South Beach, Miami & Jazz in the Gardens

“I just love digging my car out of the snow!” said no one ever. Especially not me, even though I am willingly enduring my second winter in this lovely place called New York City. The snow, however, is for the birds – oh wait, even the birds fly south for the winter. So yea, no surprise that as this wintry season nears its end, I skipped town for a couple of days. Grabbed some girlfriends and slipped away to sunny Miami for a little R&R, girl chat, and all around beachyness (yes, I made that up – fight me).

We purposely chose the weekend of Jazz in the Gardens, which also happened to coincide with the beginning of Spring Break (not intentional, ugh), but we still had a fabulous time on the sands of South Beach. We rented an amazing Airbnb that was conveniently situated right on Ocean Drive overlooking palm trees and blue water – pretty much how I’d love to wake up every morning if I could. It was a two-bedroom two-bath which was of of the utmost important for a condo full of day and evening wear women, along with large curtain-less windows and exposed ducts. It was the perfect mix of sleekness and industrial, with a view to make you forget how much you paid. The only thing I would have changed would be to have had windows that actually opened, and/or a balcony to sit outside and people watch. But not too much of an issue since we spent most of that time outside anyway.

And while outside, I wasted no time ditching my coat and Uggs for a cute summery set from Fashion to Figure, my favorite Mascara & Coffee baby tee, and my open toe Nikes. (I am seriously about that open-toe life). Even though it was a bit cooler than normal our first day there, it still beat the 21 degrees I left in NY so I was grateful. Grateful for it all.

And after the proper change in outfit, next came food, drinks, and more drinks (it is Miami after all). And the city did not disappoint. From Wet Willies to Yard Bird and everywhere in between, we enjoyed the strip like the best of em. Those Spring Break youngsters should have taken notes lol. One thing is for sure – we never went hungry and we never went thirsty. That, I can assure you. (I promise you we ate – I just don’t seem to have any photos of that ha!)

Wait – it’s Miami! So you already know what came next right? BEEEAACCHH! If you know me even a little bit, you should know that the beach is my absolute happy place. And as a full-figured, body-positive enthusiast, I am all for having a flattering suit regardless of your size. I am not an oversized tee and shorts in the ocean girl. Nope. Excuse me while I live…

Shout out to Forever 21 Plus, Torrid, and Swimsuits For All for their awesome selection of plus size swimwear. I did a bit of mix and matching, as some of my summer clothes are still in storage (another blog post for another day, sigh)… but as you can see, it all worked out.

And let’s not forget about those Miami nights. Oh baby, you can never go wrong in this little black dress also from Fashion to Figure. I purchased it at least 2 years ago, before they went away and came back re-vamped. So I don’t see it on their site anymore, but I’ll look around and update with a look-a-like soon.

And for the main event of the mini-vacay was Jazz in the Gardens. It was my first time attending and overall, I enjoyed myself. I LOVE a good outdoor music festival, and even though this one had some technical difficulties and sound issues, it was a pretty good lineup including Stephanie Mills, En Vouge, Guy, Dave Hollister, Blackstreet, Bobby Brown, and Dougie Fresh among others. We had pretty decent seats, although still quite a bit away  from the stage. For the price, I thought we’d be a tad bit closer but hey – I’ll know for next time. There was still another section behind us for the lawn seats where people could bring their own seats and blankets. And then behind them were a few rows of vendors and food stands, all situated outside the grounds of the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, a 25 minute drive from South Beach.

So yea… Miami owes me nothing after this trip. We strolled, sipped, danced, and ate our way from full moons to orange dawns. And on our last morning, we trudged our tired souls onto the beach to share the daily text verses with each other atop beach towels on the sand – truly the best way ever to start your day.

Have you ever done a girls trip or visited Miami beach? What did you think of it? Do tell! You know I love to hear your stories. I’m not sure when I’ll be down there again, but I’m pretty sure this won’t be my last…

xoxo,
La