90s Girl Musts

If you were a 90s girl you had...

The coolest caboodle for all your makeup. 

Hard Candy nail polish.

Jellies !!!

Your favorite soundtracks, girl groups and boy band albums

You watched this movie over and over.

Whenever there was a sleepover you had to play this game.

And ran to the mailbox when you knew the delia's catalog was in. 

The Babysitter's Club

If there was one book series I read religiously while growing up it was The Babysitter's Club and Dawn and Stacey were my favorite girls. I'm pretty sure I've read every book and graphic novel ever written, I watched the show and every once and awhile I still enjoy a viewing of the 90s classic. What book series did you love growing up? I was also a Nancy Drew fan and I'm actually about to start the Trixie Belden  series. 

(images via amazon)

Spice Up Your Life

Can you believe it's already the end of August?! I sure can't but I'm happy to bring back one of my favorite series on the blog, sharing my favorite nostalgic moments with you. The Spice Girls defined my childhood. Their first big hit, Wannabe was the theme song to every elementary school girl's sleepover in America during the 90s. I went through a phase where each girl was my favorite but I dressed like Ginger every chance I got. My mom who was not very approving of my wannabe skin tight British flag dress and singing their songs as loud as I could while playing them on repeat surprised my sister and I with tickets to see them live one summer - it was the best summer of my young life. I also went with my two best friends at the time. Any and everything made with the Spice Girl brand, you better believe I owned it. Who was your favorite? What was your favorite song?!

(image via buzzfeed)

Saturday Happy

Most of my fascination and passion for Children's Literature can be explained in one word, illustration! There are so many talented illustrators out there, I wish I had the chance to meet them all, dead and alive. My absolute favorites include Hilary Knight, Ludwig Bemelmans, Emily Arnold McCully, Mercer Mayer, Bill Peet, Arnold Lobel, Helen Craig and Barbara Cooney. I recently came across a story I  had completely forgotten about as I've grown older. Miss Rumphius was not an award winning book or popular among my friends and classmates during my childhood. To me it was a classic and stumbling across it yesterday and looking through it reminded me why I love the story so much. Barbara Cooney is a rare talent and the perfect story teller in Miss Rumphius. So go into the library or a Children's bookstore, sit down and go down memory lane with your favorite picture book. 

Blast From the Past

When it was time to go back to school, I could not wait to hit up Target and go shopping for school supplies with my mom. That meant gel pens, stickers, brand new crayons and Lisa Frank everything. It meant personalizing my backpack with stickers, freaking out over the newest technology of the 90s the Giga-Pets and a Spice Girls lunchbox. What were some of your favorite back to school shopping items? 

(1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11)

Teen Vogue

When it came to style icons during my childhood, it pretty much was 100% Mary-Kate and Ashley. Then middle school hit and it was all about being cool and looking like a million bucks, Mary-Kate and Ashley's look had matured and I loved everything about their fashion growing up. But I also loved Jodi Lyn O'Keefe's wardrobe in She's All That. Around high school and the beginning of Young Adult Reality TV, Lauren Conrad set the stage and still influences how I define my own sense of fashion. Who were your favorite icons growing up?  

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Game On

My family never hosted or put on games nights but we were certainly into them. My sister and I loved to quiz each other with our Brain Quest cards, Clue and Operation were definitely two of my favorites and Guess Who was always picked first when we were in the mood to play a game. What were some of your favorite board games growing up?

(1,2,3,4,5,6) 

Suzy's Zoo

Anyone who knows me well can tell you that I love everything about Suzy's Zoo and the talented illustrator who brought Suzy and her friends to life, Suzy Spafford. Everything from cards, calendars, coloring books, dolls and young reader books, I own it all. For all my friends and family who expect a card from me whether it's for a birthday, anniversary or for feeling better, they know a Suzy Zoo card is coming their way. This past March at my brother's wedding, in addition to the card my guy and I gave, I just had to send the new couple the cutest Suzy Zoo wedding card I found. So when he opened the card and gift, my parents and he laughed. My boyfriend and sister-in-law were trying to figure out what was so funny, they were later informed of my small obsession with this brand.    

(images via suzys zoo)

Dixie Chicks and 98 Degrees

Some of my favorite albums and artists of the 90s, what's on your nostalgic music playlist? So many sleepovers were dedicated to dancing all night, working on dance routines and practicing over and over and putting on performances for friends and families. What are some of your fondest memories with blasting the tunes during your childhood?

(images via amazon)

Camp Walden For Girls

In the last book discussion of our Summer Reading Program this week, the kids were certainly rowdy and a little anxious as we wrapped up our conversation on the book. They could not wait to pack up and be shipped off the camp. In all seriousness, I was a slightly jealous after asking where they were going and what kind of camps they were heading off too. When it finally came back to me, I was certainly happy to share my own experience of summer camp as a middle school girl. When they finally asked me if I had ever gone to camp, I nonchalantly asked if they had seen The Parent Trap, the one with Lindsay Lohan. They immediately exploded with excitement and the room quickly grew loud. They were quite literally freaking out as I told them I went to the camp featured in the movie. If only their little hearts knew, my experience at Walden was truly one of the best moments of my childhood and a memory I hope I never forget. Filled with rich history and an incredible family behind the one hundred year old camp in Denmark, Maine, Camp Walden is a place that every girl dreams of. Did you go to camp, I would love to know where ya'll went as little kids? 

  

(1,2,3,4,5) 

Hopscotch and Double Dutch Ropes

As a student of Information Science, trying to grasp the fact that technology is an inevitable part of our daily routine, lifestyle and culture, I can honestly say I wish we didn't have all this stuff. Yes technology is fun, informative and is advancing our society, but is it good for young minds to be glued to a screen all day long?  For these new generation kids that are born with touch screen devices, I honestly feel they aren't getting the true experience of being a child. When I was eight years old, summer to me meant running around from one friends house to another, going to the public pool, sneaking into my brother bedroom to try and look cool to his good looking guy friends and getting into mischief with my closest girlfriends. It was all about beating each on the monkey bars, who could jump the furthest off the swings, playing hopscotch and double dutch with our jump ropes. So enjoy the last few days of summer and enjoy the outdoors a bit more while you still can. What do you miss most about your childhood summers?

(image via smoke thorn)

Polly Pockets

Of all my precious little gems, the original Polly Pockets (that I still own) were some of my absolute favorite toys. What was your favorite toy growing up?!

(image via) 

Back From the Past: Fashion Trends

If there was one brand of opened toed shoes that defined the 90's; I can say the Berkinstock absolutely defined my childhood (it may even be true that I owned a few in girly colors). With their reappearance into the trends today, I'm not sure I'm on board with this purchase or not. What do you think, yes or no to the Birkenstock?

(image via glamour)

90s Flash Back

Calling all 90s kids, get excited for a new series!!! Is there a certain time of the year where you're particularly nostalgic about your childhood?! For me that time comes around the end of summer and transitioning into fall. With back to school shopping, new clothes, getting ready for the school year and preparing for the Autumn season, I have many fond memories of past summers growing up that I decided why not have a series to dish about any and everything relating to nostalgic moments?! Of course, everyone will convince you their decade was the greatest to grow up in, but seriously being a child of the nineties was pretty rad, right?  Here's to a good week, I hope everyone enjoys the series. 

(image via tiger shout)

Weekend Wrap Up...

 so happy i got to share this important moment 

with my guy.

 the most beautiful arrangement of flowers

 i've ever seen.

 champagne and strawberries while getting 

ready for the ceremony.

the flower girls, that's all that needs to be said!

thanks for snapping this shot, 

mom and dad! 

the moment is about to arrive!!!!

 party time, the reception was absolutely stunning.

 the bridal party got ready in an old schoolhouse,

i was speechless stepping into this space!

my best friend got hitched this weekend and I 

couldn't be more excited for her and her husband!

(images via instagram)

Little Girl Moments

my brother and i at disneyland, look at those baby cheeks! 

i've gotta be like three years old in this photo!

 first day of school, i'm pretty sure i tried to wear this dress 

everyday when i was little. teacups, i mean how could you not?

nevermind the fact i took this doll everywhere i went, but let's talk

about my mom's hairstyle going on in this picture, bahaha!

i still own this alice in wonderland outfit, i just don't think i 

can get rid of it!

The other day my dad was looking through some old photos and when he came across some of these I couldn't help but to get in on the action. After restoring them on to the computer, there was no way I could pass up making a post on my little girls days.