1. Immediately grabbing a JanSport when picking out a new backpack...
2. ...unless you went for a clear option — which meant you had to obsessively pre-select all the items you would put in it.
And of course, aside from having to constantly worry about everything looking good inside it, you also had to worry about it turning yellow quickly.
3. Picking out the perfect day planner.
Of course all this really did was serve as your address book and hold all the wallet-size group photos your friends had taken at the portrait studio in the mall.
4. Getting several of these bad boys in order to decorate your locker, book covers, or folders with:
5. When it came to folders and binders, you were all about Five-Star...
6. ...or the clear slip-front binder, 'cause it REALLY let you make it your own.
7. Attempting to re-create the back-to-school style, hair, and makeup tips that looked cool in Seventeen, YM, and Teen.
They never were as easy to duplicate as they claimed — totally the Pinterest of its time.
8. Going to the drugstore to carefully pick out your new mocha lipstick and lip liner...
9. ...as well as stocking up on the new Revlon Street Wear nail polishes and eyeshadows.
No one needed to know that it wasn't Urban Decay.
10. Of course you also HAD to pick up one or two flip glosses...
11. ...and some Binaca — to keep your breath fresh around your crush(es).
12. Begging your parents to get you a TI-83 graphing calculator.
13. Or trying to get your parents to concede that you NEEDED a beeper.
14. Carefully selecting which teen heartthrob cutouts and cool magazine ads you were going to decorate the inside of your locker with.
Then having to put them all together in a properly arranged collage.
15. Taking a thumbtack and scratching out the face of a former friend, and then hanging the photo in your locker as well.
It sent a ~subtle~ message. Plus, you looked good in the photo — why would you throw it out?
16. Stocking up on oh-so-pretty Gelly Roll pens...
17. ...~edgy~ pencils...
18. ...and colorful pencil grips.
19. Selecting some cute pencil toppers to accessorize your new pencils with.
20. And, of course, getting a cool pencil case to put them all in.
21. Thinking you were going to be hot shit with your wild-colored hair mascara highlights:
Even though you knew all it really did was get flaky and make you look like you had blue dandruff.
22. Making sure your face was first-day-back ready by scrubbing the shit out of it with Sea Breeze...
23. ...wiping your makeup off with these...
24. ...and using goopy green facial masks.
There are probably still some dried out fallen flakes of the Body Shop Tea Tree Face Mask hiding in the corner of your parents' home.
25. Finding the perfect chunky shoes to go with your outfits...
The chunkier the better.
26. ...but also finding a way to wear this classic a few more times before it got cold.
27. Having to make the crucial choice about which rubber band color(s) you were going to get on your braces at the orthodontist appointment before your first day back.
28. Making several important back-to-school clothing shopping trips to the mall with your friends, and then with your parents.
And, of course, having at least one argument with your parents about something they refused to buy you.
29. Accessorizing with rings, necklaces, chokers, and earrings from Claire's.
Could never have too many.
30. As well as some essential hair clips...
31. ...and headbands.
32. Picking out what your new signature scent should be.
"OK, Sun-Ripened Raspberry is going to be my daily day scent, and Gap Dream is my night and weekend scent."
33. The thrill of CALLING the Delia's number to place your order when your parents agreed to get you stuff.
And, if you did get something, praying that it would arrive before school started. Or worse yet: the gutting disappointment when something was backordered.
34. And finally, the stress of having to figure out what your first-day-back outfit would be.
