According to Jim

Last evening I had the pleasure of driving to Providence, RI to enjoy dinner with a friend from Chicago. Sarah was in on a business trip for Intelligentsia Coffee where she is employed as a Training Specialist. That is correct - a Specialist.

My mom was born in Providence and grew up a few years in Warwick before relocating with her family to the Chicago area. Grandpa always loved Rhode Island and after spending some time in the quiet of the city, I could definitely see why. I highly recommend a visit to this said location should you ever make it to the East Coast. It was thick with personality and blossoming beauty.

Yesterday morning on my way to work I pulled out my Return to Me soundtrack. It is one of my favorite movies. The soundtrack has a fabulous "Spring" vibe, thus I chose it for roadtrip listening. Truthfully, the driving portion of the trip was hell. Masshole behavior (Masshole: noun - One who drives horribly and has a license plate from the state of Massachusetts) has leaked into the beautiful state of Rhode Island. My conclusion, after noticing Spanish advertisments plastered over most of the city and discovering that 30% of Providence's populations is of Hispanic origin, is that perhaps the language barrier and laws of the road are yet unfamiliar to the pedestrians and drivers of the city. I chose to give them the benefit of the doubt and enjoy my time with Sarah and Brad.

My friend was staying in the Biltmore Hotel, a glorious historical hotel in the center of Downtown. Prior to dinner we chose to walk around and work up an appetite. Two blocks into the excursion Brad spotted a movie set just down the alleyway from where we stood. We cut around from the West side of the set and watched as extras and actors paused and moved at the director's command. The boom lifted and pulled. The C02 was rising from sewer openings on command from a nearby machine. Need I remind you - I'm from backwash Illinois and this whole process intrigued me. The movie? Underdog - based on the cartoon - a Walt Disney Production. Releasing next August.

Dinner was pleasant. Shockingly, we had to request water. The waitress offered us still bottled water and I am quite certain we all looked at her she like was crazy. "No, tap water is fine." You know, the free stuff? I jokingly referred to Return to Me as there is a similar scene with Minnie Driver in the movie. We enjoyed a lovely bottle of white wine, fresh seafood, and filet mignon, turned toward us and said, "So, shall we skip drinks and go straight the room?" I'm almost afraid to know what people were thinking!

After a few hours of refreshing conversation it was time for Brad and I to leave. We had stayed past my 10 o'clock departure time and we still had a two hour drive home. Saying goodbye was not difficult as I know we will soon see one another again. She's just that lucky. Brad and I walked through the beautiful lobby, he opened the door to step aside for a couple of men to come through... and there stood Jim Belushi on what appeared to be the end of a jog. He was only with one other guy so I definitely had this..."man, that guy looks a lot like Jim Belushi" look on my face which in turn received the "Yeah, I'm Jim Belushi - what are you looking at?" look from him. I had my camera with me, but he didn't appear to be in a good mood and since he makes a good angry man, I didn't want to push my luck. I just glanced at Brad who looked back at me and nodded.

Meeting famous people is much cooler when it's unexpected. Especially when it's someone you like. For those of you who don't know, Jim Belushi is also in Return to Me where he costars as Bonnie Hunt's hilarious husband. So there you have it. Providential happenings in Providence.

And seeing friends is even better with a spectacular view.