Holding On To Eighteen (As Long As I Can)....

I swear to you, I feel like it is 1988 all over again...I have been having so many deja vu moments these past weeks it is incredible. It all started with one of those "Getting to Know Your Friends" questionnaire emails that my friend Kathleen sent over. You know them, they ask things like: "What are your favorite names?" (Elizabeth, Timothy and William, of course) and "Have you ever loved someone so much it made you cry?" (Yes...everyday)...And though I blow off answering important emails on a regular basis, when it comes to silly, inane chatter, well that is my specialty. And who am I kidding, I love seeing what my friends say and gauging their reaction to my snarky answers. So....the one Kathleen sent asked that you answer the questions as you would have as a high school senior...and I couldn't resist for a second. A sampling below:

Its Friday night...where were you? Party at Tom O'Neill's house

Were you a party animal ? Well...I was in that crowd

Were you considered a flirt? Probably

Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? God no

Were you a nerd? Uh...come on...no...

Where did you sit during lunch? At the cool table

If you could go back and do it again, would you? Definitely

Do you still talk to people from school? All the time

Of course my husband made fun of me as soon as he saw my answers...rolling his eyes at my supposed Mean Girl past...Come on, it was the 80's...we modeled ourselves on one-dimensional John Hughes characters. At any rate, I know I am not alone in this bizarre flashback world that we all live in now thanks to...well, many things, I suppose. We can google pretty much any bit of information we desire on anyone or anything...and email makes us feel as though we are 

close intimate friends with people we never see or truly don't have cause to know very well at all...and hell, this blog is out there for the world to see as I recount my memories and share my thoughts....But the biggest culprit of all, for we children of the 80's in particular, is the new addiction...put down the Vicodin, it's all about Facebook.

Over the past few weeks I have been "friended" on Facebook by so many blasts from the past that my head is spinning. The old Franklin Lakes crowd found me month

s ago and then it all ramped up with the Academy of the Holy Angels girls...there are at least 50 of us all connected now by this cyberspace phenomena. And we are commenting everyday on each other's "status" and family photo albums. And it is kind of nice as adults to interact with people who share that common bond from back in the day...getting demerits for slouchy socks...Lyncher jumping into the Math Club yearbook photo every year...the lunch ladies mixing coleslaw with their hands...parking on that patch of grass in the middle of the back parking lot....the guys from Bergen Catholic picking us up at dismissal taking us on joyrides, burning gas....the good old days. And then all of a sudden, I started connecting with the extended group from the Bergen County private school network, our social circle, the regulars on our high school party scene...First it was Cha Cha Muldowney and then it was Annie B. and DPM followed by Tram and Seany and Danielle P....and now the memories are swirling in my brain.

So I found that all of my friends here in town (who are also my Facebook "friends") are experiencing the same thing. ADP told me last week that she found herself running home after drop off to see if any of her Ramapo high school posse had posted vintage photos on their profile in which she is featured. And Sam told me over margaritas and champagne at The Brick House last Friday that at this rate she fully expects to start hearing from her nursery school classmates next...and you know she is right on. So I wondered if possibly there is something else at play here. Is this reconnection really just our last grasp at those days, that feeling...the glimpse back at who we were...almost a championing of our teenaged selves, giving them one last shot at righting all the wrongs and showing our "friends" how much those days meant to us? I'd like to think so.

Or are we just a bunch of overgrown 18 year olds? Yes! Definitely...I have no doubt. That fact is evidenced by the state of the social scene here in Wyckoff where it is no longer ok to just have a party...forget cocktails and cheese puffs out on the deck, if you are going to invite the neighbors over, you better kick it into high gear. Now, my group of friends here have been known to partake in juvenile behavior like drunken cannonball contests (Joe takes it every time...) and late night trampoline-ing (Nancy deftly out-jumping the rest of us every time...), but late this summer we were all treated to an event that could be described as nothing less than the ultimate teenage fantasy kegger at Wendy's house....The backyard was covered with sand, tiki torches lit the yard, there was a barbecue pit, bartenders, frosty drinks, beer everywhere. The best part was the stage and a kickass bar band -- The Flying Mueller Brothers -- with their long platinum blond, 80's hair band tresses and bongo drums and classic rock covers. My friends and I ran around in flip flops, sand in our toes, downing keg beer...singing along to the music at the top of our lungs, Suse and I being snapped relentlessly by the official party photographer while her husband, Scott, jumped around to that House of Pain song Jump Around...jump! jump! jump! And it went all night....I eventually walked home alone, leaving my husband behind boozing it up with his buddies....just like I would have at age 18.

And it's not just me and my friends going at the season like we are starring in some suburban version of Old School (we're streaking!). Everyone I know is going hardcore these days...you know, there are grown men partaking in 12-hour long Boston College football tailgates -- I get a contact hangover just hearing about it...And Suse's Scott, is taking it to a new level -- a loyal Penn Stater, he and his college buddies have rented a house in State College where the debauchery will be in full force 'round-the-clock this weekend as Penn State plays Michigan State (Paterno's last game????)...And then, word came late last week that some kickass party across town featured the neighbor ladies on a stripper pole and late night Jersey-centric hot grilling of Taylor Ham, Egg and Cheese sandwiches. Impressive! Now that's the way to ramp it up, people....

This past weekend a group of us met for a seemingly adult cocktail party at K & J's...it was a smaller crowd, but a close-knit group of friends (Gwen, by the way, sporting the hottest pair of fantasy shoes this side of Milan...). So in this group we are familiar with one another, no pretenses...sort of like it was back in high school when you and your immediate group of 20 or so would gather and say "it'll just be us tonight". We chatted and laughed as we cracked into the wine selection and sampled the delicious appetizers....and of course Suse broke out the fondue pot (bringing back the 70's....love it!! By the way, we are pretty sure her babysitter is starting to think Suse has a bong hidden in that fondue pot box....) and we discussed the basic tenets of fondue etiquette with Tim, who termed the whole process an "intimate dining experience"...Well, you know, you are supposed to kiss the person to your right if you lose your food in the pot...So it was that comfort level that also allowed us to slip into our high school personas...eventually a few of us girls strayed into the back room and begged Barry to play DJ so that we could dance around in a circle, holding our beers, hugging one another and laughing...the rest of the guys across the room pretending they didn't want in, but we knew they did. Just like the guys back in high school. But then we tired out and had no choice but to wind it down by the time Joanne lost her shoes...that's right...she walked around barefoot without a care in the world, shoes lost...just like a ditzy teen queen. What a great party...such fun...nothing like a bunch of overaged 18 year olds jammed in a room with their best friends to bring it all back.

So this weekend I am turning it down a few notches and hosting a small group for dinner. And we'll try our best to stay civilized...act our age...We'll try really hard to keep our shoes from getting lost...and we'll only listen to soothing dinner music...and I'll try to keep from streaking through the neighborhood. Oh who am I kidding...I am going to encourage my guests to be as immature as possible, disturb the neighbors with our festive partying...maybe for old times' sake we'll go over to my parents' house, raid their liquor cabinet and trash the place...and I'll just pop Excedrin Migraine in between glasses of Prosecco in hopes of warding off a killer hangover. I hope the cops show up! Oh...and make no mistake, the traveling fondue pot will most most definitely make an appearance. 'Tis the Season!

Love to All.... Suz

Photo 1: Murph, me and Pompa-donut in a sea of lace and taffeta on the Senior Prom party bus...that electric blue eyeliner is so timeless!

Photo 2: A selection of boozy little brats...my BFFs circa 1988...Lyncher to the right keeping the beer flowing (as always....)

Photo 3: Al, me, Danielle and Pompa-donut sporting some high hair in the AHA caf...love the retro Diet Pepsi can!

Photo 4: Bridget and me (in white) starring as cats in El Senor Don Gato freshman year...and there we are, surrounded by a whole slew of our Facebook "friends"...

Photo 5: Lyncher, looking all innocent in Sister Catherine's Religion class (Mondee, Tuesdee...) probably pulling Sally Hur's hot 80's rattail...

Photo 6: Allison planting one on Facebook "friend" DPM...Murph and Mike L. (Danielle P's husband!!) in the back...please take note of the picnic table, beers and cigarettes strewn about. We were 17 years old...

Photo 7: Some of the hot private high school posse...Annie B. (Facebook "friend") at top right...love the come hither eyes on Casey and Al...

Photo 8: Chris K., Lawrence (miss you always, buddy...), Danielle and Tom F. pounding Buds the day after AHA junior prom...on the patio behind Danielle's grandma's beach house...

Photo 9: Dil and Chappy funneling on the roof deck at Tim H.'s LBI house, day after Bergen senior prom...

Photo 10: Going diehard "Old School" for Paterno...is that Will Ferrell? Nope...

Photo 11: The shoes our Gwen (yes, Gwen) broke out for cocktails this weekend...the men are all still thinking about them...oh, ok, I am too...

Photo 12: Lyncher, Murph, me, Case, Al and Kerc the day before we left for college, August 1988...

Photo 13: A selection of high school BFFs attempting to appear grown up enough to order drinks at a wedding party in 1987...and we seem more grown up there then we actually do today....