I feel lucky that I often get invited to go to cool events at the last minute. In the past few years, I've been offered free tickets to the Super Bowl, The World Series, a Bruce Springsteen Concert and  more things within hours of the starting time. 

  I guess that I should wonder why I don't get invited at the first minute but I am not a planner so I love a call like I received during the bewitching hour (after school homework hell/5:00 p.m.). "I have two extra tickets for the food and wine festival's Q event. It's on South Beach behind the Delano. Do you guys want them?" , said a very nice friend. 

    I hesitated. There was a Lord of the Flies Project and lots of studying to oversee. The decision was made as soon as my friend went onto say, "C'mon. They are worth $300 each. You guys will love it. Free Gourmet food and drinks"   $600 dollars worth of food, drink and fun for free, I'll take it! 

    I told the kids to figure it out on their own, threw on some lip gloss and the best "beach chic" thing that I could come up with in five minutes and ran out the door. 

     Besides the error of wearing wedge heels to an event which was held on a football field sized tent on the beach, the night was amazing.

  The South Beach Wine & Food Festival is presented by Food & Wine and the Food Network. It has been held on chic South Beach for 13 years.  65,000 people will  attend the dozens of events held over the weekend. Depsite the high ticket prices, the event always sells out. I've never been before. 

   The event we attended was called "Moët Henneessy's the Q". Supposedly the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Models were supposed to be the featured guests but luckily I did not see them. After my brush with the Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders last week on our cruise, I really did not need another "boost" to my self-esteem.

   The event featured tastings by 40 of the nations top chefs. It was a celebration of all things, grilled, braised and barbecued.  This was not a vegetarian event. Each booth served different variations of BBQ brisket, ribs and other meats.  My husband was literally in hog heaven. He was starving after a long day at work and started at the first booth and worked his way down the line.  I warned him to be picky. He had 40 booths plus desert stops and free drinks to conquer.  He made it to about 15 before he was stuffed and nauseous . I was more choosey but I'm still certain that any weight that I lost from lovely procedure earlier in the week, was instantly re-gained.

Myron Mixon and Some other food person

     One of my favorite stops was Myron Mixon's booth. I don't really watch food shows. I'm a horrible cook and they make me feel inadequate and super hungry.  I did watch marathon of a show called BBQ Pitmasters with my husband one Sunday afternoon and Mixon was the winner. He was serving brisket that was delicious. 

      I also liked the offering from Dale Talde, a former Top Chef All-Stars Contestant. He owns a spot in Brooklyn and his Asian flavored BBQ beef was amazing. 

   

  The rest is kind of a blur. How much beef can one partake in three hours? How much champagne can one drink on a school night?  How many times can one's wedges sink into the sand? These were questions that were answered during our impromptu party night.

  

    Drink Menu. I tried the first one                                          I did not drink all of this!
        but did not like it at all



  If you ever have the chance to get tickets to the SOBEWFF (even if not free) you should definitely go. The balmy breezes and delicious food made for an amazing night out. Just wear flats! 

    AND if you ever have extra tickets for almost anything, I'll take them, even if the thing is happening in the next hour. That  is just how I roll. 

The worst gift and the best gift

We all know that family, friends and health are the best gifts for the holidays but let's just put aside that serious stuff and let me tell you what the worst gift is..

These tacky calendars that businesses mail to you.  Yes, my mother taught me that you should always be gracious etc. Yes, it's the thought that counts. HOWEVER I received a few of these this year and they go right into the goodwill pile where goodwill will probably throw them away.

When I had a business I would get at least 10 paper calendars in various forms.  Send me a pen. My bank gave me a cute little spray hand sanitizer.  But an old-school calendar, please save your money Mr. Insurance Broker. A card would have been just as nice.

The best gift that I received from a business this year was from Like Twice.  liketwice.com is a website that buys and sells gently used clothing.  They send you a bag. You fill it up and send to them at their expense and they pay you in store credit or cash!  I've sent them a bunch of stuff that I couldn't sell on ebay and they sent me a lot of money. This was stuff that I would have donated so it was like a gift.  On top of that, they sent me this yesterday.

Way better than a calendar!



Be sure to enter my contest for the gorgeous Fresh Produce Scarf before December 26th!


Merry Chritmas. Hope it is great!

Another Giveaway from BowTie Kids

Tis the season! Last week I hosted my very first giveaway. This week I have another.

This cool company called The Bowtie kids has offered to giveaway a cute item to one of my readers.  This is the easiest giveaway ever. Just leave a comment

Bowtie Kids has adorable little clothes for your little ones PLUS they give 10% of their profits to Austism Charities  which just rocks!

Grandmas, Moms, Dads and Aunties, leave a comment and we will pick a winner by a random old-fashioned pulling a name out of hat.
US addresses only :(

Contest ends Friday 12/13 at noon (EST) so comment away!

It's the beginning of the end???

During our  much needed walk along Hollywood Beach this morning, my husband and I stumbled upon the newly destroyed park and parking lot which was bulldozed to make Margaritaville. This is not going to be your usual Margaritaville restaurant. It is a Margaritaville resort where parrotheads from around the world can live the Jimmy Buffet lifestyle while on vacation.

There was a poster up showing what the 349-room resort was going to look like in 18-24 months when it is completed. 

Even though my husband and I are not "parrotheads", we stood at the rendition and wished it was open already for a check in. We could use a few days of  margaritas and island music. While I was daydreaming about the thought of lounging by the pool while my kids played on the hotels planned flowriders, two cranky locals came up to us and said "It's the beginning of the end".


You see, Hollywood Beach is one of the last commercial beach areas in South Florida that has not been upgraded. Many of the beachy places, most famously, South Beach, had developers move in and buy up properties and upgrade them.  This led to many small places being kicked out, mostly due to higher rents. It also led to world class hotels and restaurants being opened in our back door. Amazing shops and big festivals such at Art Basel came to Miami Beach.

The Beach in Hollywood is absolutely gorgeous. The little mom and pop souvenir stands and cafes look like cheap-y beach. Hey, I never complain about the delicious breakfast with the million dollar view that my husband and I often partake in for less than ten bucks at a tiny little cafe. However, the hotels and apartments along the beach look down-right dingy. If they were not on the beach, you would expect crack moms to be hanging out in them.  Bringing a beautiful resort to the area makes such sense. 

To the two old cranks who interrupted my daydream about being wasted away again in Margaritaville, please keep your negativity to yourselves. The place is going to create jobs and re-vitalize the place. Plus, cheeseburgers taste better in paradise!