Hope you had a great weekend! Here are a few pictures from when we celebrated my birthday (LAST weekend), if you’re interested. Above is the view out to sea from Homestead Bayfront Park, my new favorite place on the planet!

We drove down to this little gem first thing on my birthday celebration day. (I was sipping on a tumbler of hot coffee when we first set up camp on the little beach.) The park features a marina, tons of fishing spots, picnic places galore, and an atoll pool with a sandy beach. We spent the morning and early afternoon soaking up some sun and floating in the restorative salt water.

I love the park’s quirky features, like this colorful sign (It’s all so close!!) and the decorated lifeguard huts.

It’s the perfect place to spend a whole day–I can’t wait to go back again and again! (Maybe with a penny board or some fishing poles…) And you can’t argue with views like this one.

After we had our fill of beach lounging, we dusted off our sandy limbs and headed up to La Playa Grill, which overlooks the atoll pool and the ocean beyond. We ordered up a couple coronas…

and I munched on this AMAZING order of Fish and Chips (with tropical cole slaw!). Chet had a Playa Burger which he said was one of the best burgers he’s ever had! Full and happy we left Homestead and headed back to Miami to run a few errands and prepare for the next fantastic meal my birthday had in store for us!

A few weeks prior, I jokingly requested Crawfish Etouffee Potatoes for my birthday meal knowing full well we wouldn’t be able to find crawfish in Miami. But lo and behold! Crawfish showed up at our front door just in time! Chet had them shipped (in a styrofoam cooler packed with dry ice) from Louisiana. You might remember my love affair with this particular dish began on my birthday last year! It is the thing that dreams are made of.

We rounded out the celebrations with Nutella birthday cake and a glass of Pinot Grigio. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day or a better way to ring in my 30th year.

P.S. I can’t resist giving you a peak at the WONDERFUL presents I received! Aren’t they glorious?! I am the luckiest! (The book “When We Were Romans” and the docu “Surfwise” were presents to myself because #treatyoself.)

P.S. 50 facts on my birthday and Chet’s birthday (when HE surprised ME!).