Good Day Sunshine!

Hello!  Woohoo, it's Friday!!

Here are some great pictures I took of the sunset, sunrise and Downtown Miami Skyline yesterday and today.  By the way, the building that's lit up purple is called the Freedom Tower.  Hopefully soon I will get a good camera and my pictures will look crisper! 

Have a great weekend!

I thought the sky looked amazing yesterday as I was driving home from work!

This was the sunset yesterday!

The Freedom Tower gorgeously lit up in Downtown Miami
I've never seen them light it up like this!

 

This is the view from our balcony up Biscayne Boulevard..... there's the Freedom Tower (and the American Airlines Arena to the far right)

 

This is today's sun rising in the sky over downtown....

 

(All images in this post are my own personal images)

Decor Indulgence!

I'll admit, this week sure has been a good one for decor finds.... *wicked smile*

Aqua Foo Dog?? YES PLEASE....

A new Heliconia plant in its temporary spot inside a stunning white flower ceramic planter found at Ross....



The turquoise Chinese ceramic stool my mom found for me at Ross for $29.99! *sigh* We're long lost lovers that Chinese stool and I.... it's perfect!


....my wonderful mother also got me one of these....


My boyfriend and I threw on some workout clothes and took a walk over to Ross in downtown Miami the other afternoon, look at what I spotted seconds after walking in......


GASP! TONS OF CERAMIC PLANTERS! Each one was a set of a small medium and large ranging from $3.99 to $8.99! The cheapest I've ever seen them! But these were my absolute favorite...............

Awesome huh? I think so too!

Oh, and I picked up these babies, pretty drawer knobs! Seems I'm having great luck finding cute turquoise stuff lately, wheee....

What else, what else? Oh yeah.... we saw Miami Heat player Udonis Haslem waiting in line at an ATM on our walk home through downtown Miami, ha! If my boyfriend hadn't noticed I would have walked right on by oblivious! The only reason I bothered him (because he looked less than thrilled when I approached him for the picture) was for my brother, who loves The Miami Heat. The girl he was with did not know how to take a picture with an iphone and after much explanation she even managed to move and blur the picture. After walking away I realized, oh well! I really don't think he is that tall next to me, and I'm 5'7"! Oh yeah, and I look like a total chubster in my little workout clothes next to his skeletal figure! Hey, at least we were on our way back to the gym in our building to work out! :P

And then when we got home we went up to the jogging track of our building for some sweaty time, here is the view East from the track out to the Port of Miami....

Here is the view to the West a few minutes later when the sunset started turning crazy shades of pink, yellow and orange..... spectacular!

We're Movin' On Up To The East Side!

Our new home! (the North tower - on the right)

******************************************

"Well we're movin' on up,
To the east side.
To a deluxe apartment in the sky.
Movin on up,
To the east side.
We finally got a piece of the pie.

Fish don't fry in the kitchen;
Beans don't burn on the grill.
Took a whole lotta tryin',
Just to get up that hill.
Now we're up in the big leagues,
Gettin' our turn at bat.
As long as we ...live, it's you and me baby,
There ain't nothin wrong with that.

Well we're movin' on up,
To the east side.
To a deluxe apartment in the sky.
Movin on up,
To the east side.
We finally got a piece of the pie."

~Theme song from the show The Jeffersons~

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Well, after many months of stressing over what to do when my lease is up [at the end of the December] and extensive searching and weighing of the pros and cons, my boyfriend and I decided that we needed a change of pace... Ultimately, we are sick of the Kendall bubble and thought it was time to experience living in a new part of Miami, Florida... the city!

Luckily, due to the abominable state of Miami's real estate market, we found an amazing and affordable condo at an awesome new building right on Biscayne Blvd. directly across from Bayside and Bayfront Park called Everglades on the Bay! Our brand new condo is on the 16th floor of the North Tower and it's a 1 bedroom/2 full bath plus a den, which is basically a second room with a huge closet (score!). Without a doubt, this bonus den will make a great office/craft room, something I have wanted and needed for oh so long! As for the balcony, it faces West, but since it protrudes from the building we have an incredible view of the Freedom Tower and Biscayne Blvd. winding North!

I'm so happy that we will finally be living in a condo that has windows and lots of light! Our current place is like a cave with nothing but a sliding door per room, which don't let in much light due to the fact that we are on the ground floor and our patio is smothered by palm trees... With that said, I'm certainly looking forward to a sunny balcony (with a killer view), especially since now plants won't die on me due to lack of light! I'm planning to hit up my mama's patio and yard for some plants, particularly my favorite... Succulents! :) And just one more thing, as a side note, the finishes used in this apartment are a world above the ones in my current apartment... something that, for an Interior Designer like myself, is a dream come true!!

So anyway, we are very busy packing and prepping the current apartment for our departure [moving begins December 15th] and hopefully the move goes as smoothly as possible, ha! As exciting as it all is, you better believe I wish I could twitch my nose like Bewitched and have it all done with so I can get to the part I love most, decorating!!!!!

This will not be the last post on the new place, it will definitely be the focus of many posts to come.... Ahhh.... I can smell the paint already! More to come on my adventures painting and decorating!

Here are some pictures of the new place....

The 8th floor pool deck.... a dream!

The view East from the 8th floor pool deck
Bayside, The Port of Miami & MacArthur Causeway to South Beach

Our living room

Our new kitchen (an immense upgrade for us), I can't wait to cook in it!!!

Double sinks on a marble counter in the master bathroom, SCORE!!!!!!!!

Words cannot explain how happy I am about having both a huge jet tub AND a huge walk in marble glass enclosed shower! When did we become royalty!? Wheeeee...

The view West from our balcony

The view North up Biscayne Blvd. from our balcony... this looks gorgeous at night!