When I was a tween...

So I understand that it’s been a disturbingly long time since I’ve written a blog entry (so much so that my old blog account was deleted!) In my defence I’ve been busy...and perhaps enjoying the summer break a little too much. But the New Year is now upon us, so no more excuses.

With my uni graduation ceremony looming I’ve been quite nostalgic, reminiscing about times when life was simpler and my biggest worry was deciding which Spice Girl was most like me (it was always Baby Spice). I’m talking about my ‘tween’ years, a time when life was filled with primary school crushes, friendship clubs and Leonardo DiCaprio (Titanic was huge at that time, and needless to say, Leo was the man every tween wanted).

Nowadays, my tween years are mostly reminiscent of Spice Girl sing-alongs, knickerbockers and, most importantly, the iconic Sweet Valley High books. Sweet Valley twins, Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield, were my idols throughout those ‘angsty’ tween years and I devoured each book with greed. I had always envisioned myself to be more like Jessica (or so I hoped), the fun, ‘pretty’, fashionable twin who loved to party. But, now I’m older I can definitely make connections with Elizabeth- smart, sensible and an aspiring journalist. For those of you who have never heard of the books I probably sound like a slightly strange girl who likes to make friends with fictional characters (this is not true). For those of you who have, you will probably understand my excitement when I say that mastermind behind the series, Francine Pascal, is set to release ‘Sweet Valley Confidential’, where readers can ‘get to know Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield at 27’- counting down the days is an understatement.

The reason for my excitement is simply the fact that the book represents another time in my life, my pure and unbridled days as a youngster. With the demands of university, work and stress it’s sometimes hard to savour every moment of our days, knowing we will never get them back; but it’s the sweet memories that are all we need. Maybe you had a favourite song you listened to when you were young, a film you regularly watched, a place you visited? Whatever it is, I urge you to take a step back in time and release your inner-tween. As for me, I’ll be eagerly awaiting March 29 and the chance to reacquaint myself with the Wakefield twins...