i wish it were snowing here! on second thought, most people out here have a hard enough time driving in the rain, so, you know, maybe ill just save my wishes for snow until im next back in new york. plus, the beach is still pretty great. and im not sure what snow would do to that component of my weekend activities.
i think the last update i did was on thursday afternoon? we went out to dinner thursday night with a collector & three art dealers, to a fancy steakhouse down on ocean drive- called prime 112. it was one of those places where the meat cuts are so huge that benjamin & i ended up splitting one. it had this amazing crust on it- pretty delicious, even though i usually only eat red meat these days when i am desperate for a burger or my moms beef stew (oh, how i miss it). we all shared some unbelievable mac & cheese- with truffles!!! (and lactaid pills of course), delectable brussel sprouts, amazing deviled eggs, salad, bread, sweet potatoes... the list goes on. we also managed to consume copious amounts of well-chosen champagne & red wines chosen by the collector, one of those people who know all about wine "houses" etc... i didnt even know you could refer to a wine maker as a "house" but apparently you can. after dinner, we went home to hit the hay: even though we didnt go out, it was still midnight by the time we got back here. such is life.
friday after work i scooped ben up at the NADA art fair near work, and we headed to our favorite miami institution, montys. if you check out that link you may start to understand what it looks like- random outdoor seating, tikish, with a pool in the middle, overlooking boats in the bay. pretty much perfection, if you ask me. so we headed there for some raw bar happy hour, downing half-priced stone crab legs, shrimp peel-and-eats, and some oysters for me. it was a seafood deliciousness night, along with a few pitchers of beer. really, life doesnt get any better. after that, we headed to a party for artforum, hosted by yves st laurent, but by that time i was super full and unable to really converse with anyone. it was at the bass art museum,
and we headed out to the garden area where everyone else was. the waiters were passing out desert h'or'devors, i mean, delicious but at that point i was so stuffed with mercury laden seafood that i couldnt imagine it.
more champagne, and then i took a walk inside to check some things out; nothing too crazy, although there were some fun videos: two played side-by-side, and were of kids in mexico (i believe?) playing air guitar infront of a wall on the street, which was draped with a white sheet. the kids all ranged in how they looked- but were definitely of the high school aged variety, some were goth, others punk, some more hipster looking. they got to play air guitar with these wooden, brightly painted cut-outs of guitars, and you could hear the music thru headphones. at the end of each "song", the kids would inevitably, break the guitars, smash them on the ground, the wood splintering. behind the videos, on the opposite wall, was a huge stack of the air guitars. i only wish they had encouraged similar play with those objects d'art. otherwise, nothing much to write home about. what i could write home about is how sleepy i was, so i left benjamin at the party and headed home to sleep. sadly i missed out on some more parties, and a late night swim in a pool, but i digress. (really, i could have done the same if only my pool on the roof would finally open!!!)
yesterday was rather non-art related until later in the evening: we spent some time on the beach, laying in the sun until a group of very loud spanish talkers came and stood about one foot away from our heads and continued to have a very long and loud conversation right above us for approximately 20 minutes, before we decided to leave; then we ran some errands, had some lunch/breakfast at a nearby arepa cafe, and headed to target! (look patty, we both got target in the same weekend. brilliant! except... i go all the time. oh well). our mission there was to buy some presents from a little boy named damien. no, not damien damien, but a little 4 year old foster child that i "adopted" for the holiday season. after some internal discussions and external ones with ben & my mom (via phone), we settled on a huge pack of legos and a soccer ball. when i asked my mom whether legos would be ok for a 4 yr old, or if little damien might eat them, my mom's reply was, "well, i mean, they should be ok, but you just dont know what kind of four year old he is." i think this was her way of saying, kids progress in different stages. do not judge if he likes to eat legos: it is out of your hands. we also briefly considered buying little damien a doctor's kit from fisher price, or chutes & ladders or candy land or memory, but decided that we were being excessive because buying toys is SOOO much fun.
you know whats not fun though??? dealing with small yelling children and their obnoxious parents in target around holiday season. one mother was actually being more annoying than her kids, as if shrieking and yelling to get them excited about toys was actually a good idea? we then had the miracle of miracles of waiting in line behind a mom & her 2 yr old, who did not
understand that her mom was actually buying her this mickey mouse play contraption that was four-times her size, but rather, thought that the cashier was taking it away from her, especially when it went into an oversized shopping bag. the mom let the kid scream and scream and scream and cry,-- it was like she barely noticed it. i tried to intervene, and explain to the child that the toy was actually HERS, it was just in a bag. but what can you do. kids are sometimes... stupid. benjamin got a real kick out of how annoyed i was that the child was being so irrational. i mean, i get it, i just wish the mom had been a little more proactive. (at the same time, i guess thats the kind of apathy that develops when you are constantly surrounded by screaming crying children. that are yours. maybe you just dont care anymore).
phew. once that was over, a had a lovely sushi-boat-dinner extravaganza, at my local fish spot, where the boats go around in a circle at a bar, floating in water that is pushed in this circular current. it was delicious, as always! we then hit up a magazine/fashion party at the mondrian hotel, (watch that intro video for a hilarious insight into miami) where we had yet more champagne -- the party was conveniently sponsored by verve cliquot. benjamin couldnt really it take it there- it was a little too fashiony/cheese miami, so we left after about an hour. i must tell you though, i loved the design of the place: it was very enlarged, playful- like outside, by the pool, there were several huge open-top canopys over large spaces, so that it looked as if you had spotted a room in a dollhouse; there were almost make-shift rooms in that sense, although the surrounding canopy & flowing white curtains were so oversized, that the furniture - lounge chairs, or living room set-ish spaces- looked dwarfed in comparison.
after that, we headed to the raleigh hotel once again, where a dealer (?) was sponsoring a -- get this -- paint ball competition! there were different groups of contenders, some artists, others collectors and dealers, and they would suit up, put on these white outfits, helmets, chest pads, and get into this pre-constructed ring with netting on all sides (so that all the bystanders didnt get hit). it was like we were invited to an oversized, absolutely ridiculous bat mitzah. kind of amazing. this party too was sponsored by my new favorite beverage - this time, moet. its really crazy how much corporate sponsorship goes into this week! although we only meant to stay at the raleigh for a while, we ended up leaving around 1.30, grabbing a midnight-snack, and then headed home to sleep it all off.
i know, this feels like the most neverending post but i just have to keep going.
today today todayyyyyy, we got a christmas tree!
there she is, in all her glory
yes, they do sell such things down here, conveniently at my local publix supermarket, where i got to actually select a 6 foot tall tree and place it inside my apartment without moving furniture or placing it awkwardly in the kitchen. go figure. miami beach living does have its benefits. i decorated it with hannukah themed colors, representing my dad's non-religious-cultural nature and my moms love of all religions. ok, well, i mean, i just really like blue, white & silver too. although i did search out the manorah factor today, i could only find the scary plastic ones with light bulbs at my local walgreens. i will search harder. in the meantime, the living room smells delicious and looks beautiful & peaceful. i tell you, theres just something about having a tree visit you for a month that is so pleasant. i wish i could have one all year. well, technically i guess i could, if i can settle for a mini palm tree. (note to self....). its feeling a little more joyous in here since we put the tree up, but its still a little odd beginning to celebrate or reminese in holiday-spirits when its warm and sunny all the time. while its nice, its also horribly ground-hog-dayish, if you know what i mean.
well, enough babbling on about champagne, trees, and all other sorts of random things. tomorrow begins my life once again as a boring office worker, writing memos, researching online, and taking long runs after work, with nothing else to do... when you see it snow again, enjoy it doubly for me my friends.
xoxo
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