Day 1162 Good Friends, Great Dinners and Cool Cars

 

Cool cars and dinner dates… some things never change!

Back in the day, I was the one with the cooler car in high school. I drove a Datsun 260Z and was just about the coolest cat in town. At the time, Dawn didn’t have a car, so I was her chauffeur home after work. She waitressed at Mama Rosa’s, an Italian restaurant where Kabuki is now. I’d go visit her at work, eating chicken parm alone while I waited for her to get off her shift. Then we’d cruise around town like we were the cat’s pajamas… and we kinda were. If we had another friend with us poor Dawn would have to lay down in the back, since it was only a two seater. She's squeeze herself into the back space without one complaint. 

Fast forward to today—she’s the one driving me around. And let me tell you, it’s a big step up from my old Datsun. We’re cruising along, still thinking we’re all that and a bag of potato chips… because, honestly, we still kinda are! Thank goodness she's got a good back seat space! 

We went out to dinner again, Dawn ordering our old favorite: chicken parm....that was almost as good as Mama Rosa's! Earlier in the day, Casey, Dawn, and I had spent the afternoon boutique shopping—mostly window shopping for this thrifty gal. But I did find the most fabulous gold belt that I’ll be wearing all winter, giving me one more reason to keep an eye on that darn waistline. All this Palm Beach dining out isn’t exactly waist-friendly! 

When we got home, I quickly threw on my bathing suit to catch a couple of hours of sunshine and loved every minute of it. Later, we headed to Carmine’s Italian Restaurant, where our old friend Libby worked for ages before she passed away more than ten years ago. They still remembered her fondly. The staff said that on any given day, you could walk into the bar and more than half the folks there would remember Libby and have stories to tell. She truly was a big personality—impossible to forget.

Dinner was everything we expected: appetizers galore, good drinks, and more food than any human could possibly eat—but of course, we all gave it our best effort. It was our last dinner together before all of Dawn’s houseguests, including me, head home. I’ll be heading back to beautiful Rhode Island, and others to Long Island.

It’s been such a wonderful visit, and I’m so happy I got to celebrate Dawn’s birthday with her—just like old times. Some things really do stay the same, no matter how much life changes. Good friends, great dinners and cool cars!