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.

the silver lining

I had lunch today with my very good friend, SJ. She was one of the many who were laid-off from our firm yesterday.

She couldn't wipe the smile off her face.

It was then I realized that what I was saying to everyone yesterday, about how there is always a silver lining...this is just a job...there is so much more to life...things like this remind people of what is really important in life - all of it is true. She is excited to have the opportunity to find her true joy in life and pursue that, rather than being stuck in the less-than-fulfilling job she'd been doing at our firm. I'm actually a bit jealous.

Even though lunches between SJ and I always contain ample portions of laughter, in light of recent events, I was prepared to do my best to help her feel better. Instead, she helped me.

I share in her joy. She inspires me.

Like Going Home

Before moving to the Bay Area, we lived in Sacramento. I went to college there. That's where I met my husband. We were married there. Bought our first home there. Had our first "child", a Golden Retriever dog named "Chester". My life in Sacramento brought me some of the most amazing moments of happiness, as well as moments of some of the deepest sorrow of my life. I found myself there. We loved that town.

There were a lot of reasons that we ultimately decided to move to the Bay Area. One of the reasons was the climate. Sacramento is HOT during the summers. One of the reasons was to be closer to our families, as we were going to be starting our own family. Of real kids. Not dogs.

I really haven't gone back all that often, even though I still have very close friends who still live in the Sacramento area. After we had kids, there just never seemed to be enough time. I used to go up regularly and visit a group of my friends that all had kids around the same time as I did. We'd get together with all of our kids, but the more kids we added to the mix, the more complicated it was to coordinate a time to get together.

So when I went up to Sacramento recently for dinner with two of my very close friends, D and R, it was a real treat. I drove up with one of my good friends from work, SJ, who is also friends with D and R. We took off of work early to beat traffic, hit the outlets on the way up (Santa's bringing me some nice items from Banana Republic!) and then met D and R for dinner.

We relived old times, caught up on the latest gossip and talked a bit about our lives now. But mostly, we laughed. And laughed. And laughed. If laughter is the best medicine, then I should be good for the rest of the cold and flu season.

As soon as I got off the freeway at that old familiar exit, passing Old Sacramento, where my husband and I were married, driving past the building that I worked in for so many years...it was like going home. The memories of that town that I loved so much came flooding back to me.

I remembered the warm summer nights that were the reward of surviving the hot summer days. I remembered the vibrant colors of Fall on the tree lined streets. I remembered taking walks in our old neighborhood, and feeling so safe. I remembered the feeling of living in a "city" that felt like a small town. I remembered falling in love. I remembered my wonderful friends who left such deep impressions on my life.

I remembered the reason that I moved to Sacramento in the first place. I grew up in the Bay Area, but decided to stay in Sacramento after college to start my career, and my life, there. I wanted to be someplace new. Fresh. Without history of my childhood. Not that my childhood was at all bad, it's just that I wasn't sure I could develop my adulthood in the same place.

So for me, Sacramento was independence. It was coming into myself. It was mine. It was home. I think it always will be.