Each year, the Girl Scouts of Southeastern PA honors area women who have achieved notability in their chosen field in the Take the Lead Awards. This year, at the Four Seasons on March 18th, honorees were Philly's District Attorney Lynne Abraham, Kathryn Kolbert of the the Annenberg Public Policy Center and NPR, Liz Murphy, COO of the Delaware River Port Authority, Charisse Lillie, Partner at Ballard, Spahr law firm, John Street's Chief of Staff Joyce Wilkerson, and UPenn's VP of Public Safety. After the awards were given and the girl presenters saluted the recipients, the girls sang to the crowd, showing everyone that their auction bids and support have a direct impact.

At the ninth annual ChefAid to benefit MANNA (Metropolitan AIDS Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance) on Sunday, March 10th, this year held at the Hyatt Regency at Penn's Landing, over 300 people came to support and recognize the group. MANNA delivers three meals a day to area victims of AIDS, and/or their dependents. It was a colorful and lively gathering in many ways. The shimmering rainbow tablecloths and abundant rose arrangements reflected the bouyant and celebratory nature of the night and it's straight (but not narrow) and gay guests. A bittersweet note was sounded between sets by the always amazing Eddie Bruce band though as the evening's host, KYW's Pat Ciarrocchi rememebered her late friend and former co-worker, Siani Lee, previous years' host.

The American Heart Association held one of Phildelphia's largest charity balls at the Convention Center Marriott on Saturday, March 9th. More than one thousand people attended, and along with generous corporate sponsors, managed to raise more than $500,000 for the AHA. Enchantment Under the Sea was the theme, as evidenced by the sighting of mermaids weaving in and out of the crowd. The live auction featured hot-and-heavy bidding and the auctioneer's spotters had a hard time keeping their eyes on all bidders. One item, a luxury cruise aboard a Silverseas ship contributed a sizable amount to the AHA's fund.

Over one thousand young Philadelphia area professionals stormed the annual Red Cross Red Ball, one of the year's best Young Friends parties, on March 2nd at the Union League. This fete is done on a grand scale – from the 30 or so restaurants that provide the food, to the band, CTO, an eleven member sound system. There was the usual dancing and cavorting, but with an especially keyed up level of interesting tension since about three-quarters of the guests were attractive, single and had been enjoying the open bars and Lucy's Hatshop shots.

We caught the grand opening of Trust, a 6,000 square foot, retro-hip restaurant in the seemingly unlikely neighborhood of 13th and Sansom. If you're into the restaurant scene then you've heard of Goldman Properties, the company that injected Miami with a pure shot of adrenaline and cool. Guillermo Pernot, Esquire Magazine's "1999 Chef of the Year," is at the helm as Executive Chef. Principal designer and General Manager is Gary Farmer, creator and owner of Miami's famed restaurant institution, The Strand. Watch this area in Philadelphia – it's going to explode in a similar fashion.