Located in a revamped old motel called the Lido Spa on Belle Island between Miami Beach and the Design District, The Standard is one of my favorite places in Miami. It’s far enough from South Beach that you don’t get annoying crowds, but close enough that you can walk or bike there.

Walk through the mod/scandi lobby through lush gorgeous gardens until you reach the pool area.

On a sunny day, the grill is such a great place to have lunch. It’s rarely crowded and…

…there is even a raw dish on the menu — “living” lasagna — hooray!

In the distance, you can see the building where I used to live.

If I still lived here, I would definitely join the club. Sunrise Yoga, Bayside — ummm, yes, please.

For dessert I just had to try the Vegan Ding Dong, which was a bit heavy for my taste, but still very good.

After that and a glass of cold rosé, I was definitely ready for a nap in the sun…

This is me working in Hawaii.

This is me pretending to work in Hawaii. Or, maybe not, actually.

I miss the sunshine and sand between my toes. Two more months of winter in NYC… sigh.

At most of the parties I attended in Hawaii, mai tais were served in abundance. The drink, made from rum, Curaçao liqueur, and lime juice—certainly looks very nice with a pink orchid on top.

The best thing in the way of food, hands down, is the poke. There are tiny little shops that sell nothing but dozens of varieties of this cold, raw seafood specialty. The best one is made from fresh tuna (ahi) but there are lot of other yummy varieties, like octopus, for those of you’re trying to avoid eating too much mercury (which we all should).

Hawaiians like their food greasy and in big portions—something a health-conscious vegetarian like myself might have a hard time with. By my third or fourth day there I was frantically googling health food stores where I could find a nice organic salad bar and some green juice. I had to walk 40 minutes to get there, but then almost cried from happiness when I exited Down to Earth Foods with a green salad, a wheatgrass shot and two green juices (had to get one for later too!)

It’s amazing how spoiled we get about food in NYC, everything is available whenever we want it.

The last day, we had a nice breakfast under a big hau tree canopy and soaked up the last of the sun on the beach.

I was wearing my Heatherette unicorn shorts, an old pink tank from Luella and this new Roxy rainbow bikini that I scored on sale in a surf shop in Haleiwa.

After the beach, we headed to this place called Leonard’s, famous for it’s malasadas. The line inside was indeed long, with more locals than tourists — always a good sign.

Love the old-school neon and the pink box. Hate the cluster of mosquito bites on my right arm.

The malasadas tasted kind of like donuts to me, and the cinnamon ones were yummier than the plain sugar ones. We had two each, and were left with sugar all over our faces.

I just landed in Honolulu, Hawaii. It’s nice to feel the warm breeze on my wintery pale (not much longer!) skin. I’m here for two weeks, the first one work and the second play. Such a nice treat. Now I am off to find some yummy fish for dinner. Aloha!