Good morning, my friends! How were your weekends? Mine was a whirlwind – as you know, I was in Miami!
I was lucky enough to be invited down to Miami for an adventure with Nokia/Microsoft’s PR team to test out their new Nokia Lumia phone, which we were gifted with last week. (I know, we were extremely spoiled – rough life.) The phone is really slick – the one they gave me is all black and so far I love it. It takes really nice clear photos, too!
I was especially excited about this trip because my friends Monica and Kath were going! It was fun to catch up with them. 
And with Caitlin, too, who was in town for the BlogHer Food conference (we were at the same hotel).
I got in late on Friday and headed straight to the welcome cocktail party, which was held on Touche Restaurant’s rooftop. It was such a perfect evening for an outdoor party!
We were out until about midnight but I was up bright and early on Saturday morning to go for a nice long run with Monica!
I love traveling with runner buddies – great to have company (and accountability) for morning runs on trips like this.
I was originally planning to do a 4 or 5 miler both days, but Monica wanted to do a 10 mile run at some point while we were in Miami. 10 miles? Okay, let’s do this! I’m up for a challenge…
I need to make sure to keep my mileage/training up for the Runner’s World Festival in a few weeks, anyway (I’m doing the Hat Trick, because I’m crazy).
The two of us met up at 7 a.m. for the adventure, and while we both felt a bit sluggish, we were rewarded for our efforts with gorgeous views.
We were staying downtown at the Hilton, but since we were doing such a long run we realized we could run all the way to the beach and back – fun!
Hello, South Beach!
I love the ocean – the waves are so calming.
I carried a water bottle with me since I knew it would be hot; Monica forgot one so we stopped at the Starbucks in South Beach so she could grab some water. I grabbed a banana – I had one before the run but I’m used to eating more before a long run (e.g. toast with nut butter & jelly) so I was getting really hungry! This did the job.
We took our time with the run, stopping a lot for photos.
Check this guy out!! Florida is cool.
10 miles – done! Great run thanks to the company and scenery, even though my legs weren’t 100% in the mood for it. 
I pounded some room service breakfast and coffee (which I had the foresight to order the night before so it would arrive when we got back from the run – best idea ever) while I got ready… (that bowl contains 2 poached eggs – YUM!):
…And then met up with the Nokia crew for an exciting adventure: airboating at a place called Gator Park in the Everglades!
We had an absolutely perfect day for it and I was SO excited we were going airboating – I’ve always wanted to! What a cool opportunity.
Being on the boat was such a blast – it moved really fast, actually, and it’s cool that since there’s no motor you can go over grassier areas without getting stuck!
I was hoping that we would see some alligators while out and about – ask and you shall receive! This guy’s name is “Scarface” and he is HUGE.
Eek!
We saw some baby gators, too. They were adorable in a still kind of scary sort of way.
After our gator adventure, it was time to eat! We were treated to lunch at the delicious Smith & Wollensky on Miami Beach, which was beautiful – we got to sit out on the patio with lovely views of the water. I think the Nokia Lumia phone takes especially gorgeous food photos – I took all the photos below on it and they came out so crisp and clear!
Delicious lunch! We all shared, so I also had some tastes of people’s steak.
After lunch, we had a really fun swing dance lesson – I wish I’d gotten photos, but I was too busy having a blast! So instead, I’ll share some dinner photos.
We were treated to dinner at 1826 Collins on South Beach, which had a really cool, fun atmosphere and AMAZING food.
I had the fish entrée – it was SO good; very light and fresh.
And I chose the chocolate dessert – no photo since it was really dark in the restaurant by then, but it was great, too!
As for Sunday, Monica and I squeezed in another run before I headed off to the airport. We met up at 7:15 a.m. and set out for a nice 4 mile jaunt.
Another gorgeous morning for a run! We had great weather in Miami – never got above mid 80’s, low humidity, and the mornings were in the 70’s. Definitely warm but not crazy hot at all!
Goodbye for now, Miami – I’ll miss those palm trees! A huge thank you to Nokia for having us down this weekend and covering all our trip costs. It was an honor to be invited.
Have a wonderful day, everyone!
Have you ever been to Miami? Matt actually worked on site at a Miami client’s office for work for awhile while we were living in North Carolina, so we spent a few weekends down there. It’s a really fun, lively city!
Tell me about your weekend running adventures!
Bienvenido a Miami originally appeared on fANNEtastic food | Washington D.C. area Registered Dietitian | Recipes + Healthy Living + Fitness on May 19, 2014.
The post Bienvenido a Miami appeared first on fANNEtastic food | Washington D.C. area Registered Dietitian | Recipes + Healthy Living + Fitness.