#7-The Skating Rink

If you are a child that grew up in the late eighties, then the skating rink was probably like your second home. When I was a kid, I used to live for Friday night, because that meant it was skate night! And every first Tuesday of the month was my elementary school's designated School Night Skate Party. It was the one night that I got to stay out past my bedtime and skate til I was ready to fall out.

Then there was the designated skate sessions, where the DJ would announce that this song is a "Couples Only Skate". Every girl not skating would secretly wish they would get asked to skate by a boy, but to hide attempt to hide their envy, they would just whisper about the couples that were skating.

When I was in the 4th grade it finally happened for me. Jared Rowe and I were "going together" and he asked me to couples skate! Getting asked to couples skate was an event I had dreamed about for years, but when it finally happened I was terrified! There we were, skating to "Take my Breath Away" from Top Gun, barely able to hold hands because our palms were so sweaty, and I could feel every eye in the rink on me! I knew what they were saying, because I was normally on that side. This experience was supposed to be a dream come true, but I so desperately wanted to be on the other side again!

Then there were the boy/girl birthday parties at the Skating Rink. I remember my first boy/girl party. I had the biggest crush on the birthday boy, and I got invited to his party! I put on my coolest pair of hot pink leggings and crimped my hair-I was so digging on my outfit. I remember being so proud because I skated the whole night without falling. And I would look at my crush out of the corner of my eye, to ensure that he didn't know I was looking at him, because that would be devastating.

If only relationships and crushes were still so fun and innocent as the days of the skating rink...

#6-The Movie Purse

I recently went to the movies with a friend and brought the ultimate movie purse. I was like a freakin' Mary Poppins with my movie purse-you never knew what I was goingto pull out! Here's the list (don't be jealous, just take mental notes):

-Twizzlers. I've been taking Twizzlers to the movies since I was able to walk and my mom let me ingest sugar. However, I was only able to partake in consuming Twizzlers on special occasions, like going to the movies. So Twizzlers are always a must have. Hey, they "make mouths happy".:)

-Chocolate Candy Bars. My all time favorite is Reese Cups. I've loved them since I was young and discovered that the best taste to hit my tongue was chocolate and peanut butter.

-Bubble gum. This is for when I'm want to take a break from consuming large amounts of sugar and calories, but I don't have the will power to quit, so to satisfy my oral fetish, I chew gum. And not just chewing gum, but bubble gum to keep my mouth even more entertained.

-Bottle of Wine. This is a new edition to the movie purse that I never got to enjoy from Mom's movie purse. Now as an adult, I get to pack a bottle of wine, along with 2 solo cups for me and my lucky movie date to enjoy.

-Hummus and wheat thins. This is my favorite appetizer and a must have with a good bottle of red wine. Popcorn? No way! Give me hummus any day over a bag of greasy popcorn!

Whenever my mom or any friend's moms took us kids to the movies, they always had movie purse in tow. I'm really surprised that after all these years, the movie theaters have not come up with a system to prevent the movie purse. When a mom comes to the ticket window with a purse resembling carry on luggage, they all know that she's sneaking in snacks. Being that technically it's against their policy to bring outside food into the theater, I'm surprised they haven't installed a security check that your movie purse must go through to inspect for outside food and beverages.

Just wait, I wouldn't be surprised if movie patrons will one day have to go through a security line before entering the theater. Until that day comes, I will continue to go to the movies with movie purse in tow.

#5-Saved by the Bell

I have a morning ritual of watching double episodes of Saved by the Bell at 8:00 and 8:30 on TBS. The acting is horrible. The story lines are cheesy. The clothes are horrendously out of style. But I love it!

I love it, because it reminds me of watching Saturday morning cartoons as a kid, starting bright and early at 8:00 and then ending the morning with a 10:00 episode of Saved by the Bell.

I idolized all the actors on Saved by the Bell, and was mortified at some their work post-Saved by the Bell. Like when Tiffany Amber Theissen came back on the scene to play the slutty bitch, Valerie Malone, in 90210. I could never see her as anything but Kelly Kapowski, the bubbly, innocent cheerleader from Bayside.

The ultimate betrayal of character though was Elizabeth Berkley, who played Jessi Spano, the feminist, over-achiever. She left "Saved by the Bell", and committed career suicide when she played a Las Vegas stripper in the B movie "Showgirls". She went from being Jessi, the girl who was all about women's rights to playing a degrading nude dancer. Not only was it a horrible movie, but it completely destroyed her reputation as Jessi on Saved by the Bell.

All of the characters on Saved by the Bell have tried desperately to escape their TV stereotypes that have been ingrained into the minds of my generation. And as much as I enjoy seeing their careers thrive in other genres and mediums, they will always be Zach, Kelly, Lisa, Slater, Jessi and Screech to me.

#4-Pop Rocks

I have a feeling that food is going to be included in a lot of posts. Pop Rocks, among many other sugar-loaded candy that will be posted in the future, totally take me back to when my best friend, Lara, and I would throw our heads back, pour almost the entire bag into our mouths. We would hold our heads back with our mouths open like little baby birds waiting to be fed, and just listen to the candy pop and sizzle in our mouths. Then we would get into giggle fits and have the sugary sticky mess drooling out the sides of our mouths!

But it was so fun to watch the candy pop and crackle in your mouth, and if you're feeling extra crazy, you add a fizzy coke to the mix. But that could get out of control! There was always that urban legend that mixing coke and pop rocks would make your stomach explode...but I did it, and I'm still hear to tell about it. The most it ever did was give me an extra jolt of sugar rush and sugar belly and tickle my mouth.

When I was in LA, we found this candy and soda shop that sold all old fashioned candy and bottled soda thats hard to find in the stores. You better believe I squealed excitedly when I found Pop Rocks! It was a party in my mouth that day:)

#3-Girl Scout Cookies

I have two boxes of Girl Scout Cookies in my freezer. I love them. I was eating a Samoa this morning, which is my favorite Girl Scout Cookie. I was looking at the packaging and realizing that its the exact same packaging as it was when I sold Girl Scout Cookies as a Brownie. It's purple with the same shape and pictures of Girl Scouts all happy and smiling....same as 20 years ago. Wow, can't believe its been 20 years since I was a Brownie.

Every year around March time frame, I get excited to purchase my favorite Girl Scout cookies that I have been eating since I was a child. The staples that will never go away...the Somoa, Thin Mints and Tagalongs. Yum:)

#2-The Ballpark

I just got home from playing softball. Being at the ballpark is a great childhood reminder, because our family lived at the ballpark in the spring and summer, as did so many families. I played softball and my brother played baseball, so if we weren't at the ballpark for one of my games, we were there for one of his.

I remember getting bubble tape, which was a 6-foot long giant strip of bubble gum, and challenging friends to see how much we could chew at one time. I would have drool running down my chin trying to chew massive amounts of sugar-coated bubble gum. And then there were the suicides.

Remember suicides? It was every fountain drink mixed together in one cup and it was another amazing sugar rush! I would get a concoction of coke, dr. pepper, mt. dew, grapico, and orange slice all in one delicious beverage.

#1-New Kids on the Block

I just paid $90 to go to the NKOTB Concert. Yeah, that's right, $90! I didn't pay $90 because they are amazing musicians or performers. I paid $90 because they remind me of my childhood!

Just like any normal girl who grew up in the late 80s/early 90s, New Kids on the Block was my favorite band. I knew every word to every song. I owned every piece of New Kids paraphernalia that I could get my little hands on. Joey McIntyre was my favorite New Kid. I had a huge poster of him on my bedroom door, because my mom would not let me hang posters on my wall. Every night before, I went to bed, I would kiss him goodnight.

I went to ultimate extremes to see the New Kids. I went to my first New Kids concert in a limo, and me and my friends pretended that we were Donnie Wahlberg's cousins. And there were people who actually believed us!

The ultimate though, was when I wrote a letter to the New Kids and told them that I was dying of cancer, and that my only dying wish was to meet them in person. I don't know how that one didn't work, but I got no response from that.

Now, at 28, I am attempting once again to see the New Kids on the Block, and I will scream my head off just like I was 12 years old again. I can't wait.