Check out the pictures of our vacation in France.

In all 5 couples (our friends Erik and Steven and some of their friends) spent a week frolicking along the Cote d'Azur during the day. In the evenings, tired and sun drenched, we retired to San Peyre, a beautiful mansion on the coast overlooking the Mediterranean. There we supped on local produce and sampled regional wines under the overhang of grape vines in the warmth of candle light. The evening breeze warm and gentle on our tanned skin only adding to our pleasure.

San Peyre, not simply a place, but a state of mind.

One of the few American cities I hadn't visited in my 7 years here had been Miami, or more specifically South Beach (SoBe). Joe had been several times and had been constantly telling me how wonderful it is. Talking up the culture, the art deco buildings, the beach, the weather and the wonderful eye candy!

So with a leg on our Global Explorer free, we booked a trip to SoBe over the Memorial Day long weekend. If we took Friday off we would get 4 full days in the sun, relaxing and drinking cocktails by the pool. To cap off the experience we splurged on a room at The Tides Hotel, a beautiful and decadent boutique hotel right in the heart of the "action".

Action it was! Unknown to us, every Memorial Day SoBe turns from a gay beach meca into a Hip Hop festival cramming the sidewalks with humanity. There was so much booty going on, none of the straight boys could work out where to look, or touch or call out obscene, supposedly flattering, comments. This wasn't the South Beach Joe had told me about.

Despite the change in atmosphere, we managed to have a good time. Our photos are here.

Since moving in just over a year ago we have been constantly saying we should get around to painting the apartment. One year later and only the foyer and two bathrooms have been painted.

The bathrooms had to be painted since the exposed plaster was being eaten away by the steam and running down the walls in rivulets. To date the foyer was the only room lucky enough to have us paint it voluntarily. We thought if first impressions last then the very first room guests would see should be finished.

It was only natural then to continue painting rooms that lead off the foyer. Since the dining room is smaller than the living room, it was logically next. Joe and I agreed that the room should be blood red (a very stimulating and flattering color). However, arguments ensued as to whether the ceiling should be white, red, speckled with glitter or some dark grey. In the end my demands of plain white prevailed, of which we are both satisfied with. To see the progression from exposed plaster to finished room click here.