With only a few days in Miami, Emily and I were determined to make the most of it! It wasn’t quite warm enough to lie out by the pool or spend time in the sea, but that wasn’t going to stop us from having a damn good time. Take that, weather!

We climbed into our cutest (and most comfortable) outfits, and went out adventuring.

We were staying at The Standard Spa, so on our second day, we started our day with tea at the hotel restaurant, Lido. The people-watching was fantastic: sassy 50 year old women with teeny-tiny dogs, models relaxing between shoots, and a gaggle of skaters were all on display.

As the queen of research (hello, Virgo!), I had done a little pre-emptive sleuthing before we arrived. The top recommendation for a beautiful brunch was at Cecconi’s within Soho Beach House. Hidden out the back of an art deco building in a courtyard strewn with fairy lights, Cecconi’s delivered!

With striped tiles, purple, pink and green pillows, and leafy trees everywhere, I couldn’t have imagined a prettier spot to eat breakfast. Our food was great, too. I had eggs on toast with avocado and grilled tomato, and Emily ordered a goat cheese frittata. Delishimo.

My dress is from Free People, my hot pink mala is by Miss Sally Smith, and my crooked sunglasses are Celine!

Milky Earl Grey tea for Emily!

…But we had an agenda. As you can see on her hand, we needed to hit up an ATM, visit a CVS drugstore, and buy hats. So we headed towards the beach and walked along it to the shops.

I love this view of the turquoise ocean peeking through…

I can’t express how blue and mesmerizing the water was. Ugh. So awe-inspiring.

Eventually we got to a drugstore, and decided that we needed to procure the perfect sunscreen. No joke, we spent about 20 minutes standing here, sniffing every single one. (Of course, later on, Emily told me about Coola Pina Colada-scented sunscreen! My life is forever changed!)

We went a little bit nuts in this drugstore. It was loaded with magical things: weird sunglasses, cheap kaftans (we ended up buying one each in blue and yellow — just you wait!), and tacky souvenirs. It was great. (I bought this hat, of course.)

After our drugstore stop, we headed to Alvin’s Island for flamingo mugs, bracelets and Miami Beach keychains. After years of travelling, I have finally started to embrace the art of being a tourist. My new thing is to buy a couple of souvenirs wherever I go. It’s really fun to drink my morning yerba mate out of a tacky flamingo mug!

Honestly, best mug ever.

We didn’t buy any of these magnets, but now, I wish we had!

Loaded down with loot — kaftans, mugs, and hats — our next quest was to walk all the way back to The Raleigh and have lunch, because by now we had trekked what felt like miles, and worked up an appetite!

There are beautiful pastel buildings like this the whole way along the beach. They look so amazing against the bright blue sky.

Sitting outside The Raleigh in my new pink hat! Haha. The Raleigh is gorgeous. In fact, almost of the major hotels in Miami Beach are in old art deco buildings which have been meticulously restored. The Raleigh is decked out in black and white stripes — a perennial favourite — and dotted with palm trees. Swoonsville.

Coconuts!

Emily swore up and down that this was some of the best lemonade she’d ever tasted. As we sat at this table, overlooking a pool with the sun shining down, I experienced a feeling of extreme gratitude for my life and everything in it. It was one of those perfect moments. (I even saw a pint-sized lizard skittering around! What!)

I am obsessed with these chairs. They’re just so good!

Liberace’s bathroom! No, not really, but this mirror belongs somewhere outrageous. Opposite this bathroom is The Raleigh’s gift shop, which is killer. I ended up buying a hot pink fan, and narrowly avoided buying some really sick sunglasses…

Next up: The Delano, one of my favourite hotels in Miami. I stayed there with my girl Jess years ago, and it’s sublime. Their pool area is — as you can see — endless and immaculate.

Don’t you just want to wade in?! Yes, yes, yes!

We were exhausted from all our adventures so we headed back to The Standard and plopped down in a couple of swinging chairs, which, for the record, almost put us to sleep. (P.S. #kaftanlife)

So much fun!

All about that drugstore kaftan!

There are lots of really cute hidden areas at The Standard. The swinging chairs are right next to these embroidered loungers, which are super-cool. (I even filmed a video there on our last day.) In the middle of all these chairs is a fire-pit, which we visited on our last night. At night, it becomes a little gathering spot.

I love this photo.

We spent some time paddling in the pool and ordering drinks before we headed upstairs to The Standard’s spa for some serious indulgence. Since we’d been on our feet all day, we each had a glorious foot massage. Divine.

For dinner, we headed to Matador Bar at The Edition, the newest hotel in Miami. The hotel is spectacular and so is the food and the service. We had sweet pea guacamole, shrimp in garlic and chili oil, and black truffle and fontina pizza. Then for dessert, we ordered warm vanilla fritters with Mexican chocolate and a salted caramel “impossible flan”. I don’t know how impossible it was, but it sure was delicious!

Our final stop of the night was The Edition’s bowling alley, which we had heard was full of psychedelic lights… But it was a club night full of people, which made Emily want to throw herself out of the nearest window. Haha!

The next day was our most action-packed, so stay tuned!

Photos by Emily Faulstich.