a little and a lot

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Countdown to Thirty: Year Fifteen-ish

"thirtysomething" is intense.
Is this an omen of things to come?

YEAR FIFTEEN-ISH:
1995 - 1998
Ok, well this is the closest picture I could get.
Somehow all of my pictures from
Jr High & High School have disappeared??
How did that happen? ;)
Spring Break, City of Children in Ensenada, Mexico, 1996 (age 16)
This picture is for Mandi Burke...
who gets teased mercilessly for her haircut from high school.
You were were just keeping it real, right Mandi?
We were en vogue.

Here is my proof:
Gwyneth Paltrow, circa Brad Pitt.
Of course, I did not have a professional hairstylist to
advise me of the mistake I was making with my bangs.
But cut me a break--I was a late bloomer!


The above picture
is the haircut that evolved
into this one:
(Fall 1998, Freshman year of college)

All thanks to Gwyneth in "Sliding Doors"...I was explaining to someone recently that I was merely
emulating one of my favorite movie stars with that short haircut.
He said, "No wonder Brad Pitt broke up with her."

Ouch.

In hindsight, we refer to this as "The Mom Cut."
One day, I was driving the family vehicle
(read: Minivan) out of our school parking lot.
My friends told me later that they'd seen me
and thought I was a mom.

Ouch.

I turned 15 between my freshman
and sophomore years of high school.
Before "The Mom Cut,"
I had "The Rachel."
I vividly remember watching
the "Friends" episode
where Ross finally kisses Rachel
when I was 15.
By the way,
the irony is not lost on me
that while I switched from Rachel to Gwyneth,
Brad Pitt was doing the opposite.

I tried out for my public school's track team
during my sophomore year.
I didn't make it...
but I continued to condition with the team
because I liked running.

I switched from a large public school
to a small private school
at the beginning of my Junior year.
It was my own decision.

Made a lifelong best friend during that Mexican mission trip
(first picture) with my new school:
(Ibby & me during my first summer internship in Pensacola, 1999)

But I ended up rooming with an old friend from public school
during my freshman year at Auburn:
(Melanie and me with our dorm room in the background.
By the way, she drew my wedding invitations!)

I will be celebrating my fifteenth year of life this evening
by going for a run...just for fun.
And I'll be listening to one of my favorite duos ever,
whom I discovered in high school (see right column).
We're getting closer to fine!

2 comments:

Mandi said...

Yeess! I'm dying over this right now. I totally used "sliding doors" as inspiration too and rocked that bobby pin almost as good as you :)

I'll repay you with a few photos in a few months when our 10 year arrives!

McKinney Madness said...

What a fun way of celebrating your 30 years!! And don't you worry my friend- I went through some pretty rank hair stages myself. All the better to laugh at though!! Happy alost birthday!


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