New BFF

I am sick. I am going to the office today. But it has been a long 48 hours. But really, who cares about that? I have an important update to share.

Shlomo and I have a new best friend. If you are an fan of Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Princess Caraboo, or (my favorite) Drop Dead, Fred, you might have heard of her. If you ever find yourself looking in the mirror and uttering that line from Lace...the best line from any mini-series ever..."Which one of you bitches is my mother?"...then you know her. Her name? Ms. Phoebe Cates.

In case you did not know, she has been married to a certain Oscar winner named Kevin Kline for many years and has basically given up the business known as show. They have their kids, live in New York, are blissfully happy, blah, blah, blah. A few years ago, she opened a store on the Upper East Side called The Blue Tree. I went in a couple of years ago with my mother. It's a great store. When we were leaving, we saw her walking down the street to the store. She is still stunningly beautiful.

Anyway, on Monday, Shlomo and I were shopping our way across the isle of Manhattan. That is a whole other story, by the way. We did that very well. So, we went to The Blue Tree. They buzzed us in the store and standing in the walkway putting some jewelry in the display case was Ms. Cates. She welcomed us to the store and was very nice. My first response was what it usually is when I am caught off-guard, "Uhmana, uhmana, uhmana." I knew it was her store, but I assumed she had minyans who did the work. Evidently I was wrong.

When I could compose a full sentence, I said,"Okay, I cannot pretend I don't know who you are. I'm a big fan. I like to think I am cool and can ignore stuff like that, but I'm not."

She laughed and said, "Oh, coolness is so overrated." We looked around. I had seen some vintage cufflinks on their website. Shlomo asked Phoebe about them. She sent us upstairs. I found a pair (Wedgwood from the 1940s). Shlomo, who I am convinced was just caught up in the moment, found a pair (silver pelicans). We went downstairs to make the purchase.

On the way out, I thanked her and said, "Please act more!"

She died laughing and said, "No way. I am done forever."

Me pleadingly, "Not even if Jennifer Jason Leigh directs another movie?"

Her, "Oh, that I would do in a heartbeat. That's just play. And, Jennifer has been talking about it again."

I then told her that we had seen her husband in Cyrano de Bergerac in December and loved it. Actually, I might have said there is no justice in the world if he does not win the Tony. She asked what we had seen while we there. We ran down the list. She talked about each play. We particularly talked about The Seagull starring Dianne Wiest and Alan Cumming. She told us she had played Nina about 20 years ago in La Jolla and then talked of Meryl doing it in the park a few years ago. Yeah. She called her Meryl. Because they are friends. I am pretty sure I would call her Meryl Streep to her face. That's right. I was talking to someone who is on a first name basis with Meryl. Aye, yi, yi.

She asked where we were going for lunch and recommended a place a few doors down. I told her where we were thinking and she agreed it was a good choice. All in all, she was just charming. I love her.

So, I guess you can see how close we now are. If I saw her walking down the street, I would approach and she would I am sure graciously respond, "I'm sorry, sir. Who are you? Please stop accosting me."