Child of the 70s

One of my best girls turned 40 this month, and she had a 70s disco party this weekend to celebrate. Lish and I met in Junior High, and have been friends since High School. We've been through a lot together. Having moved a lot when I was young, she's the one friend I've had the longest relationship with. Besides my sister, Lish probably knows me better than anyone does. Heck, sometimes I feel like she knows me better than I know myself. I think we all need friends like that. We've even dated the same guy - thankfully, neither of us ended up with him.

I don't know why I thought I had to go to a costume store for my 70s outfit. After seeing what some other people put together, I realized that I could gotten some groovy 70s duds right at the local mall! It all came together though, after my good friends Rita and Dawn finished my look with 70s hair and make-up, complete with copious amounts of blue sparkly eye shadow, Wet-N-Wild pink shimmer lip gloss and yes, those are Lee press-on nails.

I'm pretty sure my hair actually misses this style. It was happy that night...

The party was a blast, and I danced all night long to the great disco tunes - regardless of whether or not I had any company on the dance floor. No, I don't get out much. The day after the party, Lish and I had a long and relaxing breakfast before I headed back home. We always have the best conversations. We were at lunch together one time, and our waiter commented that he noticed we had been laughing and talking throughout our whole meal. Then he said "You guys should always be friends." We told him we planned to be.

One of the things we talked about at our leisurely breakfast was was why she picked the 70s theme for her party. We were born in the 60s, children in the 70s, teens in the 80s and college grads with new careers in the 90s. Looking back on all those decades, Lish said the 70s was the most carefree time of her life. Life's difficulties were circling above us, as were the adults we were dwarfed by. We were just discovering life. Our biggest concern was whether the Bradys could return the idol to the ancient Hawaiian burial grounds, and end the bad luck by the next episode.

So that you too can share in my nostalgia, I thought I'd show my favorites from this list that I'm sure you've seen a million times. What are you favorite memories from the 70s?

You know you're a child of the 70's if...

You wore a rainbow shirt that was half-sleeves, and the rainbow went up one sleeve, across your chest, and down the other.

You made baby chocolate cakes in your Easy Bake Oven and washed them down with snow cones from your Snoopy Snow Cone Machine.

You owned a bicycle with a banana seat and a basket.

You owned roller skates with metal wheels.

You thought Gopher from Love Boat was cute.

"De plane, de plane" is a phrase you are familiar with.

Your Holly Hobbie sleeping bag was your most prized possession.

You begged Santa for the electronic game, Simon.

You had the Donnie and Marie dolls with those pink and purple shredded outfits.

You had homemade ribbon barrettes in every imaginable color.

You had a pair of Doctor Scholl's sandals.

"All skaters, change directions" means something to you.

Your hairstyle was described as having "wings".

You carried a Muppets lunch box to school.

You and your girlfriends would fight over which of the Dukes of Hazzard was your boyfriend.

It was a big event in your household each year when the "Wizard of Oz" would come on TV. Your mom would break out the popcorn and sleeping bags!

You even asked your Magic-8 ball the question: "Who will I marry? Shaun Cassidy, Leif Garrett, or Rick Springfield?"

You completely wore out your Grease, Saturday Night Fever, and Fame soundtrack albums.

You made Shrinky-Dinks!

You used to tape record songs off the radio by holding your portable tape player up to the speaker.

You couldn't wait to get the free animal poster that came when you ordered books from the Weekly Reader book club.

You learned everything you needed to know from Judy Blume.

You thought Olivia Newton John's song "Physical" was about aerobics.

You wore friendship pins on your tennis shoes, or shoelaces with heart or rainbow designs.

You wanted to be a Solid Gold dancer, or one of Charlie's Angels...

Lish, our friend Lisa in the middle, and me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LISH!!!

Let's always be friends.