Happy Monday, Zany pals! Coming to you from under the covers of my bed on a rainy Sunday night, wishing I was still in sunny Miami.
This weekend I had the pleasure of flying to Miami for two days and location scouting for a collaborative project I am working on for a fashion brand. The trip was fully funded by the company, so you can imagine how excited I was to go (anything I don’t have to pay for, I’m a fan of).
This trip was my first “work trip”, and honestly, balancing work and play was tricky at times. Of course my main reason for the trip was to conduct further research for this brand, but also, it’s Miami. And the hotel has a pool. And it’s 80 degrees. And sunny. And we’re in a prime location with lots of yummy restaurants within walking distance.
So how do you decide when to work and when to play?
Well, like most things in my life, I started with a list. I wrote down all of goals I needed to accomplish on the trip, helping me stay focused on the task at hand. The key to a good work-play balance on a trip is to start working your way through the list as soon as possible. Putting it off will only make the motivation harder to come. My team started our Miami work weekend with a lovely breakfast at a local Miami restaurant. (Can’t expect to work on an empty stomach, now can you?)
After breakfast we worked through our list, checking as many tasks off as we could. We visited all of our potential locations, photographing and measuring the needed details. We called about 10 different city managers regarding legal logistics. We completed most of our tasks within the first day of being in Miami, leaving us a whole evening and next day of play time.
I’d like to point out that my work girls and I had full intentions of hitting the town on Friday night, but in reality, were so exhausted from our full day of location scouting/logistical phone calls that we watched New Girl and old (and new!!) Jonas Brothers music videos from the comfort of our hotel bed all night. My bff Nick was very disappointed when I told him our wild (or lack thereof) Miami weekend plans, but hey, maybe next time. We still had equally as much fun staying in as we would have going out (maybe more?)
Since we worked hard the first day to check all of our goals off the list, we were able to lounge by the pool all Saturday morning, enjoy hotel-catered breakfast, sip some mimosas, and completely forget about our final projects back at school that probably needed attention. (This is confirmed as I am beyond stressed completing a project that is due Monday night, but at least Miami Becca enjoyed herself.)
Overall, it was a successful two days in Miami. We accomplished everything we needed to, while also leaving time for some rest & renewal.
Beautiful Miami Beach weather:
Yummy Miami food:
Cutie work gal pals eating yummy ice cream:
One of many Miami murals:
I absolutely loved Miami and all it has to offer (which is so much!). All the food we ate was amazing, the art was magnificent, the city was beautifully diverse, and there was an endless amount of activity going on throughout. I definitely want to go back and spend more than 2 days in this lively city.
Zany Lady 