Miami, FL SOUTH BEACH

Mom and I went to Miami 2 weeks ago. We had a great time :) I love the food in Miami, I truly think it's comparable to New York City...and the latin food is the best of the best.

We stayed at The Lords, an art deco boutique hotel. It had a wonderful location and the staff was very sweet. We didn't know, but The Lords is actually a gay boutique hotel, but everyone is welcome. They made us feel very comfortable and we would defiantly go back.

Fell in love with this chandelier

First night we ate at The Tudor House. It was a beautiful night so we ate outside.

I chose crispy skin salmon (not so great pic of me but just look at the food :) )

The salmon rested on a bed of sweet corn, escarole, and Jamon Iberico. Jamon Iberico is a cured ham that's made in Spain. The pig has a black hoof if I can remember. Of course it melts in your mouth.

Mom and I shared this chilled Portuguese octopus...it was my favorite. They used a beautiful floral olive oil to drizzle over the top. Very simple but delish.

Mom wanted this crispy calamari with fried almonds. Good but you can get fried calamari anywhere.

Joe's Stone Crab

For lunch we ate at Joes Stone Crab....5 STARS ALL THE WAY! Freshest crab claws in Miami. Here is a secret. If you go into the take out section the prices are half as the fine dining and it's the same food. These stone crab claws melt in your mouth! The best $20 I've ever spent on food. Don't forget to order some fried green tomatoes with your claws! Ask for extra dipping sauce.

The Restaurant at The Setai

Beautiful restaurant, very expensive. Food was great but I think it was a little overpriced. We enjoyed everything but I would have enjoyed authentic cuban across the street for a fraction of the cost.

All the pictures didn't turn out...but here are the two that did.

Grapefruit crab salad. Very fresh and tasty.

Tandoor roasted seabass with arugula

We also tried wok fried noodles with prawns, ginger, and garlic. Great but not the best.

SushiSamba, Lincoln Road Mall

Japanese, Brazillian, and Peruvian in ONE DISH! I loved this placed!! Great balance of flavors and fresh ingredients.

Here is what we shared :)

Samba dromo Rollmaine lobster, mango, tomato, chive, crispy rice, soy paper, peanut curry

A sushi roll with mango and lobster. We loved this!!

Chicarron de Calamar cornmeal crusted calamari, tomato, mint, plaintain, tamarind

and I saved my favorite for last :)

Yellowtail ceviche with jalapeno and lemongrass....I wish I could make this at home.

The Marlin was next door to our Hotel. I loved this photo...

Mom with her thai chili martini :)

The best cubano coffee on the face of the earth.

We went on one excursion...a 3 hour boat ride that showed you miami from the water. WELL WORTH THE MONEY! Here is the link and the guide was great.

Art deco doors...I love ART DECO

I have so many more pictures but I'm short on time.

The PAST 2 Weeks

My friend Kristin invited me to the Britney Spears concert. It was really good! We had a great time and it was nice to see her. Brit S had Nicki minaj opening for her so that was a fun surprise.

This is the best picture I could get :(

Last week we had some business meetings in Boca Raton. I LOVE the Boca Resort and Spa. We've been going down there since 2004. I hadn't been in over 2 years so it was a nice time, even though Jim was in tons of meetings most of the time. Robin and Jim were also down there so we got to enjoy dinner at the great seafood restaurants Bcca has to offer.

Boca sand and my favorite sandals :)

Over the weekend I did a photo collage up in the loft. I got most of them hung, now I need to print some pictures for all the blank frames. Pictures of the finished loft coming soon.

ROXY

Mom is back in town! (Her husband Joe has moved to Georgia for business reasons so she has been gone most of the month of July helping him)

Atlanta has a lot of outlet and warehouses packed full of good deals. She found this Christmas tree dress for Roxy :) HOW CUTE!

Mom also got a new green rug. I love how it turned out.

The crew at moms (Roxys best friend Tootie Jane)

Chefs Table & Longboat Key

This week has been BUSY! Were both trying to get ready for our trip and work has been crazy with people coming in and out of town. For some reason I'm more nervous for this trip than ever before. I pray for a safe flight and safe travels for the two of us. I usually don't get anxiety before a trip like Jim does, but the older I get the more I over analyze things for example the French sending fighter jets to Libya or what if Roxy gets eating by a hawk (I know I'm crazy), but enough about that.

This week I wanted to get Bear shaved because next weeks TEMPS are up in the 90's...so here is Bears last picture of his winter coat :) BYE BYE FUR BALL

HELLO SUMMER :) You can tell he feels so much better.

Tuesday we went down to Longboat Key, FL to look at some properties. This was Roxy's first over night trip and she did GREAT. Isn't it pretty there???? :) I love Longboat Key!

Roxy's 1st time on the beach :) She didn't like the sand on her toes...and that isn't a pink t-shirt...that's her harness.

Yesterday was the first time I got in the pool since the FREEZING winter we had. Roxy enjoyed it as well :)

Last night my sweet mom took me to The Chef's Table for my Birthday present (I will be gone during my b-day)

The food was DELISH and Chef Kevin was so sweet!

Crab cakes with mango avocado salsa

Mushroom Torte :)

Veal Osso Buco

Cajun Scallops and Shrimp on New Orleans Risotto

His dessert was delish! (My new camera lens took this pic! I'm very impressed with it)

Thank you mom! This dinner was unforgettable and the memories will be cherished forever! I love you and thank you!

What I've Been Up TO

A couple of weeks ago I was looking back at my past archives and loved how I had a diary to look back on at all the great times. Here of late, mostly because of twitter and instagram I post my pictures there and forget about my blog. I'm going to try to start doing what I used to do so I can have this took look back on.

1. My beautiful mom celebrated her # # ?? BIRTHDAY last week! We got her a flower pot and took her out to Blue Zoo, a Todd English restaurant located in the Dolphin Resort. (TIP: If you go YOU MUST GET THE SCALLOP and braised short rib appetizer...get it as a MEAL and trust me on this one, it's DEVINE)

My main course was tile fish with lobster and crab sprinkled on top :)

2. Last week a stray SICK cat jumped in my lap! This WAS very shocking because usually the dogs wouldn't allow this. He had a swollen nose and couldn't breathe because he was so sick. I took him to the vet and he was tested for everything. When the vet came back to the room he asked...do you know what kind of cat this is? NO...it's a rare breed called a Bangel. GOOGLE IT...the Bangel cats are very different. All his tests came back ok other than a bad respiratory infection. He's on antibiotics and leaves for his forever home this evening.

Here is a pic of him from this morning enjoying his last hours at our house...I'm actually tearing up for some reason

and...

GUESS WHERE HE'S GOING! TALLAHASSEE!! Brandi fell in love with him and is adopting Mr. Boss...me and him will be making the fun 3 hour drive at 3.

3.

Tuesday we attended Tavistock. Robin and I had such a great time. Robins house looks out on the 11th hole so we had good seats.

4. Velvet found a ceramic pumpkin in the yard...she must be ready for pumpkin man! (Here's one thing Velvet and I have in common)

5. AND this little girl is growing like a weed! She has brought SO MUCH JOY into our home...she really is the sweetest thing! Here she is in her favorite spot while I'm working at my desk...doesn't look to comfortable does it?

6. This face wash is GREAT! Allie turned me on to it's sister in St. Thomas (apricot scrub) I wanted to try one of the other ones and chose this one. It leaves your face feeling tingling and cool...I LOVE IT! AND if you haven't treid this eye makeup remover it's GREAT. Not oily and takes off your eye makeup in one sweep....

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend. Wish me and the cat good luck for our trip up there this weekend. THANK YOU