Here are some shots from around South Pointe on Miami Beach.
What a year.
I started the year as a 3L law student living in a mouse infested apartment building in Whittier.
My weeks were hectic. I spent my time jetting between my last few classes, my internship in the suburbs, tax training, and a public defender clerkship in downtown St. Paul.
Things changed quickly when I secured a permanent position at my company and started working full-time in February. There were also drag shows, long nights at Jetset, and blizzards.
The snow melted and classes ended quietly. Pride came and went, I turned 25, and I finally moved out of my ghettotastic apartment.
Work got busy once I moved. Drag shows and dancing were exchanged for Netflix marathons. I was promoted at work and got good at making brownies and mojitos.
By the time of my Miami trip I was 20 pounds heavier than I was at the beginning of the year.
I took the love handles to Miami anyway, which was fairly epic.
I started personal training at LA Fitness again upon returning, so I was horribly sore once New Year’s Eve rolled around. I was one of the DDs for New Year’s despite the best attempts of some people in our group.
My goals for this year include working harder, spending more time on creative projects, and losing these 20 pounds. Hopefully my grueling morning workouts help me get there.
Ending the year plump and employed isn’t bad, but 2012 will be better.
I love making these lists because looking back at my prior choices always amuses me. This was the year of the hiphop dance anthems for me. We got to shimmy and shake to a few good ones.
As far as I can tell, Wynwood Walls seems to be at the epicenter of the Wynwood neighborhood revitalization. It’s an event space that has murals and a chichi restaurant-bar.
The streets immediately surrounding the Wynwood Walls are covered in street art and most of the empty warehouses are now studio spaces and businesses. The developed area is massive, and probably the most interesting area in Miami today. I took a ton of pictures, which I will finish editing in the coming days.
It’s back to Minneapolis and goodbye to the warmth, palm trees and breast implants. Not a bad way to spend a week in December.
The fact that there were 2-4-1 Whiskey-Diets on the plane made the return to winter easier to bear.
Sure, I may have gone to a few underground hipster parties in college, but the Wynwood Arts District was nothing like this.
Palm trees, mutant ducks and Lake Osceola.
It was kind of a cool place to go to college.
I didn’t appreciate it when I lived here, but this place is kinda pretty.
Window shopping in South Beach reminds me that Miami women may have different proportions than Minnesotans.
I suspect Minneapolis is a tad classier, but not as fun.
Tader and I decided to spend Christmas week in warmer climates.
Renting a car was a little difficult. After haggling at the downtown Miami Avis we found our rental car parked in.
We eventually excised our rental and gave Tader a quick tour of Brickell.
We then spent some time on South Beach and happened upon the cutest puppy mill.
They are adorable, but I think I like my dogs better. Plus the entire place stunk of puppy piss.
We returned to South Beach later that evening and went to Twist, which was epic as ever. Twist is the massive gay bar in Miami. Never a cover, always a groove.
The next day we went to a hipster club in Miami’s design district called the Electric Pickle. They played the kind of house music you never hear in Minneapolis. The music was great, but not really danceable. It turned into a weird Sims-like line dance.
Oh, and we may have stolen a sign from Walgreens…
The night ended at Twist again. It’s a bad habit, but so fun. They have a beer-serving Burger King next door that’s open 24 hours, which is super convenient when you’re skipping out of a club at 5 a.m.
This is going to be a hilarious, expensive vacation.
It was ugly Christmas sweater day at work. I don’t have any ugly Christmas sweaters, so I wore an ugly University of Miami sweater.
Close enough.
After work I ferried the dogs to the pet hotel. The paperwork was horribly confusing after a 10-hour workday. The nice thing is that I managed to finish all of my work for the week, so I don’t have to take my work laptop on vacation.
I just met a student from my old law school at Dunn Brothers. I managed to calm the 1L about her upcoming final. I also gave her some leads about clinics and jobs.
Those who succeeded in law school were either the manic-workhorses or those with solid mentors (or, more likely, a combination of both.) The quick advice from an older student is invaluable and something I found in the form of blogs.
The conversation made me realize that there is a subset of people who view blog authors as ersatz mentors and role models. I was one of these people and definitely relied on bloggers (like her and her and them) for advice and support.
The official pictures from the holiday office parties are in.
What’s ironic is that Tader’s office is more laid back and “fun” but had the stuffier party.
Some office Christmas parties are stuffy events with assigned seats. Others go bowling and play laser tag.
We win.
Uh, where the hell did the snow go?
There have been snowstorms to the north, south, east, and west, but somehow it is 40 degrees in Minneapolis.
The local pizza place’s firewood oven wasn’t ready yet, so I found myself with some extra time on my hands. Gertrude and I walked toward the old Grain Belt Beer campus when we saw some sandwich boards for Mrs. Kelly’s Tea Warehouse. A mini-adventure ensued.
I went to Mall of America today. The ginormous Christmas Tree is up again.
That’s not excessive at all…
