#ThankYouMiami for Seafood, Seafood & More Seafood - @SobeSeafoodFest2015

This year we've been on a YOLO kick, meaning we prioritize anything and everything that makes us happy...like eating seafood. It's the reason why if you follow us on Instagram you've noticed a surge in the amount of seafood, particularly crab and lobster, that we're consuming. It's also the reason why we're amping harder than ever for the arrival of seafood, seafood, and more seafood outside our doorstep (no, literally, it will be two blocks away) for the South Beach Seafood Festival. P.S. We're giving away two tickets to the festival. Don't forget to enter at the bottom of this post!

The South Beach Seafood Festival is a building tradition here in South Beach to celebrate the start of Stone Crab season. Every year on October 24, Miami gathers in Lummus Park to eat, drink, and be merry in the name of our ocean's finest bounty. The event is so popular that in the past year the festival has expanded to include additional events and culinary demonstrations leading up to the big day. Earlier this week we had the opportunity to preview one of these events—the Chef Showdown—during which 12 local chefs from our favorite restaurants will compete for our votes in six epic battles:

• Battle Lobster: Chef Ralph Pagano of Naked Taco v. Chef Andre Bienvenu of Joe's Stone Crab
• Battle Tuna: Chef Kareem Anguin of Oceanaire v. Chef Xavier Torres of Drunken Dragon
• Battle Octopus: Chef Demetrios Pyliotis of Poseidon v. Chef Brad Kilgore of Alter
• Battle Surf n' Turf: Chef Peter Vauthy of Red, The Steakhouse v. Chef Eduardo Perez of Smith & Wollensky
• Battle Taco: Chef Bernie Matz of Bodega v. Chef Scott Linquist of Coyo
• Battle Shrimp: Chef Massimo Giannattasio of Cibo v. Chef Dustin Atoigue of Mondrian South Beach

During the event, on October 23, the competing chefs will host stations so you can sample their food and cast your vote for your favorite restaurant in each category, while you catch them on stage battling it out for champion status. While all six battles are well matched, we are most excited to watch Battle Lobster, Battle Tuna, and Battle Taco (because we're Mexican so...). We're also excited to check out Whole Foods Market's Sustainable Seafood showcase, eat food from other local participating restaurants like Midtown Oyster Bar and SOHO Bay, and participate in the raffles and auctions. Check out the Chef Showdown website full event information and buy your tickets ASAP. They sell out like hotcakes!

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Which Chef Showdown battle are you most excited to watch? Which of the chefs are you most excited to support? Have you visited any of the participating restaurants? Which? Have you attended the South Beach Seafood Festival before? What did you think? What are you most looking forward to doing or trying at this year's festival? Leave a comment below or send us a tweet @ThankYouMiami!

#ThankYouMiami How-To: Staying #Shady

If you've never heard Baz Luhrmann's "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)", do yourself a favor and listen to it on YouTube right now. Inspired by a 1997 essay penned by Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schmich, Baz Luhrmann dispenses Mary's on point advice about life through a spoken word song starting with: "If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it." We first heard the song in 1999 when it sneaked its way into Volume 2 of the "Now That's What I Call Music!" CD series after Backstreet Boy's "I'll Never Break Your Heart" and Jay-Z's "Hard Knock Life". Since then, we've replayed it over and over again whenever we've needed a reality check on family, on love, on aging. Surprisingly, however, the one piece of advice we've taken least seriously has been the bit about sunscreen.

As beach bums, beach volleyball players, and surfers, we've basically been professional beach-goers all our lives. Overtime we've become experts on how to pack for the beach, how to set up on the beach, and how to entertain ourselves on the beach for hours. Somehow, we've simultaneously remained amateurs when it comes to sun protection. We're talking about going out during the harsh midday sun (the sun is most damaging between 12 p.m. and 3 p.m.) after one application of 50 SPF followed by the rare reapplication. We shudder to think of the sun damage we've allowed to our bodies from years of so-so sunscreen use and poor decision making.

Well, the damage stops now. The catalyst? This cautionary tale from "sun abuse survivor" Eliane Kirschbaum:

"Two years ago I woke up with a really weird, persistent, and eventually bleeding pimple on the top of my nose. I soon after learned that the pimple, wasn't a pimple—I had skin cancer. I was shocked. How could this happen to me? Well, the reality is that the sun does not care who you are. If you don't protect yourself, you are at risk."

Don't worry, Eliane is fine now but she is one of the lucky ones and she wants us to be even luckier by helping us avoid skin cancer altogether. With that goal in mind she started a campaign called "FTheSun" to spread skin cancer awareness through sun protective gear and accessories. Well Eliane, mission accomplished. Yesterday we spent an entire day at the beach wearing our "FTheSun" #Shady cap and it was a constant reminder to #stayshady. In fact, it prompted us to buy a sun shelter with 50 UPF (this portable, easy to set-up Rio sun shelter to be exact) to further minimize our sun exposure during our almost 12-hour day shooting surf photos at the beach. We look forward to making these steps (sunscreen, hat, and sun shelter) a part of our regular beach bumming routine for Mary Schmich, for Baz Luhrmann, for Eliane but, more importantly, for ourselves.

What do you think of our beach set-up? How do you #stayshady at the beach? What other tips do you have for beach bumming safely? For sun protection? Leave a comment below or send us a tweet @ThankYouMiami!

#ThankYouMiami Talks Ending September With The 5 Best #MiamiEvents

Earlier this week we mourned the end of summer by celebrating our standout style moments of the season. Today, we welcome with open arms the arrival of Fall, which looks exactly the same as summer but comes with a hundred thousand extra tourists per day, as well as the return of our seasonal residents. Let us be the first to say "godspeed" for the coming months. On our end we'll be diving head first into our revived social lives and trying to ignore the downsides of the season (more people, more traffic, less space). Lucky for us, there's only five days in September and enough events happening before the end of the month to fill five weeks. Here's where you will find us hiding:

1. Friday, September 25: Bareroot Pop-Up at Better Days Miami

Riding on the momentum from their recent one-year anniversary, Better Days is hosting experimental pop-up dining concept, Bareroot. Every other Friday, starting tonight, Bareroot will bring a small menu of reimagined "trashy bar food" to complement Better Days' stellar cocktail menu. We're big proponents of pairing our drinks with equally delicious bites so we're looking forward to this new partnership. We're particularly excited about the fact that Bareroot is the brainchild of two Miami-ans who have been friends since high school. Miami, FTW!

2. Sunday, September 27: National Yoga Month at Mondrian South Beach

Did you know every Sunday the Mondrian in South Beach offers yoga on their iconic bayside pool deck? Well, they do and this Sunday at 10 a.m. you're invited for free. In honor of National Yoga Month, fashion blogging babe and yogi supreme Ginger Harris of Electric Blogarella will host this special edition event featuring a group yoga class and giveaways from Green Monkey and Peace Love World. Following the hour-long class, the Mondrian's poolside restaurant will be open and serving a variety of healthy brunch options ranging from $7 - $26 like coconut oatmeal with fresh mango. Yum! To reserve your complimentary spot, please e-mail mondrianpoolclub [at] mhgc [dot] com.

3. Tuesday, September 29: National Bourbon Month Dinner presented by Old Forester Bourbon at Lure Fishbar

The first time we sampled Lure Fishbar's menu we were mad at ourselves—mad that, Lure is a few blocks down the street from us and we don't visit frequently enough (read, their food is really good). For National Bourbon Month, they're pairing their culinary cunning, materialized as a $95 six-course menu, with another winner: bourbon. This special menu of seasonal specialities, presented by Old Forester Bourbon, is mouth-watering in its extravagance. We're particularly amped about the lobster-stuffed squash blossoms, the raw bar platter with its bourbon granita and apple bourbon mignonette, and the warm sticky "icky" bun served with maple-bourbon ice cream. For reservations, call (305) 695-4550.

4. Wednesday, September 30: Leggings Lounge at Shelborne Wyndham Grand

Yoga is the key to staying sane during "season", which is why we're amped to get another shot at zen before the end of the month. For their last installment of their ultra successful yoga and happy hour series, Miami's very own Think Red Inc. calls upon its past blogger hosts to deliver "something really cool". If their past events are any indication, this is not an event you want to miss so reserve your spot ASAP: http://leggingslounge.splashthat.com/. See you there!

5. Wednesday, September 30: Midtown Oyster Bar x Wynwood Brewing Company

Two of our favorite Miami heavy hitters have collaborated on a joint 9-coure stating menu highlighting the best flavors of New England and Miami, paired with Wynwood Brewing's staple brews and their quarterly seasonal specials. We're talking Magic City Pale Ale, La Rubia Blonde, as well as Rickenbacker Pilsner and Scotchy Doesn't Know Scotch Ale. "The idea for this event was to truly explore the potential in pairing our food in a casual way with excellent local beers," said MOB Chef Ralph Colon. Tickets for the one-night only event are $75 per person (all inclusive) and are available for purchase on Eventbrite.

Which of these events are you most excited to attend? What other events are you looking forward to attending before the end of the month? Leave a comment below or send us a tweet @ThankYouMiami!

#ThankYouMiami for Fashion - Standout Style Moments of Summer

Summer is over. While we cry you a river, we're looking back at the standout styles of summer and we ask you to vote for your favorite look of our top three. We hope they will inspire your outfits in the coming months so we can collectively keep the summer vibes going into Fall. After all, in the Sunshine State, whatever...we do what we want.

Which of the three looks was your favorite? What were your favorite moments from this summer? Which was your best style moment? What were you wearing? What was your inspiration? What Fall trends are you looking forward to wearing? Leave a comment below or send us a tweet @ThankYouMiami!

#ThankYouMiami How-To: Celebrating A Birthday Against All Odds

On Sunday, September 13 I turned a year older. While the milestone is a miracle in its own right, this year's birthday celebration was cursed from the beginning (perhaps, again, due to Mercury being in retrograde) and a challenge to execute. On the big day not only were most of our friends and family indisposed with various other commitments but, as you know well by now, I was also out of commission with an illness, unable to eat and in bed rest. Alas, it took mini-miracles and serious cunning to execute a celebration. Luckily, these days birthdays seem to be a week-long, if not month-long, affair so no one blinked when we unofficially changed our birthday this year to this past weekend, starting on Saturday night with a birthday dinner amongst friends and ending on Sunday afternoon with a family birthday brunch.