Week in Review (7/17/11 - 7/24/11)

We had a fun-and-action-packed week.  Fueled primarily by fun packages...

 On Tuesday, we got a fun box from the Eders... What's in the box?!?

Trader Joe's treats, of course! 

 Amy was REAL excited!

Thank you Erin, Drew and Kate!

 Jean sent us some homemade canned goods.  Corn relish, pickled asparagus, and peach bourbon sauce...

Thanks Jean!

 Finally, we got a GIANT box from Amy's parents & Carrie...

 What's it going to be?!?

 YAY! It's that thing...

We aren't sure what to put in it yet (Jellybeans?), but it looks great on our table, along with...

 ...Our new place mats, napkins, and napkin rings!

From another angle.

Dinners this week...

 Polenta with Eggplant

 Chili Rubbed Porkchops with Sauteed Corn and Zucchini

Just down the street from our apartment is the "Miracle Mile" where there are approximately 45 wedding dress stores. One of them knocked off Kate's dress. Fortunately, Amy loves her wedding dress and was not even tempted to buy it, but still may try it on:)

We made another trip to the beach. This time to Crandon Park, also on Key Biscayne. 

 Chair rentals are amazing! At least until the rest of Miami shows up!

We broke out the Puerto Rico snorkels. There wasn't much to see...

 Finally, we had dinner in Coconut Grove at Jaguar...

Dinner was great, but so were the drinks.  Amy had a Pisco Sour.

And I had a Caipirinha

The drinks were so good, that we forgot to take pictures of the food!  Next time...

Nice little Sunday....

We had a nice, and productive, little Sunday....

We had brunch @ Ice Box in South Beach.  On the way home, we spotted a Carnival cruise ship.

 We hung a bunch of pictures today, and polished off the dinning room.

 The "mother-in-law" suite is also shaping up nicely....

 

And, we cooked dinner tonight.

 Chorizo and zucchini ragoût over rotini.  Not too shabby.

Finally, we got the blue prints hung.  Not a bad little day!

Dinner @ The Local

We had a fancy dinner last night at a restaurant - within walking distance - called The Local.

Before we left, we had some cocktails on the balcony:

Note: The dramatic clouds in the background...

Only in Florida can you find Hopslam in July - This has been sold out in Michigan for months!

Amy's flatiron steak with Bone Marrow Butter, Mushrooms, Crispy Potato Tart & Bordelaise

 Malanga tater tots with cheese curds & oxtail gravy

Cort's burger: Meyer All Natural Beef, Cheddar, Benton Farms Ham, Onion, B&B Pickles, House Brioche Bun & The Local BBQ Sauce

Beach Day!

We went to Cape Florida yesterday, which is about 20 minutes from our apartment (making it the closest beach to us by far).  Unfortunately, we forgot our camera, so here are some other peoples pictures of the beach!

Incidentally, we did have a great breakfast before we left:

REAL fancy cereal...

And pretty standard omelets.

PIzza night...

We may be going out on a limb here, but finding decent pizza in Miami is like finding a unicorn. That said, we took matters into our own hands tonight...

We present to you, chorizo pizza.  Yep, we went there!

Oh...and Amy made a delicious salad (there was no chorizo in the salad).

Storms!

One advantage of living in an exclusive penthouse the top floor of our building is that we can just look outside to see the weather...

Today, we brought umbrellas...

Dinner Alone

Amy was in Jackson, Mississippi to take in the culture for work, so I was cooking for one this week.

I call this dish "Lonely spinach salad, with chicken."

A bar, of sorts

A HUGE package came in the mail today...

 Inside was this leopard-print wrapped box...

 Inside of that, was the ice bucket that matches our whisky glasses.  Finally, we can toss out that other ice bucket from the Days Inn!

We immediately ran to the Winn Dixie, and procured a bottle of their finest, cheapest single malt ($21.00...no joke!).  Not too shabby!

New Rug & New Sideboard

Another trip to West Elm, and this time we came home with a new rug and sideboard.  The rug really ties the room together, and the sideboard really makes up for the ridiculous lack of storage in our apartment.

Incidentally, if you ask for a sideboard in Miami, the clerk will look at you like you are speaking a foreign language (not Spanish).  Apparently, this type of piece is called a console down 'round these parts.  In any case, it looks nice next to the couch - errr - davenport.

The movers came!

And they saw, and they conquered...

 Our kitchen, full of kitchen boxes, with barely any room to spare...

It was pouring when they showed up (thanks, Miami), so the boxes were quite soaked when they arrived.  But, for the most part, everything was in one piece (and it was free), so no complaints!