In An Envelope…
Here’s a fun fact: my Mom is a scrapbooker. She’s a serious scrapbooker. She’s got the paper cutters, the corner choppers, the fancy albums and colorful background paper… there are stickers…. so so many stickers. She’s for real. Scrapbooking is the new rubber stamping. Remember the rubber stamp craze!? Yea, we’ve moved on. Scrapbooking.
I went to my parents’ house a few days ago to find these envelopes gracing the brick fireplace. The envelope in front had my name on it. I was hoping for an early Christmas stocking. Boy oh boy did I get it. Among other darling and embarrassing photos of myself, I found a chronological history of my school days. From preschool to high school. Every cute, awkward and downright horrifying picture.
Now. Because I don’t know any better. Because I’m certifiably batty… allow me to share with you preschool through seventh grade. The later, more awkward years will follow, and we’ll all cry.
Though she will deny it, my Mom gave me this haircut herself. I remember very well. Even at four, I knew how ridiculous I looked.
First grade. Somehow I think I rise above this bowl haircut.
Second grade. That tiny headband is failing…. big time. Nice frock. I would totally rock that these days. Is that weird? That’s weird.
Nice corner fading third grade! I feel like there are some serious adult teeth hiding out in that mouth.
Oooh yes. Full of teeth. You have to grow into your teeth. It’s true. It’s like puppies with big paws. Should I tell you how much I loved this Cinco de Mayo dress with matching hair ribbon? Yes. A lot.
Mixed girl hair is a hard thing. It wants to be curly. It wants to be straight. It wants to ruin your life. What are you going to do? Button your shirt all the way up and hope for the best.
a) Why do the school photographers make you look in the ceiling corner. It’s awkward.
b) I thought this shirt was so clever. I was right.
Oooh Joy . Triangle hair. So short. So much volume. I wish I could have gone back in time to tell you everything would work out ok… but the truth is that you’ve got some seriously awkward years ahead of you. Yeesh.
Enjoy the kitchen intermission. Laugh at me. Please… go on… laugh. If your Mom is a scrapbooker, you might not want to laugh as hard. Your time for an embarrassing envelope will come.
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This is so radical. Seriously, ranks up there as one of your best posts ever, in my opinion. :) I just got my own envelope a month or so ago – I think I might share mine, too!!
Thanks for sharing!! I’ve got plenty of those embarrassing photos too. For me it wasn’t the hair but the glasses. Oh my. ;-)
That polka-dot shirt with the flower fantasia… totally rocked the same shirt in my 2nd grade picture!
It’s so nice!
I would love to have a envelope! My mum lost all my pics … :(
Are you wearing 3 polo shirts in the 6th picture!!
You know what, your Mom is just like mine. She has shoeboxes of old photos and documents. I even found the hospital receipt from when I was born stuck between pages of a baby name book!
I’m the same now with my 4 kids (I feel old just saying that!). I’ve been storing printed photos in the hope of getting around to scrapbooking the heck out of them. However since I acquired a digital camera 4 years ago, all the photos are stored in the PC and I pray to God all the time that the PC does not crash!
You think you had it bad? My sister and I were dressed identically by our dressmaker mother up until the age of 11. Oh the shame!
Joy, you have the most gorgeous eyes ever. They pop out in every photo. Beautiful.
Oh I already have an embarrassing envelope…it was used for the picture slideshow at our rehearsal dinner. WHY is that the new craze???? EMBARRASSING!
Also, I may not be mixed, but I definitely got “mixed-girl hair.” I know how you’ve felt all your life, and probably still feel that way today. I do. My hair is a curse.
But where would we be without these things that have stitched us together and made us who we are today?
:D I think we all have pictures like that. Funny how you can see what decade the picture was taken just by looking at the clothing and hair. Oh, and I think you looked very sweet :-)
you are so cute!!!
I don’t think I have an envelope, wish I did though, wait, maybe I don’t!
Those embarrassing pictures mean the world to me today, it shows me, in a very strange way, how my personality really molded. It was so easy for me to walk out of the house in the most hideous outfit and think I looked beautiful, and was told so!
Being an adult is hard, I miss the embarrassing little me.
what fun for us joy!
these photos are great…thanks for sharing!
Ohmigosh these are so funny and cute. I love the first one with your frilly dress…lol!
I love them! And I distinctly remember having one of those half and half shirts when I was in junior high :)
Is it scary that I think I had the same shirt you did in sixth grade? I remember thinking how incredibly hip and in fashion I was. I also think that was the year I had The Perm. Took me years to grow out, and I’m so glad it did. Trust me, a perm and that shirt just should not go together in this universe. Maybe in another space-time continuum, but definitely NOT this one.
Thank you for sharing all of that awesomeness – I can’t wait for the next set of pictures!! :)
I too suffered through a bad case of triangle hair! There’s a reason I currently wear my hair up 99% of the time. Just yesterday, I was pondering a haircut. Thank you for reminding me why this is a TERRIBLE idea!
Your pictures are so very similar to mine…I, personally, like the suspenders circa 5th grade.
I wish I could go back and help my former self with my hair…so frizzy it is ridiculous. The girl’s now have Chi fever, so unfair ;)
Well, hello long-lost twin! Seriously, I wish I had my pictures to show you – we are total twins. Except I had this awesome scottie dog cardigan in red, black and white to go with one of my pleated skirts in 6th grade… that skirt was so stiff that when i got up to sharpen my pencil one day, it was flipped right up over my butt and I didn’t realize until the draft and giggles kicked in. Awkwardness… and thank God we grew into those teeth, right?? Great pics. :)
We all look a bit goofy in our grade school pictures. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for making my morning a little brighter. I remember my picutres that are just like that, not sure why the school photographer wants you looking into the corner, but mine all seem to be that way.
The mom haircut, is an experience that everyone should have, my mom almost cut my bangs completely off. She did leave some “fringe” though.
I love everything about it, and I commend you for sharing it with us. As a mom of a daugther with mixed girl hair, I feel your pain
Um…we should totally have a contest on the “Most Unfortunate School Picture”! Picture if you will a sweet girl made to look UP into the ceiling corner with what a boy would someday call a “pig nose on a human face” and then all the bright glare in her large framed glasses….oh and a pimple or two for color!
You looked adorable. So unfair. haha.
Ok, that was just way too adorable! Lucky you for being saved from the bowl haircut…some of us just weren’t as lucky.
Thanks for sharing :)
Your pics are so cute!!! My Mom made a bunch of my clothes when I was in Elementary & I can’t tell you how many Santa pics I have in a homemade frock. My sister-in-law laughs, I think it’s kind of sweet. I mean it was the late 70′s/early 80′s. We were all sporting the look =) Thanks for sharing!!
I love them!
My mom has my pictures all in a row behind each other in a frame… My kindergarten shot is me with tears in my eyes and I’m holding M&M’s for dear life. I guess I used to hate school pictures…but I’ve always loved M&Ms.
OMG! Joy I kid you not I had a shirt just like that poka-dot and flower shirt. Mine was a black sheer at the bottom. Was yours?
The horror! LOL
Very cute pictures!!
Joy, these are fantastic! Thanks for sharing :)
I had your 6th grade shirt too! I wore mine in my 7th grade pic. I also had the triangle hair, but with a perm. Ugh.
These pictures are great! I would too embarrassed to post my elementary/middle school pictures.
i so love all of these pictures!! and they both make me miss my own and happy that most of them have disappeared into the great wide somewhere.
my mom is more of an archivist than a scrapbooker. photos i save (lucky enough to have a 1918 photo of maternal side). school paperwork i got rid of–no point in hauling it around. my paternal side never had the wherewithal or inclination to document anything.
Wow Joy! I see I am not the only one who couldn’t outrun her mother running with scissors :o) I am older then you and had ‘the pixie cut’ the prelude to the mullet I think. At least you were allowed to pick out your own clothes! My mom made all of mine, including the baby blue corduroy hot pants overalls with the hand curled Xmas ribbon for a hairband. I grew into my teeth but not my nose :o)
Thanks for sharing! This is awesome! You’re so brave!
Oh these are great! Mostly because it reminds me of my own late-80s, early-90s fashion disasters. And I’m right there with you on the half curly, half straight hair conflict. It was The Haircut Of Fourth Grade that contributed to the demise of my semi-straight hair and plumetted me into years of battling with my hair dryer.
Thats probably more than you needed to know about my hair issues. Just wanted to return the favor and say thanks for sharing! :)
Adorable Joy! I love looking back at old pix…i always remember asking my mom, how could you let me wear that? The 70s/80s were a “fun” time…Thanks for sharing your pix.
Love this post! So funny…reminds me of MY grade school pictures :)
Bravo for sharing your elementary school pictures. I am not NEAR that brave. That preschool picture is just about the cutest thing I have ever seen… Mom’s haircut & all!
Oh I love it!! This was such a trip down memory lane. Those outfits and hair styles must have been required back in the day because I rocked some that were very similar. Impressed you had the courage to share.
Oh, I wish I could hug you! You are hysterical. And oddly, my triangle hair showed up at about the same time, though it was self-inflicted by excessively perming my naturally stick-straight hair. And with the huge turquoise circle earrings, the whole look really did wonders for my round face. Excellent.
You are seriously adorable in every single picture. I love seeing the progression. And Jr high age is just a hard time in life for everyone! You rocked it well.
“Button your shirt all the way up and hope for the best.” that is hilarious and quotable.
Awesome!!! Thank you for sharing :D
They are 100% awesome, really. That Cinco de maya dress? Love it. You are just too precious and those blue eyes of yours really shine through.
I had the big teeth too. Think I finally grew into them in my 20′s
OMGoodness, I was thinking the same thing about the corner stare. What were they thinking? And yes, the shirt was clever, but tell me, were you wearing the paton leather shiny lace ups? lol Trust we all have those pictures hidden somewhere under a floorboard to avoid situations like this. Unfortunately, my aunt like to hang hers on the wall of her stairs for all to see. I can still see that ugly apartment carpet looking background and that flip to the side that should have never happened. Thanks for sharing. Personally you adorable in the striped teddy bear photo.
Awww, tgose are really precious photos!And yes, we all have ‘those’ photographs :-)
Ha! One of my girlfriends once asked for a hair history. Mine is short because I’ve had essentially the same haircut forever. But this is priceless. Love the old school pictures. I had a shirt that said something about boys on it (it was some European brand) and I thought it was SO COOL. Just like my scrunchy. And my supercurly bangs.
Seriously, my seventh grade photo is identical: fuchsia t-shirt, necklace with charm, and triangle hair. Suddenly at puberty my hair decided to transform from wavy to curly, and I was unprepared. :) Let’s see, it would have been about 1988?
Lovely – thanks for sharing! I too had a “clever” shirt like yours in one of my school pictures… probably around the same grade. I like your style :)
Your pictures are adorable and you appear to have never had that “ugly duckling” stage like many of us did. Cute all the way!
oh man these are awesome. I have equally funky teeth and frizzy hair but with the unfortunate addition of HUMUNGO glasses. my parents hated me, for sure. :)