first half 2014 photo dump

Just got back from a quick long weekend trip to Las Vegas. Rob & I did our usual round of eating, shopping, gambling (for him), and relaxing at the spa (me). But this time I also got the chance to meet my long-time online friend Sarah who was there for a conference. I’ve “known” her for probably around 10 years now (!!!). I’m naturally shy so I was nervous about our meeting but had absolutely no reason to be. Sarah was warm and awesome and we had no problems finding anything to talk about. 🙂 So happy our paths finally crossed in real life.

So it’s photo dump time! Here’s a look at what I’ve been up to over the first half of the year.

Ok ok… it’s more like a look at what I’ve been eating… 🙂 With some Diesel thrown in for some balance.

In March, I was in Miami Beach for a few days for work. It was a great opportunity for me to spend time with colleagues but I have to admit I really (REALLY) am not a huge fan. It’s such a scene and it’s just not me. The food scene, though, is a different story…



We went to the famous Versailles for lunch one day where I had the delicious ropa vieja with the yummiest side of plantains.



Lunch the following day was poolside at the Clevelander Hotel. It was a warm day and this Miami Vice hit the spot (it’s half pina colada and half rum runner).



On my free night, I walked over to Lincoln Road to dine at Shake Shack. Amazing! It’s seriously my favorite fast casual burger (yes, over In N Out). I CANNOT WAIT until Shake Shack opens in Las Vegas later this year. !!!



Here’s a look at what was my office for two days — yes, that’s a double decker bus!



On my last morning, I finally made it to the beach for a long walk followed by a refreshing iced cafe con leche.

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back to reality + miami beach

So I’ve been back home since Saturday and have serious vacation withdrawal. It was such a FANTASTIC trip. I miss waking up early and looking forward to new adventures (as opposed to waking up and dreading work). I miss the warm weather (I guess I’m a wimp because I am FUH-REEZING in CA). And I miss DISNEY. So much so that I’m trying to convince Rob to take a quick trip to Disneyland this weekend. Hee!

Anyway, I’m currently weeding through all our pictures and hopefully I’ll get around to sharing some of them here with a trip recap.

To ease into it, I’ll start with Miami Beach…

Ok, I’ll be honest and say that I didn’t love Miami Beach. That’s not to say we had a bad time. I just don’t think we really gave it a fair shake. We only had 2 full days at the end of our trip there (I planned it that way so we could relax and take it easy after conquering the theme parks in Orlando) and I did very minimal research as far as sight-seeing. So we pretty much only saw the 2-3 mile area around our hotel, which included the beach, Ocean Drive, Collins Ave and Lincoln Rd. It didn’t help that we missed Disney like crazy. Seriously! Rob even admitted that maybe we should have stayed in Orlando for the entire 2 weeks.

The one thing I DID research was the food. So while we didn’t really see anything major besides the gorgeous art deco hotels and the beach, we were VERY well fed. We had AH-MAY-ZING Cuban food at Puerto Sagua, NOM-MY crab claws at Joe’s Stone Crab and DELICIOUS burgers at Shake Shack.

In any case, I’m glad we took the time to visit. Even though we only took ONE picture of ourselves the entire time we were there. OOPS.

Here it is…



Next I’ll post some pics and thoughts about The Wizarding World of Harry Potter! (Preview: SO GREAT).