The Predicteds Tour: Teenage Garage Sale

I am so excited to be apart of The Predicteds by Christine Seifert blog tour which is hosted by The Teen Book Scene 

Christine is here with us to do a Teenage Garage Sale post. For those of you who don't know, a Teenage Garage Sale is an author guest post about items you'd find at their garage sales/items from their teenage years. So take it away Christine...

If you happened upon a garage sale filled with memorabilia from my teen years, you'd find plenty to laugh at. Come on in and take a look around:

1. A Toni home perm
I was a teenager in the late 80s and spiral perms ruled the world. Salon perms were the best, but home perms were cheaper. The only problem was the horrible smell and the awful feeling you got when your scalp began to burn. Price: $8.99 (Warning! May cause your hair to fall out of your head.)

2. My awesome stretch pants and oversized shirts
Before leggings were called leggings, they were stretch pants (or stirrup pants if they had those weird foot stirrup thingies), and we wore them all the time in the 80s. Big, baggy shirts were the best, preferably in neon colors. When the early 90s hit, we swapped the neon cotton for worn-out flannel. Price: $25 (Hey, these are collector's items.)

3. My cassette collection
Before CDS, we had tapes, which we played on walkmans and ghetto blasters. I didn't have an extensive music collection, but the ones I had, I loved to death. Favorites included Whitney Houston, Madonna's True Blue album, El DeBarge (won it from a radio station), Bon Jovi, and Poison. I listened to all of them a million times. Price: FREE! (You'll never find a place to play these things.)

4. My Judy Blume book collection
I've always been an avid library patron, but I had a few books that I owned and cherished. Judy Blume was a childhood favorite. Blubber (I read it until the cover ripped off) and Superfudge were my absolute favorites. Even after I grew into a be-permed and neon-clad teen, I turned to these books often. They are still comforting to me. Price: On Display Only (I couldn't bear to part with those.)

5. My swimming suit
I've always loved to swim. Back in 1988, when I was in junior high, I spent every glorious summer day at the pool. My swimming suit was basically my uniform. I got a new one every year (a beginning-of-summer rite of passage), but I was in love with the one from 1988: It was a purple one-piece with black polka dots, but it had a section cut out of the middle. It was almost a bikini, which made me feel very sophisticated. How I loved that thing. Price: Seriously? You want to buy my old swimming suit? Gross.

6. My 80s-tastic hair assessories
I don't have long hair anymore, but when I did, I spent a lot of time selecting just the right hair accessories. Scrunchies were an absolute necessity; they were especially good for holding side pony tails. Primary-colored clips were really popular for a while (they basically looked like the clips you use to keep your potato chips fresh.) You wore them on one side of your head, so you looked like you had a giant plastic tumor. Banana clips were awesome because they showcased perms so well-it looked like a beautiful curly horse's mane down your back. All of this required loads of hair spray. Price: $1 (This stuff will come in hand for your next 80s-themed party).

7. My Cabbage Patch Kids
Okay, so I wasn't a teen when I got my first Cabbage Patch doll. I was probably six. It was the year that everybody was fighting for these ugly little dolls (which were later featured on stamps), and I didn't think I'd get one. And then there it was, under the Christmas tree, my very own baby from the cabbage patch, complete with a birth certificate. Her name was Inessa Bella. She had red hair and wore a beautiful yellow dress. I still have her. Price: $10 (Just give her a good home. She lives in a box in my basement now.)

8. My Kmart name badge
I got my first job when I was sixteen. I was a checker at Kmart. I was pretty impressed with myself. I mean, running the cash register felt so grown up! I saved my name badge because it was the beginning of my working life. Years later, I still credit that job with teaching me a lot about what it means to be a part of a team. Price: $2 (I won a customer service award, indicated by the name tag, so I have to up the price. This is valuable, people!)

9. My friend Camille
The primary staple of my teen years was my friend Camille. She's still my bff even though we live a thousand miles away from each other. I know you can't really sell a friend at a garage sale, but the garage sale wouldn't be complete if you didn't get a chance to see Camille, truly the most important force in shaping my teenage self. You should go up to Camille and ask her about the real dirt on me. Price: Priceless

Thank you so much Christine, you make the 80s sound like so much fun! I grew up in the 90s and am still living my teen years but I will always remember those snap bracelets and plastic chokers.