that, he slipped and slammed into the unforgiving wall surrounding the rink. The whole room was stunned into silence as blood gushed out of his left thigh, where his right skate blade had deeply immersed itself. Read More »

Maybe you’ve been too busy organizing your notebooks for the new semester, but the season of winter is here. For some of you, that means hot cocoa, the opportunity to wear your cute knit hat, and general jolliness all around. But for others, it means the return of unwanted feelings like depression, pessimism, and exhaustion.

It’s normal to feel a bit less enthusiastic about life when the freezing cold weather starts to make walking to class a serious chore, not to mention a safety hazard (I have slipped on ice and fallen on my ass in front of people waaay too many times). But if you think your case of the winter blues is more intense than your friends’, you might have Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). SAD is a mood disorder believed to be caused by the lack of sunlight during the winter months. Read More »

Everybody has gray days, especially with winter now in full force. I frequently find myself stuck inside with cabin fever when I’m snowed in/rained in/my car won’t start/puddles are too big/it’s just too cold to go outside. And I know I’m not the only one who spends those days watching reruns of Jersey Shore… again… because there’s nothing else to do.

But there is!

Just because we can’t hit the mall or grab brunch with the girls doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty to do at home. Think about it – we’re always running, doing, keeping busy, so maybe these gray days are actually a blessing in disguise. A chance to catch up on all those things we neglect when it’s not really effing icky outside. A chance to focus on ourselves instead of on classes, activities, drama, or parties.

If you’ve got some serious gray days comin’ your way (I’m talking to you, Midwest!), here are 8 ideas to pass the time and make your life a whole lot better.

1. Clean.
Yes, I’m serious. I know it doesn’t sound like fun, but I’m not talking about a full out the-president’s-coming-for-a-visit scrub; more of a quick organizational breeze. You’ll feel a whole lot better, at ease and productive if your personal space is clean and organized. Put all of your shoes away, gather all of those used cups and mugs and clean them, stack the magazines and books that have been lying all over your floor. Each tiny task adds up, you’ll see. Read More »