I recently attended Art Basel Miami this month and it was everything. First of all, being in the Florida sun during December as a Chicagoan? Amazing work here. 

What I love about constant warm weather is that you can break all the fashion rules. For example, that old school rule about not wearing white after Labor Day? Can’t relate! I had to rebel from that fashion tip my first day on the Miami streets for Basel weekend. I got this white romper from Discovery in the clearance section. Yes, you read that right! Don’t sleep on the clearance section especially when stores are clearing out their spring/summer section and vice versa.

What's your favorite way to style an evening dress for a daytime look?

UPDATED: April 2024 

 For my birthday this year, I decided to venture off to San Juan, Puerto Rico to celebrate this big milestone year. Although it’s still considered U.S. territory, I haven’t been out of the country since right when the pandemic started! I was itching to get back on somebody’s island since then and my prayer and dream came true. 

It being a life changing experience is an understatement. The island of Puerto Rico is full of wonder, adventure, and relaxation. Let’s get into the details of the journey. 

Flying: How To Get There 

Here are two cool travel hack ideas: 

1. Booking flights one way instead of round trip is a huge money saver. I flew Southwest to Miami as a “layover” stop. From there I ventured to San Juan via American Airlines instead of paying a whopping $300+ round trip from Chicago to San Juan. I ended up paying about $150 if I’m not mistaken. 1B. I love flying with Southwest because they’re fairly inexpensive especially when flying across the country. Plus you get two bags free, you can’t beat that! Southwest is always going to be my go-to company. 

2. With all that being said, when you’re traveling to the Caribbean, Mexico, Central or South America, utilize the first step and always make Miami your one way, inexpensive layover stop. Unless you already reside there or in Florida. It’s always the gateway to get to those countries. 2B. Use the app ibotta to purchase a gift card from Southwest and use it to purchase your ticket. You get cash back or you can use your balance too!

From Chicago to Miami, I had a layover in Nashville in between, then from Miami to San Juan, it took about 3 hours to get to my final dest8nation. Yeah, I was literally traveling from 4am CST until 10pm EST. 

Lodging: Where To Stay

I decided to try Airbnb for the first time because I’ve always seen so many people talking about it. There’s even an ongoing debate about the quality, accommodations, perks and more with Airbnb vs hotels. We’ll discuss that at a later time. The stay was in the Ocean Park neighborhood. It was a little rough around the edges chile, but I enjoyed it. I’m from Chicago I’m good in any hood anywhere. 

It was definitely a lot more inexpensive than staying at a hotel as the point was to not break the bank on the first out of the country it not really trip in 2 years. What I really liked about this place was the location being close to where the locals were. It’s right by a neighborhood called Loiza which is well known for their street vendors but also in a close proximity to tourist areas like Condado. Next time I come back I’ll be bounce and stay in a hotel. 

Unfortunately I didn’t take any photos of the interior or exterior because I got in late and was in and out.

Here are some great hotel choices in San Juan:

• Courtyard by Marriott San Juan 
• Hyatt Place San Juan
• Hotel El Colonial 
• CasaBlanca Hotel 
• Caribe Hilton
• Embassy Suites by Hilton San Juan Hotel & Casino
• San Juan Water and Beach Club Hotel 
• Sheraton Puerto Rico Resort & Casino
• Fairmont El San Juan Hotel 
• Residence Inn by Marriott San Juan Isla Verde
• Aloft San Juan 

Food: Where To Eat 

As you all know I’m vegan. A proud but non obnoxious vegan.  It makes me so happy that so many cities home and abroad are popping up with vegan restaurants and more vegan options on their menus at regular spots. San Juan is certainly a vegan friendly city. The first spot I went to wasn’t vegan but I did have some tasty mushroom tacos and a banging margarita. This was La Pachanga “Margaritas & Fiesta”. Great Mexican spot for a quick lunch.

For my birthday brunch I went to the Dreamcatcher Hotel, which is a hotel but it also has a restaurant there. While the portions are small, the food was everything. I had a fruit bowl, sprouted avocado toast, caramel cake and soursop juice. 

My birthday dinner was at Cafe Berlin in Old San Juan. The drinks were great but I honestly wasn’t too thrilled at the food. I had vegan mofongo and carrot cake. It’s a lovely place but the food was a bit overwhelming. You can definitely tell it’s watered down for the sake of tourists. 

I did have some late night food at a place I totally forgot the name of and some food I ordered from a delivery app. Overall the food was just okay. I wasn’t too impressed by anything except the brunch. When I return I would like to try other vegan spots I had in mind and experience some yummy street food. 

The real star of the show was definitely the drinks. Unlike here in the States, not nann drink in San Juan was watered down. One of the spots visited is Barrachina where the first pina colada was created in 1963. 

Sightseeing: What To Do In San Juan

San Juan is the oldest city in America (I mean it’s not America, but…yeah. Another topic for another time). As a huge history nerd and lover, I was so impressed and loving all of the colonial buildings everywhere. The history of the city is plentiful in Old San Juan, hence the name. OSJ is the main area the first Europeans colonized upon arriving to the shores of present day Puerto Rico in the 1500’s. While there’s a bloody history behind it, the island also celebrates the original history of the indigenous native Tainos who thoroughly inhabited the island before Spanish and English arrival. 

OSJ is definitely a place you want to visit for the historical experience. There are also plenty of cats everywhere and street art. Some dope spots I saw were Castillo San Felipe del Morro, Castillo San Cristobal, Santa María Magdalenade Pazzis Cemetery, and La Fortaleza. 

What’s also super dope is that I took a photo shoot for my birthday and a walking history tour of OSJ was included with taking pictures at each site.