To be Fifteen

In the latin culture it is tradition to celebrate your fifteenth birthday as an introduction into society. I suppose back in the day at Fifteen you were of age to be courted by potential husbands. Thankfully that is not the case these days. I am NOT ready for my little chikki to be taken away by any husband.

So Erika is the baby of the bunch and the last to turn of age for the big bash. My mother is known for her superb skills in party planning. Not only are all her events completely gorgeous, they are always a night to remember. Incredible food, the best flower arrangements, colors, textures, and always A LOT of people. She is def in the wrong career. But that is between you and me...

Erikas actual birthday was in March. However, no one was in town for that time of year. So we all agreed August was the appropriate time. I somehow managed to convince Mum and Angela to come for a few days and surprise Doug. We somehow kept the secret all the way to the day of their arrival. Dougs niece Emma also joined the bunch. Im afraid now they will never want to miss one of our parties again!

Lets begin with the dessert table...(please excuse my lousy photos, they are all from cell phones)

Seriously?! and let me tell you that ALL of those cakes disappeared from the table. No one left any signs of cake left behind.

How about the flower arrangements...

Yes you are probably thinking "this is for a fifteenth birthday!?!??!" but really its a family event. It is a big mix of her friends and old family friends. So everyone gets to enjoy it.

Me putting her crown in place. Isn't she so gorgeous.

Erika and Fredo, her boyfriend/dance partner. It is tradition for the birthday girl to pick 14 girlfriends and their partners and they all do a waltz together as the opening of the night.

Its kinda cool because my fifteens were at this same hotel and Britt and Dani danced in mine and kayla came to the party! hehe

My hot date.

Another member of my court.

A blurry pic but still my beautiful mum 

I have finally come up with a title for these two. Franz and Zsuzsi are our husband and wife couple. I came to the conclusion that every married couple should have a husband and wife couple that is like their parters in crime. These two are our ride or die crew.

Claudia was also one of the girls in my court

Another latin tradition is to have what they call an "hora loca" (crazy hour). Where a band of some sort comes in for a little and just livens up the party. They are usually some sort of Island or Brazilian band. People hire entertainers to teach dances like samba to the guests. Its just a fun way to get everyone involved. During all this they throw around masks and hats and ties all in crazy colors and sizes. Remember the band from the full moon party? Well they were our crazy hour again!!!

This is one of my fav pics of the night:

As the night ended we were all bummed because we were so not ready to be finished! We were all staying in the hotel so all the youngens walked over to a local bar called The Bar...real creative haha. Here is my end of the night model session...

Then I saw this picture and it was pretty much the only one taken of Doug and I and i just thought it was so cute.

What a night it was. We danced, we drank,  we socialized, we celebrated Erikas growing up. We honestly had such a fabulous evening I wish we could go back and do it again.

I love you Chikki!!!

  

M.I.A...Get your Spice on

Hi!!! Sorry I have been so bad at posting these last few weeks. Work has picked up like crazy because everyone is going back to school. Oh school.....I do miss those days sometimes. Having no care in the world other than turning in homework and hanging out with your friends. Now we have bills to pay, our men to take care of, cars to keep in check, buy our own clothes!!! (that one hurts) I wonder who invented the whole growing up thing. I do love being a young adult but I can just imagine things get more and more hectic as the years stick to you. C'est la vie.

So I started a Tumblr. I am still unsure how to use it. And I am unsure if I want to share it with anyone or just be a total anon!


So as for my title, MIA can either mean missing in action or Miami...and since I have def been missing in action I thought it was appropriate. Also in Miami right now they are doing Miami Spice, which is a fabulous way to check out those lavish restaurants that your little pay check just cant seem to stretch to. The participating restaurants establish a set menu where you can choose from 3 options on a Starter, Main, and Dessert. All for prices as low as $19 for lunch and $30-40 for dinners. It truly is a bargain. It is a great way to test out a restaurant and see if it is worth your while next time. Grab your girlfriends, your sisters, your new love interest, your mom, your friends in town and get all glammed up and enjoy a fabulous dining experience without breaking the bank. Imagine, you can afford to get an extra glass of wine or even a bottle with the money you save.

Doug and I went last weekend with Franz and Zsuzsi and Franzs sister Tabitha. Our restaurant of choice was Ortanique on the Mile. I can't say our experience was amazing or even close to it but the food was delicious and the service was pretty spot on. We booked a table for 8:30. Doug and I decided we would get dressed to the nines and get there early for a drink at the bar. We arrive around 8 and went for a drink at another bar because the rest hadn't arrived yet. at 8:30 we went in to Ortanique to find our table was not ready so we made our way to the bar still waiting for our party. We did not get sat till 9...thankfully Franz was late or I really would have been complaining at the fact that our reservation was pointless. 

The night we went was a special night because the chef owner was running the kitchen. She created her own menu for the night. The starters were between a salad, lobster ravioli, and mushroom soup. The lobster raviolis had run out so they gave the option of ceviche in its place. I went with the salad. it was good. Nothing memorable. The choices for mains were steak with mushroom sauce, salmon, and another fish option. Doug and I hate mushrooms and they didn't even give us an alternative sauce for the steak. So I asked for it on the side to at least avoid the actual mushrooms. Now the part that really made me sad...they had Sticky Toffee Pudding as one of the dessert options. So with my absolute love of sticky toffee pudding I instantly got ridiculously happy. But of course....they ran out.....Do you not think that if pretty much every table in your restaurant is going to be ordering from a small menu that you would have enough of the better, more popular options?? I was immediately deflated once the waiter announced the news. I went with the bread pudding which I really didn't enjoy at all.  

Another good thing was the Mojitos we ordered. I don't normally order them because they are too sweet but these were made with dark rum and I absolutely loved it!! I told the waiter to surprise me with a drink and he got it spot on.

Tabi and I caught in action

This whole post seems very negative about this restaurant lol. Maybe I am just a picky diner. We had a great evening because we were in great company. The bar tender and the server were both very professional and took great care of us.

By the way, one thing I really dislike about Miami is that people go to nice restaurants wearing a t-shirt and sneakers!!! What is that about? I believe these places should have a slight dress code. 

 So my dear readers, dress up in your best shoes, your cutest dress (or best suit) and grab someone to go out with! Get spiced! ;)

Plaid & Flats

Last weekend was probably MY craziest weekend in a long time. And by crazy I pretty much mean I stayed up passed my regular bed time. I love my sleep. Not in the sleep till 1pm kind of way though. More like the go to bed early, have a full nights rest, and wake up with enough time to do anything you need the next day way. Since my school days I was always in bed early. If I didn't have any homework or tv show to watch, or friends to chat with on AIM.....(wow, AIM!) I would just hit the sack by 9pm. I know, I am a rebel without a cause. 

Anyway, so Friday night was a splendid chill reunion of my high school peeps. Where we drank, laughed, reminisced and shared stories of the years I have been absent from all their lives! The host Heather was actually my fav basketball team mate when I was in 6th grade and she was in 8th. We bonded recently because I did her hair and she approved of my skills =) It was Tylers birthday and she was having a group of people over as a little surprise. I am so glad Doug and I made it. Doug fit in rather well i'd say!

 Here are random photos of the evening...

The hostess Heather

Birthday boy and Amber releasing a lantern. I have always wanted to do one of these so bad. and this night was the perfect first time.

First timers.

                         

We sang happy Birthday to Tyler and dug into the yummy chocolate cake. 

I carried on my catch up chats outside with everyone completely forgetting that I had work the next morning. Karly came out and told me it was 2:08AM!!! So I decided it was time to hit the hay and call it a night. I easily could have spent hours in conversation. And goodnight it was.

Saturday:

I haven't seen Dani since the Rascal Flats concert. That is just crazy. So she and I decided a little happy hour was necessary. After a long day at the salon this seemed like a nice idea. I got Britt involved and we headed to Tarpon Bend in Coral Gables for an early dinner and one happy hour drink (which obvi means two) Britt and I said we would have an early night because we were tired and bla bla. Lucky for me, Doug dropped me off on his way to Brickell. 

Us being silly with our 2 for 1 wines.

Once we were ready to head out, I caught a ride with Britt and convinced her to join me for a little to meet up with the boys. Feeling the wine sink into our system we both concurred that we could do with another drink....we have a very similar alcohol tolerance. That being very low!!! So a third glass made us act silly and giggly. As you can see... We haven't had a night like this in a long time so it was actually so lovely.

We decided our night was not due to end so we seperated from the men and went on to Brother Jimmys. Which was dead. BUT they had reverse happy hour which started at 10... we became friendly with the bartender Eddie, whome I obviously had to drunkenly take a photo with lol. Mind you I was using my Mini iPad to take these! haha. 

Yes that was our tab =)

Britt called it a night after her second drink. I met back up with Doug who easily convinced me to go to Mansion night club in South Beach. Our friend Franz hooks it up in most night clubs! I figured it was a great idea....even though I was wearing MK flats, high waisted shorts and a purple plaid button down.....WHY!

I gathered myself and acted like I owned the place and no one really acknowledged my ensemble. Thank God. No one wears flats to Mansion hahah.

We walked right in. No cover charge, VIP, Free drinks...twas a splendid night!!! I danced my little flats off and enjoyed the Dj that I don't know.

Me and Zsuzsi! My south beach partner in crime these days.

Mansion has been revamped and I hadn't seen it since. It feels like a totally different place! 

Naked dancers adorned the ceilings. Dancing and entertaining to the music. They handed out these light up foam sticks that were pretty frikkin cool. So I raved on and on.

We slept in on sunday and then enjoyed a gorgeous day by the pool at Britt and Kaylas apartment. and stopped at my new love Shake Shack for a burger and shake. A blog post on that will happen soon.