Reliving the 80s

Once a year, Yam gets to take a guest to a party. This party is for county workers (and their plus one). It is the county's way of saying thank you. Last year The Colonel was Yam's guest and I was her guest this year.

The county parties are thematic. Last year's theme was Hawaiian/Tropical and this year's theme, The 80s.

Yam and I went shopping a couple of weeks prior to the party. We hit all of the local Goodwill stores, looking for anything that might simulate a 1980s outfit. Yam asked me what kind of things we wore back then. I told her I remember we wore everything big: big eyeglasses, big hair, big shoulder pads and big earrings. It has been nearly 30 years since the 80s ended and frankly, even though I lived through them, I had to Google 1980s fashions to jog my memory. I was a teenager (19) when the 1980s commenced and a young adult (28) in their final year.

Google searches showed lots of neon colors and leggings. There were also slouch socks and white Keds. It was all coming back to me.

Yam found a cute neon top to wear with her leggings and I found a cotton sweater with bright colors. I also found some jewelry to accent my costume. My slouch socks ended up being Dr. Scholl's socks from Wal-Mart (good thing I could use them later with my current clothes...my feet are nearly 30 years older now).

I showed up early at Yam's house so that we could do our make-up and hair. I had gotten a large can of Aqua Net hairspray so that we could "cement" our hairdos in place once we had them the way we wanted them. I wore my hair short in the 80s and have never been one to mess with my hair much, so it was a bit of a challenge to take my hairstyle back in time. I tried to help Yam with hers too but my skills are nearly non-existent. Even when Yam was a little girl, my skills pretty much extended to ponytails, braids and barrettes. Thank God Yam was not a girly-girl (I never was either).

We looked 80-ish enough by the time we headed out the door.

We arrived at the event center where the party was held. Yam pulled out the tickets as we walked up to the check-in table. These characters welcomed us.

After check-in, we walked into the huge room where the party was taking place.

The room was filled with large, round tables, two food lines, a coffee/dessert table, a dance floor and a photo area. On each table were items from the 80s: Rubik's cubes, Pop Rocks candy, funky eye shades, glow-in-the-dark bracelets to mention a few items.

Yam and I stood in line to get our pictures taken. We did not know the camera was already taking our picture, so in the first photo you can tell we were not ready with a smile or a pose.

There were many women dressed as Madonna, a man dressed as Crockett of Miami Vice, men with mullets and even a man dressed like Prince (or is it The Artist Formally Known As Prince?).

After we ate our dinner of fried chicken, roasted veggies and ma'n'cheese bombs (little balls of fried mac'n'cheese...yummo), Yam and I hit the dance floor a couple of times and even joined the Conga Line that was led by Beetlejuice. Later we had ice cream and a cookie. I also had some delicious coffee.

We shared our table with two other county workers and a spouse. One worker happened to be the woman who runs the county's historical programs that The Colonel and I volunteer for (she brought her spouse) and the other worker was the county historian. We had a fun time together.

The party lasted until 10 p.m. but Yam and I, as well as our table mates, called it a night before that (heck, 10 p.m. is when I get into bed for the night...remember I am no longer the young adult I was in the 1980s).

Yam and I had a great evening as we ate, laughed, talked and danced. It is spending time together like this that makes me very happy and grateful to have Yam living so close to us.