I'm in Miami, beeeach!

This post is super late, but hey- it's been a busy month with all this traveling and eating and shopping and, yes, sadly... bar exam studying. Anyway, I'm finally getting around to writing about Miami, and it was gloooorious.

We stayed at the Fontainebleau resort. Yep, the same one where the Mavs celebrated their NBA championship... no big deal. Nice view, eh?

 So the trip began at 5:45 in the morning (gross) when Libby came and picked my groggy self up. We met Nabilah and Nicole, and began our journey. We were like giddy little schoolchildren. We stopped in Davenport, where we met up with Meghan and switched from SUV to limo. That's right... we took a LIMO to Chicago. Sounds ridiculous, I know, but ended up being way cheaper than taking two cars, paying for gas, and parking at O'Hare for 6 days. Anyway, it was probably the most hilarious limo ride ever. 6 am, deliriously giggly girls, cinnamon rolls and mimosas... and a limo driver who was openly upset about how much luggage we brought along. HA. HAHA. HAHAHA. Lose the tude, dude!

We arrived in Miami and finally met up with Jen at Fontainebleau. She had originally planned to drive/fly with us but had flight problems on her way back from LA. By the time we got there, she'd already bought new swimsuits and had been laying out on one of our TWO, count 'em, TWO beautiful balconies. Ugh... just writing about it makes me miss it (and the girls) so much! (I'm looking at gorgeous NYC skyscrapers and the Hudson River as I type this, so I really can't complain... but still!)

On our first night in the big city, we took it pretty easy. We ate dinner at a bar/restaurant called Vinyl Kai, and obviously me and Libby split nachos. We added a salad in there to try to feel a little better about ourselves. After dinner we hung out in the hotel room for awhile and watched the second half of the final Heat/Bulls game. Afterwards, we decided to explore the beach...

We don't get out much.

I have no idea.

Jen, Nabilah, Nicole, Meghan, me, and Libby... group pic!

The next day was all beach. Responsible law students (graduates) that we are, we were super duper good about wearing sunscreen... but somehow we all still burned to a crisp. But it hurt sooo good. We eventually made our way to the pool, where I spent waaay too much money on frozen drinks. BUT THEY WERE SO DELICIOUS! And it was vacation! And how can you not order 2 Miami Vices when you're IN Miami?

That night we ate on Ocean Drive at a great restaurant called Quinn's. It was deeeelicious. The best thing about going out to eat with my posse is that we all ordered different meals and shared with each other all the time, so I got to try a little bit of everything and loved it all. The fresh watermelon mojito was pretty delish too... but I never met a mojito I didn't like.

After dinner we walked a few doors down had drinks at a patio bar. Technically we each only had one drink... but they were HUGE. I had a caipirinha, which is basically a Brazilian mojito: cachaça sugar cane rum, sugar, and lime. Sooo good, sooo dangerous. Great way to start the night though ;) 

Caipirinha! Ay caramba!

After guzzling these gallons of booze, Nabilah got a hold of a club promoter who'd promised to show us a good time while we were in Miami. We met him at a club called Mokai, where we got in free and didn't pay for a single drink all night. Free bottle service? TWICE? Okay!

Yeah, I'm definitely not sophisticated enough for the nightclub scene.

Right before we left the club and raided Walgreen's for late night snacks, including Cheetos, Oreos, frozen pizza... and Jen's flamingo keychain. Eduardo, the cashier at Walgreen's, was a saint.

I think the highlight of the evening was when we all got home and ate all our junk food and stayed up laughing uncontrollably about the STUPIDEST things ever. I reeeally wish we had those conversations on videotape. Although, maybe it's better that we don't. Probably for the best!

Day 3: Beach again! So nice. Meghan, Nicole, Nabilah, and Meghan went jet-skiing, while Libby and I just parked it on the beach and stayed there alllll day long. Seriously. Only when the sun was covered by stupid skyscrapers did we finally give up and head inside. I did hide my upper body under an umbrella though, so only my legs got burned! (Still peeling, by the way) 

For dinner we got sushi, then pretty much just all laid around in the bedroom for a few hours laughing hysterically... probably because we were all sunburned and sleep-deprived. 

Me and Jenny Bear!

Ahh, paradise.

Day 4: Exploring! It kinda looked like rain, so me and Libby decided to see what was up in downtown Miami. We ate, shopped, and used my travel book to hit up the must-see stops. Yes, I'm that nerdy girl who carries a travel book everywhere I go. I like to be prepared, okay?!?!

Mmm, shopping...

The first stop was Bayside, where we promptly purchased frozen alcoholic beverages. Yeah, it was only noon, so what?!?! They were half the price of the drinks at our hotel! How can you resist a deal like that? We had lunch on the cutesie little bay, did some shopping, and made our way to Little Havana to add a little Cuban flair to our vacay. 

Oh hey Libby! 

Next Stop: El Brazo Fuerte Bakery. Maybe not the #1 highlight of the trip, but it was up there. SO many treats, SO cheap... NO English. Ha! But we made it work, and it was totally worth it.

Look at our haul! Only $3! Yummy yummy in my tummy.

We wandered around aimlessly in Little Havana for awhile before we decided that pastries weren't enough; we needed something more. But what? I consulted my handy-dandy travel guidebook and found that a delicious ice cream shop, King's Ice Cream, wasn't far away. And when I say "not far," I mean "oops I screwed up and thought it was only a few blocks but it was actually like 1.5 miles, sorry Libby." When we finally got there, I thought Libby might kill me. The place looked a little dumpy, but it was raining so we figured we'd give it a shot and hang out inside for awhile. I'm so glad we did! The homemade ice cream was sooo good- I got coconut/pineapple, Lib got... mango, I think... I dunno, I was too in love with my ice cream to notice what Libby got. A nice little old man started talking to us in extremely broken English, but together with my crappy Spanish, we learned that he was originally from Cuba, living in Miami the past 20 years, is a singer, and has a 4 year old grandson still living in Cuba. He showed us pics. Adorrrrable. So, King's Ice Cream was a winner.

We got back to the hotel just in time to get ready for the big night: Meghan's bachelorette party! Dinner was at Sushi Samba- I had pork gyoza, a chicken teriyaki skewer, a little bit of sushi... and more mojitos. Always more mojitos! Yum.

Wassup, Miami?!?

 Next we headed down to a hookah bar for some more drinks. I ordered a round of shots to get the party started... and then a couple strong drinks- one for me, and one for the bachelorette (except when she wasn't looking, I kept pouring my drink into her cup... so it was really two for her, none for me... HA!).

Me and Lib, being our usual cute selves.

You can't have a bachelorette party without embarrassing accessories. It's a law or something. Surprise!

 It was a long and fabulous night. After VIP service at another crazy club where hoards of handsome young gentlemen couldn't resist helping our bachelorette celebrate... we stumbled home in a daze. The night was a total success though- maybe it was the cocktails talking, but I think Meg meant it when she said it was the best night out she'd ever had... even if she doesn't remember it all :)

My fave pic of the whole night... maybe even the whole trip!

The next day was more beach again... which was perfect, because it was our last day- and after the fun we'd had the night before, we all needed to relax a little bit.

I don't wanna leave! Ever!

 Resting up was a good thing, because we had big plans for the night: Club Liv! It was bumpin' and Nabilah was loving it... "I just want to get lost in a sea of people you guys! And let the bass vibrate through my entire body!" Sooo that's what we did. Except instead of getting lost in a sea of people, we had a VIP booth again, so we just looked down on everyone else (literally, I mean. like, we were up high, they were down low, we looked down on them. we didn't think we were better than anyone, I swear!)

Nic, me, and Jen

Nabs, Meg, and Lib

Party in the city where the heat is on...

The next day we slept in pretty late (of course Meg woke up early and laid out on the beach... no matter how late we stayed up, or how much we drank, that girl was ALWAYS on the beach by 9 am... she's a champ). Before long, it was time to pack up and hit the road. Sad! But at least we had one crazy limo ride left to enjoy...

My friends are CRAZY party animals when it comes to limo rides.