With projects, midterms (or ugh! finals!!!), and plenty of studying, November can be a little exhausting–so why not loosen up with a little shindig with your nearest and dearest? Snatch up these ideas for an evening with your closest gal pals or a smashing boys night.
For the Guys
- LAN Party. If you and your boys are true gamers, you already know what this is, but even casual gamers can simplify a LAN party. The basic idea? Get a bunch of your friends together for a BYOC (bring your own computer) evening (or all-nighter) featuring your fav multi-player game. Think the Call of Duty “team building” enjoyed by the Stamford branch in “The Office.”
- Pizza Hopping. Pizza is definitely a staple part of college life, so why not search out the best one–all in one evening? Whether you hop restaurants or go for delivery, make sure you branch out from the regular old Huts and Tables. Find the local dives, the quirky New York style pizza parlor in Portland, and the hole-in-the-wall deep dish place. (San Diegans, I have to recommend New York style at Bronx Pizza in Hillcrest–yum!)
For the Gals
- “Femme Nue” Party. The concept of a Femme Nue party (scandalously translated to “Naked Lady” party ) is simple and fun: you get a bunch of friends, grab all the clothes you never wear anymore and basically have a free-for-all clothing swap. Can’t slip into your former-favorite anymore? Trade them in for your BFF’s vintage cardigan. Add m&m’s and cupcakes and you’ve got yourself a party.
- Worst Date Party. Everybody has a bad date story: whether he brought his brother or forgot you at a hockey match, you’ve been there. The worst date party is a girly recompense for that worst-of-the-worst evening long (or not so long) ago. Gather your best friends and treat each other to a good date (read: swap corsages, get dressed up, and grab dinner somewhere you’re guaranteed a cute waiter) and swap your stories. Make sure you have a prize ready for the worst story! Go one better and write your stories down for posterity.
Oh good times. Don’t forget you can share your own party times in the comments!
photo: Disco LightBall by dsiis
November 20th, 2008
Jamie
Filed under: social life
Subscribe
Related Posts
It’s November, and that means crunch time before the wonderfulness of Thanksgiving and Winter breaks! Don’t let yourself get beaten down by your workload–prep now so you can relax later.
Break it Down
Okay first things first–mark all the dates of your upcoming projects, presentations, and tests on your calendar. It sounds simplistic but you’d be surprised how quickly things pile up when you’re not expecting them. Then make those days clearly visible on your calendar by making them a different, bright color.
…Red for doom seems appropriate.
“Guesstimate” Your Work Load
Did your middle school teachers use that word as much as mine did?
Sorry, off topic. What I mean is try to guess how much time it will take you to get your studying/work/research done for each of the items you just wrote down, add two to four hours for interruptions, and WRITE DOWN YOUR GUESSTIMATED TIME. Otherwise you will forget.
**TIP: If you’re doing a project with someone else, I would add a considerable amount of extra time, like a few hours, to your guesstimate. Group projects often put more weight on the hard workers, and if you’re making a study calendar, that means you’re it. So save your grade and give yourself some leeway.
Schedule Your Time
Now that you’ve got your time guesstimates and your due dates, it’s time to mark out your work time. If you start now you should be early enough to spread out study for finals and get projects done without a lot of cramming and brain-numbing textbook skimming.
Start by spreading out your subjects based on:
1.) What is due first, and
2.) Which will take the most work.
Obviously these two criteria will determine which things come first, but this is basically up to your discretion–you know how you work best and what takes you longest. Make sure you spread out your work, though, so you don’t end up cramming for any one thing at the end OR suffer from subject burnout.
**TIP: When you schedule your work blocks in each calendar square, schedule play blocks, too, and stick to both. You need both work and play to feel accomplished and human when life gets hectic!
REschedule Your Time
You might choose to do this every day or every week, but make a regular habit of sitting down and revising your calendar. Maybe you finish a project early–use the leftover time to get a jump on something else. Took longer than you thought to write that French paper? Better allot some extra study time to your Chem class in next week’s schedule.
Cross off Your Finished Work
You don’t have to do this, but I always find it cathartic to scribble out something I’ve finished and give it that final “Hasta La Vista!!!”
Good luck… Remember to hold on to that light at the end of the tunnel–Winter Break!!!
photo: calendar by lupy2002
November 17th, 2008
Jamie
Filed under: academics
Subscribe
Related Posts
Want to spice up your Halloween with a little do-it-yourself costuming this year? Here are a few of my favorite fun (or ridiculous) costume tutorials from around the web… (I think the Inanimate Objects may be my favs!)
Wings, Capes, and Tails
Traditional Costumes
Movie/TV/Book Inspired
Inanimate Objects
photo: Pumpkin Candle by somadjinn
October 19th, 2008
Jamie
Filed under: diy social life
Subscribe
Related Posts
I like to throw a party as much as the next girl, but living on a teeny tiny budget doesn’t exactly make that easy. With my student loans in repayment and my husband applying for med school, we’ve got to be pretty creative to have anyone over (much less feed them). That’s why Waffle Night, our semi-weekly Sunday night soiree, is so perfect.
The 10 Dollar Party
Waffles may be the perfect party food-everyone seems to like them, and they feed a lot of people for not a lot of money. Basically you buy a ½ gallon carton of buttermilk, a bag of flour, and some vegetable oil, and you’re good to go. The other ingredients you’ll probably have on hand if you cook at all. Best of all, we’ve fed up to 20 people with just waffles-that’s 50 cents per person!
Making it Affordable
The waffles themselves may be reasonable, but the accessories and toppings can rack up your bill-so do what we do, and get your guests to bring stuff. Here are a few things you may need to assign/borrow:
- Waffle iron
- Syrups (our favorites are maple, chocolate, and strawberry)
- Toppings (jam, candy, honey, peanut butter, sprinkles, chocolate chips, etc.)
- Paper cups, plates, and napkins + plastic utensils (if you don’t want to do dishes)
- Drinks (milk, orange/apple/grape juice, water, etc.)
The Waffle Recipe
So, our actual buttermilk waffle recipe is one of those top-secret family deals, but this waffle recipe looks pretty darn good. You can also mix it up and try having:
If you want to spend a little more, you could have everyone over for custom omelets or personal pizzas.
Do you have any cheap party ideas to share with the class? 
photo: Waffles 4 by woodsy
October 13th, 2008
Jamie
Filed under: food & recipes social life
Subscribe
Related Posts
By now you’ve probably had more than your fair share of slushy chicken fettuccini alfredo from the cafeteria-what would you give to have a Double-Double® or those awesome-looking chicken enchiladas you saw on Food Network? Would you maybe consider… cooking for yourself?
If you’ve got a craving for some real home-cooked (or restaurant style) food at home, you’ll love these websites:
TopSecretRecipes.com
Every once in a while my sweetie and I get these amazing fried zucchini starters at a local restaurant. We’ve tried to make them at home, but somehow they never come out quite right. That’s why Top Recipe Secrets is a blast-this guy spends serious time figuring out how to get the exact almost-perfect taste of restaurant recipes. Not all of them are free, but some of the awesome freebie recipes include:
FoodNetwork.com
Here’s my ridiculous confession: I watch Food Network while I work out. I can’t help it-I just love to see what amazing things these chefs show me in 30 minutes! One of the best parts about watching Food Network is that you don’t have to sit there and copy down recipes-you can find recipes from most of the shows right on their website. Here are a few that caught my eye today:
CookingLight.com
I’m a picky eater, so eating healthy isn’t always an easy thing for me. But we stumbled across this magazine called “Cooking Light” at the grocery store a couple months ago and started flipping through it-amazingly they have healthy meals that look delicious!
They also have a great series called “Cooking Class” that teaches you cooking basics. Here are a couple of my faves of their “classes” & recipes:
The Pioneer Woman Cooks
I stumbled across this blog through a lot of clicking around on other blogs one day. This woman writes a super funny city-girl-on-a-ranch regular blog, but her cooking blog is pretty mouthwatering, too! Not healthy, usually, but they sure look yummy:
photo: Pizza by rrss
October 6th, 2008
Jamie
Filed under: food & recipes
Subscribe
Related Posts
No matter how much you love Ramen noodles, I’m willing to bet that you don’t want to eat them every day of your life-or even every day for the next few years.
But food is expensive (and so is college!) so lots of students end up living on Ramen, cold pizza, and chips they found in the common room-not the healthiest diet. Here are some alternatives to the noodles-and-oatmeal diet…
Food Stamps
Did you know that you might be eligible for the U.S. government’s Food Stamp Program? I read an article about students using food banks in USA Today-apparently it’s becoming a trend. If you qualify, you could get funds from the state to help you pay your food bills. Money is distributed on a card that works kind of like an ATM, and is accepted by most grocery stores.
See eligibility requirements here, or use their pre-screening eligibility tool. Then find out how to apply in your state-if you have questions, you can call your state’s Toll Free Food Stamp Information Hotline.
“Big Box” or 99¢ Shopping
One popular way to save on food at UCSD was to take a group to our local Costco, a bulk-buying store (like Sam’s Club, Smart & Final, etc.). They sell everything from bulk bags of frozen chicken breasts to 18-count boxes of eggs, as well as fresh fruits and veggies, juices, and even huge boxes of oatmeal.
To keep costs down, simply go with a group who wants to split a majority of foods. Split the cost accordingly and then divvy up your shares of food. For frozen items, get a zipper locking plastic bag and split up the big bag and throw the little ones in the freezer (label them if you’re sharing with a roomie).
As to the 99¢ shopping, did you know that lots of dollar stores sell food? You might think that’s kind of shady, but just be sure to check expiration dates. One of my friends finds name brand chocolate soy milk there, often for only $1 each. (Plus the 99¢ Chef can teach you how to make yummy dishes with this stuff!)
Free Samples
This isn’t a reliable shopping method, but it can be pretty fun. Search the websites of products you use a lot-from foods to shampoos-for free samples offers.
Try About.com’s Freebies page for a regularly updated list of free samples.
A couple sites I know of that usually offer no-cost goodies are Wal*Mart’s freebie page, and Dove’s free samples page.
Couponing & Rewards Clubs
The other day I saw a girl at the grocery store with a huge pile of coupons. I’ve been trying to use them more lately, but I know I could actually save a lot more if I’d put a little time into it. If you’re a beginner at coupons, like me, you can start by finding them:
- In the Sunday newspaper
- In circulars (ads) that come in your mailbox
- On the websites of products (not just foods) you use a lot (lots of them have rewards clubs, too!)
- At coupon websites like RetailMeNot.com
If you’re a little more intense about coupons, you can really save big. I’ve been fascinated by all the coupon moms that seem to be coming out of the woodworks lately-publicized in newspapers, TV news, and blogs. These ladies really know how to work the system, sometimes using rewards clubs and coupons together to get lots of free stuff. Want to know how it works? Check out the guides and coupon tips at these blogs:
Remember to only use coupons for things you actually need!
Bonus…
I love this article, 15 Great Grocery Shopping Tips, from Get Rich Slowly. It covers all the basics of how to save on food-it’s definitely worth a look!
photo: Vegetables by MFinderup
October 2nd, 2008
Jamie
Filed under: budget & finances food & recipes
Subscribe
Related Posts
Previous Posts
Loading ...
