Lunch on the Lot with Long Lakers

E, Me and L -- mini Long Lake reunion in The Valley.

Over the past few weeks my camp friends and I have been having lots of mini-reunions. Anyone who knows me knows how I feel about Long Lake Camp. Long Lake changed the course of my life. . .on more than one occasion.

I made my best friend in the world there and she set me up with my husband nearly a decade later, which was over a decade ago.

It was at Long Lake that I finally felt part of the "in crowd," after years of feeling just a bit left of center.

My first summer at Long Lake was 1990. I was 14 and it was the summer before my sophomore year in high school. A month prior I had been elected president of my school's S.A.D.D. chapter for the following school year. It was not common for a sophomore to be president of a club at my school. I was nervous and not sure I was up to the task. And then I headed off to Long Lake.

I have many memories of my times at Long Lake. My earliest memory was meeting my friend A (whom I have recently reconnected with on Facebook) at the bus stop on the Jersey Turnpike where we were picked up by the camp bus. My friend N (who I have recently reconnected with out here) was the bus counselor and she was just getting over chicken pox. I don't think my parents were thrilled about that. My second earliest memory of camp was going down to the waterfront for my swim test and seeing a pretty blond girl in a white long sleeve S.A.D.D. T-shirt. I took it as a sign: Long Lake was the right place for me and I would be a good S.A.D.D. president. The pretty blond girl was L.

My time at Long Lake gave me tons of self confidence (for all of you who think I have too much, you can take it up with Mainhouse!). I returned to high school a different person -- a person I liked much better.

This past week the Long Lake resurgence continued and I got to have lunch on the Warner Bros. lot! I am not embarrassed to say that I thought it was really cool! Here is a picture of me and N and our friend B (who is in town from NYC editing a film) at the WB restaurant.


Tonight the whole LA Long Lake crew is getting together for Sushi to see B off before he returns to New York. I can't wait!