When we moved all our stuff from our little apartment into our new home I was given the opportunity to reminisce as I sorted through closets and old stuff. At the back of the closet and under a bunch of stuff was my high school yearbook, which I hadn’t opened in years. It made a crinkled sound as I opened it’s cover and for an hour I didn’t move as I read every single entry from old high school friends. Class of 1996! Woot!

Out of two hundred of it’s pages, there was one photo of me, with long blond hair and tiny pearls. Fake pearls I probably bought at some cheapie store in the mall. I am not a girl who wears pearls and never was. I wore this ugly satin black shirt which my mom made me wear, because all my other stuff was too hippy or not appropriate. I waited in line for my turn, sat for what felt like 2 minutes and then it was done. It was like getting a shot. I look sweet and all, but I pretty much look like the girl above me and I am wearing almost the same shirt as the two girls on either side of me.  I don’t see the real me in that picture, I just see a girl blending in.

Even back then, I knew that I wanted to have a senior portrait that was different. I wanted a senior portrait that showed off the real me and one that was authentic. It was my senior year for goodness sake! I was going to UCLA! I wanted to have a senior portrait that celebrated this exciting time in my life. I wanted a collection of photos, not just one, that revealed who I was in that exact moment, happy and excited about my future.

So my friend was dating this older guy named Gunner who was a photographer. I thought it would be fun for us to all go out and take some photographs. I drove out to Hollywood. Natalie blew out my hair and did my make-up. I brought a whole duffle bag of clothes and we had so much fun putting together outfits that would work well for the camera and showed off my style. And I had a blast! I felt like a model for the day.

We took these first ones in a parking lot! So cool. I can’t believe how much body my hair had back then.

And then some outfit changes to show off my sweet side. 

In the end, the photo from the yearbook people was never purchased by my parents. But a decade and then some later, they have these bad boys up on the mantle. Oh yeah! Now that’s how I want to be remembered!