Everything we dreamed it would be

Wow. We had an amazing, fantastic trip to Miami and a great Christmas, too. It was seriously just what we needed after all the stress we had been through over the past couple of months.

Miami was so relaxing, and I even have a tan (but not a burn, thanks to religious use of SPF 30) that extends to my legs! I always thought that my legs had two colour options: lily white or lobster pink. But apparently not, because now they are a charming tanned colour that makes me very happy.


It is amazing, I have to say, how incredibly tanned everyone in Miami is. Seriously, they are all brown and leathery like very old turtles. It looks so unhealthy, but they are all like that. Also, they are all incredibly fashionable, ironically so. They wear things like striped seersucker shorts with furry snowboots. Some restaurants in South Beach even have dress codes requiring customers to be dressed fashionably.

We went to the Everglades with my aunt and uncle on our first day, and it was really cool. We saw tons of alligators, and also lots of pretty birds. Torsten took lots of pictures and had fun experimenting with different camera modes.


Also: our hotel was amazing. We were prepared for it to be dilapidated, since it was so inexpensive and we had read that it was in need of renovation, but our room was gorgeous. We had booked a room with an ocean view and a balcony, and we ended up with exactly that, but right on the side of the hotel, so that it also had a gorgeous side view of the beach. The shower had a window with a beautiful ocean view, so bright that you almost needed sunglasses while you were washing yourself.


And also, speaking of the shower: It had been so long since I'd been to the beach, I had forgotten that one of the best feelings in the world is taking a long, hot shower after a day on the beach with the salt and the sand and the sunscreen and the wind.

The hotel had its own gorgeous stretch of nice clean beach, with a very friendly guy who gave out chaise lounges and sun umbrellas. And it had its own pool and hot tub with a bar and music and everything, plus towel service. It was so nice to have it all there at our fingertips that we're starting to think that maybe instead of going to Thailand for our honeymoon, as we'd been thinking, we'll go to an all-inclusive resort in Mexico. The resort will be more expensive, but the much cheaper airfare will make it work out to about the same price overall. Plus we won't have to waste two full days traveling.


Anyway, back to Miami. I got stung by a jellyfish one day, but it wasn't that painful: it got swollen and stung for about an hour, and then went away, leaving only a little red mark. At first I wasn't even sure it was a jellyfish, because I had always assumed that those were extremely painful, but then I looked over and saw it floating in the water next to me. I did not scream or shriek, but I did take off for the beach at a good clip.


We flew in to North Carolina early on Christmas morning on a flight that was uneventful except that our suitcase didn't make it. Luckily, we had sent all our Christmas presents down with my sister in her car, so the lack of luggage didn't affect our ability to exchange gifts. The suitcase was delivered to our house at one a.m. the next day. Sucks for the poor guy who was out delivering luggage all night, but good for us, since we left the next morning to drive back to DC.

Oh, and speaking of Christmas gifts! I got some fabulous ones, including an amazing massage seat from Torsten that makes my back feel so loose and relaxed, a host of purple housewares from my parents (including a teapot, a vase, salad servers, bowls, egg cups, a picture frame, and a trivet), the complete series of My So-Called Life on DVD from my sister, and a gorgeous, GORGEOUS necklace with a platinum heart-shaped pendant and a white gold chain from Torsten. I didn't take a photo of my own, but it's so pretty that I have to share the stock photo from the seller:


Okay, happy materialistic bubbling is over, for now anyway. It might come back if/when I get around to taking my own pictures of things. Oh, and speaking of pictures: if you want to see the rest of the Miami photos, the full set is here.


It's amazing that it's already time to get back to work, but Miami was so wonderful and I'm so relaxed now that I don't even mind. It's a miracle! Or maybe I'm just delirious because it's only a two-day workweek. Either way, I'll take it. It feels so GOOD to be relaxed again.