Sunday Social (12)

This week's Sunday Social, hosted by A Complete Waste of Make-up, is a bit of a flashback post. I definitely found some fun pictures to share, and hope you enjoy them as well!

1. What was your first car?
My first car is actually my current car, a 2001 Toyota Echo.
Here's me and my brother with it, right before we drove cross-country as I moved from California to Louisiana.

2. Who was your favorite childhood teacher?
I had a lot of great teachers growing up, but my favorites were probably Miss Skaags in 1st grade, and Mr. Ferrara in 3rd grade.

3. Were you involved in any sports/extracurricular activities?
I played soccer growing up, all the way through college. And just as proof...
This is in 1st grade with my team, Pink Lemonade. I'm in the first row, second from the left.
In 6th grade, I was a member of No Fear.
In 10th grade on my high school's team.
My senior class teammates in college after my last soccer game ever.

4. What was your favorite birthday party?
My mom had several Penny Whistle party books, that I used to love going through imagining having each and every of their parties. So it's no surprise that my favorite party, a Shipwrecked party in 3rd, is probably one of my all-time favorites.
5. Who was your teen celebrity crush?
In elementary school I figured I'd be unique and decided since everyone else loved JTT, I'd love Elijah Wood instead.

6. What show/movie did your parents not allow you to watch?
I really don't remember any. I do remember when I started watching Party of Five, after a few episodes my mom watched it with me to make sure it was appropriate for me to watch. (Which she decided it was.) But I'm guessing I just didn't have much of an interest in watching things that weren't child appropriate.

If you haven't linked up with Sunday Social, feel free to tell me your answers in the comments. And if you have, let me know so I can stop by!

Sunday Social (4)

Today we're having a little flashback with A Complete Waste of Make-Up's Sunday Social. I'm really looking forward to every one's posts this week to see just what you looked like when you were younger. So Let's get to the pictures!

1. What were you like in Middle School/HS?(pictures)
This is me, I believe, in 7th grade. The photo was taken by my BFF/MOH in the empty field by her house. Our houses were about 40 minutes apart but my parents made the drive over and over so we could spend weekends together. There were probably month long stretches were we didn't see each other, but once we had our driver's licences that trip got a little easier.
2. What were your favorite past times?
I spent most of my time playing soccer. The picture below is in 6th grade. Our team was called "No Fear" which my mom coached to a 6th grade finish. By high school I was playing club as well as at high school. The seasons in California meant we played year round. So club was in the fall, high school was in the winter, then club had spring season, consisting mostly of tournaments. Then in the summer I had both high school and club practices and games.
3. What songs were you obsessed with?(Backstreet Boys anyone?)
How did you know? Seriously, all you have to do is click on my music tag to see that I'm still Backstreet obsessed. I saw them in concert 4 times in high school, and would have gone a 5th time is that concert hadn't been canceled due to AJ being in rehab. The picture below is my BFF/MOH on the lawn on a Backstreet concert, I believe senior year of high school.
4. What fashion statement do you look back on and cringe?
Well I have no fashion sense now, so I definitely didn't have one as a teen. I remember one day in middle school putting on a pair of pants and my mom telling me they were probably too small and back in her day they would call them floods. Of course my mom had to be wrong and I told her no one used that phrase anymore. Of course come to find out middle school-er definitely still used it.

5. Who was your celeb crush?
Nick Carter, obviously. (See question 3!)

6. What were your favorite tv shows/movies?
I loved Part of Five. It was the first "grown-up type" show I remember watching starting in 4th grade or so. I watched every single season, and still remember being disappointed when in finally ended when I was in 10th grade. As for my favorite movies, they would have been The Little Princess and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers which are still some of my favorites.

If you haven't linked up with Sunday Social yet, you definitely need to so we can all share middle school pictures. And if you're stopping by here for the first time, be sure to say hi!

Shows Us Your Life: Children's Books

This weeks edition of Kelly's Korner's Show Us Your Life is favorite children's book. Growing up I enjoyed reading most of the standards. Series like the Little House on the Prairie, Anne of Green Gables, and of course if you grew up in the 90s, The Baby-Sitters Club. But my favorite series is unfortunately somewhat lesser known. (I only say unfortunately basic I think EVERYONE should have read them.)

I loved reading the Betsy-Tacy series. They're written by Maude Heart Lovelace, and they're similar to the Little House books since they are somewhat autobiographical stories of the author's childhood. The first book tell the story when 5-years-old Betsy meets her lifelong best friend Tacy. In a way the stories in this book are almost perfect for a 5-year-old. They're full little girl adventures, where they play dress-up, or paper dolls, or imagine themselves being able to fly like a bird. I'm sure any five-year-old would love having this book read to them, and my one regret is that I didn't discover these books until I was in middle school.

The reason I still loved these books, even though I was in middle school, is because the characters don't stay 5-years-old throughout. Each book they get older, and each book their world expends. Each book takes place two years later, until the high school years, which begins with Heaven to Betsy.

Betsy's high school years are pretty much my perfect idea of high school. As you would expect there's tons of boys, lots of parties, school dances, football games, and a sorority or two. Reading these books in middle school, I had only hoped I would have 4 years of high school just like Betsy's. Of course there's some heartbreak, as well as some friendships that turn a little sour, but it only makes it feel more real. What's more amazing about how much I identified and wanted to be Betsy, is that these books take place in the early 1900s. The stories seem so universal, that they could easily take place today.

Thankfully the stories don't end with high school graduation. The go on to take Betsy out into the great world, and finally end with her wedding.

I've read and reread these books so many times I can't count. I've even reread the Betsy-Tacy Companion, which is a biography of the author's life, but also shares pictures of the "real" characters and gives the truth behind a lot of the stories. The actual houses where both "Besty" and "Tacy" grew up are still standing, and have been turned into museums in Mankato, Minnesota. I've never been to Minnesota, but I desperately want to go someday if only to visit the houses. I'm really hoping that someone who reads this loves the books as much as me. And if you've never read them, I strongly encourage you to do so. I think it's practically impossible to read this series and not fall in love!

~Shoshanah

More Parade Fun

It's a Wednesday, so I'm participating in yet another week of Classy in Philadelphia's Where in the World Wednesday. This week I'm back in my home state in California.
To be more precise I'm in Downtown L.A. at Laker Parade. This was Summer 2002, just days after my high school graduation. The Lakers had just won their second championship in a row, and since I was officially done with school. So it seemed like a good time to celebrate. This was back in the days when Shaq was wearing the Laker purple and gold. (As opposed to back in the days when Shaq was wearing LSU purple in gold, in case you were confused!)

If you looking for more Where in the World Wednesday pots head over to Classy in Philadelphia. Or you can check out where in the world I've been here!

~Shoshanah

Show Us Your... School Pictures

No I'm not skipping work today. I'm actually taking my floating holiday, and I figured what better way to celebrate the start of my FOUR day weekend then by participating in Kelly's Koner's Show Us Your Life. This week's theme is school pictures.
I'm not a big fan of throwing away anything, which means I still have (almost) all my school ids. And when I say I have them, I mean I kept them in my wallet. So anytime I need a good laugh, or a conversation started I can whip them out and let everyone see me grow up before their eyes. And now you can too!
6th gradeThis might have been one of the last times my hair was short. And I rarely wore jewelry to school. I'm pretty sure I wore that necklace only for the actual picture.

8th GradeMy 7th grade ID seems to have disappeared. I do think this 8th grade picture might be one of my favorite ID pictures.

9th GradeThis was taken as registration instead of part way through the way like in middle school. High school also meant I would be going to school the boy I'd been crushing on all through 8th grade. So I went all out make-up wise hoping he'd see me. I think I might have overdone it a bit, at least for me.

10th GradeI took the opposite approach here. As in I'm too cool for school and really don't care how I look or what people think. Yeah... not sure that was the best approach.

11th GradeI do think this is a pretty good compromise between both 9th & 10th grade.

12th GradeThis pictures actually from about half way through the year. I thought I lot my ID so got a replacement. I think this is a pretty good picture of what I looked like on an average day senior year. And I did find the ID in my sweatshirt pocket about a week later. Not sure where it is now though.

CollegeI got to keep this ID picture for all 4 years of college. But the end I was a bit of a fan of how young and innocent I seemed to look in it. And yes, I do realize I'm not looking at the camera.

Grad SchoolThis is my LSU ID (if you look closely you can see an eye of a Tiger in the background). I used to love this picture, except for the fact that the color is fading! Umm... how does it happen that the color on my 6th grade ID is fine, but my ID from LSU which is less than 3 years old is fading? Anyone else see anything wrong with that picture?

If you're here from Kelly's Korner, thanks for stopping by! And maybe you'll stick around a while? Also, if you've had as much fun looking as these old pictures as I did, that's a lot more to look at, at Kelly's Korner.

~Shoshanah

Off to the East

You've probably noticed this, but the name of my blog is from L.A. to LA. But I've never actually talked about how I wound up moving from Los Angeles to Louisiana. So I figured I'd start that story, except I can't jump straight to Louisiana, because I didn't move strait from California to Louisiana.

I've already talked about going to high school in California. And I've said I went to college in Maryland. But never really explained why I took the first jump across country.

And honestly, for most of my life I expected to stay in California. Up through the start of my senior year of high school my number one choice for college was UC Santa Barbara. But by the time I actually started filling out applications I changed my mind, and decided I wanted to go to the East Coast. I'm not sure why I made the decision. I think part of me pictured the east coast as something similar to a movie college experience. I think the idea of being able to start over completely also intrigued me. There was also the fact that if I went to a huge Division I California state school I wouldn't be able to play soccer. And if I went to a small Division 3 school on the east coast I would be able to.

But since I had decided on the east coast so late in the game, I didn't do a lot of research. I only applied to two east coast schools. One that was kind of small, but a well known for its sciences. They other which was a tiny liberal arts school. Although thinking back, I might not have really decided for sure on the east coast until I had already applied. Its weird what you forget about 7 years. And crazy to think its been 7 years since I graduated high school.

But luckily for me, I got in to both of the east coast school I applied for. (I actually got into all of the California schools I applied to as well. Except for Berkeley, but I never really wanted to go there, so it wasn't a problem for me.) I'm not sure now I can pin point the exact reason why I choose the school I did out of those two. Part of it had to do with money as most college decisions do. Part of it had to do with the fact that I was assured a spot on the soccer team at one school. And the other part of it? I'm not quite sure what it was. But yes, I did pick the small liberal arts school, and I think it wound up being a better decision than I could have ever known at the time!

Next time I might have the next part of my journey. Or I might make you guys wait a little longer for it. We'll see... but while were on the topic, how did you pick where you went to college? Was it where you always expected or did you have a last minute change of heart?

~Shoshanah

Punk Rock Prom Queen

I know I don't normally post on Saturdays, but I was tagged by Amber to post my prom picture and couldn't wait! Of course it has turned into an ordeal since I didn't have any prom pictures saved on my computer and since my reformat I no longer had my scanner drivers on my computer. But thiry minutes later, here we go!

Official rules:
1. Upload your prom picture. If you don't have one, email your mom and have her send it to you.
2. Don't forget to include the year it was taken. Again, don't be shy. The older the better.
3. Grab the "Prom Queen" button on Jill's sidebar and add it to your post.
4. Copy and Paste the rules to your blog
5. Tag 5 others!

This is our officially picture. In case you can't read the picture it was May 26, 2002. Most of my group of friends went to prom without a date, Myself included. So we were all each others' date. We all went to Macaroni Grill before hand and then headed over in our chauffeured car together. And yes, two of my friends are wearing the same dress. We went to the outlets to shop and that red dress was on sell for around $20. They both bought the dress, but one of them wasn't planning on wearing it to prom. She was planning on having her mom make her actual dress, but those plans fell through. I on the other hand heard her mom was planning on making her dress, so decided to have my mom make my dress.


Here we are not too long after arriving. As you can tell we were a little early. We had prom at the Gene Autry Western Museum.

Which meant I got to take fun pictures like this one in the Wild Wild West! You can't actually tell by I am sitting on a saddle. The dress kind of took it over. They also had a stagecoach I wanted to take a picture in, but every time I went by it, they was a couple "occupying" it.

One final picture clearly from the end of the night. As you can tell by the nice shine on my face I had spent most of the night on the dance floor. I had a lot of fun at prom, and can't believe it was 7 years ago! Crazy how time flies by like that!

Now I'm supposed to tag 5 people, but this was so much fun, I want to see every one's pictures! I can't wait to see them all!

~Shoshanah

Green and Gold Forever

I had a completely different post in mind today, but after being on facebook... well, it took a turn. I do apologize, honestly, but I couldn't help myself.

I have an immense amount of what we called at my college, "home pride." If you asked me about where I was from I could go on and on and on. And if you threw my high school into the mix, well you were just asking for trouble. To start with a ridiculous amount of celebrities went to my high school. Let's see, there's Cameron Diaz, Billie Jean King, Chase Utley, Snoop Dogg, Tony Gwynn, and more.

Of course it's also a popular place to film movies. I know when I was their a friend a I stole a doughnut from the craft services table of the movie The United States of Leland staring Ryan Gosling. Also my drama class got to watch them film part of A Time for Dancing staring Shane West, Larisa Oleynik, and Shiri Appleby. And then there was the time after I graduated and I picked my brother up from high school and they had changed the name on the front in order to film Coach Carter staring Samuel L. Jackson. Haven't heard of those movies? How about American Pie, The Craft and even the movie Fired Up that's currently in theaters. All of those were filmed there too.

Plus they filmed commercials there too. I remember skipping soccer practice on day to watch Tiger Woods film a Target commercial.

Plus it has one of the top high school sports programs in the country. I know there's more football players from Poly than any other high school in the country. Our baseball field is the Tony Gywnn Field named after Tony Gywnn from the San Diego Padres.

Least you think academics are left behind, Poly has been on Newsweek top 100 public high schools numerous times. I know we were (and probably still are) the only school to be one of Newsweek's top academic schools in the country and one of Sports Illustrated's top Sports Schools of the country.

So what exactly brought on the awfully ego-centric post? Well a link to the football team's website. It's longbeachpolyfootball.com. Not hard to forget right. Well turns out Snoop Dogg actually recorded a Long Beach Poly song. How funny is that. I bet there's not a lot of high schools out there who can say they have a rap song.

~Shoshanah

P.S. Did I mention Poly's music department has won a Grammy?