Arriving in Miami!

On July 26, my apartment lease was up so I packed it up, put it in storage, and took the things I needed to Vipul's apartment, where I was supposed to be packing up his junk, but I was soo tired. Anyways, helped a bit while he was studying, and looked up tons of craigslist postings for a place to live here in Miami, as well as flights to ship my Conner to California :(

Vipul took his Boards 2 Aug 4, we packed and put things in storage Aug 5, packed more and put things in storage the next morning, cleaned, cleaned, found a really great babysitter for Conner, packed up the car really tight, Vipul saved the maintainance guy's life on the way out, and we left KC at 4 pm! It's valid to say I dislike moving.

Vipul insisted on driving until he was dead tired, which left me to drive from 2 am to 6 am. It was pitch dark, winding mountain roads, and ALL the 100 semis on the same highway were driving, and they drive NOT AT ALL SAFE! It was terrifying!! And then we drove through Atlanta in early morning traffic and that was scary too, they are the worst drivers ever!!! We ended up taking a 1 hour nap, and Vipul drove, and then I drove into Miami which was scary too. NEVER MAKE ME DRIVE AT NIGHT, OR IN BIG CITIES I'M NOT FAMILIAR WITH!!!!

Anyway, we stayed at the Hyatt downtown, so got here, BTW, don't stay here if you don't want to pay an extra 30 bucks a day for valet parking since it's pretty much your only option..
Anyways, called the places I had looked up to see the apts and studios..most were in South Beach so we headed that direction. Not that great. (aka 400 sq ft tiny stupid studio yards away from the ocean for 1250/mo) We went to a Starbucks on Lincoln Rd, and looked at some new postings on cragislist, met a very nice visiting couple from Paris, and found some better places. We ended up back in downtown at a tower called The Ivy. Really nice place, huge hurricane windows (it is the season!), modern furniture (which Vipul likes), the entire 10th floor is all amenties - spa, gym, arcade, tons of lounge areas indoors and outdoors, volleyball court on rooftop (of garage) recreational pool, lap pool, 2 shallow tanning / decorative pools, hot tub - all saltwater, and best of all, palm trees :). Just a 10 minute drive to South Beach! And even more perfect, I ran into my girl friend Angela from TULSA who is living 2 floors above me! What a freaky deaky coincidence.
Anyways, still settling in but we've been to the ocean, which is gorgeous!, Sushi Samba is one restuarant we went to on Lincoln Road, we went to one called Auro or something..I actually didn't pay attention to the name because seriously they are all the same..with Vipul's classmates.
Today, I am getting my Yellow Fever vaccine and Malaria prescription for Belize!


Maybe I'm just a fattie but I really think people like reading/watching about food (aka Food Network is preeetty popular, new movie Julie and Julia, etc) so I'm going to keep a food diary for your tasting pleasure, and also so I remember some really fantastic recipes for later.

*MIAMI DISH DIARY*

Our first night in our new place we ate green leaf lettace salad with chopped green onions and lime juice with my House Dressing, and leftover bufula mozzerella pizza from an Italian restuarant in South Beach who serve buffalo everything! (lots of cheese pizza, buffalo burger, sausage, etc). Fratelli de Bufalo. It's pretty good but there's better.

My House Dressing
(add to taste)

Balsamic Vinegar
Olive Oil
Dijon Mustard
Crushed garlic
Chopped green onions
Fresh Lime or Lemon Juice
Salt and Pepper
Splash of soy sauce

It is out of this world!


The other night we went to the local groccery store Publix, and bought some fresh salmon. It was over a pound, I cut it in half, and made the most delicious dijon mustard glaze for it. It was the BEST salmon I had ever made or eaten by far. The recipe can be found at http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/broiled-salmon-with-herb-mustard-glaze-recipe/index.html
and paired with roasted asparagus, XX!


Last night we ate a lighter dinner of Egg White sandwich, and Roasted Balsamic Potatoes. The egg sandwich was delicious and simple. Of course, I didn't use the bacon. Try the recipe at http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/fried-egg-and-avocado-sandwich-recipe/index.html


The potatoes take forever so you might want to boil them first. I just added fresh chiffoned basil, some olive oil, lots of balsamic vinegar, salt & pepper, maybe a little cayenne pepper and cumin, and stuck it in the oven. Obviously one of my favorite ingredients is balsamic vinegar!