Tag Archives: high school

01.21.2014
90s beauty: my high school beauty routine

90s beauty

 

I’ll be honest when I say that I was certainly NOT a beauty expert back when I was in high school; in fact, I didn’t even care.  I would read Seventeen, YM, Teen, Teen People, etc. and completely skip over the beauty section to go right to fashion. I mean…wow how things change, and with that said, even though I wasn’t particularly passionate about beauty, I DID have my go-to products.  Putting this post together was truly a hilarious experience and I giggled at the site of these products, ALL of which I would still TOTALLY use.  Just saying…

1. Herbal Essences Shampoo and Conditioner: The brand has since re-done the packaging (this is the old version) but I’m still in love with the scent, and when they say that you associate smell with memory, they are NOT lying.  I had a flash memory of being late to home room the last time I used this shampoo…it was both scary and awesome at the same time.

2. Wet ‘n Wild White Eyeliner: I don’t know why on earth I ever though white eyeliner, SOLO WHITE EYELINER AND NOTHING ELSE, was ever an ok look, but I did.  If memory serves, I thought the white line would make my eyes look bigger but in reality, guys just wondered why I had white lines drawn on my top eyelid.  Ahhh, the teen years…

3. Bath & Body Works Pearberry Body Splash: The scent of Pearberry was my jam in high school; of course, everyone had their favorite scent, but there was something about the Pearberry scent that I just LOVED, and still do.

4. Bonne Bell Lip Smackers: It’s still a classic but it was definitely an obsession for everyone in high school and I distinctly remember having a cupcake-flavored version that made all the girls jealous.

5. Hard Candy Nail Polish: Back in the day Hard Candy was a high-end nail polish and retailed for $18 a bottle which, for a high school student, was big bucks.  I had a few select shades, one of which was called “mermaid” and was teal green. #memories.

6. Avon Odyssey Perfume: My mom bought me this perfume at a friend’s Avon party and I don’t know why I asked for it but I distinctly remember LOVING the scent.

09.30.2013
A Friend Re-Connection

Jamie and Kenna

Jamie and Kenna, circa 2002

As much as we all complain about the annoyances of social media (FOMO, over-sharing, etc.), it does have its upsides.  I recently attended a little shopping event for my friend Beth Jones and she posted a group photo of us on her Instagram.  Well, turns out that my long-time pen pal (circa HIGH SCHOOL) just so happens to know Beth (via a mutual friend) and immediately recognized me in the picture!  She looked at who was tagged, saw my very obvious Instagram name and commented on one of my photos to let me know it was her, Kenna O’Leary, now Kenna O’Brien.  I mean…I literally screamed with excitement.  Funny enough, I had actually searched for her on Facebook a few times but since she is now married, the “Kenna O’Leary” search never resulted well.  A quick back story, Kenna and I met because she won a ‘zine contest that Seventeen magazine had waaaay back in the day (e.g. the 90s).  If you’re not familiar, a ‘zine was actually the FIRST kind of blog, basically a DIY magazine that was then photocopied and snail mailed out to subscribers.  Kind of amazing to think about that kind of format now, considering how popular blogs are.

Kenna and I wrote each other (with actual paper and pen, btw) pretty regularly through out high school and the beginning of college but then lost touch.  I basically chalk it up to the fact that I was doing the college thing (e.g. lots of partying) and Kenna was working at an AMAZING dream job: being a Barbie designer for Mattel.  Yes, dreams DO come true guys.  One of the things that initially made me adore Kenna is that she always pursued her dream and never cared what anyone else had to say about it.  She’s three years older than me and, as Kenna said in her blog post about us, three years may have well been 30 when you’re in high school.  Yet, I really looked up to Kenna and I still remember how excited I would get when I would find a letter from her in my mail box.

Back to present day, I quickly found out that Kenna now has a thriving party planning business and, of course, a blog to go with that business.  I would expect nothing less.  And, of course, I found a way to bring us back together!  I’m working with a new website called WISHCLOUDS (more on that later) and they’re throwing a big launch party for Bloggers this week.  I asked Kenna if she would help style the party up and make it really over-the-top (Kenna’s specialty), and luckily she was available.  I haven’t seen Kenna since 2002 and I’m so excited for us to be re-united this Wednesday here in LA.

Have you guys been re-united with long lost friends via social media?