We Are The 80's

When one of my sister's best friends officially invited me to her 80's-themed 30th birthday bash through Facebook, I was totally in. Are you kidding me? Pass up the opportunity to dress up? Never! Plus, I already had a costume.

Personally, I hate 80's music. Maybe hate is too much of a strong word. I should say that I don't care for it. But it's not my fault that I don't appreciate synthesizers and electronic music in American pop music. I grew up with Mexican parents. I am the eldest of two daughters who had no outside musical influences. As far as I knew, Los Temerarios, Bronco, Lucerito, Juan Gabriel, Luis Miguel, Ramon Ayala, Pedrito Fernandez, Antonio Aguilar, Vicente Fernandez, Tatiana, along with everyone else who appeared on Siempre en domingo, were the only artists in the world. As a matter of fact, sitting at JT's party (short for Jackie T., only because my sister is also named Jackie and I'm trying to eliminate any confusion), my sister confessed to claiming that Spanish music was better than English music to a classmate in elementary school. That's how culturally segregated we were.

 

It wasn't until we got to middle school that Jackie and I began to listen to what our friends were, which happened to be L.A.'s KROQ and Star 98.7 radio stations. That's right. We turned out alternative rock chicks. I was in love with Third Eye Blind while Jackie lip-synched to No Doubt's "I'm Just A Girl" during a lunch competition one day. So even though I was born in the early 80's, I'd much rather put on a 90's themed birthday bash for myself. Plus, nothing  more comfortable exists than loose jeans, Dr. Martens, and of course, a plaid shirt tied around the waist.

My friend took me back 20 years recently when I modeled this for her Etsy shop.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/LaSophia

Although not a fan, I was ready to get into character for this party. The only thing missing was a hot pink lipstick which I had seen on a colleague. When she told me she'd gotten it at MAC, I lost interest. Not only am I frugal (nice word used by my coworker rather than calling me cheap) but had no intention of hitting up a mall before the party just for a lipstick. So I headed to Kmart instead and found a Wet N Wild one for a buck. My hair was another head sctratcher since it's short. Last year I was able to put it up into a side pony tail. My plan was to ask my mother to braid it into five cornrows so it would get that popular 80's crimped look. And when JT sent out a message asking for music requests, I was not without a list. I asked for Timbiriche and Flans. I almost added El General but didn't know if it was early 90's and was too lazy to check. I was ready for the shingid despite my lack of knowledge of eighties pop culture.

Before...



...After.

On me:
Dress- bought off the clearance rack from a chinito store in East L.A.
Leggings- V-generation
Shoes- BCBG from Macy's clearance (gift from Sophia), $22
Lace gloves and headband- Claire's
Earrings- neighborhood 99 cent store
Bracelets: Jackie

On Jackie:
Dress: Forever Twenty-One at Buffalo Exchange, $10
Shoes: Marshall's, also BCBG. What a coinkydink!
Tights, red feather earrings, and headband: Berkeley boutique
Rosary: neighborhood 99 cent store
Necklace: Ex-boyfriend.

JT lives in a common L.A. street--narrow with cars parked bumper to bumper. You have to be a parallel parking expert if you want to find a spot, which I am not. This is why my dad volunteered to drop us off on his way to his work holiday party. Also because JT lives about five blocks away and close to the freeway he had to take to get to his festivities. I didn't like the idea at first because I knew we were going to come home late. But he was right when he said that I'd probably be circling around for a while before I found a space. He didn't want us walking the streets late at night in our hooker attire and neither did I. So I let Jackie make the final call on his offer since it was her friend's bash we were about to attend. Jackie warned him that we might come home at one, two, or three in the morning and my dad said, "Just call me." With a consensus made, Jackie and I were dropped off by our mommy and daddy.

"Don't drink," my mom said as we got off the van.

"We'll watch you guys go inside," said my dad.

I couldn't help but laugh at their childish concern for us.

I had eaten a sope before getting ready but I was already starving. Luckily, JT's kitchen was covered in food. I grabbed a Styrofoam plate and filled it with a fried chicken leg, which I never crave, pasta and potato salad, and a small bag of Flamin' Hot Cheetos. Gosh, how I craved Cheetos. They were my appetizer. I downed my food with orange Sunkist and then I ordered a Desert Sunrise that I never finished. I even filled up my red plastic cup with more Sunkist after dancing for a while. JT had covered the tables in candy. After a Sugar Daddy, Fun Dip, Blow Pop, gummy worm, and countless other sweets, my tongue burned. So I turned to Ruffles and Doritos with dip. The only positive about my food consumption was that I might have been able to keep my weight steady by dancing throughout the night. With the exception of the five jello shots I had on the dance floor, that is.

How cool is this cake, huh???



Neons, very 80's

Awesome decor

JT's mom ran the bar

Oh, yeah...

I gots skillz...and a good model.

JT got Jackie the flight tickets so she could be there for her birthday on her birthday. Confusing? Nah. 

I won a raffle! For the first time in my life, I'll hit up a Jamba Juice thanks to JT.

Bday girl, nervous after her speech

Besties since middle school

Go, Jackie! Go, Jackie! A shout-out to each of them. 

The night ended for us at 2am. The drunk girl who made her way inside the house to puke had already left, I think, only leaving the gay drunk guy that JT maintained upright like a crutch. I called my house, told my mom that Jackie and I were ready, and waited for my dad on the sidewalk. When the van arrived, I laughed at the sight of my mother in the passenger's seat. I hadn't expected her to get out of bed and come with my dad. But I knew she was curious to see if we were drunk and we disappointed.

Getting picked up by my parents at the ages of 29 and 30 was a little embarrassing, I will admit. Jackie and I were never in that situation in our teens. Rather, we were told to put our homework away and go to sleep because it was late. It's never too late, though, to act like normal teenagers instead of bookworms.

P.S. Happy Birthday, Rider Strong. After all these years, I still remember...