Where have all the good times gone? ... Philadelphia!

Name that movie.

I miraculously managed to get to Philly on time Friday. In keeping with the "always real" part of my tag line up there, I have to confess that my procrastination led to nearly missing my flight. In fact, when I got to the airport I was told I was too late and they put me on standby for a later flight. I was dreading the phone call to Steph. Fortunately, my original flight was late in boarding and I was able to get on there at the last minute. Lesson learned. (Maybe.)

Steph met me at the airport and we took the train to the city and had a late, leisurely lunch at Parc Restaurant at Rittenhouse Square. We shared a decadent mushroom tart and a bottle of wine, Steph had a warm shrimp salad and I had the smoked salmon tartine.

Then we walked all over the place (sadly for me, the Wanamaker organ at Macy's is all covered up by the ginormous Christmas tree, which is up too early for our taste) and had a drink before riding the train back to Steph's house.

I have a wonky eye going on, but otherwise love this pic.

We stayed in Friday night, sipping on wine and watching TV. MFD (Steph's husband, in case you didn't know) brought us cheesesteaks for dinner.

Saturday we lounged around with the dogs (Gus, Geege and Maisel) and Steph's mom and her friend Michelle stopped by.

Meanwhile, back in Columbus, this was Aaron's Saturday morning:

I missed my kitties, but loved hanging with the dogs.

Eventually we got ourselves cleaned up and dressed and went to New Jersey to Marla's house, and her sister Brie came over, too.  I love when I meet internet friends for the first time but it doesn't feel like the first time. Marla's husband Steve was such a trooper, bringing us wine, taking pictures and then driving us to dinner.

Clockwise from top left: Steph, Brie, me, Marla; Marla's kick-ass dining room chandelier; Marla and me with Steph in the mirror; Marla knew my obsession with cocktail napkins and she had some great ones.

Marla doing her Miley Cyrus impression with the calamari.
Someone at the restaurant hid a bottle of Suave hairspray in the restroom.

Sunday morning we were up way early and Steph took me to the airport (don't worry, I got there in plenty of time). I arrived in Columbus at 11 am and drove straight to church for a rehearsal, took a late nap and caught up with neighbors.

My brother sent me this picture from the Veterans Day Parade. Our nephew James is in ROTC in high school. We're so proud of him!

James is second from right

Happy Veterans Day and thank you to all veterans for your service above and beyond!

You suck, cancer, but my friend is still here

This is my 200th post! I can't think of a better use of that milestone than to celebrate someone who's been through the ringer but still plugs away with humor, sarcasm and yes, sometimes rage and tears.

Fellow bloggers understand what it's like to meet new friends online and develop relationships even though you've never met in person. Way back in ye olden days of 2000, I met a group of women online. Many of us are still in contact to this day and most of us have met others in real life. Honestly, some of my closest friends are part of this group, and I've talked about some of them before (one of them is Steph).

We've seen each other through marriage, divorce, children, death and illness. More than a few women have had bouts with cancer (and one is currently going through a second bout, different than the first). About eight years ago our friend Lisa was diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer. She was 42 at the time, with a five-year-old son. She has beaten the odds and she's still with us.

We gave her the nickname Lisa Lisa (as in the Cult Jam) and still refer to her as LLCJ. When we first "met" my screen name was GAC23 and she said it reminded her a a cat hacking up a hairball. I changed it, but she still sometimes calls me GAC. In 2001 I was fortunate enough to go to New York City and sing at Carnegie Hall with the Columbus Symphony, and I was even more fortunate to be able to meet Lisa and a couple other "imaginary friends" for lunch.

Me, Lisa, Karen, Alyssa
April, 2001

Lisa actually cringes when October rolls around with all its breast cancer awareness and pink vomit. She says "fuck awareness, find a damn cure." But when the Today Show was looking for breast cancer patients for a makeover segment, they contacted Lisa's doctor, who nominated her.

That segment aired yesterday and the clip is below. Please watch my beautiful friend and see her transformation and her story. For me it brought back a flood of memories, because I've known her through all of this.

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Love you, LLCJ!

Happy Gwensday!