Close your eyes for just a moment. Imagine yourself in an old familiar place that you haven’t visited in quite some time. Here the sound of the water fountain and smell the cookies baking in the distance. Sounds of people passing by and the swish of the bags they carry come to your ears. Open your eyes and look around you. It’s the late nineties and you are in the mall on a random Saturday with your friends or family.

Let’s go pick out a new CD and with the latest technology you are able to listen to the CD before you purchase. The CD store looks like a scene out of Empire Records with the baggy pants, wallet chains, Doc Martins, spaghetti strap shirts, and plaid, lots of plaid. After picking out the latest Green Day CD, Nimrod, you head to Spencer’s to check out the weird and inappropriate merchandise which is thrilling as you know your mom doesn’t really approve, but she did buy you the green lava lamp for Christmas. Time to restock on your Sun Ripened and Raspberry lotion and body wash at Bath and Body.

Younger you beg for a trip to the “Hello Kitty” store. You would have sold your soul to Satan himself if he promised to buy you something at this store. It was that good. Maybe you are getting your ears pierced for the first time. Claire’s is the perfect spot for this coming-of-age occasion. The flower power earrings and Ying and Yang jewelry beckon you-you wish you were a hippy chick, but you are only 12. You beg your mom to buy the dress from World Winds, for your inner flower child. Your sister’s style is more the Limited. With school shopping in mind, your mom takes you to Parisian’s, McRae’s and the family favorite Gayfers, in the other mall. Calvin Klein jeans are on the top of your list and New Balances if your mom agrees. Your lunch plans include Picadilly to get some jello or Quincy’s across the street for an all you can eat buffet!

Maybe you are visiting the mall that has the movie theatre with the photo booth right outside of it. I remember the sweater I wore the first time I saw Titanic in that mall theatre. It was a black turtleneck with a white stripe going across the chest. Your sister actually took a picture with you in the photo booth and let you borrow some of her perfume for the occasion. You wore the Matchbox 20 CD out on the way up there and back, memorizing every song.

A trip to the mall was also an award, a field trip for making All A’s. $20 could purchase you several items and with money left to spend at the arcade which later became American Eagle, where all the cool kids bought their summer shorts and tees.

A day or evening spent at the mall represents a simpler time, a childhood now 20 something years ago. The feeling of new clothes and laying them out to wear to school was one of pride. Carrying the right bag with the right purchase in the mall gave a teenager or pre-teen a sense of elementary empowerment. The mall represented freedom for older teens who could spend the day and meet with parents later.

Now days shopping online has replaced this feeling. I do like the convenience of Amazon, online shopping, and things like After Pay but sometimes I’d like to transport back to time when the University Mall was the new mall, and you could still catch a movie at the McFarland Mall. CD players were the latest thing, and CD stores made you feel ultra-cool. You didn’t have a diet to think about so Great American Cookie and Sbarro were perfect choices.

I’ve officially become old and wish for the good old days. I have no regrets as my childhood was pretty awesome despite the angst, hormones, and general awkwardness.

I just wish the real world would just stop hasslin’ me.

Check out this flash back photo. The posters are from Spencer’s. Did you notice the phone with the cord? Middle school me in a hand me down collared shirt from the Limited.