Desperately Seeking South Beach

Every year around this time I suddenly feel the desperate need to drink slushy, overpriced cocktails, attend all-day pool parties and have all-night club adventures in swanky VIP sections with blessedly free bottle service (if you know the DJ and he happens to be a really famous, amazing one), meet up with househead friends from SF and MN, dodge guidos who inevitably come down from NJ to fist pump at clubs wearing Axe body spray, peoplewatch since at least 1/2 the people there are only 1/2 real (other 1/2 silicone/botox combo and most of the girls wear bikinis and wedge heels to the clubs which is an interesting look), lay out on the beach/by the pool with cocktails, dine al fresco on Lincoln Road at Sushi Samba and/or about a thousand other restaurants, walk up and down Collins and Ocean Aves numerous times while popping into various parties, bars, clubs and hotels that look fun and/or we're on the guest list for, drinking cocktails that match my ensemble and the decor around me, dining at Danny Devito's restaurant (it's really good!), grabbing late night tacos or Cuban food at the little diner on Collins and finally crashing for a few hours at an insanely expensive-for-that-week-only boutique hotel where a DJ is spinning in the lobby at all times, so you don't really ever sleep. Luckily for the last two years, and two times before that, I was able to fulfill all of these champagne wishes at the annual Winter Music Conference in South Beach, where all the DJs of the world assemble for five days of madness and dance music mayhem in one of the most fun places you can possible visit. I highly recommend spending a few days in South Beach whenever possible. Anyhoo, WMC started today and I'm feeling a bit nostalgic/sad that I can't be there..not that I'd really want to be in my current beluga whale condition, unable to enjoy $20 pinas coladas poolside at fancy hotels, or dance like a normal person, or stay out past midnight - that's when things are just getting started. I'm sure we'll get down there again in the future with or without our lil' guy, but in the meantime, here's a random assortment of photos from some of my favorite times at WMC over the years...