#sobewff

Monday, February 24, 2014

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend South Beach Wine and Food Festival (better known as #sobewff to all of you social media folk). I purchased my plane ticket back in January when I didn't know what the schedule would be, and I'm currently killing time at a Starbucks near the Fort Lauderdale airport until my flight leaves at 9:45 tonight (it's currently 4:35pm - gross). A recap is in order, even though I didn't do the greatest job at taking pictures.


The first (and only event I actually had a ticket for) was The Q on Thursday evening. By the way, this was a work funded event. No way could I afford a $300 ticket to an event! Sports Illustrated Swimsuit models helped "host" the event, and Chrissy Teigen and John Legend (my faves) were on hand for the festivities. I never ran into them (despite my multiple Twitter attempts), but the evening was awesome regardless. As the name of the event (kind of) implies, all of the food at the event was barbecue. Unlimited food and booze on the beach? Yes, please.


After The Q, a friend was able to get us on the list for this crazy Chef After Party at the Clevelander. More food and booze, but this time with a dance floor. YES. Everywhere you turned was a different chef... we ran into Andrew Zimmern, Anne Burrell, Geoffrey Zakarian, Marc Summers (ok, he's not a chef)... all of our really closest friends, obvi.

My new manager in Florida, Michelle, loves Marcus Samuelsson - and look, we ran into him, too!


Of course, I couldn't let Michelle get a picture with a chef and me not. (That just wouldn't be fair.) So I made
friends with Marc Murphy.


And then we had a dance party to end the night. Day 1? Successful.


Day 2 started with a bit of a struggle (the after party went all pretty much all night, we tapped out around 2a and were some of the first to leave). We pulled it together and were able to attend the Grand Tasting's Industry Day, thanks to a colleague with extra passes. I was also able to snag one for that evening's Burger Bash, but was so exhausted I tapped out pretty early. Another very cool event, though. This time (you guessed it) it was all burgers. Holeman & Finch (from Atlanta) was there and definitely had the best burger - I'm seriously not being biased. Everyone I talked to said the same thing.



Day 3... Free Day! The weather was beautiful so I decided to spend a good bit of the day on the beach.


I was all alone, so I didn't have anyone to put sunscreen on my back and I fell asleep. Dangerous combo for someone with baby skin. Needless to say, I'm still pretty uncomfortable. (Oh, and I also burnt the top of my hands - I look like I have red gloves on and they're so swollen my rings don't event fit. Fabulous.) I spent the rest of Saturday running to the grocery store (food isn't Frances and Tom's forte) and watching lots of TV.

I also spent some time FaceTiming my FAVORITES... Adam, Ruthie and Hank!! Missed those guys, a lot.


Day 4 we were lucky enough to get my colleague's passes for the final event of the festival, Best of the Munchies. This was definitely the most packed of the events, but still fun! Another colleague of mine who runs our New York event was also in town, so we were able to meet up with her for a good bit.


Jalapeno Jelly Donuts from Dandee Donuts... SO amazing. 


The trip was a success - lots of fun and made lots of great contacts! Now, home until Wednesday when I head to DC for our annual retreat. (Ay yi yi.)

Nashville last weekend, Miami this past weekend and DC on Wednesday. I'm pretty sure Adam and the pups don't even know what I look like anymore. As I read through past posts, there are a lot of things I do without Adam and I probably come off as a really negligent wife. With my job, I have the opportunity/need to travel (which I love!), but I always miss Adam and wish he was there with me. One day, when we are rolling in the dough, he'll come with me on more trips and we'll travel (just the two of us!) all the time. Right now, we're not really at that point in our life. Sigh.

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