adios a miami

so, i'm back from the sunny side...

my week in miami was great. no computers and no work the whole time. just fun, sun and my travel buddy ellen. with a little family time thrown in to mix it up.

we got in on tuesday and wandered around til it started raining. then we had dinner at puerto sagua (which turned out to be the best restaurant on our trip) and passed out in the room. wednesday was spent sunning and sweating on the beach, a little shopping and then dinner and fireworks on the beach. closed out the night with some latin-tinged jam band jazz at jazid (which coincidentally is right next to miami ink, whose show i love).

thursday morning we rented a car and drove down to visit my family near key largo. two aunts, my gram, and some family friends were all at my aunt's house for the week. had my most delicious salad of the week there during a spanglish lunch and then ellen and i hung out in the pool and napping on the porch until dinner. gram and i had some quality time on the porch in the pitch black watching the lighting bugs flutter around. friday morning we had a caravan of cars drive up north to the largest flea market in america. i got a cool shell windchime and ellen got some jewelry. aunts and gram got purses. a successful trip for all. after filling up on gas we split up. ellen and i drove back down to miami and visited little havana. we took a look around a cigar factory and got some yum yums at a cuban bakery. the cuban coffee with lots of sugar was delicious.

back in miami we went to the beach, took a nap, had dinner at the cuban place again, and went to bed which is a bar/restaurant/lounge/club place with beds for seating. like the one in nyc. only this one was really small and empty. it was kind of like a frat party. weird. but fun cos they're open late. cos its not boston.

saturday morning we sunned ourselves on the beach again and then had lunch and slushies at wet willies. greasy burgers and deliciously crispy fries. after some showers and an a/c refresher we wandered down collins to lincoln ave and checked out all the cool shops and a whole artist studio complex which was one of my favorite places on the visit. it was SO hot the whole time but we did some quality shopping (real and window) and scored super end of season deals. after a detox-dinner of green green salads(we'd been eating fried and greasy food since tuesday) it started to rain. i had some tiramisu gelato while we skipped around back to the hotel- it was delish (the gelato, not the rain). after our long walk home both ellen and i passed out at like 10 and didn't wake up til 3am so there was no out on the streets that night.

sunday morning we woke up early only to find the skies cloudy and all the shops closed (duh- sunday). we wandered around, got rained on, napped, and then once it was sunny we did more shopping and beaching. took a shower, then we went out for a late dinner on ocean drive and people watched. ocean drive is awesome for people watching and car gawking. lots of fun cars around- lambos, ferraris and a lotus- oh my! closed out the night at mansion cos it's the thing to do in southbeach. weirdest part was the stripper pole. and the girls dancing on it. really. maybe i' just a prude, but better for it... anyways, best part of the night was seeing chris nunez from miami ink near the bar. i wish it was ami cos i love him (so does my aunt) but alas, just chris. still cool. i love that show. and i want a tattoo. badly. we stayed out so late and took advantage of the whole south beach thing. it's funny what can make ellen and i so proud. staying up late into the early morning. we're nerds.

sunday we got up late, had a last lunch at our cuban place and hit the road to the airport. the flight was delayed and my luggage was heavy. a guy on the train made fun of me. we made it home around midnight. a good, long trip. pictures on flickr/facebook/picasa if you're interested.

southbeach living is what i want. how could you not?

favorite observations:

• wearing bathing suits as streetwear is great. knowing that if you're hot you can just take off your shirt and walk around in a swimsuit is awesome. and so not kosher for boston.
• cuban black beans, rice and platanos all mixed together is a most delicious icky looking mixture. i could eat it every day.
• conversations that occur in spanish and english are more fun. and challenging to my little brain. in a good way.
  
• being able to take disco naps until 11 or 12 at night and knowing that restaurants and bar will still be open for hours and hours works really well with my love of nappy naps and being ready to go out after midnight.
• boys everywhere hit on you. which is sketchy yes, but also a great confidence booster. that's so anti-feminist but still so true.
  
• flip flops and shorts and tube tops. everyday. who needs pants? and real shoes? pshh. no.
• they have way better radio djs. they actually dj and dont just press play. how novel! and the mixed singles they have are cooler than what we've got in this pop-music backwater of boston.
  

now i'm back in boston. a little browner and a lot more relaxed. and wishing i could go back to the vacation life right now. forreal.

the latest

i always stay up wicked late before a long trip. between packing and nerves and my generally masterful skills of procrastination, i can spend well into 3am wandering around my room throwing things into my luggage.

and so it goes this time.

ellen and i are leaving for a little vacay in south beach. yes, it's summer everywhere and who spends july in south florida... whatever. it's a break from boston and work and general responsibilities. i'm looking forward to it. sitting on the beach reading or strolling through the streets shopping - i'm sure it will all be great.

my gram and aunt will be down in the area as well so it will be nice to squeeze in some family time. haven't seen either since april. ahhh. long distance families can come together sometime.

back to tonight. i've spent the majority of my afternoon and evening wasting time. i packed and unpacked my suitcase at least three times, consulting my roomates on what to take and what to leave, giving and watching mini fashion shows throughout. i watched an episode of skins, transferred my latest downloads to my mp3 player, showered, stared at the tele for a while, listened to some music while staring at the ceiling, and overall doing nothing productive.

i'm itching to watch the final episode of series one of skins because i've gotten this far and its gotten so weird... but i really should be sleeping instead. so i will. ep9 will just have to wait until next week... i'm such a loser.

but tomorrow- i'll be a loser on the beach!

a little older, not much wiser

i turned 24 today. that's pretty gross, eh?

worked up until 8p last night then went out for some drinks and yummies at sunset to ring in the passage of time with my brookline family. we had a good time laughing at poop and penis jokes cos we're all so mature. good to know i can be in my twenties and still laugh at 7th grade jokes with my friends. only now we can drink beer too. :)

after a late night marathon of chris rock standup, reading about amy winehouse and watching the boys play wii i passed out.

i woke up to calls from my family wishing and singing me happy birthday. i love my mommy, daddy and baby. sucks that i'm so far away all the time... but not for much longer!!!

this afternoon the girls and i went shopping for vacation clothes. picked up some yum yums at the asian bakery and came home to have fashion shows. finished up the day with mass at BC and now ellen and i are watching grease and planning for miami.

not the craziest birthday ever, but chill and fun doing some of my favorite things- eating, shopping, and singing along with grease!


miami in two days!! woohoo!!

blip blip blip boom

so, my uk trip was totally awesome up until about 1130a this morning.

edinburgh was fun with anna/ wandering on my own. i saw all the highlights from the castle to the palace and everything in between. i took pics of ppl and graffiti (there wasn't much) and a pub called 'white horse'. aww.

then at and i made our way on the train down to london. it was a sleepy but pretty trip. our days in london were sunny and relatively warm. it was great. we saw buckingham palace, trafalgar square, westminster abbey, and big ben. more than a few times we had to 'step in to the map' just like joey did on their friends trip to london. we also got to catch 'wicked' in the west end though tix to history boys were way out of my vacay price range. the wicked witch had an amazing voice and the cute boy from coyote ugly was in it. so yeah, anna and i had a good time and have tons of pictures with our big heads and tiny landmarks in the background. i'll put them up when i get back to the states.

anna left me on saturday night but it wasn't as lonely as i'd expected it to be. after wandering around leicester sq, catching a movie (good german- eh) and watching the drunks in covent garden i went back to the good old london bridge tube station. i made friends with my new hostel roomates and we got drinks at the hostel bar which is constantly smoky and filled with cricket fans. so yeah, a good time. on sunday i went to mass in st. paul's and then caught a bit of the st. patty's parade along hyde park. i did more touristy wandering and then eventually made it back to the hostel to crash. after a chat w/ the roomates we all passed out into afternoon naps. one of my roomates said she always took them (v. cool obvs, like me) and called them 'granny naps'. thought that was funny. back to the bar again and had a sunday roast that was pretty ick (bar food, what did i expect) but still a good time and lots of magners.

i got up this morning with big plans to stow my luggage, hit london and tower bridges and then make my way back to the hostel to pick up luggage and run to the airport. only after walking past london bridge and across the tower bridge i got lost looking for a tube station. i shouldve gotten on at tower bridge station but i didnt. anyways, finally made it back to the hostel and then no one could find the key to where my luggage was locked up. great. that took up more time. i got my luggage down the tube escalators and ran to catch a waiting train on the platform. only this train ended up having some sort of 'medical emergency'- i think someone was having a heart attack, and the ambulance took more than 15 min to get there. by this time i had 2.5 hrs before my plane left so i went up the escalators to take a different train/route to the airport. of course 10 million other ppl had the same idea so that platform was crammed with people and i didn't get on til a second train came through. eventually i got on the right train headed to the airport but by that point i knew it was a lost cause, there was no way i could make it as there was less than 2 hrs before my plane left. i got to the virgin queue about 45 min before my plane actually took off which was at least 15 min too late. poop.

no other boston flights avail so i had to choose between flying to nyc and figuring something out there or waiting a day and taking the tues morning flight out. i went for tuesday. tres annoying but less annoying then trying to find a way out of nyc it seems.

when i left heathrow to return to the city it was snowing. i had to find an internet cafe to book a room so i did that and then wandered around oxford street for a while. then when i was ready to get a tube out to my hostel the entire station was blocked up for some reason. and it was snowing/raining. so i wandered around more shops, drank tea and read a book, and then made it out to the edge of london to this new hostel. its cheaper/older than the other one we stayed in. this one reminds me of the old wing of tams dorms. funny.

i was going to try and upload pictures now but my camera wont connect so instead i've done this long long post. i'm pooped and probably heading to bed soon. flight is tomorrow at 3p but i'll definitely leave SUPER early this time. no more close calls, unfortunate events, etc. i AM flying back to boston tomorrow. cos london's been great, up until today, but now it's just really really gross and cold and i want to sleep in my own bed. yes.

from the 'burgh

... edinburgh.

got in yesterday. after a overnight flight from boston to heathrow. then customs and a treck through heathrow. then a flight to edinburgh's airport. then a busride to at's place. a very long trip, but not the worst.

now i'm here. safely w/ all my baggage. good.

anna picked me up and we rode a double decker bus w/ plaid seats to her place in the city. after lunch at a little coffeeshop nearby we went up a little bluff to see some landmarks, climb walls, and almost get blown off the hill by the wind. scotland sure is windy! then we came to her place and i passed out to nap while she did a little school work.

last night we met anna's boy for dinner. then some of her friends for coffee a little later. one of her friends is from the same town as a one of my friends from tams. funny. everyone's been nice. :) anna knows cool kids. (obvs, she does like me, right.) walking around edinburgh is totally useful. the stuff is all pretty near and though street names change frequently its easy to tell direction by landmarks and such.

last night i passed out dead asleep (i was pooped) but this morning i was able to wander along the royal mile w/o getting lost or mugged and saw lots of cool/old/new things. and took pictures. anna worked on her paper. grad school, pshh. having to write papers again might be a bit annoying...

now anna's in class and i'm going to take another nap. just a short one! maybe wander around a bit... we'll see.

dish w/o deets

quick update.

• bought some silver t-strap shoes. and play-doh.
• sunset last night, love it. dirty ho's all around.
• ellen got a wii. i love wii tennis. and boxing. not golf.
• i like watching other ppl play on the wii. its almost as fun as playing yourself. we've spent most of the day in the living room trying the thing out. activity day at hotel columbia!
• sushi for din.
• acn prom tonight at top of the hub. i'm dressing up and brushing my hair. craziness.
• daylight savings update tonight. spring forward.
• i have to wake up at 7/8 am for work.
• i fly to london at 7:30p tomorrow night.
• arrive in edinburgh at noon on monday.
• annatudor and i get to play together for a week! fun. :) yay for vacay!