Fakesgiving in Florida

After spending some quality time with my girls, I took a quick flight to Fort Lauderdale to meet up with my family. My mom, dad and sister flew in from Dallas and our flights got in only minutes apart.

Packing Light

We met up with my in-laws for a late lunch/early dinner. Dan's flight didn't arrive until much later that night.

Most of our trip centered around food...of course. We ate in some really good restaurants, including the Rusty Pelican. It's this gorgeous restaurant overlooking the Key Biscayne. The food is delicious and the presentation is even better. Sorry for the blurry photos :(

Whole crispy sea bass with lo mein noodles

Ceviche served in a sardine can

Another amazing restaurant is Rare Steakhouse in Miami. I've been dreaming about this kosher restaurant since Dan and I ate there on our first anniversary three years ago. It was easily the best burger I've ever had in my life. I'm so happy to say that it did not disappoint! It was just as good as I remembered. I love going to kosher restaurants and being able to order absolutely everything on the menu. I treated myself to a wedge salad with iceburg lettuce, fake blue cheese dressing, and maple pastrami BACON! YUM!

Wedge salad with "bacon"

The real highlight of our trip--food-wise--was Thanksgiving. Dan and I cooked while the family went exploring. All the favorites were on the menu: turkey; stuffing; sweet potatoes; mashed potatoes; cranberry sauce; apple pie and pumpkin pie. We did a terrible job of taking pictures, but a great job of eating!

Of course we participated in non-food activities too. My sister is quite the little gambler, so we had to check out the Gulfstream racecourse and casino. Bradi is seriously the luckiest person I've ever met when it comes to gambling. It's gotten to the point where she is honestly convinced that it's not gambling, it's just free money. Luckily we're not talking huge sums of money on the line here; she put in a few bucks and won $30. We all had a good time though.

One of my favorite things we did was go to a Russian restaurant and nightclub called Tatiana's. My in-laws had been there before and loved the show. It was not at all what I was expecting...it was so much better! It was like a cirque du soleil performance with all the aerial acrobatics, ballet dancing and singing. I loved it! Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed, but here's one from their website.

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And of course, no trip to Florida is complete with out some beach time! We had one absolutely gorgeous day, and a couple of really windy ones. We made the most of it though.

It was a fantastic trip. I'm so fortunate that we could all be together to celebrate (though we missed Dan's sister Amy!). Let's not wait another four years to all be together again!