[Like a magpie, you gravitate towards things that are shiny: cell phones, TVs, anything that allows you to play Rock Band. But just because you love ‘em doesn’t mean you know much about ‘em. That’s where we come in. Every week we will be highlighting the best, coolest and shiniest in technology. Consider us your personal Geek Squad. And let us tell ya; with CC on your side, geek has never looked so chic.]

So you waited until the last minute to do that super important term paper again. There you are, middle of the night, all by yourself cranking away at this monster of an assignment with only your trusty laptop for company. And then it happens. Out of nowhere: the Blue Screen of Death!!

Who you gonna call?
Ummm, nobody, because it’s two in the morning. You’re on your own with this one, cupcake.

Actually, if this happens, just restart your computer and only open what you need to get the work done (read: no AIM or Facebook), remembering to save often. You should be able to at least make it through the paper. In the morning you can diagnose the issue. And by morning, I really mean later in the afternoon when classes are over and you’ve had a much needed nap.

In any case this is exactly why you need to be able to do more on a computer than hit the power button. If your computer starts smoking, then, yeah, it’s pretty much dead, but when software issues arise you should be able to identify and at least partially work around ‘em. Computers are very rarely “broken,” they’re just momentarily troubled. Read More »

100-Calorie Packs are the new Starbucks Skinny Latte. They are taking over the world, one grocery store shelf at a time. Though these snacks are making bank for Kraft Foods, Nabisco, Frito Lay, and every other conglomerate on the single-serving bandwagon, there has been some recent media backlash, which brings to light the fact that:

a) The 100-calorie packs are often more than twice as expensive per ounce as the products they mimic.

b) In meeting the 100-calorie limit, the snacks or sweets inside the packs are sometimes pale imitations of the originals. The 100-calorie Oreos, for example, are 20 mini “chocolate thin crisps.”

c) Smaller portions don’t make snacks good for you, especially when they are as highly-processed as 100-Cal Packs.

Still, as Americans, we have issues with self-control. I can go through a box of Cheez-Its in three days and think nothing of it, until I look at the box and realize I averaged about 5 servings of Cheez-Its a day. So, when a small package helps me know when to stop, I dig it. I do agree with above comment on the 100-calorie Oreos: these are a waste of money. So, friends, what follows is a list of my top five picks. All of these are so tasty, I thank my lucky stars that they are measured out for me in 100 calorie intervals. Read More »

Every once in a while, I’ll go to a bar and someone will hand me a drink and I’ll take a sip and instantly want to puke. I mean, who actually enjoys stuff that tastes like turpentine mixed with a splash of soda?

Yesterday being Cinco De Mayo, a day seemingly dedicated to the art of delicious drink making, I decided to come up with cinco drinkos that actually taste good (so good they’re named after desserts!) and are easy to make with stuff you might actually have in stock:

Cupcake
Mix a half cup Sprite with a half cup of vanilla vodka. Que delicioso!

Thin Mint
Throw a shot of creme de menthe into your hot chocolate and disfrutas!

Apple Pie
Mix an ounce of tequilla with an ounce of apple cider and a splash of lemon juice. Mix in some butterscotch schnapps and you’re buena. Read More »

All I want today is a doughnut. A big, sticky, sugary, flaky doughnut.

And I’m f*&cking incensed over it.

All I want to do today is be elbow deep in butter cream frosting and rub it all over my face like war paint, while making Indian battle cries over my victory of gluttony.

And I’m so irate over it, that I cursed my salad for tasting like a f*&cking salad, instead of a cupcake.

No, I’m not about to start my period. I’m just being reminded that my eating has to be conscious in order to not fall back into a period of my life that was unhealthy and dark. A period where I let my mind, stress, and brutal standards for myself take over.

I used to have an eating disorder.

Back then, I would never acknowledge that’s what it was, the words too difficult to even think in my head. I never CALLED what I had a disorder. Instead I used words like hardcore dieting, choosing healthy options, and on the bad days I was having a “Free day“- though most people’s free days didn’t include 4 stops to 4 different fast food chains, followed by 2 boxes of cereal, followed by candy bars, followed by liquor, followed by pastries, followed by immobility. And often followed by vomiting. Read More »

Dear Friend On A Diet,

I am so proud of you for making such a positive, health conscious change in your life. Also, you look hot. However, that does not mean that I want to know the calorie/fat/transfat content of the food I am CURRENTLY EATING.

I am trying to be very supportive of you, not asking you to share an order of nachos, not pushing you to match me beer for whatever low-carb crap you are drinking. This is what good friends do. And for this I am rewarded with a play by play of your diet and exercise habits, including handy tips for me! Ahem. There are several things I would like you to understand before I continue:

1. I understand. I have been a very successful dieter in the past, and I know how your every thought becomes consumed with what you will eat in the next meal, day, week. Been there, obsessed over that.

2. A follow up to #1: I KNOW all this. I have been a dieter. A good one. A well-researched one. What do I say when you tell me the fiber content of a cereal that I already know?! I don’t need to one up you, but if I express polite interest (“oh, really? Fascinating.”) it will only encourage you and make things worse for me, the disinterested yet diplomatic friend. Please, appreciate my situation, and help me avoid it. Read More »

There’s just something about things blooming, birds chirping, and tank tops that makes me want to write out fancy invitations and say, let’s celebrate!!

Maybe it’s the the non-stop celebrations around this time, i.e. Valentines Day, St. Patty’s Day, Easter, Spring Break (yes, I consider this a holiday)…but even though I didn’t rise from any graves or invent green beer, I’m all about creating a holiday of my very own.

Any excuse I can create to bake sh*t, and get a group of my favorite people into a small room to eat, drink and be merry, I’ll take it.

So if you’re anti-holiday, consider this fun idea an excuse to step away from studying for a minute or an hour (or 24 of ‘em), and chill out, bake, drink mimosas, lick the beaters…etc.

Yes ladies, it’s cupcake time. The whole ritual of baking is calming and though scones are delicious, I prefer my tea/champagne with a cupcake. Why? Because they are God’s gift to man, so enjoy them.

Here are some of my FAV recipes: Read More »

A friend of a friend of mine once told me that she didn’t see me as the “relationship girl”.“I see you more as the girl who goes to the bar to find random guys to bring home,” she told me. At first I didn’t know what to think. Was she calling me a skanky whore?

“Well, yes. That is exactly what I am calling you.”

The more I thought about it, though, the more I could understand. Our friendship hadn’t extended much past seeing each other at bars or parties, places where I do indeed spend my evening flirting with unsuspecting males.

What this girl (and other people) doesn’t see are the intimate talks I have with these men in my room, and my attempts to turn these randoms into something more. For example, the following story: Read More »

In the midst of my first ever college finals freshman year my dorm had a little study break party. It was called the Midnight Breakfast and included karaoke, games and an abundance of really tasty breakfast food.I attended with some friends of mine and ate: two servings of scrambled eggs, two bowls of Lucky Charms, two waffles (one with ice cream and sprinkles, one without) a Pop-Tart and a banana. I then dragged my friends up to the stage and sang a very special version of Belinda Carlisle’s hit, Heaven is a Place on Earth.

Why do I remember this so vividly? Well, putting that much food away in one sitting has a tendency to stick out in your mind…and over the top of your jeans.

Why so much food? Why Belinda Carlisle? I must have forgotten to mention above that I smoked some (read: a TON) of pot before heading down to the festivities. So much, in fact, that I was too stoned/moving too slowly to catch an ember that had been released from the bowl and eventually fell onto/burned a hole into my roommate’s sheets and mattress.

It was then (the following morning, actually, after I was carried to my room and things were no longer hazy) that I decided to take weed off of my “to do” list.

I know it seems so impossible/crazy/completely out of the realm of possibility, but I just don’t like pot. Trust me; I have tried to like it. I tried to like it from a bong; I tried to like it from a joint; I tried to like it in a car; I tried to like it at a bar; I have even tried to like it in a cupcake shaped like a penis.

I just…don’t. Read More »