i've been missing in action, i know. i recently returned from a girl's weekend in miami to say farewell to the single days of my lovely friend remy, aka her bachelorette weekend. and now i'm back home recuperating- a much needed vacation from my vacation. i love, love, love to eat... so if you find yourself in miami beach, here are my top 3 must eats in miami beach...

{1} puerto sagua 700 collins avenue for yummy, yummmy, yummy local, authentic, cuban food. menu items like ground beef spanish style with black beans and plantains... YUM!

{2} nikki beach sunday brunch one ocean drive for fantastic sunday fare. a little pricy, but so worth it for the atmosphere, people watching, and food like their carving station, pasta station, sushi station, and more!

{3} joe's stone crab {not to be confused with the joe's seafood prime steak and stone crab in chicago & vegas} 11 washington avenue for the BEST side of corn you have ever tasted. ok, so i understand, most people wouldn't choose to eat at a restaurant for their sides, but this side of corn is the tastiest corn ever.  seven women from varying backgrounds and food palettes all agreed that it was the best side of corn they have ever had!

the wedding of dawn and phil recently passed and what a joyous occasion it was! they tied in the flower branches from their wedding invitation into almost every facet of their wedding; on the programs, the table numbers & menu cards, on the photos that printed from their photo booth station, on a monogram that was lit up in lights behind the head table, and on the stickers that said thank you on their giveaways- individual sized bags of chicago's famous garrett's popcorn. the bride even replicated the flower branches and made mini "tree pots" where the guest's place cards hung. i still can't get over that my very own sister drew those flower branches and i created all the paper ephemera for it. i was excited to see the flower branches carried throughout the wedding. here are a few photos of some of the paper accessories...