Here's we are at Lexy and William's in South Philly. We managed to find a parking space on this tiny street. They apparently don't believe in snow plows here. I mean NONE of the streets are plowed in South Philly, these little sidestreets are just chockablock with two to three feet of snow. After a breeze of a drive down the good ol' Jersey Turnpike, ( and both of us agree, arriving in NJ is like arriving in Maine, it just smells and feels right, but then again, I felt that way is Paris too) managing to arrive just before rush hour, going the easy direction INTO the city while everyone else is of course exiting in the face of the coming 'snowmgeddon II" --(Does life ever get any better than watching the poor souls creeping at a snail's pace on the OTHER side of the highway while you're just whizzing along the opposite side?) -- when we got here, it was like an angel had just seen us coming and cleared ONE solitary parking space for us that someone had actually shoveled out not ten paces from Lexy's front door.

magic!

So we pulled right in, rather than park downtown garage style, a good hike and several subway stops away. Not to mention 50 bucks or so. They have NO RULES regarding parking here in south philly. It's a hoot. Last night we walked 12 blocks in the snow to a really really fantabulous mexican restaurant, AT LAST GOOD MEXICAN FOOD!! And William , whose dad is Guatemalan, is a huge fan and knows all the dishes and what's good. I had a ribeye with pickled cactus leaf and everyone else's stuff was fab. wonderful drinks, exc mojito. And fried plantains with cilantro cream were mouthwatering, rice pudding to die for, and a lively place with a great juke box. Cantina los Caballitos, on Passyunk Avenue. I can't believe after all those years in Jersey listening to radio ads about businesses on passyunk avenue i was ON the infamous avenue last night. And parking --- right in the middle of Broad St! Folks just park in the middle of the freakin road! total crackup and nothing anyone in Maine would tolerate for a second. There are no , like, plans here for dealing with snow. It's bizarre. Like there's no fundamental collective belief here that it might snow, as it's winter and all. Later walking home the snow getting kinda wet and sleety so we grab a cab, and the poor guy, from some warmer clime, has wipers that are all clogged with ice, so Lexy got out and wiped them for the guy, then I did and we tried to tell him to turn the defrost on. jeezlouise!

William has the most amazing video setup I've ever seen. He watches videos on the WALL, painted white, a projector on the opposite wall. Screen ends up being about four feet by six without the obnoxious FLAT SCREEN presence. That is to say, if you're not watching something, there IS no screen. I loved that. My Will would LOVE his stereo setup, two turntables, plenty of vinyl in groovy Ikea cabinets on giant casters, i.e., moveable. Big keyboard, amps, etc. My Will would be in heaven here. My next home will NOT have a flatscreen to recycle when it poops out, just a projector, computer, and a blank wall. I was seriously impressed. William is an AV guy at a contemporary art museum. He collects cool stuff, like miniature suitcases that open and have cunning stuff in them, you know, like 1/2 inch by 2 inches. And he is seriously funny and genuine and charming to older women, comme moi.

So we're off to explore the city this a.m. Happily the predicted snow turned to sleet and rain and not so bad now. A little shovel out eventually is all... Lexi has early Aretha on the box, time to get outta pjs and see what's out there. Haircuts in the offing i think. Later.