It is no secret that I love to tell stories. I just love relating things about my life and my perceptions to others for their enjoyment and entertainment. Which is probably the biggest reason why I love blogging.
Earlier, Josh and I were watching a show that was on VH1, which counted down the 100 biggest songs of the 90's. There were many songs that I loved, and it got me thinking about that time in my life.
During the 90's, I was 2-12 years old, so I was definitely a child of the 90's. There are so many blogs and lists out there about being a child of the 90's, but I just wanted to share some of the things that stick out in my mind as fun and happy memories from that time.
- Barbie was queen. At least to my sister, Jess, and I, anyway. We spent hours upon hours coming up with elaborate story lines (which almost all revolved around our Barbies fighting over our one Ken, lol), and dressing them up in our favorite outfits, which we always fought over. We had a Barbie beach house, Corvette, RV, Limo, and it was always the BEST DAY EVER when Mom or Dad let us pick out a new Barbie from the store. Probably our favorites were Baywatch Barbie and Jewel Hair Mermaid Barbie. We eventually got another Ken, but you cannot have two Kens, of course, so we named him Brian. We also, after being inspired by the Olympics (or maybe the Circus? I can't remember), created our own sport of tying a string to one of the bars on the underside of the top bunk, tying one of our Barbies to the string in an elegant pose, twisting it up as far as it would go, and letting her twirl down. That was probably my brainchild, haha.
- Jess and I had a kareoke machine and a keyboard. A golden combination. We spent a ton of time turning on a beat on the keyboard, and writing and recording our own songs. Which, thankfully, probably will never be heard by anyone else. 🙂
- Horses were my thing. My bff took riding lessons, and I wanted to soooo bad, but my parents couldn't afford another expensive extracurricular activity, so they gave me the choice of staying in dance class, or taking riding lessons. It was a tough choice, but I loved dance. So, I expressed my love for horses through model horses. I had like 25 or 30 I think. When my parents went to Mexico they asked me what I wanted them to bring back for me, and I said a model horse, and they found a ceramic one for me that I still have. I had this really awesome Barbie horse that was battery operated, and if you turned on a switch, she would "walk". Her front legs had joints, but her back legs just went forward and backward, so she couldn't walk on carpet.
- SPICE GIRLS. Omg, we loved them. Even though me liking them was "copying" my sister (the ever present argument). We had both of their albums, the movie, and even got a pair of coveted platform shoes. When our friends came over, we would turn up the Spice Girls cd, turn on the strobe light, and dance around. Just about every girl in the 90's loved the Spice Girls, and everyone had their favorite. Mine was Baby Spice, and Jess's was Scary Spice.
- All through elementary school, it was the goal, at least for me anyway, to get to 5th grade because we had Egyptian Day and Colonial Day. We would spend a whole unit leading up to these days learning about the period, and then we would all dress up and spend a whole day doing Egyptian or Colonial stuff. On Egyptian Day I was the main character in the "play" The Egyptian Cinderella (a teacher read the book while we acted it out), we got to wear makeup (!?) to school, and do Egyptian crafts. On Colonial Day, we wore Colonial dresses, made bread, played Colonial games, and had to eat lunch standing up and without talking. They were probably my two favorite days of elementary school.
- Scuncis. Why in the world you pronounce it "scrunchies" I have no idea. They were not only for accessorizing your hair, but your arm as well.
- Going to the Houston Museum of Natural Science. That place was awesome, and is still probably my favorite museum. They have a ginormous butterfly atrium, an Imax, a dinosaur exhibit, they had an Egyptian exhibit for awhile (not sure if it is still there or not), and a really cool science and physics area.
- Ribbon Dancers. I got one for Christmas or a birthday, I think, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. My little brother would sometimes try to play with it, and I would get so mad at him for knotting it up.
- For several years, my sister and I had a bedtime of 9:00. That was also when M*A*S*H* came on tv, and to this day, the theme song makes me sleepy.
- I remember when I got my first pair of flaired jeans. They had a smiley sunflower embroidered on them (or maybe those were Jess's? Alot of our clothes were interchangable), and I was SO glad to finally have the cool jeans. Also on the subject, Doc Martins. We never got real ones, but we did have knockoffs. Why in the world did we think that having 6 lb shoes on our feet was comfortable? The world may never know.
- We came in on the very end of the popularity of My Little Ponies. We had a few, and one day Jess and I were in the backyard, and although we had regular ponies, we wanted to make them flutter ponies (the ones with wings). We were throwing them up in the air, and I suggested for some reason that we switch ponies. I accidentally (for real!) made hers go over the fence, into the unknown wilderness that was the neighbor's backyard. A few days later, the neighbor found it and tossed it back over, but not before their Basset Hound had chewed it all up. I still haven't lived that one down, haha.
- Lisa Frank. Need I say more?
- I had one of those little backpacks. You know, the kind that is like 1/4 of the size of a regular one? It was purple, with a Santa Fe style ribbon across the front, and had a suede flap with a cool latch. I also had a purple rabbit foot on it. I was pretty cool, let me tell you. 😉
- Loved the movie Clueless.
- We had bean bag chairs for a long time. I wish I still had one.
- We also had inflatable chairs. We got them for Christmas. Jess's was blue and had styrofoam balls inside, and mine was clear with multi-colored feathers inside.
- I loved to wear dresses with tights. We had this one dress that we especially loved. It was white with pink roses, and it flared out nicely as you spun around.
- We watched all of the 90's Nickelodeon shows. Pete and Pete, Are You Afraid of the Dark, Salute Your Shorts, Hey Dude, Clarissa Explains It All, etc.
- Jess and I also loved to play Antiques Road Show. We would pretend like we were the appraisers.
- It was always exciting when we got to play outside in the sprinklers.
- N*SYNC OR Backstreet Boys. You cannot choose both.
There are so many more memories than these, but I would probably be writing forever if I tried to list them all. I had a great childhood, and I am proud to be a child of the 90's. What are some of your favorite memories from the 90's?
I'll leave you with one of my favorite 90's songs. You just can't listen to it without it making you happy.
