Totally Rad Like, For Sure 90s Week: The End

First of all, I want to address today's date.  Nine years ago today I sat in the principal's office as a senior in high school and saw on the news one of the Twin Towers on fire from a plane crash.   Moments later we watched the second plane hit, and my tiny little naive 17-year old world was suddenly a lot bigger and a great deal scarier.  We will never forget the innocent victims and the men and women who died trying to save them.  God bless the families and loved ones, and GOD BLESS OUR NATION.  We need it.

Well it's been a fun flashback week.  Thanks for all of the comments, guys.  I'm glad to know y'all enjoyed the walk down Memory Lane as much as I have. 

To end this totally rad week, I'm leaving y'all with one of the best YouTube videos on the 90s I could find.  It's basically the 90s in a nutshell.  Enjoy!

Also, I LOVED when VH1 did "I love the 90s" specials, and I found a video of every intro for each year from the 90s.  Check it out if ya feel frisky.

Have a great weekend!  I have two exams Monday so you won't be hearing from me until next week!

Hasta la vista, babies. 

Totally Rad Like, For Sure 90s Week: Day Six - The Fads

Alright, it's

and so far this week we've covered the dances, the movies, the music, the clothes, the tv shows, and today - Day Six - we're going to talk about the fads.  That's right, every crazy fad I can think of - both awesome and ridiculous. 

Ready?  Here we go...

Koosh Balls

I had a teacher who stole these from students and used 'em as stress balls.


Trapper Keepers (Also, Lisa Frank stuff)

Also had the stickers, pencils, erasers and folders. 

Pogs

I was AWESOME at pogs.  I had super-cool slammers that were metal and had 8balls on them.

Beanie Babies

All I wanted was one with my birthday on it.  Did they have one?  NO.  Stupid beanies.

Doc Martens

I just HAD to have a pair of these after a friend of mine went to Paris over the summer and came back with a pair. 

Push Pops

I was more of a sunflower seed and laffy taffy kind of kid.

Polly Pocket

Didn't have any of these.  Too many tiny pieces to deal with.  Plus we had dogs that liked to chew small toys. 

Thighmaster

I thought she was cool because she was on that show Step by Step.

WWJD Bracelets

Had one of these in just about every color.

Troll Dolls

I've already covered these.  My sister had them, and they creeped me out.  Evil little dolls with crazy hair.  (I suspect that they are the cause behind the belly button piercing craze.)

Slip n Slides

The most awesome thing to do in the world.  Well, other than putting Dawn on the trampoline and hosing it down.   (I can't believe I never broke a bone as a child.)

Fanny Packs

Thank God my mother never bought these for us.

Skip-it

I was the champion of skip-it.  I could do like 500 skips in a minute.  Oh yeah.

Those weird pacifier necklace things

I never understood this one.  I did own one, though. It was blue.

Slap bracelets

Yes.  These were almost immediately banned from school due to the whining of wimpy kids being slapped by other people. 

LA Gear light-up shoes

I totally had a pair of these for basketball season.

And we can't forget the catchphrases that took over our vocabulary....

DID I DO THAT?

Whatever.

Did I forget any? 

Totally Rad Like, For Sure 90s Week: Day Five - Television

Yes indeedy, it's Day Five of

and it's all about the television. 

The 90s were a great time in TV land.  There were feel-good family shows, dance shows, aliens, beach babes running in slow motion and teen dramas.  Reality television was introduced to the world, and people tuned in to see if they could help solve mysteries, see the craziest 911 calls and watch five strangers forced to live together on MTV.  You know, back when it was cool to stay home and watch TGIF. 

The 90s were a great decade to be a kid, because the entertainment bigwigs decided kids were a profitable target audience for fashion and trends.  Shows about kids and teens ran amok, molding our young impressionable minds.  There was My So-Called Life, Blossom, Clarissa Explains It All, Boy Meets World, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Sister, Sister and Daria, just to name a few.  A few shows lingered from the late 80s like Saved By The Bell, Family Matters and Full House. 

Nickelodeon made bank on SNICK at night and shows like Legends of the Hidden Temple, Secret Life of Alex Mack, All That, Hey Dude, Pete and Pete, Rocko's Modern Life, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Double Dare and GUTS. 

There were some really great adult shows, and I often watched prime time TV with my mom when I was younger because I thought it made me cool.  We watched Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, ER, Walker, Texas Ranger, Seinfield, Home Improvement and Frasier.  There was one short-lived prime-time soap we watched called "Savannah" that only ran for two seasons, but my mom, sister and I loved it.  This was a WB show, and speaking of which, the WB was THE channel to watch in the 90s. 

The WB brought us shows like 7th Heaven, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dawson's Creek, Felicity and Charmed.

Finally NBC, ABC, FOX and CBS got the memo and started adapting their shows to reach younger audiences.  Shows like 3rd Rock from the Sun, Friends and Party of Five drew in both adults and teens. 

To discuss cartoons of the 90s would take days (and I do mean DAYS) to cover, simply because there were so many awesome cartoons that I loved.  Some of the cartoons I remember are Gummi Bears, Darkwing Duck, Pound Puppies, Gem, DuckTales, Doug, Tiny Toon Adventures, My Little Pony Tales, Captain Planet, Beetlejuice, Garfield and Friends and Rocko's Modern Life.

How I miss those awesome cartoons.  At least some of them still air in reruns....I love having my kids as an excuse to watch cartoons again!

Oh and no, I didn't forget Fraggle Rock.  I just hated that show.

What were your favorite cartoons/shows?

Totally Rad Like, For Sure 90s Week: Day Four- The Fashion

Welcome to Day Four of

Today when we look back at 90s fashion, we cringe (especially those of us unfortunate enough to have been old enough to really be into the fashion back then).  However, at the time we thought we were the coolest things since sliced bread and no fashion era before had ever been as good.  Sheesh...

The early trendsetters of the 90s were the kids of 90210 and Saved By The Bell. 

The  jeans, spandex shorts, off-the-shoulder oversized shirts and big hair were all the rage.   For some unknown reason some fashion person (who should be shot) thought girls looked good in floral-print/tribal-design blazers.  Ugh.

This poor girl wore nothing but blazers for that entire show.

There was the long-sleeved plaid shirt tied around your waist look.

Oversized shirts pulled into that weird circle thing.

Let's not forget the Hammer pants.

Basically, it was all just awful.  Then there was the hair....

In the early 90s when grunge was still fading out, the general hairdo for both men and women was long and board-straight.  Then came hairspray and teasing.

The bigger and frizzier it was, the better.  Even guys rocked the big hair.

Of course there was also the mullet and a brief (thank God) appearance of the rat tail.

Then, thankfully, the mid-90s gave way to straight and sleek, short and chic. "The Rachel"  became the most-requested hairstyle in salons all over the US thanks to Jennifer Aniston.

We can't forget the ever-important hair accessory of the 90s:

Scrunchies

Thankfully movies like Clueless came out and pushed fashion in a new - and MUCH improved - direction.

Thank you, valley girls.  Thank you.

Totally Rad Like, For Sure 90s Week: Day Three: The Music

This is the one a lot of you have been most excited about.

We all love music, and the 90s provided a plethora of great hits, as well as some really awful ones. Although the songs that hit #1 on the charts varied from Wilson Phillips to Tupac, a review of the Billboard charts shows that the 90s were basically dominated by Mariah Carey, Madonna, Boyz II Men and TLC. To select all of the number ones would take all day, so I've decided to list a few of the most popular hits of the 90s. Some of these are songs I still love and some of them I never liked, and never will.

Paula Abdul - Opposites Attract

As a kid I thought this video was awesome. Paula dancing with that cartoon cat who rapped: greatness.

Madonna - Vogue

The queen of reinvention topped the charts for weeks with this hit.

Blackstreet - No Diggity

I remember being a tween and my mom overhearing us singing this song and asking, "What exactly does 'no diggity' mean?" Haha

Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit

I know this was supposed to be like a youth anthem, but I really just never cared for it. Sorry Kobain lovers. I preferred "Come As You Are."

Sir Mix-a-Lot - Baby Got Back

Big-bootied girls everywhere embraced this song as their own personal theme song.

Hanson - Mmmbop

Ugh.

Counting Crows - Mr. Jones

I never understood why that guy's hair was like that. Good song though.

Spice Girls - Wannabe

Although the Spice Girls fad was short-lived, it made its mark. Over and over again. I've seen this video more times than I ever cared to.

Right Said Fred - I'm Too Sexy

I still think one of the funniest thing in the world is watching a grown man dance to this song.

Lisa Loeb - Stay

Seemingly shy little glasses-wearing Lisa Loeb had a huge chart topper with this one. Then she disappeared.

Montell Jordan - This Is How We Do It

I hate this song, but at the same time I love it. Just me?

These are just a few of the hits that topped the charts throughout the decade, but here's a compliation of a few more for your enjoyment:

Check back tomorrow for Day Four of Totally Rad Like, For Sure 90s Week: The Fashion!