HAPPY 2018

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2018!

I don't really know where to begin...
December was a very busy month for me from start to finish, because the first couple of weeks,
I was finishing up with my work...I know I still have like 170,000 emails that I probably will never see, and don't pay much attention to the apps on my phone, because for instance, I rarely watch tv, and have surely never even noticed the tv app on my phone until today!!

Then, as every end of the year, I take the last couple of weeks off...to rest, and reflect.

I did a lot of walking!! This is what I love about South Beach!  Life here is very conducive to walking, and the weather this time of year is amazing.  Honestly, I am sorry that I wasn't able to fill you in on all the happenings here in South Beach, but December was just too busy to find time to sit down and WRITE.

December, for me was about LIVING...less about posting.  Also, many of my friends here don't like to have their picture taken, so I just kind of put my phone away when I was with them, with respect to their comfort level, and enjoyed the time and places where we were!!

Started my staycation December 15th til today...decided that I didn't want to go anywhere...just to experience SOUTH BEACH, and all there is to do here.  Knew I needed to rest, and decided a trip anywhere would just be more work than relax....even after my daughters told me they felt they needed to spend the holiday with their father, as he proposed to his girlfriend on Christmas, and it was important to him that they all were there.

After Art Basel in early-December, I don't believe I left South Beach until yesterday when I unexpectedly was invited to sit in the 8th row of the Dolphins game...which was amazing!!

Like I have said, things just kind of come up for me since I have lived here.  Every day, I got up in the morning, and dressed for the end of the day...what I wanted to look like for dinner, for instance!  I do my hair, put a dress on, make up ( I don't wear much....just powder, blush and lipstick usually), comfortable walking shoes, and just wait, and see what comes up!

Yesterday, when I left for my hair appointment at 8am, I had no idea that I would never get a chance to come home, and change, nor change into the dress I'd planned to wear to celebrate NYE!!

 So, my Staycation usually started at Big Pink, meeting friends for breakfast...or Joe's Stone Crab, 1st pic, and "the best deal on the beach" at their breakfast bar, and then we would continue our day walking or ubering if too far to walk, although rarely did we uber, but you can see in the picture below, me waiting for an uber on a rock outside the 1 Hotel on Christmas, after a party with friends, (changing/meeting other friends at a new location), someone walked by and wanted (asked) to take a picture of me!!  So I laughed and asked her to send it to me if she thought this was "Picture-worthy!"

 Then after Breakfast or brunch, we had very little imagination...every day we would walk to Smith and Wollinsky on the water, and sit inside or outside (weather/temperature permitting), and joke and laugh and share.  One of my daughters works there too, which is another reason why I feel very comfortable going there, and it is a sort of "Cheers" location for all of us, where they know our name...and what we drink!

Then, we would walk to Monty's down the waterway...You can see me with my married Australian friend, Tina above.  She is the one who coined the term "Groundhog's Day at Monty's"...which honestly, my whole Staycation was Ground Hog's day at each of these favorite places, sprinkling in a little Prime 112, every once and awhile, with my best friends, who encompass this group...although usually I go there for a little diversion to the norm...and often alone...because this is another "Cheer's" style bar/restaurant with fantastic food, and when I walk in the patrons AND the people who work there know me.  The bartender, Sakki, has yelled, "TRACY IN DA HOUSE!!"
Which makes me feel very good an welcome.  Familiarity is key.

Tina and her husband are part of the great fun South Beach group of friends that I am a part of.    Most live in the more exclusive and expensive part of South Beach referred to as "South of Fifth," which refers to the land South of 5th street.  Most locations there have a fabulous water-view, with more than 1 water way, but are also much pricier.

Anyway, here we are: January 1, 2018.

I cancelled my "+1" for the NYE parties, a couple days before, which when asked by him, "why??"  I had to explain that it is nothing personal...just Feng Shui...like you make space in your closet for someone else, if you want someone special in your life...or put a bedside table on the other side of your bed...I thought I should make space in my life, when I start 2018,  for someone wonderful and special to come into my life in 2018...with the same or similar goals and desires that I have.

Anyway, he understood, and asked me out for the night prior if "there was space in my life!" LOL
That is a great friend, and for this I am so thankful, and look forward to a wonderful 2018...
THE BEST IS YET TO COME.