oh my gosh--i almost forgot to tell you about this

Last Friday, I headed downtown to meet my friend, Joey, for lunch and chatting at the Beehive Tea Room.

But first, I offered to drop off some papers at an attorney's office downtown for my boss, because, really, how big is downtown anyway? Let me say that while it might not seem so far to walk if say, you park at 200 South Main and then walk to 60 East South Temple and then back to 12 West 300 South, trust me, downtown is far.

Okay, maybe it is only far if it is 100 degrees outside and you are wearing your adorable black patent leather Barbie sandals. Oh yeh, you know the ones. Those very comfortable to sit in heels, easy to walk in the air conditioned office lovelies, not even too bad to walk a block or so slides? Those not-to-be-improved babies that make even the cankliest of legs look shapely? Yeh, those honeys. And 100 degrees of hot, dry mountain desert heat.

And did I mention the construction downtown that forces you to cross South Temple because the building you think is 60 East is really 10 East and 60 East is on the other side of that huge hole in the ground that used to be one of those downtown malls that nobody ever shopped at? Yes, it is far downtown. So far, in fact, that by the time I exited the building at 60 East and entered the temporary sidewalk I was forced to remove the hotie sandals and sling them over my shoulder as I limped my way to lunch. (Sidenote: The sparkly tile sidewalk is not too hot, but stay away from anything that looks like concrete and especially anything that looks like concrete covered with asphalt.)

As I rounded the corner of Main and 300 South, I spied Joey, who for some reason, felt tremendous guilt for my lack of common sense when it came to shoe choice. She forgave my bedraggled, sweaty self, even ordering our meal while I excused myself to the ladies' room to shower or at least clean up a bit. Seriously, who can eat with filthy feet?

Joey insisted that our meal was her treat for my birthday, which doesn't start until August 1 (and runs through August 31). That meal and the ambience and the company and the conversation and the lovely hour or so we spent together was delightful, delovely, delicious, and worth every bit of swollen, blistered nutsville I inflicted on myself.

Girls of the world, you simply must visit the Tea Room.