Top Chef 5: OMG!

OK, so clearly I’m a little behind on this season of Top Chef. Thank you Bravo for today’s mini marathon! Because I saw that one of my old summer camp buddies, Jamie Lauren, is one of the contestants! What?!?!?

Not sure if she’ll remember me — I haven’t spoken to her in I’m sure 14 or 15 years or so, but Jamie and I both spent summers in Kezar Falls, ME at Maine Teen Camp as kids. MTC was an awesome place — an international sleep away camp where kids from all over the world came and participated in all types of activities, arts & crafts and just learned about people from other cultures. I know my parents really stretched to be able to send me there. But my mom saw the camp advertised in a newspaper or a magazine or something and said to herself that she had to send me. The first year I was soooooo not trying to stay. They took me up there to the middle of nowhere and I was like “UN-UH… No really is there one other black person here? For real.” But they left me. And I was miserable… Until I realized that I could be friends with anyone there. I don’t mean this to sound offensive, but Jamie was the coolest White girl I had ever met — sorry I can’t think of a more PC way to say that. She and another girl called Heather were probably my closest friends that first summer.

I would post old photos of us, but that would probably make me seem like a stalker. Plus she looks exactly the same as she did when we were 13 & 14 and… well, I don’t ;) Hahaha… Wish I knew how to get in touch with her. I’m totally gonna see if she’s on Facebook or something. Yeah… I don’t sound like a stalker at all.

Hope she wins the whole thing. Go Jamie!