Do-Over Anyone???
Recently, Ivy (of Ivy Reads) asked me to do a guest post about my 21st birthday for her month-long 21st birthday extravaganza. Okay…yeah. Here’s the thing, my 21st birthday was seriously unremarkable.
I thought about just lying, because, hey, I’m a fiction writer, it’s what I do. But then I decided it would be better to be brutally honest. The problem is that my 21st birthday was so unforgettable, that even I don’t remember it! So my response was something like, “Can I just do a post about how I wish I’d celebrated my 21st birthday? Kind of a do-over post???”
And after putting myself back into my 21-year-old mind (a somewhat frightening place to go, actually), I came up with this:
My 21-Year-Old Do-Over
Okay, so my 21st birthday was lame. Super lame.
How do I remember? Well, that’s just it. I don’t. I’m sure I didn’t do anything…you know, other than popping a bowl of popcorn in my ginormous 1989 microwave and watching a VHS tape of Back to the Future while the clock struck midnight without so much as a Woot Woot!
Yeah…I know.
So what would I have done differently, you ask? (Psst, pretend you just asked me.)
Just imagine it:
First, I’m totally decked out in my Madonna wear (head to toe). Okay, so yes, she’s recently changed up her look and now she’s all Blond Ambition, but I’m not buying into it just yet. I’m still the Like A Virgin Madonna
with my bangles and headbands and leggings. And lace. Oh My God, lots and lots of lace!
I. Look. AWESOME!
My girls (this is before they were called peeps) and I hop into my sweet 1987 Nissan Pulsar, the white one with the plush maroon interior, and head out to the club. We blast a little Straight Up by Paula Abdul. (She’s no Madonna, but she is #1 on the charts, so she’ll do.)
The line at the club is long, but since we look so fly, the bouncer lets us right in. Posers and skanks are SO hatin’ on us, but we totally don’t care.
Inside, we beeline straight to the bar and order our first real drinks. (Okay, our first legal drinks.) I try a martini. Sure, it looks cool, but GRODY! I drink it anyway because I can’t afford to waste it. I only have ten bucks (I’m 21, what can I say?).
When we hear our song: Borderline, by who else? Madonna! We all squeal (cuz that’s what girls did…and still do!) and run to the dancefloor in a cluster. We look the part and dance the part. We ARE the part! For five short minutes, we are the closest to Madonna we will ever be.
By the end of the night, I’m sweaty, my feet hurt, my eyeliner is so smudged I look like a raccoon, and I’ve learned that my favorite drinks are Bartles & James wine coolers. (Okay, that last part I might have already known.)
Best 21st birthday do-over ever!!!
Man, even in my do-over I’m a dork…
So, what about you? What did you do for your 21st? (Or if you’re not 21 yet, what do you plan to do?)
I thought about just lying, because, hey, I’m a fiction writer, it’s what I do. But then I decided it would be better to be brutally honest. The problem is that my 21st birthday was so unforgettable, that even I don’t remember it! So my response was something like, “Can I just do a post about how I wish I’d celebrated my 21st birthday? Kind of a do-over post???”
And after putting myself back into my 21-year-old mind (a somewhat frightening place to go, actually), I came up with this:
My 21-Year-Old Do-Over
Okay, so my 21st birthday was lame. Super lame.
How do I remember? Well, that’s just it. I don’t. I’m sure I didn’t do anything…you know, other than popping a bowl of popcorn in my ginormous 1989 microwave and watching a VHS tape of Back to the Future while the clock struck midnight without so much as a Woot Woot!
Yeah…I know.
So what would I have done differently, you ask? (Psst, pretend you just asked me.)
Just imagine it:
First, I’m totally decked out in my Madonna wear (head to toe). Okay, so yes, she’s recently changed up her look and now she’s all Blond Ambition, but I’m not buying into it just yet. I’m still the Like A Virgin Madonna
with my bangles and headbands and leggings. And lace. Oh My God, lots and lots of lace!
I. Look. AWESOME!
My girls (this is before they were called peeps) and I hop into my sweet 1987 Nissan Pulsar, the white one with the plush maroon interior, and head out to the club. We blast a little Straight Up by Paula Abdul. (She’s no Madonna, but she is #1 on the charts, so she’ll do.)
The line at the club is long, but since we look so fly, the bouncer lets us right in. Posers and skanks are SO hatin’ on us, but we totally don’t care.
Inside, we beeline straight to the bar and order our first real drinks. (Okay, our first legal drinks.) I try a martini. Sure, it looks cool, but GRODY! I drink it anyway because I can’t afford to waste it. I only have ten bucks (I’m 21, what can I say?).
When we hear our song: Borderline, by who else? Madonna! We all squeal (cuz that’s what girls did…and still do!) and run to the dancefloor in a cluster. We look the part and dance the part. We ARE the part! For five short minutes, we are the closest to Madonna we will ever be.
By the end of the night, I’m sweaty, my feet hurt, my eyeliner is so smudged I look like a raccoon, and I’ve learned that my favorite drinks are Bartles & James wine coolers. (Okay, that last part I might have already known.)
Best 21st birthday do-over ever!!!
Man, even in my do-over I’m a dork…
So, what about you? What did you do for your 21st? (Or if you’re not 21 yet, what do you plan to do?)
Comments
Me? I watched Grease with my mother and father, then went for a drink with my ex fiance. He proposed again and I said yes (32yrs wed). If I had to do it again I wouldn't change a thing!
Aw, Glynis, that's the sweetest 21st ever! Congrats to both of you!
I was living at the beach working for the summer, and my parents came down to surprise me. They took me out to some fancy seafood place and I ordered my first glass of wine, which I could not drink because I didn't like it at all. How that has changed!! :)
I like your do-over. Old Madonna was very cool.
I'm in England, so had been 'legal' so to speak (!) since I was 18, but my friends and I still did the night in style! Our bartender stopped serving gin and tonic to ANYONE in the bar after about 10pm, as he realised that they were ALL being bought for me! At least someone was looking out for me! It was a good thing I was already in my 3rd year at uni, and had already built up some semblance of a a drinking tolerance!
Funny thing is, I don't remember much about the day AFTER my 21st...
Heidi - Isn't funny how our tastes, um, mature. I remember liking white zinfandel...with ice cubes. O_o
Louis - That's the rub, isn't it? You get the great 21st, and the next day(s) a blur. LOL!
Excited to know that I also turned 21 in 1989--not sure why that excites me, but good to know I'm not the only one who turned 21 in the 80s writing YA!
I spent my 21st birthday at the Hard Rock Cafe in Boston with some good friends. I remember we had Hurricanes and I took home a fancy glass. Beyond that I don't remember much...