It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years since I graduated high school.
The year was 1994:
- Ice skater Nancy Kerrigan is attacked by Tonya Harding’s bodyguard
- Pulp Fiction, Forrest Gump & The Lion King were in the movie theaters
- Ace of Base, Celine Dion and Salt-N-Pepa topped the charts
Yes – I feel old. It was so exciting to get to go back and not only see friends I haven’t seen in years, but it was also great to travel to Chicago with my husband and without my children!
We arrived Friday night and got a chance to catch up with some college friends in the burbs. The weather was perfect, the public transportation was on time and there was even a “Blooze Brothers” band playing at a street festival. All the things I love about Chicago.
The Blooze Brothers in Arlington Heights.
Amy and Bill – our Chicago friends!
After a quick night of sleep, it was off to good old Northbrook to take a tour of our high school. I attended Glenbrook North High School. One of our most famous alumni is John Hughes. The film maker hated his GBN experience so much that he made his whole career making movies about how much it sucked. You know those movies as The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and others. Ferris Bueller was actually filmed at our high school. It’s our little claim to fame, and we’re damn proud. It was also the setting for Mean Girls, FYI.
The high school is even more impressive then when we attended. Much of it’s the same, so much has changed. It was great to see, and if I had the money to move back, I would just so that my kids could be spoiled rotten.
After the tour, it was off to our favorite lunch spot, Little Louie’s where I had the usual, a hot dog and a green river. This is also where I got one of the best surprises ever! When I was little, I had a best friend who lived right behind my house. But when she was five, her family moved away to California. We have not seen each other a lot since, obviously, due to distance. So imagine my surprise when I look up from lunch to see her standing in Little Louie’s! Meredith’s basically, exactly the same as she was when we were little. Still loving horses, totally stylish and one of the prettiest people I’ve ever met in real life! So great to have the “original three” back together again!
Missy, Melissa and Me!
After catching up for hours, we finally went downtown to the reunion. I’m happy that I’m pretty good at peer pressure and made many people show up to the main event. We had a blast! So great to see so many people and fun to play the game of…who is that person? I was thrilled to find people I didn’t expect to be there and so happy to reconnect with some really good friends.
I made a video for the event – which didn’t really play nicely in the venue. But whatever, that’s what YouTube is for. Check out the video here:
We even hit the after-party – which is so very unlike me. It provided some great stories and wonderful memories. In short, we had a table overflowing with food and alcohol and no idea where it came from. We didn’t pay for it, and I’m not sure I even know the person that paid the bill. That my friends, is a good time.
Thanks for all of my friends who I pushed into going. I think we all had a great time and we cannot make it until 20 years without seeing each other again!
