i've tried to reach you

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

Did a bit of exploring around the Design District on my way back from the bank the other day. There's a lot of interesting shops which I can't wait to check out next time. Plus a Jonathan Adler store is opening on Oct 5. It was pretty dead for a Saturday morning which was kind of surprising. It was kind of hard to figure out if some stores were coming or going. I guess I'll find out once I go back.

During my walk from the bank to Target, I noticed a lot of interesting restaurants. I made sure to take pictures of their signs so I wouldn't forget. The one thing I love about Miami is finding all these spots in places one would never think to look. That's one of the main reasons why I like to walk around even though the heat kills me. It finding those obscure places.

This weekend I managed to put together the TV stand I bought last weekend. Yay! Now I just need to get a TV and I'll be all set. I got up early this morning and headed to Publix to get ingredients to make Chicken Adobo in the slow cooker. While I was there I stopped by their bakery and picked up some ham croquettes which were so good. A part of me wished I didn't do that because now I'll be stopping at the bakery every time I'm there.

There's a new addition to my apartment—a new piece of art! I'm sure many of you thought I was going to say I got a cat or fish but you're wrong. Although I am thinking about getting a kitty in November after the holidays. MEOW! Anyway...so I got a new piece of art and it already made its way to my wall.  For those of you who care, I present my new piece of art:

just where will I end up next is any one's guess.

stay gold & be well

i walk the line

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

I'm so happy! I've found a Korean market where I can now get homemade kimchi and other good stuff. Granted—it's not within walking distant but at least there's one to go to. We stopped there the other day on my way home from my sister's. I walked out with two giant jars of kimchi (one radish & one mixed), cucumber soap, some spicy pre-made chicken, citron tea, & noodles. Little does my sister know but she'll probably have to stop there every time she's taking me home.

It was my sister's anniversary on Friday so being the good brother that I am I watched the little ones on Saturday so that my sis & her hubby could spend the afternoon together and go out to eat. Before the dreaded rain storm hit, I took the little ones to Party City to look for Halloween costumes. Party City was pretty much a bust. We only ended up getting a few things there. We made a few other stops before going home but they were a bust too. One thing I did realize is that shopping with 3 little ones is not so much fun.

Just where will I end up next is any one's guess.

stay gold & be well

patriarch on a vespa

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

Cleaning. Cleaning. Cleaning. That is how I spent my Saturday. I also made ribs in the crock pot which turned out absolutely delicious. Weekend cooking has become my new thing and I like it. :) Today I went to Target to grab a few things and when I returned home I hung up some more artwork. Slowly, my loft is coming together. I spent the later part of my afternoon watching Paradise Lost 3, the final installment to The West Memphis 3 trilogy. If that's what you want to call it. I remember watching the first one but don't think I ever watched the second. I thought the documentary was well done. It definitely makes you think twice about the case. All righty, I think that just about does it. It's going to be a short post this weekend. I hope every one has a fabulous week. Just where will I end up next is any one's guess.

stay gold & be well…

the blind men and the elephant

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

Miami hosted dwntown art days this past weekend. I decided to checked some things out only to realize that when I arrived at Bay Front park at 1 pm, the event wasn't starting until 5 pm. Oops.  I walked to Bay Front park so by the time I got there I was completely drenched. I found a chair that was shaded by a palm and decided to take a seat while I finished drinking a peach smoothie and stared off into the bay. After I had cooled down I walked over to The Historic Alfred | Dupont Building where there were suppose to be two exhibits going on.

The window display exhibit that I eventually found was just that. If you happened to blink as you walked by you would have missed it. It was only one window. What made it harder to view was the partial gate that stood in front of it. I had thought there was a photo exhibit there as well but when I asked the guard inside he told me the only exhibit was the one outside. I later discovered that the photo exhibit I wanted to see was somewhere else (I need to pay better attention to details). Feeling underwhelmed I decided to call it a day. Plus the heat was getting to be a bit much. Dwntwn arts day was a bust!

Overall, I can't really complain because at least I got out and did a bit more exploring of the city. On my way home I discovered a couple of restaurants as well as Discotekka and Will Call, which looked promising for a sports bar. The rest of my day was spent relaxing and trying to cool down. It's seems that one application of sun block in the Miami heat is not enough. In my three hours of walking around with sunblock on I still managed to get burned. :(

For dinner I made a fall harvest chowder in the slow-cooker which turned out amazing. I also watched a very interesting documentary called Cocaine Cowboys about the drug trade in Miami during the late 70s and early 80s.

Just where will I end up next is any one's guess.

stay gold & be well

ode to la

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

It's hard to believe that I've been in Miami now for 6 months. San Francisco seems like such a distant memory. I truly miss my days in SF hanging with great friends, exploring the city, and drinking at my favorite bar, which I heard is coming back. But with each passing day here in Miami I'm growing to love it a little more.

One things that has significantly changed is my reading habit. I seem to be reading a lot more lately. Perhaps it has something to do with a lack of friends. Whatever the reason my be, I'm actually enjoying it. So far since I've been here I managed to finally finish The Color of Summer by Reinaldo Arenas (which I started in SF) plus I've read The Way of the Shadow by Brent Weeks, Imperial Bedrooms by Bret Easton Ellis, Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx and then over the weekend I started & finished The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. That's more than I've read in the last two years combined.

I was surprised by how much I really enjoyed The Perks of Being a Wallflower. It's funny because it's one of those books that I remember seeing all the time when it first came out but for some reason never caught my interest. After reading Imperial Bedrooms, the sequel to Less Than Zero, I started thinking about the books that I've read which I liked a lot: Generation X, American Psycho, Bright Lights, Big City, City of Night, The Secret History, etc. That's when my google searching lead me to The Perks of Being a Wallflower an unread book from my past. Seeing that a lot of the themes of these other books dealt with troubled youth I figured I'd give it a try. And I'm so glad I did. It's one of those books that even now I'm still thinking about and a part of me didn't want it to end.

When I wasn't kicking back enjoying my book, I was entertaining my nieces. Here's a rundown of how that went: playing Barbies followed a photo shoot (pictures TK), going to the park (twice), a game of hide and go seek, playing dead, more Barbies, pretending we were at a spa, etc. Who knew kids could be so tiring.

Just where will I end up next is any one's guess.

stay gold & be well

baby don't go

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

This pretty much sums up my weekend…

I did manage to make it out of the apartment briefly on Saturday in between the patches of rain. This morning, however, I wasn't as lucky. I woke up craving pancakes and after looking outside and seeing bright blue skies, I decided to head to Publix. Halfway there the sky turned black, the wind picked up, and the rain came down in full force. Luckily, I made it under an awning but not before I got completely drenched. I did have an umbrella but due to the winds it wouldn't stay up. Once the rain died down, I decided to skip Publix (sans pancakes) and returned home before the next patch of rain set in.

Just where will I end up next is any one's guess.

stay gold & be well

darlin

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…


While at my sister's house this past weekend, I discovered a bunch of my matchbox cars in my nephew's closet. Of course I had to get them down. Memories of my childhood flooded through my mind as I pulled each car out of the case. I used to spend hours playing with cars whether it was inside with my Hero City or making roads in the dirt outside. Among the cars were two bat mobiles, a 007 car, a Superman van, & a Charlie's Angels van. I ended up bring all five home with me.

Just where will I end up next is any one's guess.

stay gold & be well

start

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

It's been a fairly quiet weekend. On my Saturday morning walk, I discovered Morningside Park, which is tucked behind a very quaint neighborhood along the bay. The park itself is pretty big with lots of open spaces, basketball courts, tennis courts, a baseball field, a playground and a pool. At least that's all I've seen so far. I only walked half of it. Will definitely go back and check out the rest.

The rest of my Saturday was spent running some errands and having a Fringe season 4 marathon. That show is so good. I'm sad that I don't have any more episodes to watch until the start of season 5. Oh, well. I'm sure I'll find something to watch.

This morning I took another walk. During my walk, I stopped at the City of Miami Cemetery and took some photos. I didn't walk as long today because it was much hotter than yesterday. On my way home I stopped for an iced coffee. Oh how I love iced coffee. Once home I quickly changed into my bathing suit and headed up to the pool. There's no one at the pool at 10 am which was very nice. I love having a pool. :)

For dinner tonight I'm making a spinach-pesto lasagna in the crock pot. Hopefully it'll turn out. I'll be sure to let you know.

Just where will I end up next is any one's guess.

stay gold & be well

lacuna

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

I managed to score a pack of Charlie's Angels trading cards for my babysitting duties this weekend. I'm hoping within this little package of treasures will contain some of the cards I need to complete my set. Keep your fingers crossed!

Here are some highlights of my weekend at my sister's:
1. dinner at Mario the Baker
2. playing Life with my niece & nephew
3. a few rounds of backgammon with my sister
4. New York Market, the best Asian supermarket so far in South Florida
5. walking around the antique mall (where we found the CA trading cards)
6. playing canasta with my sister
7. some good old family time

Before the weekend arrived, my sister came into town Thursday night with our friend Tracy. We went to The News Lounge for some cocktails and then headed to Boteco for dinner for some great Brazilian food. What more could one ask for.

Just where will I end up next is any one's guess.

stay gold & be well

there's a moon in the sky (called the moon)

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

It's another hot weekend here in Miami. I started the weekend off going to The News Lounge with a co-worker for happy hour. After a few drinks and some appetizers we headed over to Andiamo! for some pizza. Andiamo! used to be a car wash that's been converted to a restaurant. It has a great atmosphere with lots of outside seating, plus their pizza is absolutely delicious.

My sister and the twins came down on Saturday. We took a walk around Wynwood looking at the graffiti. It was great introducing the twins to street art. We grabbed some lunch and then took a drive to North Miami Beach. Before returning home we hit up a couple of thrift stores in my hood.

After running some errands this morning, I spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing. For some reason I have zero energy.

Just where will I end up next is any one's guess.

stay gold & be well…

party crashers

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

This past weekend was spent at my sister's. I hadn't seen them since our vacation so it was nice to be with family. It was a pretty chill weekend. My sister and I checked out a few asian markets in the area then headed over to Target where I finally got a rug for my living room. When not out running around I was playing games with my sister and my nieces and nephew. Games played included: Backgammon, Monopoly & Life. Life was one of my favorite games growing up. It's gone through a make-over since the 1970s. Not sure I like the new version as much as the older one but it's still fun to play.

Just where will I end up next is any one's guess.

found, found, found

deery lou.
previously on the e-list…

I spent the weekend cleaning my apartment which was way over due. Cleaning is my least favorite chore. I used to think it was bad cleaning my tiny studio apartment in SF and now I have a  2-story loft here in Miami. I basically broke it down into 2 days—day 1: ground floor; day 2: second floor. During the cleaning process, I was also reorganizing things to make room on the various bookshelves to accommodate some of the contents of the plastic container that I got from my dad's.

Going through one's past is quite interesting. The container was obviously packed by my mom many years ago and left to sit in their attic. It was bittersweet going through the stuff especially knowing that the last person to handle all of these treasures from my past was my mom. My treasure chest included the following:

collection of Hardy Boys books
Wolf Cub Scout book (which I can almost guarantee is out-of-date)
graduation cap & high school diploma
prom memorabilia (engraved champagne flutes, dried boutonniere, photo, program, key chain)
giant Mickey Mouse head bank
various books (celebrities of the 70s, Snoopy, Return of the Jedi, etc.)
yearbooks dating back to elementary school - high school
artwork
stuffed animals (an elephant, a dolphin & a dog)
a collection of Ranger Rick magazines (mom placed them in zip lock bags)
a scary paper mache clown
a vase (not sure it was mine)
some college beer mugs (again, not sure they were actually mine)
a report card from elementary school

Among the artwork was various school assignments. One of which was a poem I wrote. I'm not sure of the year.

Snow Flake
There was a snowflake laying on the snow.
A strong wind came up and blew the snowflake away.
The snowflake blew on a car.
The car started and went far-far away.
Finaly, the car stopped.
And the snowflake fell off and layed on the ground.
The sun came out and the snowflake melted.
The End (I copied it as is and decided not to fixed the obvious spelling mistakes)

The last piece of treasure I want to share is a Christmas List I made. There's no year on it but I think it was either 1982 or 1983.

Christmas List
Intelavison cartridges
1. Donkey Kong
2. Dungeons & dragons
3. Zaxon                                      20. pitfall for intell by Actavison
4. Bowling
5. Football                                    19. Demon Attack
6. Garfield book 2, 3, 4
7. things to add on to gerbil cage
8. G.I. Joe people
9. cords
10. O.P, lighting Bolt shirts


Choose Your own Adventure
11. Survival of the sea
12. The Abominable Snowman
13. E.T. storybook
14. E.T. paperback
15.  jeans
16. gray jogging suit
17. electronic Donkey Kong game & watch
18. electronic D&D
(I'm assuming that the things crossed out on the list were things I received)

Just where will I end up next is any one's guess.

stay gold & be well

faces

deery lou.
previously on the e-list…

Oh, summer vacation how I love you! Yesterday, I returned from my summer vacation at New Smyrna Beach. My sister and her family go every year and this year I was lucky enough to go with them. The weather could not have been more perfect. My days were spent swimming, sunning, playing wiffle ball & drinking. We had a great group of peeps with us making it all the more fun. What more could one ask for.

I usually started my day with a walk on the beach with my sister. Every morning we'd see dolphins swimming. Some days one of the children would accompany us and we'd gather shells as we strolled down the beach.

I went out to lunch a few times with some old high school friends which was great. It's always nice to be able to catch up with people from your past especially when they mean a lot to you. I had some great eats along the way: steamed shrimp & fried clams from The Breakers, rock shrimp, crab balls & hush puppies from JB's Fishcamp as well as one of the best greek salads ever from Manny's Pizza Beachside. The adults even managed to get a night out for some drinking at Beachside Tavern to celebrate T's birthday.

The fireworks on the 4th were amazing. This ranks as one of my top viewing spots for fireworks. There's just something about seeing fireworks on the beach. I'm definitely looking forward to next year.

Just where will I end up next is any one's guess.

stay gold & be well

heart cooks brain

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

It's so strange not being out celebrating Pride weekend in SF. I hope all my SF peeps are having a blast. I need to make sure to mark my calendar that pride happens in April here so that I won't miss it next year.

It pretty much rained off and on all weekend. I did manage to make it to Target on Saturday to do a bit of shopping. It's so nice being in walking distance of one. And that was pretty much all I did besides watching mindless television.

Today, I work on some projects that needed to get done. At least I was somewhat productive. I need to start making an effort to go out more. This staying in business is starting to drive me nuts.

Just where will I end up next is anyone's guess.

stay gold & be well

1st instant/last report

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

I need to remind myself that I'm not in my twenties anymore. Staying out late and drinking definitely has its repercussions the next day. I feel like I wasted my Sunday. Oh well, live and learn I guess.

Last night I went out with K&H. I haven't seen them since the Wynwood Art Walk back in April so it was nice to catch up with them. We started off the evening with wine & dinner at Bengel Modern Indian Cuisine which happens to be a couple blocks from my apartment. On the menu: garlic nan, chicken samosas, & shrimp shaag. The food was really good. It's definitely a place I'll return to.

After dinner we headed to Brickell Village for some drinks. We walked around a bit until we settled on going to Perricone's Marketplace & Cafe. They have a nice little covered bar that faces the street. We had two rounds there and then decided to head over to Wood Tavern in Wynwood. The Wood Tavern has an amazing outside space. It kind of reminded me of Zeitgeist in SF with all the picnic tables. Another spot I'll definitely return to especially since it's in my hood. We had two rounds there as well.

We finished up the evening at Churchill's, a dive bar that has live music 7 days a week. We caught the tail end of the last band who sounded pretty good. This is definitely my kind of place. The vibe was very laid back with a great jukebox and variety of peeps. It reminded me a lot of the bars I used to go to in my college days.

Most of today was spent doing absolutely nothing. I tried to rally but really couldn't be bothered. Instead I finished watching season one of Magic City which takes place in Miami circa. 1959. It's a pretty decent show.

Just where will I end up next is any one's guess.

stay gold & be well

team mate

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

It was another hot weekend here in Miami. I spent the weekend at my sister's house since she is heading out of town next week. On Saturday we did some marathon shopping. I ended up getting some curtains for my office, a frying pan, and a queen air mattress for when I have guests. Today we spent the morning lounging around and then went to my nephew's baseball game. Did I mention it was hot? I felt like I was sitting in a sauna while watching the game. It sure is nice spending time with family. Just where will I end up next is any one's guess.

stay gold & be well…

a promise

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

Can I please rewind my weekend? I felt like I didn't actually have one since all my time was spent in front of my computer trying to save files from my faulty external hard drive. Computer maintenance is no fun.

On the bright side, my new recliner arrived on Saturday via my brother-in-law. Yay! Now I don't have to lay on an air mattress when I want to watch movies on my computer. I'm absolutely loving my new comfy chair. Only two more major purchases until my apartment is complete.

Today, I did manage to take a mini-break from computer stuff and took a little walk in my hood. It was freakin' hot out. When I got back, I immediately changed into my bathing suit and headed up to the pool where I spent the rest of the day.

Just where will I end up next is any one's guess.

stay gold & be well

stay out of trouble

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

We are heading into storm season here in Florida and I'm loving it. Florida thunderstorms always make me think about my youth. It's been a long time since I've lived in Florida and the storms are one thing I'm looking forward to. I'm sure that just might change once I have to start walking to work in the pouring rain but for now I'm simply going to enjoy them.

Seeing that I forgot to blog last week, I'll catch you up on what's been happening since the last post. Last weekend I decided to be a bit adventurous and walked to South Beach. It took about an hour to get there which isn't too bad. The worst part about the walk is the heat but I made sure to be prepared and brought water for my journey. The walk across the Venetian Causeway Bridge was quite pretty. There are a lot of islands along the way that have some pretty amazing houses on them. The bay that day was filled with boaters. During one stretch I saw a bunch of giant lizards that look like dinosaurs sunning themselves on the rocks.

Once I reached South Beach, the first thing I did was make my way to Lincoln Ave to cool off in one of the many shops. After pretending to shop for a little bit, I made my way to the beach where I walked in the cool ocean water. There were a lot of people at the beach and my only regret was that I didn't wear my swimsuit. I spent about 4 hours in South Beach. By the time I was ready to go home I decided to take the bus back. The bus trip took about 15-20 minutes tops. After arriving home I quickly changed into my swimsuit and spent the rest of the day at the pool. It was a perfect ending to a perfect day.

This past weekend was spent at my sister's house. While my sister and brother-in-law were at my nephew's baseball game, I dragged my nieces to Old Navy so I could pick up some tank tops. They helped me pick out which colors and size looked best. :) It's fun having little personal shoppers. My nephew's team won their game so once they got back we all went out to lunch to celebrate. Afterwards, my sister and I did some furniture shopping. We went there to check out these chaise lounges they had but instead of getting one of them I ended up buying a recliner which felt as if I was sitting on a giant puff cloud. I can't wait until this Saturday when the recliner will actually be in my apartment. Watching TV will be so much fun now! Aside from furniture shopping, we also managed to get some movie watching, pool time, and reading done. I'm really enjoying being able to spend time with my sister and her family.

Just where will I end up next is any one's guess.

stay gold & be well

thank you boys

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

OMG! Last week was the week from hell and mainly because I had to spend 5 hours at the DMV. Yes, you read it correctly 5 hours and I ended up having to go back the next day. I'm sure many of you are thinking, "Why didn't you make an appointment?". Well, I did have an appointment and things we're going smoothly until the system went down during my turn. Apparently, it not only went down at this branch but throughout the state of Florida. REALLY! Of all the days for it to go down it had to be the day I was there.

Since getting to the DMV via Miami public transportation is not the easiest thing to do, I wanted to sit it out. They made it sound like it would only be an hour or so. Eventually they were able to do some things but they weren't able to process new drivers licenses. Finally, around 3 pm they called me up and said it wasn't going to happen today and gave me a pass for my next visit. The thought of having to do this all over again did not sound like fun. I felt the best thing to do was go again on Friday and that's what I did. Lucky for me, the second time was a charm and I walked out of there a valid FL driver. Yay!!

My sister came down on Friday night and I took her to Cafeina in Wynwood for a birthday cocktail. She was a bit skeptical at first due to the neighborhood but once inside she really seemed to enjoy the atmosphere. It got even better once the outside patio opened and we moved out there.

I spent the rest of the weekend at my sister's to celebrate her birthday & mother's day. As always it was a great visit. We discovered some awesome bbq at this nursery we went to and later that day I picked up some fixings to make bloody mary's. There's nothing like a good bloody mary. Yum!

Just where will I end up next is any one's guess.

stay gold & be well

teeth in the grass

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

Spent a fabulous weekend with my sister and her family. My sister and I spent Saturday morning doing some shopping and then that evening we all went out to dinner at Islamorada Fish Company. The food was really good and my bloody mary came with its own garden salad: pickles, celery, olives & a shrimp. I ended up having two. :)

On Sunday I went to my nephew's baseball game. I forgot how serious some of the parents can take the game. Afterwards my sister brought me back home and I spent the rest of the day hanging stuff around my apartment. Only six more pictures to hang up! Just where will I end up next is any one's guess.

stay gold & be well