You ready for some fun?!
As I mentioned last night, I spent some time yesterday afternoon over at my parents’ house. Over the weekend, my brother moved out into an apartment, which meant that he was no longer living in my old childhood bedroom (he took it once I moved out because it was bigger and better, mwahaha). My parents wasted no time in getting to work on cleaning out the rest of the room, and oddly enough, came across a bunch of stuff that was mine.
Apparently, I missed quite a bit when I left?!
I was getting a kick out of looking through everything, so I thought you guys might too.
As soon as I came across my box of lanyards and beads, I immediately wanted to start making friendship bracelets again. Who else jumped on that bandwagon back in the day?
That was such a fun hobby. Don’t be surprised if I’m making new ones by the end of the week.
One thing I was surprised to come across…three pairs of almost brand new shoes?!
The pairs in the middle and on the right were actually shoes that I wore when I was in the Miss USA pageants years ago, so they aren’t really a big deal since I have no idea when I’d wear them again.
But THESE?! How the heck could I leave these behind?
My only guess, if memory serves me correctly, is that they’re extremely uncomfortable. That’d be a bummer.
Another awesome find was this Tignanello set…brand new, never used wallet, coin purse, and mini clutch. It was like CHRISTMAS!
I’ve actually been in the market for a new clutch too, so this was a fantastic find.
There were also a few more random finds: elementary school books I wrote and an Ernie doll (Ernie is the jam. I have over a dozen different dolls of him…somewhere).
My wedding jacket (loooooove this thing).
A children’s book I wrote and illustrated while in college.
This was probably one of my proudest projects during my whole college career.
A bunch of my old CD’s…with everything ranging from Mariah Carey, to Eve6, to Ruff Ryders. I loved it all…or I just tried to fit in with everything.
My old modeling portfolio, with plenty of photos that totally made me laugh.
Random newspaper articles I was in, either for bowling or modeling.
Including this one, which cracks. me. up. One time, and one time only, I convinced Jay to do a few photos with me for an article. Everyone gave him SO much slack for it, and my dad had a little fun “decorating” the paper for him. It was so funny…and I’m sure once he reads this I’m going to hear about it. 
And then, there’s a look into the ‘ol high school years.
My varsity and JV letters for volleyball, softball, and bowling.
Scrapbook photos…sophomore year volleyball and a winter dance (yikes, that makes me cringe! haha)
Prom photos…Jay’s junior prom on the left, my senior prom on the right.
And some senior yearbook photos.
Gosh, it can be so fun to look back, can’t it? I still can’t believe it’s been 10 years since I graduated from high school. That is just crazy to me. I still have all of this stuff sitting in the trunk of my car, so once I get that out later today, I’m sure I’ll be looking through it all again…and then I have to find a place to put it all. Wish me luck.
*****
Breakfast this morning was quick and easy.
Pumpkin spice English muffin with peanut butter, pumpkin butter, banana slices, and chia seeds.
Never gets old!
Questions for the Morning:
- How long ago did you graduate from high school?
- If you could go back to high school for a week, would you do it?
2002! And heck yes! I loved high school :)
What great finds, Courtney! It’s great to stumble upon old photos, yearbooks, and newspaper articles–talk about a blast from the past. I graduated high school in 2008, which means my five-year reunion is coming up soon. Crazy! Although I had a great HS experience, I wouldn’t want to go back. Each year keeps getting better and better! :)
Haha I had just mentioned on your last post that I’d hoped that box was full of string for friendship bracelets! Now that I see it’s full I’m super jealous!! Make some :)
I lovedddd friendship bracelets! Makes me want to go back and find my box full of string and beads. :)
oh my gosh, our friendship bracelet making kits are MATCHING.
Ahh I love looking back through old stuff… The prom photos and yearbooks get me every time!! I love that you were a bowling champion?! And the old modeling photos are awesome…I think hairstyles are often the best part of photos to look back on!
i loveee looking back at that stuff! You look so different in your modeling pictures! It’s awesome you and Jay have been together for so long. What a great way to look back and see how far you have come! (:
I love to look back through my room at my parents’ and reminisce! I would definitely do high school again, but this time I would be myself 100%, not get so caught up in teen drama, and enjoy every moment because it really does go by so fast!
Freakin’ hilarious…. Courtney’s Candy Corner? What is that story about! ;)
Hahaha…my sweet tooth started young ;)
I totally made those bracelets too! I graduated in ’02, and I would go back for a week but only if it was softball season ;) Preferably playoffs!
I was right about the friendship bracelets!! :) Oh, man! Now I want to make one!
I could get lost for hours looking at old things that bring bak memories!! Love it!
I’ve been out of high school for 10 years too! Speaking of which my reunion is in 3 weeks! Yikes! No, I definitely wouldn’t want to go back to high school. I’m glad to be out of there. I love looking back at old memories :)
I love all the old high school dance photos! I’m pretty sure mine are all still packed away at my parents house, too and I’m perfectly ok with them staying there. :)
I graduated high school in 2002. Can’t believe it’s been 10 years! And no, I don’t think I’d want to go back. After all, I didn’t even make it back for the reunion.
Looking back is always soo fun! I did that this weekend too at my grandma’s! I had so many of those friendship bracelet kits — those should be a thing again :)
I graduated from high school in 2011, but sometimes I wish I could go back just for a day. But then I remember how much I hated parts of it, and am thankful I am in college now ;)
I graduated in 2003, have my 10 year next year (gah, hard to imagine). Would I go back to high school if I had the chance for a week? Only to see some of my favorite teachers, otherwise, I keep in contact with the friends from high school I want to, and have no other interest in high school anymore, lol.
awww I love looking back at old High School stuff! I was so awkward back then hahaha love it ;)
It’s been about 6.5 years since I graduated high school. I love looking back (and it was fun looking at your high school years!).
I tooooootally got into the friendship bracelet-making… but mine was not nearly as fancy as yours!
the only thing i miss about high school is no responsibilities! :)
I graduated in 06′ – but i remember high school like it was yesterday. Or the lack of me going (I skipped school…. A LOT!)
I swear I think you look just like Minka Kelly! Especially in some of your old pictures!
Haha, I love it when you say that! I don’t totally see it, but I’ll still take the comparison any day ;)
This is too fun! Reminiscing always me smile :-)
I was just doing the same thing last week when I got a bunch of emails about my 10 year HS reunion! Uggh…where did the time go? It amazes me how much younger we looked in photos from those years!
As much as I loved high school, I don’t think I would ever want to go back! It’s so cute that you and Jay have been together for SO long-that’s rare these days!
oooh were you blonde back then?
I love looking at old high school things but mostly when I do, I cringe at letters my friends and I used to write each other! Being best friends for life seemed a very important statement to make!
Haha, I sure was. Washed my face out somethin’ fierce! ;) lol
What a fun post! Now I want to go clean out my old closets and see what I can find! I used to have a ton of CD’s! Nsync and britney spears were at the top of my list for music ;)
Oh my goodness! Shoes, a clutch, etc. Wow! That is an awesome surprise! :) Enjoy!
Thanks for sharing all your old stuff. The children’s book was especially sweet to look at.
And it seems like you carried your bubbly-ness from high school to the current day! :)
Awww, thanks Natalia! :-D
I absolutely love going through pictures/yearbooks/momento’s from high school. They make me laugh — I graduated high school six and a half years ago. Freakin’ scary.
THis is too cute! Modeling and bowling… What a funy combination! I love going home and looking through my old things. Total trip down memory lane! I went through the friendship bracelet phase too. That lasted about a week for me. Have a wonderful Wednesday :)
A bowling model? That is the best combo ever :) I loved high school. I graduated in 2004. It honestly seems like just yesterday.
LOL! Now that you mention it, that is pretty cool ;)
SO many memories!
I love looking back at stuff like this! I had no idea you modeled?! How cool!
I graduated in 03 baby
Oh girl, you’re talking to the friendship bracelet QUEEN right here! I used to bring in-progress bracelets everywhere I went– including school. Come to think of it I should’ve stuck with it a bit longer– I could’ve made some mulah ;)
I graduated from high school in 2006 and I would not go back. I absolutely hated high school and even graduated a semester early just to get out of there. I would go back to Jr. High though. 7-8th grades is where it’s at!!
And now in my final year of law school I still make friendship bracelets. Although, I think I may need to lose my attachment to them. I’m sure my clients will put more faith in me when my wrists aren’t covered with frayed rainbow thread and beads :p
That. Is. AWESOME. :)
I would love to go back to high school for a week! I would really enjoying playing on my old high school soccer team again!
1. I’m actually graduating high school next May.
2. I’m going to answer this question as if I want to add an extra week to my high school experience, and I’m going to have to say NO. I like where I am, but half of my class doesn’t treat me with respect even though I’m nice to everyone. I can’t wait to never see the majority of the people ever again-except for the little amount of friends that I have, and some days I feel like I don’t have any at all.
I was totally just thinking about friendship bracelets the other day! I had the same beading container…haha! I graduated 15 years age….yikes, but it almost seems like yesterday. It was fun, but no way am I going back.
it has been 14 years since i graduated HS….
my mom recently found a bunch of stuff i left when i moved out…i may be taking atrip down memory lane soon myself!
I want to see more old photos! They seriously do not look like you at all! You should share some of your pageant photos!!
Haha, I’ll have to see what else I can come up with. I definitely did look a bit different – the blond hair helped with that ;)
The colour you have now really suits you! Hard to tell from one photo, but you do really look so different!
Courtney –
I found your blog about two weeks ago and have checked in daily ever since. I love your recipes, workouts and awesome positive attitude. I have been wondering lately…. What is the deal with Chia Seeds? I have never eaten them before. Thanks!!
Hey Lindsey!
Chia seeds don’t have much of any flavor to them, but they do have plenty of nutritional benefits! They’re a good source of fiber, protein, and essential fatty acids (omega-3s). They also contain potassium, calcium, iron, phosphorus, and manganese, and have a high concentration of antioxidants.
Hope that helps! Thanks for checking in! :)
Thanks Courtney! That totally helps! I just added them to my grocery list, can’t wait to try them out.
Ahhhhh all that friendship bracelet string!! Friendship bracelets are my JAM. I spent two summers + one week as a camp counselor, and I’d churn out friendship bracelets like it was my job (which I guess it kind of was, really, especially when I was making them for campers). I always mean to work on bracelets when I’m not at camp, but I have a hard time working up the motivation to make one for some reason or another.
I graduated from high school in 2008, which doesn’t seem that awful until I realize that it’s been FIVE YEARS since I was a senior. And then I look at old high school pictures and think I look soooo young (or rather, I look soooo old now. Haha). Growing up is the weirdest.
This post is so much fun. I graduated in 2002 & the remnants of those days back at my parents house look pretty similar to yours, though I’m pretty sure any shoes I left behind have been snatched up by my mom by now. :) I actually have my high school yearbooks here with me & love to browse through them every once in a while. Even more embarassing than the photos are the things people wrote to me! So many inside jokes that I’m thankful my parents had no clue about!!
Oh my stars, it was 12 1/2 years ago! Oh geez, that will bring ya down a notch! Loved the trip back in time!
Love this! So fun (and sometimes embarassing!) to look back at old stuff! I graduated in 2004, but I wouldn’t go back to high school! I TEACH high school, so I think I still get my fair share of the experience.
Were you ever in travel league for bowling on Sunday mornings around the Capital District? I did it for a couple of years and was also on Ballston Spa’s bowling team, lol. Small world. ;) Hope you’re doing well girlie.
Haha, no way, really? I never did the travel league, but I did bowl for Columbia for 5 years! :)
Yeah this is so weird but cool lol. Did you know an Angie Downey? I think that was her name…I bowled against her a lot. On my Saturday league I bowled at Burnt Hills for years then BSpa then back to Burnt Hills. My dad still keeps tabs on high school bowling haha!
Yeah we were on the same team, haha
My mom always said *I think as motivation, ha* that the best part of cleaning was finding gems *like those!* Great finds, ha!
When is your 10 year reunion, or has it already happened? Are you./did you go??
It’s actually later this month, but I’m not able to make it.
Mine was the same day as my 50 mile race on October 6 so I missed it. They had it at the Saratoga city tavern. I feel like you don’t even need a reunion w Facebook now lol. I still cannot believe it’s been 10 years though!
I love how you were a bowler and a model – that is an awesome/slightly hilarious combination.
I have mixed feelings about high school…some elements of it were awesome, some weren’t. (I graduated in 2007). I do miss field hockey though! I was the captain my final year and I had a fabulous time playing.
This was so much fun to read! I have the same Ernie doll… yep, he is the bomb!! I think you HAVE to do a post about your modeling and pageant career, now :)
Hahaha it’s nonexistent now…and I’m a-okay with that! ;)
I think a post all about Ernie would be fantastic…..I might be able to come up with a couple you could use for pictures!!!
LOL now that would be pretty funny!
I graduated in 2009, and I will be graduating from college in May! Ahhh! And yes, I think I would go back to high school for a year. I would love to tell my high school self that some of the things I was so focused on back in the day truly won’t matter a few years down the road.
Haha thanks for taking us back through your past- it’s fun to reminisce and remember the good old days!
I went through this a bit when I moved back home a couple months ago. Cleaning out some stuff in my closet definitely brought me back. And the pictures from a fashion show I did were just HILARIOUS – I was so awkward. ;)
I loooove when I finally take time to go through some old things because I always end up stumbling upon so many things that bring me back and make me smile!
And I have to say I’m so impressed by how organized your friendship bracelet string is! Mine never looked that neat.
Ahhh I still have my string box, too! Made SO many friendship bracelets, and every time I stumble upon the box, I think, “hey, I should put these to good use!” Maybe I should finally follow through! (Or just give it away haha one or the other)
I’m a little late to the party, this week was a pretty busy week ;) But I have to say, your high school classmates had it correct- you are the BEST for the category of ‘Most Likely to Brighten Your Day.’ I swear you have the best personality…and this is all from knowing you online :) You always make me smile when I read your posts, and they brighten up my day!
Awww, thanks girl!
Or should I say…new mommy to an ADORABLE little girl! :)
Courtney – do you remember where you got your wedding jacket from? I’m getting married in a few weeks and am looking for something similiar. Thanks!
ebay!