Unlike many Harry Potter fans, I didn’t try to read the book in one sitting. I slept and I ate and I showered. I even put it down for several hours on Saturday evening when I joined up with friends in Alhambra to celebrate Chispa’s last night out as a single woman with dinner, drinks and dancing.

It was the perfect evening, mainly because it felt so, so… well, 1999. I felt like we were back in college at one of the many Raza Grad fundraisers held at a local club. That sense of déja vu might have come from the similarity of the music, lots of 1980s British pop and New Wave-infused rock en español with a smattering of recent music like Peter, Bjorn and John’s “Young Folks.”

Of course, it wasn’t 1999. We’re no longer 19. We can buy our own drinks — and we bought plenty of them — and don’t need to bug one of the older students for a ride to the club. Then there’s the simple fact that the 2007 group of dancing girls is different than the 1999 group of dancing girls. No one has been replaced, but some of the girls were out of town.

Yet some things remain consistent:

1. At the end of the night, I’ll regret my decision to wear the cute heels.
2. Chispa is still one of my best friends and I love her tremendously.