Lets slow dance to Spice Girls.....Not on camera!

It has been a few weeks and I have been devoid of inspiration but then this awesome little gem hit me! This story falls under Throwback Thursday and a fun little memory. The summer of 97 I was in Teen Camp...yet again because it was the best place on earth. It was the end of the summer and we were having our end of summer dance. I always recorded it so I could keep a fun memory of the summer. Unfortunately I lended my video out and NEVER got it back.....but I digress. Well, it was the dance and my friends and I were all taking turns with the camera and it was slow dance time. At the time I was dating Denny...again and EVERYONE came looking for us so we could dance to this popular song.

They found Denny and they were still looking for me. I was freaking out because I really wanted to dance with him but...the whole thing was being documented and I knew my parents would want to see it. At the time my parents didn't want me dating and if they saw us dancing I would have to answer too many questions. So when they did find me they dragged me out to the dance floor, kicking and screaming. I fought it all the way and it was so bad our counselor Reggie had to stop fiasco! It was soooo embarassing and it was ALL on tape. I felt bad because it seemed like I didn't want to dance with my boyfriend and it seemed like I was mad at all of my friends for trying to make me do something  I really did want to do. Later on in the day, my tape had run out, and the dance was coming to an end, Reggie played one more slow song.

At the start of the song Denny and I found each other and danced the song away. Reminicing on the wonderful summer we had and how we probably wouldn't see each other for awhile. We enjoyed every second of it and how we would never forget the summer!

I saw the "sun"

Today's Throwback Thursday hit is....The Sign by Ace of Base! This song came out in 1993 and I was in 3rd grade. I was going to East Bradford Elementary and my best friends were Raquel, Jen, Lali, Patrick, and Will. I remember when the Ace of Base album came out and we ALL had it. Everyone played it on the playground and you couldn't escape it. Once Raquel and I were singing the song at my house and she sang "I saw the sun, and it opened up my eyes, I saw the sun." I then told her they were saying I saw the Sign not Sun. I also remember really wanting to see the video on MTV and when I was in 3rd grade my mom wouldn't let me watch MTV. My friend Caroline told me that it came on everyday at around 3:30. I convinced my mom to let me wait for the video but I NEVER caught it so.....HERE IT IS!

Oh how I miss being a little kid. Anyone else love this song?

If you ever need me....Kiss the Rain!

This Throwback Thursday song is Billie Meyers song Kiss The Rain. This song came out in 1997 when I was in middle school. I fell in love with it instantly and couldn't get enough of it. I remember wondering if it was a girl or boy singing the song. Then, I bought the album and realized that it was definitely a woman. The memory that is linked to this song is from when I was in 8th grade. Our choir teacher asked all of us to bring in our favorite song at the time and I was trying to pick a song no one else would have. I decided to present this song to all of my classmates because I knew no one else would have it. As I was waiting for my turn to present the teacher received a phone call and I was called out of the room. I was told to go to the orchestra room and when I got there my parents were waiting for me! As I walked in my orchestra teacher followed me in. He sat us all down and talked to my parents about the boy I was dating and how he didn't think it was a good idea! ARE YOU SERIOUS!! Did he just tell my parents about my boyfriend? Yes, he did and needless to say I was in BIG trouble when I got home. We had to break up....it was sad but....we ended up going to freshman homecoming together and my parents thought he was really nice! They didn't even know it was the same boy. So, just like thinking that Billie Meyers was a man because of her name and voice, you can't judge a book by its cover ;)

And....I didn't know there were two versions of this video! You learn something new everyday!

This is the version I remember watching as a kid.

Why I wanted to learn how to do the Beat It dance....it might give you the urge to learn too!

At work today we were a little bored, and what do you do when you are bored.....go on YOUTUBE! We were talking about old songs and dances and all the crazy crap people post on Youtube. When you start the youtube convo everyone tries to one up everyone by having the best video. When one of the DFS workers walked by our cubicle she was askin folks to "teach her how to dougie..." My workmate then made the statement, "Man, I need to learn how to Dougie" and she proceeded to find a good video on youtube to teach her just that. Then I suggested that we look at the Carlton Dougie video. As we were all watching it we were talking about how much we LOVED Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Then, my other co-worker started asking all of us if we used to watch the Jamie Foxx show. Of course I said yes and she began talking about her favorite episode which happens to be mine also! She suggested we watch the video when Jamie had to move in with Braxton and they got on each others nerves so much Braxton and Jamie put a line down the middle of the apartment. Right before Jamie moved out their fighting came to a climax and the only way to settle their beef was through....a DANCE BATTLE!!! They brought out the old school and even the riverdance but how do you settle most dance battles? With a Michael Jackson dance of course!

Now tell me that didn't make you want to get up and do a little Michael LOL!

Always On Time

I have been so busy but I GOTTA get back to posting so.....today's Throwback Thursday song is.... Always On Time by Ja Rule ft. Ashanti! I love this so so so much. It's the song that IS high school. Every time I hear it I think about taking my friends to school in the morning and blasting it through the speakers of my little Pontiac Sunbird. Or, wishing every one of my classes could be taught by the best teacher I ever had, Tom Diab! Both Ja Rule and Ashanti have come and gone but this song will always be apart of the fabric of my being.

My favorite Jimmy Fallon parody....that took me FOREVER to find!

I'm posting a small blurb just because I love this Jimmy Fallon song that he did on SNL weekend update 2002 for the Winter Olympics. I thought about it recently and I searched and searched for it. It's not even on the SNL DVD that season. Thank GOODNESS someone had it up but I had to search far and wide for it. Now all of you....but mostly I, can now enjoy it for eternity since it is on my blog. My favorite part of the song is "Thaw Out" the parody of Ludacris' "Rollout" cuz it is so true...Black Folks do not do winter...let alone winter sports lol.

Double Duty Thursday

So....I missed last week so I'm going to try to make it up but sharing a memory that has two...count em...two throwback songs in them that are completely different from each other which is really cool! Back in April of 1997 my parents took my brother, my friend Melissa, and I to the opening of the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit. It was awesome because it was a school night and that meant we were able to stay up late! My mom took us to the mall after school and she bought us each two cassingles (cassette singles lol)! I thought I had died and gone to heaven because I had to beg my parents to buy me music! I cant remember the singles that Melissa chose but I remember the two that I picked. The first song I picked was Puff Daddy and Mase "Cant Nobody Hold Me Down" I know every word that that song, it is my favorite song that they did together.

The other song that I picked was Duncan Sheik's "Barely Breathing" That is another song that stops me dead in my tracks and I can move until it is over. It takes me right back to 1997. I remember hating the song for the longest and then I just couldn't get enough of it. I know I dont have my Puff Daddy single anymore but I think that I still have my Duncan Sheik single. If I find it I will post it.

This was a great time, we got some amazing music, went to an amazing museum opening, and got to stay up SUPER late! 

I totally forgot about this!

So I was looking through some of my old VHS home videos and I found a "campaign video" that Jennie, Caitlin, and I made for 11th grade government class. I was running for "president" because we were learning about the election process. I actually made it to the second round of elections. In the video we had gone to all of the places that I had worked including the Dollar Tree and Tim Hortons. We had also gone to a sporting goods store and Chuck E. Cheese to get "endorsed". I remember we were rushing to put this video together and it was snowing that day. We had so much fun and our video was HILARIOUS! It is kind of embarassing but....here you go. ENJOY!

Stop making me feel like I've gone crazy! I know this song was out before!

A couple of months ago I was driving one of my foster kids (that we will call Kelly) to an appointment and Adele came on the radio. Kelly loved Adele and she was talking about how she really liked the song Rumor Has It. When the DJ intro'd the song he said "Here is the new song from Adele, Rumor Has It". I turned to Kelly and said "This song isn't new! They released it after Rolling in the Deep!" Then, after that time of hearing it refered to as a new song the DJ's kept doing it. I was so frustrated because I KNEW it wasn't a new song, they just re-released it. Then it made me remember back in the 90's when they did it with the Savage Garden song To the Moon and Back. I remember talking to all my friends about how great the song was but the song wasn't new. Everyone INSISTED that I didn't know what I was talking about and there is no way this song was out previously. I just knew they had released it once before and it even had a different music video! I know because during the course of the time when Savage Garden was out the lead singer lost some weight and you can see the difference between the two videos. This evening I had to look it up and to my satisfaction :) I found both videos! I knew I wasn't crazy but the record companies need to stop doing this to me cuz I temporarily doubt my sanity.

First Version

Re-Release Version

So long story short I read that after they debuted with "I Want You" or the chicka cherry cola song they came out with To the Moon and Back. It didn't do well here in the states but the next song "Truely, Madly, Deeply" did great. After that they decided to re-release To the Moon and Back and it was a hit, a brand new hit to many, but not to me :) This has been driving me nuts and I'm so glad I found both music videos because back then we couldn't prove this kind of stuff so easily....but we can now!

I could never be your woman....or man....um...

My Throwback Thursday pick for this week is the awesome song "Your Woman" by Whitetown. It was one of those songs that defines the mid 90's. It was during the midst of the shock factor uprising with Marilyn Manson doing his/her thang, discovering that Billie Meyers was a woman, and countless others, this song definitely kept us scratching our heads searching for answers. Was it a man or a woman singing the song? What perspective were they singing from? What am I supposed to think? I just recently saw the video for the first time (I know pretty shocking!) and it was an awesome video.....but tell me, did it answer any of your questions cuz it certainly didn't answer any of mine.

Don't act like you didn't do it!

This Throwback Thursday song is none other than....The Macarena! The dance everyone did but now wishes they could forget. I can't explain to you why it was so popular but everyone and their mom knows how to do it....and if it came on at a wedding (with no videographer) you would probably do it.

The song came out the summer of 1996 and us Teen Camp campers danced the hell out of that dance. I really wish I had the footage of that cuz we were a mess! Enjoy the video....and don't fight the feeling to join in :)

The summer The Mask was....SMOKIN!!!

I just finished watching Aladdin on ABC family tonight and then the movie The Mask starts. I can't resist watching either of those movies but it is 12:30am for gods sake! I'm trying to convince myself to only stay up until the Cuban Pete number is over....but I can't guarantee anything. Watching this movie makes me think of a lot of great memories, like when I got the awesome soundtrack for The Mask movie as a family day present. But, the first thing that came to mind was the summer this movie came out and the trailer scared me so bad I stopped watching TV until it stopped showing on TV! It was the summer of '94 and my brother and I stayed the summer at our grandparents. My grandparents had a huge 70 inch projection screen TV and we used to love to sit right up next to it and watch the amazing box in action. Well, one day I was picking something up that had fallen right next to the TV and the trailer for the Mask came on.

In the commercial Stanleys face was swallowed by a mask, he spun around in a huge Tazmanian Devil twister, his eyes popped out of his head and his tongue rolled out of his mouth and it scared the sh*t out of me. Can you imagine being right up next to 70 inches of that right in your face! Needless to say I was shaken up quite a bit by that. I didn't realize how bad it was until we were watching TV and it came on again. I freaked out and then decided I could no longer watch TV. Well, I still wanted to watch TV but didn't want to risk seeing this scary commerical. So, my little 10 year old mind figured I would be safe if all I watched was QVC and thats what I did. I only watched QVC the rest of the summer! It was extreme but I was safe lol. The movie came out in theaters and my Dad and brother (who is 5 years younger than me) saw it and loved it. Then, when the movie came out on VHS my brother had to get it. I think it was more to scare me than anything and it worked. I was terrified to even see the cover and my brother would use it against me any chance he got. I eventually saw it a few months after we got it and I ended up LOVING IT! That is why I cant go to sleep tonight, because I am watching a movie that used to scare the living daylights out of me and now I cant resist it!

So....I did go to bed but I had to watch Cuban Pete.....

Yep, totally worth it!

Playing catch up with a little "Give It To You"

I missed last weeks Throwback Thursday post and I was just thinking about how we perceive things when we are younger compared to how we perceive things now. That got me to thinking about the dance moves in the video for Give it to You by Jordan Knight. That song came out in 1999 and I adored it. It was so fun and danceable, but it was a little dirty ;). I was a good girl and I didn't think about it like that in those days lol. What I really loved about the song was the video. It was set at a fair which I loved and it was super colorful. Plus, the video had what I thought was a killer dance routine! Check it out!

I watched this video about 4 months ago with one of my friends who used to be a professional dancer and we laughed our a**es off! This was the cheesiest thing we had ever seen! Especially the part towards then end when Jordan is shakin his groove thang on the leading lady. Now again, when I was a freshman in HS this video was the bomb but boy how our vision changes over 13 years! I still love this song and video but it now takes on a whole different meaning. What did you think of the dancing? Have you had any interesting perception changes lately? Share Share Share!

Blaque goes boom....like an 808!

My Throwback Thursday (on Friday....I know...) jam this week is 808 by the group Blaque.

This song came out in 1999 and the album was great also! I was also very lucky because I was able to meet this awesome group when I was a freshman in HS. When we moved to Saline we ended up meeting this really nice family that lived up the street. It was also great because we lived in a town that wasn't very diverse and they were another black family that lived close to us. The family had two young girls and their parents asked me to babysit them during the summer. The first time I babysat for them after I was done the girls father asked me if I had ever heard of the group Blaque. "Of course I have!" I replied "I really like the song 808". The girls father then told me that the lead singer of the group was his other daughter Shamari. I thought I was in heaven! My new found information made me love this group even more. After continuing to babysit Shamari's half sisters for about 6 months they invited me to go and see the girls perform at the summer music festival. We got to the concert late and we were able to stand on the side of the stage as they performed! We also got to hang out in the girls dressing room and meet the other artist that were there! It was one of the greatest nights of my life! Blaque's dressing room was even across from Destinys Child's dressing room and Beyonce waved at me! That was definitely an amazing time in my life and I am very happy Blaque's album was the soundtrack to my summer that year.

    On a side note....look at those braces lol. I do not miss my awkward years :)

TGIF.....boy do I miss those days!

You know what takes me back......this!

Every friday was TGIF in our house. We always ordered pizza, wings, breadsticks and a two liter from Pizza Hut....the best part of the week!

YUMMY!!!!!!

This is exactly what was on our living room table Friday night at 8pm. This is making me hungry just looking at it.....mmmmmm! As the pizza guy was arriving at the door, my brother and I were getting the paper plates and cups ready to eat. We all then proceeded to sit down at the table in front of the TV and we turned on ABC to watch the TGIF lineup. That was when I let go of the stress of the school week, relished in the fact that I got to sleep in, and got excited about leftover pizza hut for lunch on Saturday. Now, TGIF had many different shows which included Family Matters, Step by Step, Dinosaurs, Full House, Perfect Strangers, Boy Meets World, Hangin with Mr. Cooper, Sister Sister, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Mr. Belvedere, and On Our Own. My favorite lineup was Family Matters, Step by Step, Boy Meets World, and Hangin with Mr. Cooper. I have so many fond memories of these wonderful Friday nights that got me through the school week but it is a lot to cover in one post. I think I will do a series on Fridays called bringin back TGIF and talk about each of these great shows and how they will always be a big part of the 90's and my elementary/middle school memories. I think that they should bring TGIF back, not necessarily with new shows but do the old lineups again. It would be a great tradition to start with my family on Friday nights. Maybe I might try to get them on DVD and host my own TGIF what do you think? Would you do it? Should we get together and have TGIF parties? I THINK SO!

Why I have been and always will be CAMOCRAZY!

So, I was looking at my pajama pants today and I thought "I will ALWAYS love camouflage!"

 But, then I thought....where did this mild ;) obsession come from? I thought and I thought and then this popped into my head.....

Ah right! My favorite movie did it! The Pest....it made me CAMOCRAZY...and in love with John Leguizamo :) If you know me you know if I can get it in camo I got it!



I guess my obsession started in 1997 when I was in middle school. I remember when the movie came out and my family talked about going to see it because we thought it reminded us of Shederick (my brother) cuz he was a pest. Ya, I know we were kind of mean but we thought it was endearing lol.



We didn't end up seeing it in the theaters but we rented one night when I was having a sleepover. We watched it and that was all she wrote! I learned every line and every song...especially Voodoo Mamabo. If you have never heard it here you go!



In high school when anyone would buy be anything it would always be camo. All my friends also knew if there was anything with John Leguizamo they would let me know. We even read a short story in my 9 grade english class called "The Most Dangerous Game" which the movie was based off of and I showed this movie to my teacher Ms. Mowery and she thought I was a mess! I loved The Pest! My obsession isn't as bad as it used to be but even though I live in NV now people still know I love camo....they even buy it for my baby!

So, if you haven't seen the movie that changed my life lol, you GOTTA GOTTA GOTTA see The Pest!



And after all.....your my Wonderwall!

I had to blog about this before I forgot about it. Its summer and I love reminicing on the wonderful times I had at Tappan Teen Camp. All the water fights we had, all the dances we danced out (including the Macarena :/) and the wonderful soundtracks of 1996, 1997, and 1998! We were middleschooler and we were the epitomy of ackward as you can see from these pictures:

I loved so many songs but I was introduced to one of my favorite bands of all time....OASIS! If there is one song that will take me back to Teen Camp in an instant it is Wonderwall. It is just a perfect song and it evokes so much emotion. When I hear it everything in my world stops and I cant function until it is over. It reminds me of being on the bus with all of my friends going to Cedar Point for the first time. It reminds me of how all of the "cool kids" claimed the couch in the teen center. It reminds me of my first love.... and you never forget your first love ;) Wonderwall I must say has to be my favorite song of all time! This was definitely one of the most wonderful times in my adolescent years and I am glad I have such a great playlist of songs to take me back. I will be talking a lot about these songs so stay tuned! If you went to teen camp PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE and your memories....I can never get enough!

Ya, I know...I missed last week!

Well, I missed last week so I'm going to make up for it :) I have been thinking long and hard about another song I would love to talk about.....and then it HIT me! I was livin' it up in elementary/middle school for the last post and I felt like staying there. I have been singing a lot lately and I have been thinking about some of my most memorable influences. The group I wanted to be in more than anything in the whole world was TLC! I knew every song, every dance move, every trivia fact, everything there was know about the CrazySexyCool T-Boz, Lefteye, and Chili. The song I want to talk about for this throwback thursday post is none other than....WATERFALLS. One of the biggest hits of all time you couldn't help but love that song. Again, I was too young to REALLY know what the song meant but I thought it was just amazing. The video was amazing, the dance moves were amazing and the MTV music video awards performance was the BEST!

All I wanted to do was be like them, I even had oversized overalls that I cut up so I they could look like the outfit the group wore when they performed on All That....anybody remember that....anybody...
Hands down TLC was one of the best girl groups at least of my time and I will forever look up to them. They made being a girl AWESOME and I can't thank them enough.

Oh by the way...I know this whole dance lol. If you see me ask me and I will do it for you :)

I like how there was no irony in the song Ironic....

So, I was driving in my car yesterday and heard Alanis Morrisette's new song Guardian. It was so good and it made me remember how much I LOVED HER!! I was too young to really relate to anything she was singing about but I just admired how awesome she was. I knew every word to every song on my Jagged Little Pill cassette :)

My Favorite song off that album had to be Ironic. I remember it coming out when I was in 5th grade. I lived in Ann Arbor, MI and I went to Pattengil elementary and I had Mr. Hatt as my teacher. We had just moved to Michigan from Pennsylvania and I was not happy about the change. I was on my third elementary school and I just wanted the year to be over. It was pretty cool though because we lived in the Residence Inn hotel because my dad had gotten transfered. We got to eat out everyday and the place was amazing. But...getting back to the song....I remember I couldn't go to sleep without hearing the song on the radio. I would stay up and have my ear right on the speaker of my alarm clock constantly changing the channel trying to hear that song. I was so happy when my parents finally bought me the cassette and I could play the song over and over. As you can see I still have my cassette and I will NEVER let it go!

"Here come the Men in Black..."

So, I am pretty bad at getting these throwback posts in on Thursdays so....I'm going to do it when I can until I can get the hang of it lol. I was driving this afternoon and this song came on during the old school lunch hour on the radio and I felt the smile overtake my face. This song came out in 1997, the summer before I started 7th grade. I was going to Ann Arbor teen camp and it was one of the best summers of my life! I remember watching this video over and over again so I could learn the dance and teach it to anyone who would be willing to learn. Dancing was one of our favorite things to do at camp and when this song came on we broke it down like we were Will's backup dancers! Then, speed forward 5 years and I brought back my knowledge of the dance and I made up some more! It was Mock Rock 2002 and boy did my friends and I rock the black suits (as soon as I get that video uploaded I will post it). I really loved the song and the Men in Black franchise and I cant wait until the movie comes out. If you all have some great memories of the song or what was going on with you during that time period...please share! Until my next random memory......

7/28/12 AND HERE IT IS......MEN IN BLACK MOCK ROCK!

Throwback thursday...a few days off :) Hot in Here By Nelly

So my Throwback Thursday jam today is Hot in Here by Nelly. This song came out 2002 when I was in 11th grade. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this song. I really don't know many folks that don't love this song. This might just be my summer song of 2002. I remember when my fellow VB'ers and I did an awesome dance to this song that Chris Perino and I choreographed in his parents basement....memories! But...my favorite memory of this song had to when Jimmy Fallon did a parody of this song in the opening act of the 2002 VMA's. That is why I picked this song as my first entry. I play music when I shower and I started my IPod and this song started playing. As I was getting ready I started doing the dance that Jimmy Fallon did and I found my self singing "I'd like an order of the uh uh, with a side of the uh uh" Lol Best VMA opening....but I digress.

Hot in Here...definitely one of my favorite songs of the decade! If you have any great memories of this song please feel free to comment I would love to reminisce.

My Epiphany!

So....i love reading peoples blogs and even tried to blog myself. To my disappointment I was very unsuccessful :( I just couldn't figure out what I wanted to blog about. Did I want to blog about my Sisterlocks...no, EVERYONE blogs about their sisterlocks. Did I want to blog about my baby journey....no because I was just not feeling it during my pregnancy. I just could not figure out what I wanted to talk about that could be my own. Then, it hit me like a ton of bricks! I love my life, and I am very excited about my future but I CAN'T stop thinking about all of the wonderful times I had in my past! I love talking about all the fun times I had at camp and great stories from when I was in high school. I am very influenced by music and it can conjure up amazing times. I want to blog about all of those times and hope that my friends and family will chime in to make all of these memories even greater! Anytime I think about a particularly awesome moment I will blog about it but I will definitely make an entry every Throwback Thursday that will focus on one of my favorite songs from 1990-2003. As time goes on I will extend the time so it is 10 years prior to the current year. I'm doing this so I can always have a wonderful piece of my past but also so I don't end up telling my children crazy, inaccurate stories lol! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE if you have a fond memory about what I am blogging about whether it was with me or not post it! Thanks to all who read it!