1. The fashion trends

Abercrombie and Fitch polos were THE "in thing", neckties were used as belts with shiny pants, jeans were too low, and camo was plastered on ev-er-y-thing. You had a burning desire to bedazzle all your accessories if they weren't already. Juicy Couture tracksuit pockets held frosted lip glosses and tinted shades, pant legs stuffed into ugg boots. You envied anyone with a Von Dutch trucker cap or a Tiffany bracelet. Scrunched-up popcorn tops that fit in your hand were all the rage, paired with Ed Hardy sunglasses.
You would have given anything for a chance to raid Rihanna or Christina Aguilera's closet. Can't forget the eyeliner. So. Much. Eyeliner (for all your Myspace posts of course). The rise of pop culture created many fashion subcultures like never before, dominated by socialites like Paris Hilton and bands from Destiny's Child to Paramore. Thankfully only some of these trends have made a comeback, and we haven't seen low-rise jeans for a decade.

2. The technology

Do you ever have flashbacks of the Windows XP sound just before logging in to play Neopets or to download the new Fall Out Boy album from LimeWire? But definitely not without that atrocious roaring static noise emitted during the process of logging on to the internet.

You saved up your money to buy more Webkinz. Maybe you remember calling your friends with your blinged out pink Razr flip phone or Blackberry to plan a trip to go shop at American Eagle of Pac Sun. The excitement of being on your crush's Myspace top 8 list. If you weren't as lucky, you carried around a bunch of CDs and a clunky CD player. The anticipation of waiting for your vacation photos to be developed from your disposable camera. It was a time of technological experimentation, which you were happy to be a part of.

3. The music

"Can I make it any more obvious" that the pop-punk anthems of Avril, Good Charlotte, My Chemical Romance, Green Day, and Fall Out Boy were inescapable, along with energetic pop music also dominating the charts? The Black Eyed Peas, Gwen Stefani, Britney Spears, and Maroon 5 invaded the radio and pop scene. Silky voices of Usher, Rihanna, and Beyonce revolutionized the R&B scene, later to be altered with the introduction of autotune. Coldplay, The Fray, The Plain White T's, and James Blunt all gave a warm fuzzy feeling to the alternative music world.

Everyone and their brother started doing the 1,2 Step in 2004 and was cranking that Soulja Boy by 2007. You knew how to do the Cupid Shuffle or Cha Cha Slide in your sleep. These dance trends were spread through social media websites and through the emergence of YouTube, which allowed music and people to be connected like never before.

4. The TV and movies

There was something so exciting about strolling down the colorful aisles of Blockbuster, or hearing "Yep, That's Me" from the "That's So Raven" theme playing from the TV in the living room. MTV gave us the gem and time capsule of "My Super Sweet 16", making American teens envious everywhere with the lavish parties. You wanted to be best friends with Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie on "The Simple Life".

"High School Musical" was the inspiration for birthday parties and sleepovers. "Drake and Josh" provided endless jokes and references. Girls wished they had the exciting pop star double life of "Hannah Montana". Kids woke up extra early to watch their favorite cartoons on the Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, or Cartoon Network. Any girl wouldn't be able to deny her love for "Mean Girls" or "Legally Blonde" or reality shows. TV and movies, or just any pop culture, in general, make the early 2000s pretty dang memorable and nostalgic, and you can't help but get a theme song or two stuck in your head.