Things have been really crazy around here lately, so I'm a little behind on my Life's Five, but I'm still keeping track of most of the messages around me. This past weekend I was blessed with the offer to stay in a treasured friend's wonderful city apartment, which she uses as a retreat from the suburbs. Based in Center City, Philadelphia the apartment was close to restaurants and parks that I love. I invited husband to come along Friday night for our anniversary while fab friends of mine watched daughter. The next day we picked up daughter and went back to the city with her. We loved that the Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Show was taking place in the park for the duration of the weekend. Exhibiting around the perimeter of the park were hundreds of artists presenting thousands of original pieces. In the center of the park were the student artists. I found several pieces there that I really enjoyed and could afford. It's always a good thing to support and encourage young people in their craft too.
My post today has been inspired by my weekend in the city of brotherly love...
Live. City life is not for everybody, but I happen to really dig it. After living in London for four years, I developed a lifestyle, though, that doesn't translate well to non-city life. In the city you pop out to grab a coffee on the corner. You look forward to picking up two or three fabulous newspapers that you pour over for hours in between Sunday naps. At any moment you might go out to a new restaurant, see a show, or meet for drinks at a museum. When you move out of the city you have to plan...everything. Being in Philly this weekend gave me a break from having to plan anything. I got to do the pop-outs, try new restaurants, and drool over beautiful art. There were other little gems too: a table of eight girls laughing as they dined in an alley next to a restaurant; a sweet, pink house with red glass cylinders above its top floor windows; a pair of historic, black-iron, horsehead hitching posts to tie up your pony. I really enjoyed myself. Visit a city near you soon and pop out of your daily routine. But don't bring your pony. City people nowadays tend to frown on that.
Laugh. My biggest laugh came when husband recounted our experience at Pico de Gallo, a cozy Mexican place on South Street. Our server was adorable but so new that I had to point it out to him that I knew he was new so he would calm down. Husband thinks the restaurant manager pulled him off the street an hour earlier because they needed an extra hand. No more than 21 with wild, dark curly hair, and wearing a baseball cap, our darling little server dropped glasses, spilled ice, had no idea what we were ordering, didn't know the drinks, and couldn't pronounce the words on the labels at the bar. He had a really fun personality though. That's entertaining. And that beats a perfectly dull server any day.
Learn. Saturday morning I ate Eggs Benedict at one of my favorite Philly restaurants, Parc. I sat and wondered if "Benedict" had anything to do with Benedict Arnold for betraying one's waistline, but I learned that the name is simply a matter of a suggested recipe by one of three people named Benedict who claim to have created the dish. I'm going with the earliest account. In my book, if you "tweet" it first, it's yours. From Wikipedia,
"In an interview in the "Talk of the Town" column of The New Yorker in 1942, the year before his death, Lemuel Benedict, a retired Wall Street stock broker, claimed that he had wandered into the Waldorf Hotel in 1894 and, hoping to find a cure for his morning hangover, ordered "buttered toast, poached eggs, crisp bacon and a hooker of hollandaise." Oscar Tschirky, the famed maître d'hôtel, was so impressed with the dish that he put it on the breakfast and luncheon menus but substituted ham and a toasted English muffin for the bacon and toast."
Like. I really, really liked the work of Sarah Pollock and Hanneke de Neve this weekend. That is all I want to say. Art doesn't need a bunch of puffed-up elaboration.
Love. I love food. I love chocolate. I love food covered in chocolate. This weekend at the Rittenhouse art show I stopped by John & Kira's chocolate booth. Chocolate is of course an art form, but I was so surprised to see the actual JOHN of John & Kira's handing out his delicate samples of delightfulness. I shared with John that I discovered John & Kira's a few years ago when I moved to Philadelphia. They're the best chocolates I have ever eaten. They are filled with a variety of flavored chocolate ganache, including real Garden Mint (fresh mint, not peppermint), Bergamot, Lavender Honey (my personal favorites), and more. The ingredients are sourced from local and family farms, and the packaging is as gorgeous as the chocolates. I especially love the Lovebugs and Bees collection. (And shipping is now only $4.95 flat rate. Good move, guys! xo)
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