Miami University in Oxford, OH (yea, confusing right?) conducted a survey to see just how aware young college women are about the dangers of “drug-facilitated sexual assault.” The findings were surprising…and pretty scary.

So we all know about roofies and not to accept drinks from guys cuz they’re probably creeps who want to take advantage of us. But how many times do we really apply our knowledge when we’re out at the bars? Have you ever turned down a free drink? (Editor’s Note: Hell no!)

Or how about this:

You set your drink down for a nano second to grab a cigarette (cuz your an impulsive chain smoke under the influence), pick up your drink and you’re back on your merry way. Little did you know, weirdo standing next to you sprinkled a little fairy dust in your drink and the next thing you know you’re falling over yourself as he carries you back into his shady lair.

It’s sad but true, ladies. The study showed that while most girls were aware that taking a drink from a stranger was a big no-no, they didn’t really think about the risk of leaving their drink unattended, even for a split second.

Here’s another scary fact: the U.S. Department of Justice reports that 1 in 5 women will be the victim of a sexual assault during their college years. That’s like saying one of your best friends, or even you, can be sexually assaulted during your 4 years (or longer, we don’t judge) at college. I don’t know about you, but that kinda freaks me out. Read More »

So, I know I’ve been gone for a little bit, but that doesn’t mean I have given up on my quest to quit smoking.

It just means that I have been really busy/stressed/having a harder time reaching my goal.

I was doing pretty well there for awhile (I even had a few cigarette free days!), but between Thanksgiving (and the ever infamous Night Before Thanksgiving), school stress and that nagging in the back of my head to “just have one,” this whole quitting thing has proven more difficult than I thought.

I have gotten a bit better with the drinking thing, though. I took some of your advice and have forced my friends to police me when I am at the bar. Yes, I may have snuck away for a cigarette or two one night, but that is still a hell of a lot better than the half a pack I used to suck down on a given night.

As I said before, going to the bar is the hardest part of this journey, but I can’t give that up. I need to set a goal that is realistic and saying I am not going to drink is just not true. My goal for this week is twofold:

1. No more smoking unless I am drinking. You may think that is a BS goal, but I need to cut things out one at a time. And let me tell you; not taking a smoke break during exam time is going to be hard.
2. When I am drinking, I am going to limit my cigarettes to one. One and only one. I tend to smoke a lot at the bar because I can, but I don’t necessarily always want or need that many. If I can cut down to one, I can definitely cut down to zero.

We’ll see how that goes.

Max weight loss FAST! Melt away belly fat! Lose 30 pounds in 30 days by eating more and exercising less! The Womanizer Diet: Get slim like Britney!

Unless your diet method of choice is a hearty bump of Adderall for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and midnight snack, getting/staying trim is not that easy; however, it’s also not rocket science. As a long time devotee to the business of taking care of my body, I have fully explored the spectrum of ways to stay feeling good about my body (that includes eating disorders, which is, helpful hint, not recommended.), and I found that by putting the suggestions I’ve listed below into practice, I actually lost weight in college and have kept it off since, without the aid of prescription amphetamines.

So suck on that, Britney. Read More »

[Let’s be real, in college, the pre-game is almost as important as the actual party. Besides a killer outfit, a case of booze & a few good pals, the most essential part of any pre-game party is the playlist. So, we made it easy for you: every Thursday here at CC we’ll be building you the ultimate pre-party playlist and bringing it to you through our favorite thing ever, MixWit. All you have to do is just click, play & enjoy.

So hook up your laptop speakers, bust out your 40’s & get ready to pre-game harder than those other kids party.]

I thought this week I’d create the most obvious pre-game playlist: songs about drinking. Alcohol is obviously a staple in our society, so what better way to celebrate it than by throwing back a couple cocktails while dancing around to alcohol-themed jams? That’s what I thought.
Get your drink on here.

[If you have suggestions for future playlist themes or have a track you really think should be included in a future installment, let us know in the comments!]

My bartending style tends to run less towards the carefully measured, tried-and-true recipes and more towards the “What’s in my fridge right now?” trial-and-error method. I rarely use actual measures, because what is “good” depends on how many people are drinking, how liquored up they want to be, and how well they hold all that liquor. That being said, I have a few favorite drinks that do really well in cold weather.

Peppermint Hot Chocolate:
This ain’t your grandma’s hot cocoa. (Or maybe it is…) I like to add a few drops (or shots) of Peppermint Schnapps to hot chocolate for an immediate warm-up. Make the cocoa with milk if you like it creamier.

Cinnamon Vanilla Cream:
One day my love of Starbuck’s and alcohol collided, and this drink was born. I just poured some Cinnamon Schnapps into my Vanilla Crème, and - voilà - an innocuous looking brew. Yes, I did keep it all in the Starbucks container. You can make your own Vanilla crème by warming up milk, adding a drop or two of vanilla extract, sugar to taste, and topping it off with whipped cream.

Hot (Spiked) Apple Cider:
First, you need to find some alcoholic apple cider. It’s probably somewhere between the beer and wine sections. Two bottles is a good amount to start with. On the stove, get it simmering with two cinnamon sticks, a tablespoon of cloves, a little bit of sugar and some nutmeg. What really makes it piping hot though, is the addition of either rum or apple brandy. Be generous, ladies - the apple cider has lost most of its alcoholic content in the heating process. Read More »

[Let’s be real, in college, the pre-game is almost as important as the actual party. Besides a killer outfit, a case of booze & a few good pals, the most essential part of any pre-game party is the playlist. So, we made it easy for you: every Thursday here at CC we’ll be building you the ultimate pre-party playlist and bringing it to you through our favorite thing ever, MixWit. All you have to do is just click, play & enjoy.

So hook up your laptop speakers, bust out your 40’s & get ready to pre-game harder than those other kids party.]

My friends have this joke that I have ADD - but only when it comes to music. I can’t stand to listen to one song for more than a minute. I’m constantly changing stations, pressing fast forward on my CD player, and I absolutely adore GirlTalk. And because I insert and eject CDs at a rapid pace, most of them are scratched. This, of course, causes my friends to yell “RE-MIX!” from the back seat at least once a car ride. So this week I’m bringing you some of my favorite re-mixes, because as much as I know we all have a soft spot for Soulja Boy and Katy Perry and all the other crap they play on the radio, sometimes it’s nice to change it up a bit.

Satisfy your inner ADD child here.

[If you have suggestions for future playlist themes or have a track you really think should be included in a future installment, let us know in the comments!]

[Our writer, Kelly, has made it her goal to quit smoking and share her experiences with you. We have been following her for two weeks now. Here is her latest progress.]

Well, I’ve been trying to refrain from smoking at all, but - geez - it is tough. Last week wasn’t too bad - I smoked maybe one or two a day and had a day or two where I didn’t smoke a cig at all. Even better, I didn’t even crave one – score!

But, then, I went to a Halloween party last weekend where I buckled and smoked about ten cigarettes in one night. I know, bad girl, Kelly; but honestly, with all the liquor, I just let myself go with the smoking…again. There’s something about needing a smoke with my vodka soda, or my glass of red wine that I just can’t seem to shake. Am I the only one?

After my lovely smoking binge of Friday, I tried to calm down the rest of the weekend. And I did. I smoked only one or two cigarettes a day for the rest of the weekend.

On my way to work on Monday, though, I almost put my car in park and asked the guy in traffic behind me, who was smoking a cig, if I could bum one. Then I realized how crazy and pathetic I would have looked, so I stopped myself. I didn’t have a cigarette that morning, and I didn’t have one for the rest of the day. I made a conscious decision to either go big - and do it as close to cold turkey as I can until I can finally withdraw myself from the cravings - or not do it at all. And not doing it at all is not an option. Read More »

Well, we all – even the smokers like myself – know smoking is a bad habit. I have been smoking on and off since I was 14 and, not to date myself, with almost 10 years of smoking under my belt, I have decided it is time to try and kick the bad ‘ole habit once and for all.

Because quitting is really effing hard, I am going to share my journey with and you, CollegeCandies. I hope this inspires you to join me…and inspires me to stick with it. Smoking kills thousands and thousands of people each year and I don’t want to be part of the statistics.

So, week one, here is the progress to date:

After smoking a pack every two days, a few weeks ago I decided not to buy packs anymore. Translation: I’d only mooch my cigarettes, which I hate doing. I figured this would cut my daily intake drastically. And it did, for a few days. Then, one weekend after having a few too many cocktails (my prime time to smoke), I caved and bought a pack… and proceeded to smoke the entire pack in one evening.

Not so good for me considering I’m an avid runner who huffs and puffs on my daily run like I’m a 400 lb. man. Read More »