Happy Monday afternoon, such a beautiful weekend. Me, the family was in town for the Sandy Rollman Ovarian Cancer Walk/Run. I’m trying to catch up on a lot of work now. Heading to the Weston Fitness in a bit, then off to photograph Hillary and Bernie Sanders, maybe Chelsea Clinton and who know who else. Seems like a lot of notables and celebs are in town for Primary Day tomorrow. Remember to Vote, it’s important.

Actor, Philadelphia native Will Smith was spotted at the Ritz Residences earlier today. He was with real estate agents, could it be possible he’s looking at the raw penthouse that has been written about a lot lately. Would that be great if Will Smith lived near his family and where he grew up? Check out the Penthouse Stats Here.

Hey Cari here with Senator Cory Booker, or as I hear a front runner for Hillary’s VP. He follows me on Twitter. I’m a fan.

Actor Justin Long stopped by Gay/Lesbian bar – Tabu Lounge after appearing on Penn’s Campus stumping for Bernie Sanders on Saturday. Justin Long has played gay before, but I hear he likes the ladies.

Miss Laura B Where and a Baldwin

Congrats to Josh DeMarco, Jason Matthews Salon, who was a winner in the Wella Trend Vision 2016 regional winner at the Fillmore Sunday Night.

I have a team walking too – PhillyChitChat

Welcome Gate, Tulips, Lotus Gallery, Flower Fairy, these are a few of the lanterns you’ll see when you visit the Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival in Franklin Square over the next two months.  Open daily from April 22 through June 12, there are 25+ handcrafted lanterns throughout the square.  PS I purposely did not show you all the light, you really have to go. It’s a fun, unique experience which were lucky to have in Philadelphia.

Tickets are $17 and for kids 17 and under $12

Last night was the official media kick off party where Gov Rendell, (when he was mayor allotted funds for Franklin Square), Amy Needle executive director of Historic Philadelphia and John Dougherty, Business Manager of Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. (his team volunteer to connect the electrical wire for the exhibit)

When the Gov spoke he pointed out Karen Butler (center in pink), who during his administration was the head of the Mayor’s Action Council on Visitors and was the first executive director of Historic Philadelphia Inc.

Meryl Levitz,  president and CEO of VISIT PHILADELPHIA spoke about the excitement and how it would attract visitors to the Square, which has great permanent attractions like the carousel, miniature gold, a beautiful fountain and much more.

 Face-Changing

A performer changes masks quicker than you can blink in this 300-year
tradition of the Sichuan opera.
Begins May 3^rd.

Here’s a list of the entertainment

Admission to Franklin Square remains completely free before 6 p.m. After 6 p.m., tickets are required to enter the square and the Chinese Lantern Festival.

Sun – Thurs 6pm – 10pm       Fri & Sat 6pm – 11pm

There are crafters and a great souvenir shop

This is a touring show, but at each location the lanterns are newly created

Here are a few things from the gift shop, which is on the left of the fountain

On Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, the Dragon Beer Garden will serve beer, wine and cocktails in addition to non-alcoholic drinks and food. Alcoholic beverages focus on Asian drinks like Tsing Tao, Tiger Beer and Sapporo with other options like Crabby’s Ginger Beer, Yuengling and local craft beer. It was great to see Tara Lessard (r) out and about with her girlfriend Shanel Sherese. Look for Tara’s pics in PGN next week.

Franklin Square’s SquareBurger, an on-site eatery, will serve a variety of themed food items including cheesesteak egg rolls, Chinese chicken salad, sweet and sour burger and a fortune cookie shake in addition to their signature SquareBurger and cake shake.

Hai Street Kitchen, a fast-casual sushi burrito restaurant, will also vend at the festival. Look for the popular eatery Wednesday through Saturday throughout the run of the festival.

This is still the old site, the new site launches this week!

If you follow me on Instagram, you’d know that each day I submit a photo of the Art Museum, which I take when my shuttle bus passes it or when I’m walking by. I live a cross the street so it’s not a stretch for me to know when something different is happening. I’ve notice the past couple weeks that a food truck parked itself up there. I wonder what it was but I just haven’t had a minute to run over.

Today I got a fairly good shot of it and posted it on my Social Media Channels.

I got a message back from the Art Museum. It’s their custom food truck.

Operated by culinary partner STARR Catering Group, this food truck dishes up delicious burgers with an artistic twist on the East Terrace. 

Try the classic Easy Eakins, the Italian-inspired Rocky Balburger, the Peale’s Portobello, or one of many others with a side of crispy, old-fashioned fries. The names are killing me, Easy Eakins, Rocky Balburger, Disco Fries – love. 

The food truck is open the same hours as the museum, weather permitting, AND is located at the top of the Rocky Steps, to reward you with a treat for running up them.

Last Friday night, beer-chugging , philanthropic beer guzzlers gathered at Field House for a good ol’ fashioned flip-cup championship to raise funds for National Multiple Sclerosis Society  and  Mazeppa Productions .   For the third annual event, which is co-sponsored by Chatterblast, 400 people showed up to play (58 teams) and watch, and $14,000 was raised.

IT’s FRIDAY AGAIN, enjoy this entertain clip from last week as well as blasting the best party song EVER!!

 The follow is a pictorial of the very generous, sometimes custom tshirt clad participants in what has become a must participate outing

 And it’s downright fun too.

 The participants included the who’s who of the Philly young set

 Tim Adams, of Public House, returned to MC the event with his usual flair

 Congrats to Joey Conicella and  Alex Marin on their move to Dallas, for Todd’s new position in Aramark.

 You have to be pretty confident to go out like this

 Everybody loves Marissa

 Yeah it was crowded

 Ernest Owens doesn’t drink beer, but he does dance

 Duck Dynasty was in the house. They told me they saw the event on FB and had to come and support. They had no idea how overwhelmingly friendly the crowd would be.

 Did I mention it was crowded?

 with serious game players

 raising money for charity

 yeah I did and even the losers knew it was all for a good cause

  Coming in 2nd place were We Got Legs, who won last year.

 Ta Da this year’s winners One and Done

You’ll recall that last year chatter was that PHS was going to POP UP with a beer garden at

Philly Mag has all the deets on it and the other one PHS is doing.As Oprah Would Say: You Get A Beer Garden, You Get A Beer Garden, You Get A Beer Garden

 

Did you know that Fairmount Park is planning Pop-up Beer and food concessions spots within the Fairmount Park system.

A list of potential parks and recreations sites are linked below:

• Aviator Park/Logan Square
• Paine’s Park (Franklin’s Paine Skatepark)
• Schuylkill Banks (between Walnut & Market)
• Water Works / Lloyd Hall, lawn area between the two along the Schuylkill river
• Lemon Hill Mansion (park also available if desired)
• Playing Angels (Kelly Drive)
• Sedgley Woods Disc Golf Course
• Mt. Pleasant
• Clark Park
• Belmont Plateau
• Japanese House & Gardens (Shofuso)
• Horticulture Center
• Smith Memorial Arch/Whispering Wall
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) Park
• Jefferson Square Park
• Hawthorne Park
• Penn Treaty Park
• Powers Park
  From the press release: This innovative reuse of outdoor space invites people to experience an old Philadelphia tradition in the parks,
  harkening back to the mid-19th century when German immigrants brought
  ‘biergartens’ to Philadelphians. The Mobile Food and Beverage Garden
  program revives the old tradition with an original 21st century twist,
  offering families throughout the City the opportunity to experience a
  nearby food and beverage garden with their
  friends and neighbors. Patrons and visitors alike will have a chance to
  celebrate Philadelphia’s rich culture, history and beautiful parks while celebrating the city’s burgeoning status as a global food and beverage destination.