weekendsies forever, please!

Sigh. It feels like ive had the longest extended weekend known to man. Ironically, its Wednesday; still, i’m not letting that bother me. So much fun has happened! Let’s see... Friday night I drove up to fort lauderdale to get benjamin from the airport; we got back and went out for sushi boats – sadly on the disappointing end... i still vividly remember the mackerel being very dry, as if it had been going about on the boat for like 10 days, lost at sea; but of course we enjoyed ourselves as much as we could, drinking sake and feasting on salmon, tuna, and various rolls. We finished the night off at a sports-bar next to the sushi boat spot, where we played some pool and then were engaged in conversation with two friends- both of whom played pool considerably better than us but kept trying to get us to have a friendly game of doubles that was interspersed with them making joint-trips to the bathroom while she brought her purse, only lasting about a minute each time– friendly, happy, funny, sassy, and obviously, on coke. Oh, miami. (The same girl who was involved in this pool-playing couple was from spain and would later allegedly be spotted sunbathing topless on my roof when ben was up there on Monday. What a small, weird world).

Saturday morning, after leaving me to sleep a few more hours, ben came down from the roofand woke me – we snacked on a lovely breakfast of fresh fruits and cottage cheese and then suited up for a few hours on the beach, reading in the sun- he, a novel- me, teen vogue! (ummmmm, not a joke). After a few hours tanning this way and that, and even going in for a swim (finally not icey cold), we drove over to the vagabond farmers market, loaded up on tomatoes, onion, cucumber, scallions, and a quart of fresh coconut water; then off for a desperately-needed-car-wash at the local eco-friendly spot. While we waited we had lunch at this cute little place next-door called ‘dogma’- basically like an old-school hamburger joint- you just walk up to the window, order your free-range hamburger or hotdog (veggie and turkey options to boot) and your beer of choice, and sit in the sunshine, reading the weekly local papers and relaxing. I tell you. Life does not get much better. Once the car was all spiffy, we proceeded to toodle around the design district- walking up and down the streets, which again were mostly deserted. Too bad, too, since most of the stores appear as if they focus on the same thing any old furniture, bedding, or interior design store in soho would- but yet are barely open or not-occupied- so of course you dont want to be the one person in the small store with the storekeep; and so the empty cycle continues.

After digesting our shared hamburger, we decided it was finally monty’s time- we sat for a few hours, had some more beer and snacks, and then headed back home as the sun was setting. Much later that night, i seem to recall there was some disappointing cuban food that we tried to make the best of; a walk around the neighborhood ending in chullos and latin american short-bread cookies with guava and caramel; and the looming knowledge that we would not only loose an hour of sleep with daylight savings, but also have to wake up absurdly early for a Sunday to make it to the red soxs spring training in fort myers.

No whining the morning of though! It wasnt sunny when we left at about 9am, but by the time we drove across alligator alley and through the everglades, across the state and north, the sun was in full force and it was gorgeous and warm and everything was right in the world. The spring training field was much smaller than any other baseball field ive seen or been to- seated maybe a few thousand? We got some beers and hotdogs and wandered around for while before the game started- the first few innings went by rather quickly, but then i got horribly dehydrated and cranky around number 3- that is, until i was saved by ben’s instinct to keep me supplied with water. I dont know how i rationalized not needing water when i was simultaneously sticking to the little plastic seat with my damp sundress, but somehow it slipped my mind. Anyway, saved.

We left the game a little early and stopped in naples on our way back to miami. Naples... the only thing i knew of it was that it was a haven for the wealthy and apparently, like palm beach but newer and somehow... less classy (if that is possible with wealthy enclaves?). We didnt see much of it, honestly, but we did find a little marina with several crab-shack-style restaurants and engaged in a feast of stone crabs, shrimp and salad bits, looking out on the water and boats- and apparently there was a manatee that swam by, although sadly this girl did not see. After finishing the two-hour trip home, i have a vague recollection of cocktails at a local bar, followed by an impulsive order of the national dish of colombia- beans, rice, fried egg, avocado, beef, and a nice fatty strip of pork fat with little tiny tidbits of actual meat on it. I dont know how or why we did it, but we did, and it was good.

Never-ending fun, huh? Monday we hit monty’s again for happy hour; followed by more food at joe allens- a really nice, quiet restaurant also on south beach, but on the bay side, and it was late- so it was tame and not that populated. And last night, we ended the whole shebang with a long walk on the beach at sunset, followed up by cocktails at the neighborhood "sandbar"- an amazing gem! I had run by it before and thought nothing of it- but the wall facing the sidewalk must be like a garage door- it was totally open and we were able to just walk through and sit there and get the best breeze possible without being flatly outside. Some random guy at the bar bought us jager shots (ha!) and proceeded to tell us his whole life story (law school, practicing lawyer, then med school, now doctor, ex-girlfriend is a GI doctor; from key west, old family, old money, blah blah blah), and we just narrowly escaped to grab take-out sushi and relax at home. The wonderful thing about people visiting is that the feeling they get rubs off on me– its like im on vacation with them (minus going to work), and i get to try all the new things they get to try, things i normally wouldnt just walk into.

A lovely lovely neverending pseudo-vacation...

As if the feelings couldnt get more positive? Today i received some lovely work compliments from the big man, which i’ve never heard before, and it really made my day. To finally feel somewhat recognized and competent? It makes me more relaxed being here than ive felt in a while...

And with that, off to finish up the day with a run outside and a little tidying up before miss park arrives tomorrow night! Unfortch the internet at home isnt working at the moment, but never fear- we’ll just have to replace a little modem and it should be smooth sailing for a little dual-posting-action. AND, coming attractions? Patty goes to montys, patty goes dancing on south beach, and patty gets to see latina culture in all its glory at the calle-ocho street fair on Sunday. I know, you can hardly wait.

xoxo