TRAVELING IN STYLE.....December Rain in Miami

Not Sunny In Miami: David's Wet Birthday Balcony View: A Sunny View from the Mandarin Oriental Miami

This week, while I was in Seattle, I turned on the news and saw that Miami was a chilly 40 Degrees!!! I couldn't believe it. But then David reminded me of the weather injustice we encountered while we went to that city recently. Last month as some of you may remember, I flew to Miami with my NIKOLAKI partner, David Paul. I was there to shoot my second Holiday Segment for Despierta America, the Spanish-speaking "Good Morning America". The segment, in which I showcased great gift ideas for the entire family--from electronics for the Dad to perfumes and jewelry for the Mom and of course, fun toys for the kids--went really well. Regalos Para Todos: Nick Verreos, Despierta America Sears Holiday Gifts TV segment

Usually after I film my TV segments or appearances, I depart for the airport right away. However, the day of this segment was also David's Birthday, so we decided to stay a couple of days in Miami--My gift would be two fabulous SUNNY no-work, days in Miami (or so we thought). While doing my Sears segments, the clients had us at the ultra-luxe Downtown Miami-located Mandarin Oriental, which was AMAZING. But we decided to "re-locate" to the Mondrian to be closer to South Beach and all the shopping.

Our Girlfriend During the Storm: The Mondrian "Children of the Corn"

The day we moved was beautiful and sunny but there were some minor clouds creeping in. All we could think of was "Please keep the rain away!" These were the first two days in a LONG time that both David and I had any "break" and all we wanted to do was fall asleep in the pool chairs.

Birthday Boy On His Throne: David Paul enjoying the Mondrian South Beach Pool Love Seat

After checking in, we went straight to the pool and in the evening, we celebrated David's Birthday at one of our favorite Miami restaurants, Red. No sign of rain, Gracias a Dios, as they say. The next morning, we woke up to a TORRENTIAL DOWNPOUR!! Yep, and it lasted for the entire time we were there. This was supposed to be our "lay out by the pool all day" time but no, the "Weather Gods" had something else planned. We stayed in the hotel room and watched the nonstop rain from our balcony. In fact we later found out, the rain turned into a Hurricane Warning. Nice.

Rainbow Miami: A brief pause in the rain

David was bummed and so was I, but what could we do. After 12 hrs of sitting in our not-so-cheap room, we decided to don our Top Shop blazers, get the umbrellas and have some chimichurri and empanadas at Baires Grill and take in a movie off of Lincoln Road. We saw the very good--but very depressing Precious. This was David's 2-day Not-So-Sunny-In-Miami Birthday "extravaganza". Remind me next time to check the Weather Channel.Click Below for the video I shot of the Torrential Rains in Miami from our Mondrian Hotel Balcony: