hello there

i took a little vacay from blogging bc i took a little vacay but i'm back now. at my desk. in my cubicle. wanting out.
i spent the weekend lounging on the beach and by the pool in miami and it was just delightful. I swam in the ocean, ate cuban food, drank beer and just enjoyed myself.
I really love the beach and i really love the water - even the pool. It just makes me happy and calm. I'd like to find more ways that i can be in water. And the bathtub won't do.
Here's what i don't get about florida. It's seriously hot there in the summer, so how do the old folks, who don't have homes up north, survive? is it just that their body temperatures drop and so it doesn't feel so painful? i just don't get it. it's not just warmer in florida, it's hot in a very real way. needless to say. i found it's not the heat that i so despise, it's the lack of opportunities to submerge my entire body in water that makes me cringe at summer in NYC.

a few other notes from the past few days:

when booking the last flight out of miami, give yourself a buffer day off from work so that if that flight is delayed by many hours and you get in way past your bed time, you have the next day to recover.

wear sunscreen. i did and instead of people telling me how burned and pained i look, peops are saying i got a nice little tan.

do not try to shake hands with a cuban, they like to hug.

do not try to be heard in a room full of cubans, they are loud talkers.

though the literal translation of chicken vaca fritta (chicken fried cow) is kinda gross, the actual dish is truly amazing.

publix is not just a grocery store, it's a foodie's playground.

if i had to pick one small animal to lurk close by at all time, i don't mind little lizards so much.

never get on an airplane without lots of snacks even if your fiance thinks you're crazy. he will thank you later.

Nothing says i love you like skewering chicken, peppers, onion, chicken, peppers, onion into kabobs for three straight hours. Thank you P.A.'s grandma.