"With a million other faces I shoot through the city veins"

("Black Cloud," Carlos Morales [?], Philadelphia Museum of ART)

This has been an excellent week. Friday ended with a delightful evening of good music, good food, and good company; three of my new friends, Auntie Di, and I stayed for "Art After 5." I had a lovely plate of three small tarts and a glass of Chardonnay for dinner, and apricot creme brulee for dessert. The jazz pianist played a great mix of standards ("Summertime") and originals, and the bassist was fab. It was a great way to unwind together after our first week of work; we all get along really well, and it's such a true delight to spend some free time together.

Today was my first free day to go downtown! I went to my old favorite, Walnut Street. Had coffee at Joe's while I did some homework, then did a little shopping. Then Diana, another education intern, and I met up for lunch. We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering Center City, popping into stores when we needed air conditioning! One especially fun moment came as we strolled through Rittenhouse Square; a trumpeter and a guitarist were playing together on a bench, and a photographer was sitting across from them, about to take their photo. The trumpeter saw us and said, "I sure would love it if you ladies would be in the picture with us." For half a second I was going to say a quick "No thanks" and keep walking---But, what the heck? We're in the city on a beautiful day! Live a little! So we squeezed between them, took the picture, and then stayed while they played "The Girl from Ipanema"--the trumpeter didn't know it so I held up the sheet music for him. :) As Diana and I continued our stroll through the city, I decided that there aren't enough meals in the day for all the great restaurants I want to try this summer. Alas.