The beginning of school always brings back memories for me. As a child of military parents, we moved a lot, so my first day of school often came with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. I was usually the new girl so had to make friends all over again, had to learn a new grading system, had to memorize the layout of an unfamiliar school; all things I dreaded. But I also got new textbooks, a spanking new backpack or lunch box, and had a locker to myself or different art supplies than my last school, so there were things I looked forward to.
I spent many Septembers learning a new school's wayz.
One of my favorite back-to-school rituals was choosing my outfit to wow my classmates on our first day back at school. In 5th grade, we'd just moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico and I was entering the top rung of the elementary school ladder with a bunch of kids who'd known each other since Kindergarten. What better way to win their admiration than to sport a fetching all-purple ensemble? Wine, raspberry, lavender- shades and hues need not match as long as they were some derivative of PURPLE. I begged my mom for a pair of lavender Jordache sneakers that fastened with a funky new invention called, Velcro.
When School Day #1 rolled around... oh yeah, man... I was a fascinating purple haze.
8th grade found me as a new student in Rocky Run Middle School; again, the new girl amidst a bunch of kids who'd known each other since long before my time. I made some new friends and we all looked forward to our lunch break when we could talk about the latest New Wave hair fashion or the cutest boy in our locker row. Fridays, in particular, were popular because the cafeteria served pizza. In my school all of the 8th grade population turned out for pizza day. Long lunch lines snaked around the cafeteria and if you happened to loiter too long in the lobby, you might just miss your chance at some greasy lunchtime goodness. The pizzas were rectangular and always had a puddle of oil surfacing on the top. My personal favorite was pepperoni pizza with a side of French fries.
Fridays in my school were an 8th grade pepperoni pizza craze.
Why am I telling you this? I want to give away a school-themed SoulPerSuit gift.
Here's what I've got:
A vintage school memories 8 X 10 album, completely blank and crisp and ready for you to alter it as you see fit.
I used one of my own yearbooks (from my 8th grade pepperoni year, to be exact) as a "card" for our last SoulPerSuit adventure through Espresso with Esther. It was a nice break from using playing cards for SPS, I could keep all my "cards" contained together in the pages and the larger size allowed more room to work. This blank high school memories book lets you alter a blank album rather than your precious high school memories. (I, however, seem to only be able to remember the greasy pizza and my frizzy New Wave hair, so I didn't object to painting over the faces of the 1986 Rocky Run Woodwind Ensemble.)
A mini set of acrylic paint and brushes. Mini tubes of titanium white, cobalt blue, lemon yellow, viridian (green) and vermilion (red) and 4 mini brushes.
Small and self-contained, these will fit in your locker, no prob. Sadly, you'll have to mix your own purple haze but it comes with a mixing tray.This giveaway is perfect for anyone who is a new student to SoulPerSuit, painting, or altering books. No fear or trepidation on this first day of school. Just come sit at the desk beside me and tell me two things to be entered in the drawing:
1) Your most stunning first-day-of-school outfit.
2) The best food your cafeteria served.
Tell us about the Haze and the Craze from your School Daze.
I'll announce the winner on Thursday, Sept. 11th.
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4 comments:
As soon as I saw wayz, you were gonna be in trouble if you didn't include Purple Haze.
'Scuse me, while I kiss this guy
Most stunning? Stunning is derived from to stun and my outfit did. I moved a bit too, and had gone from 2nd grade to 5th at one school, moved away, and then returned for 9th grade. My first day back, I wore white jeans and a puffy sleeved pink shirt (It buttoned half way to the elbow, just to get extra puff).
I was nominated for class president. Very Carrie-esque
Starting at the age of eight, my mother would make me a birthday dress of my choosing. On that eighth anniversary of my birth, I proudly announced I would love a frock of black. Black was the perfect color. I would always have shoes that matched. I would be perfectly themed for Halloween. I would have my pilgrim dress for our Thanksgiving program at school. It matched my hair. What more could I ask for? My grandmother grimaced. My mother smiled. Against the grain of the early eighties "Color Me Beautiful" designs, my mom did the unconventional, and I do love her for it! And so, with great pleasure, my second grade back-to-school outfit was beautiful midnight blah--I mean black.
Marching into the cafeteria, black-dress donned, I plopped my yellow lunch ticket high above me on the counter. Who wouldn't want a bright red hotdog made of who knows what covered in katsup for that first glorious cafeteria lunch of the fall? A red meal bought with yellow currency and me in my little black dress: who wouldn't be green with envy? Wonderful.
Leatherwing,
Were you running on the "Puffed Sleeve" platform or the "Skin Tight White" platform? And who was the opposition party?
Now I'm curious to know if you actually took the class president job. I think you would have done great if you could've cut through the fashion red tape.
Julia,
You were a young rainbow of hope and aspiration. Also quite practical in your choice of basic black. All the French fashion houses would surely agree with you, and I'm sure it had a slimming effect after eating the hot dog of dubious origin.
(I was not so practical as you, and one year insisted on cowboy boots to complete my ensemble. This was the year after my lavender velcro-strapped adventure.)
These are hilarious! Ya'll are making me groan and grin at the same time.
There's just something about plaid that says 'first day of school' to me...nature or nurture...who can say?
My mom made nearly all my clothes as far back as I can remember. I have a photo of me waiting for the bus on my first day of 7th grade. Wow, what a dress! It was shades of blue/turquoise and rusty orange plaid with a full skirt and a full crinoline underneath. On my head I've donned a long scarf (to secure my coif I suppose), one end coyly draped over my shoulder, and I'm carrying about 25 books! Where they came from I've no clue but you see, kids, stacks of books and I have always had an affinity for each other...I think I used to be known as "Little Miss Medley".
A couple years later (after we'd moved again...new house, new neighborhood, new school, new country!) somehow I also ran for Student Council. I don't remember much about how or why it happened...just about the speech I had to deliver in front of the entire student body. I'm sure no one guessed that I'd never been so scared in my life! I think the only job I 'did' in my tenure as a rep actually never happened. I'd 'volunteered' or been assigned to man the money-changing table at the entrance to the Friday Night Sock Hop. My dad was driving me to school that night and we were hit head on by a drunk driver. My weekend garb ended up being a hospital gown and as far as I know the dance went on without me.
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