Comar Funky Fancy Dress Party

Hello all you lovely party people. I thought that these little beauties might brighten up your Monday! It was a great party Comar and as always, t was fantastic to see you all (being as silly as ever)!

Every one asked where I got my fancy dress costume. I managed to kit both me and Erling out from clothes in my loft……it’s a bit of a worry really. I used to wear most of what we were wearing when it wasn’t a fancy dress night!

It was a weird sensation kissing Erling with a moustache, and not one I want to repeat in a hurry!


Dazzla thought he was having a flash back as apparently his hair really used to be like his wig – tight corkscrew curls! Brave man to admit that!

Paul thought he could fly at one point and with sleeves like that we could believe him. I have somehow ended up with his ginger Afro at my house; I think he switched with Erling at some point in the evening!

Maura gave a whole new meaning to the words ‘hot pants’, they were on fire!!!

It was good to see Paul and Hayley so happy! They say love is blind, she could even fancy him with his ginger fro!


Samira and Minky were looking as cool as ever. A big up to you both. Congratulations to the newly weds!





To see lots more pics from the party, type www.lisastone.co.uk/gallery/

Let me know what you think!

Links

• Gallery of Comars party

Wednesday 29th March 2006


So it’s our last day. Time has flown by! We opened a final bottle of champagne as we packed our cases. We ate at Jerry’s Famous Diner…I finally got the veggie burger Id been fancying all week! We took a few more drive by shots on our way to the airport and said goodbye to South Beach, it seems like the land of make believe!





We landed with a bump at Heathrow, back to reality! We took the train home which wasn’t as bad as I’d expected…apart from the bit where I thought that I would wheel the case behind me down the steps and it slid bouncing out of control down the stairs, I wasn’t too bothered until Erling reminded me it had my lovely, chunky glass plates that I’d bought at the Thrith Store! Luckily they survived the trauma!

Tuesday 28th March 2006

The week has really flew by, its mad to think that we will be leaving tomorrow, but I’ll certainly be going home with some great memories and of course fantastic images.



At the moment we are sitting in News Café on Ocean Drive, it’s a really well know place to go and is always really busy. Every day that we have been by, there has been a big queue waiting to be seated, but today as a lot of people have left we thought that we’d give it a try and got seated straight away. The menu is good, the Mojito was lovely, starter of fried mozzarella and garlic focccia- yummy, but main came up cold, so I’ve sent it back. Erling is munching on Ceasar salad but says its nothing compared to the one I had a Caldozo. It’s so busy though! I hope that they are not relying on their reputation alone!



2.50 PM
It came back piping hot and delicious, so yes I can highly recommend the News Café!
I took a stroll across to the beach and felt embraced by the laid back feeling. It seems like a different world from the hustle and bustle just across the street.



We then went to the Victor. It’s a really laid-back little boutique kind of hotel. It’s chic, elegant and funky.

We went up to the outside area on the 1st floor. They had huge wicker chairs with cushions that fit 2 people on. We laid together basking in the last sun of the day and fell into a lovely snooze. It’s the 1st time all week that we’ve simply relaxed in the sun! We woke up and drunk a couple of Apple Martinis….they are scrumptious! I discovered them in New York and when I saw them on the menu at the Victor there was no competition as to what I was going to be drinking!





From here we checked out the Delano.


It has a really grand entrance hallway that stretches all the way from the entrance, to the back of the hotel that leads onto an impressive pool.



Although the entrance is one room, it is has individual areas within it. Light, chiffon, curtains fluttered in the summer breeze, hanging beside each of the pillars that stretched the height of the room, which must have been 15 yards tall. This helped to divide the hallway into separate areas rather than it simply being what seemed on 1st impression a never-ending entrance hall.The Sumptuous chairs and sofas of different styles, yet all complementing one another. Tables and chairs, one made from Venetian mirror and a huge stand alone Venetians blind that was to die for!




We ate as we worked on the laptop. We shared a Mezzo and Pizza.

Sunday 26th March,

We spotted a thrith store. I found loads of great stuff. Erling picked out a great handbag for me. The zip of my silver bag had busted from the sheer over loading of it!

We had lunch on Ocean drive at a place called Café Cardozo. The food was great, we shared eggs Benedict then I had Caesar Salad and Earl had seared tuna salad. A musician played the saxophone and clarinet and it all went to giving a great vibe.



We watched the stream of people passing by and when I spotted someone I liked the look of, I shot off and got their photo.









We took a stroll along Ocean drive and got some shots of a couple of different posse’s both well up for posing! One of the groups was rappers and they gave us their CD ‘Make Luv or Fuck with truth 950 plus’.








We took a drive and saw the holocast memorial, it was really beautifully done. It had a peaceful, tranquility that surrounded it. The statue was really moving, the huge hand statue reached up to the blue sky with people climbing up the hand to freedom. It had a number written in black on the fore arm, at first glance, I thought it was grafitti, but then realized that this represented the prisoner number that would have been tattooed on.




From here we went to the Standard hotel. Its the newest 'kid' on the block, having only just opened in January and its reckoned that its the new hot spot for those who are in the know. It has some really nice touches like the stained glass in its entrance, the comfy but chic jigsaw of a chair, a multi million dollar spa and state of the art facilities!

As you walk from the lobby outside to the pool, the long lush greenery that leads you down is lined either side with the guests rooms, they are like little chalets and forgive me, but it reminds me of a posh Butlins!



As I reached the pool area, I could really see what the fuss was about. The surface or the pool reflects the scene as though it were glass, and the scene is fantastic. You can look out across the sea and get a great view of downtown Miami, it really is a great place to lounge in the Florida sun. We were lucky enough to catch the sun set, which really was spectacular.


That night we went to eat in Espanola Way. There are loads of restaurants and stalls selling jewellery, clothes and holiday gifts. It was a typical kind of holiday street, buzzing, lively and full of tourists. We chose an Italian restaurant called Hosteria Romana. (429 Espanola Way). The food was great, after being served homemade bread to begin the meal, we guessed it would be. The staff were a lively bunch and seemed genuinely happy to be working there. There was a great atmosphere and the 2-piece band that stuck up added to it.









It was an amazing venue, very ornate and grand with a wonderful courtyard, and fountain and impressive pillars and statues.

There was Redbull aplenty and champagne too. I recognised a lot of people in the crowd. Arthur Baker, Armen Van Helden, Freak Nasty, Junior Sanchez, Spiller, Soul Heaven, Goost Van Bellen, Princess Superstar, plus loads of others.








The Dj Mag boys were all there and Mark Jones from Wall of Sound was flitting around, impossible to miss as he was dressed a woman and had a huge blond ‘fro on!




Amongst the DJs who played on the night were the Glimmers, Mekon, and Felix Da Housecat. They were all great, but Felix really rocked it and got the cooler than cool crowd moving!




















We stayed until the end, then Freak Nasty said he was going to the Shelborn and invited us along DJ Simon was pretty cool.

1.30 PM Saturday 25th March 2006-03-25

I’m sitting in Café Milano on Ocean Drive (850 Ocean Drive) sipping on a chilled glass of Verve Cliequot, watching the world go by. At last the sun is properly shining, the sky is blue and all in good in my world. I woke up this morning and saw what a lovely day it was, our room looks out across the sea and the glittering sparks were reflected on the waters surface as far as the eye can see.

We jumped in the car, I had a vodka and orange in hand and cruised along Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue, getting some ‘drive by’ shots (as I call them).Our mood is positively jubilant and looking across at Erling driving is making me even more happy! He is dodging and weaving, pointing out shots that he thinks are good and he pulls into the right lane to get closer to Jerry’s Famous Café to get a shot of it in the day light and as we crossed the traffic lights we got stopped by a police man or as I’m in Miami I guess I should say cop! At the time we both have, in hand, a Hagen Daas caramel Choc ice/ lolly…whatever you call it. (which incidentally I can highly recommend, it reminds me of when I was a kid eating a bar of Caramac, but with the addition of some melt in your mouth goo and ice cream, bloody delicious!)

Anyway, I’m thinking oh shit, why have they stopped us, would the one vodka and orange that Erling had this morning put him over the limit, is it because he is driving and eating at the same time, or is it just because we look like we are having such a bloody good time! It turns out its because we drove straight ahead when we were in the lane to turn right.The cop asks Erling for his licence. Of course we haven’t been carrying our licences with us. He looks at Erling in disbelief asking where we come from, then when we say UK he says ‘well wouldn’t you have to carry your licence there, why should it be any different here”….another look of disbelief when we tell him, “no”. After a lot of baffled looks from him and a lot of polite explaining and apologies from us, he decides to let us go. I ask him for his photo, he agrees!



Erling took me into this designer shop called Wild Thing (900 Ocean Drive) saying that he wanted to buy me a present. After looking around I spotted this amazing pair of shoes. They had killer heels, gold leather strappy fastenings and swastki crystals, even on the soles of the shoes in the arched part! I tried them on and the sales girl commented that they would look good with anything or more importantly absolutely nothing! At hearing this Erling had his money out and was trying to leave a deposit, telling the man behind the counter (Dennis) that he’d be back tomorrow to pay the rest. Considering they were 1200 dollars, he obviously didn’t have enough on him. I said to hold his horses and I’d think about it….don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love them, but thinking to myself what else £750 could buy I just couldn’t bring myself to agree to it.



We got chatting to Dennis and as I had my camera he asked if we were press. I told him yes and he said ‘then why aren’t you at Ultra Music festival?’ I told him it was tomorrow (Sunday) he told me no, then looked it up on the computer. Holy shit it was today!

We made it to the press desk just in time to collect our passes before it closed! She then sent us to the press tent, but gave very flaky directions, as in ‘just keep going’.

We were looking for ages! We asked a few people and in the end even had 2 cops who called up on their radios to find out. Still no one knew where it was. On route and once we’d weaved deep into the back stage area, we saw this bar all alone in the middle of nothing. We ordered Vodka Red Bull and wasn’t charged…..it was like a mirage! Finally we found the tent. People had said it had a huge sign and we couldn’t miss it, how wrong they were. It was a tent with ‘press’ written on an A4 sized sheet of paper, which was sellotaped to the side of it! No wonder we had trouble finding it!







We took a few shots back stage of the dancers and generally cool looking people, then hit the pit area in front of the main stage, to catch Eric Morillo, hands in air, sun beaming down on him and a crowd of thousands in front of him also waving their hands in the air and loving every minute of it.




Next up was Paul Oakenfold, but things weren’t to run so smoothly for poor old Oaky. Something went wrong with the monitors and the sound disappeared all together, leaving the expectant crowd waiting eagerly and intently. Paul tried to keep them entertained by doing a little jig around that looked like a cross between a highland fling and a tap dance. But standing looking in despair at the decks, head in hands seemed to be more representative of how he was feeling! About 20 minutes later and after about 10 people had gathered around in an attempt to fix it, finally he was able to play!


Highlights of the day for me were Josh Wink in the Carl Cox and friends tent. Carl took over from him and we caught the 1st part of he’s set. He’s one of my fav’s.


Highlights of the day for me were Josh Wink in the Carl Cox and friends tent. Carl took over from him and we caught the 1st part of he’s set. He’s one of my fav’s.

I also got to see Richie Hawtin. I 1st saw him play years ago in Brighton and I just remember thinking ‘what the fuck is this’ It was amazing. What he plays is so unique as he doesn’t ever seem to just play a tune. He layers music and adds his own dats and sounds. He was mixing with 4 sources this time; 2 sources from his laptop with 2 records. Then in typical Richie style he’d drop some mental noise that seems to go against the beat and gets a few bewildered looks from the crowd who cant seem to make out if it’s a mistake or not! I’m not totally convinced that this crowd was ready for him! Erling said to me, just when he thought he knew everything about dance music I go and introduce him to a sound that blew him away!





The next tent we went to Bad Boy Bill was playing. Here the crowd were loving it. I’ve never heard him play but always get sent e flyers with his name on, so it was good to finally put a face and a sound to the name.



Benni Banassi was on next. He came bouncing up to the decks, taking snaps on his camera along the way.




On the way back to the main stage, we ducked into one last tent and saw Mistress Barbara.




Back at the main stage the Prodigy were taking it by storm.
















Saw the sunrise from our window.

Friday 24th March 2006

We went to the Venetian swimming pool passing a great old cinema/ theatre called Miracle.

On arrival to the Venetian pool, I was really impressed. It was somewhere that I’d read about and I’d wanted to go to since last year when I was in Miami. It’s a pool with a fountain and rock pools, made from an old rock quarry.










It was built in the 1920’s and the black and white photos on the wall really bought to life what it was like in those days. They used to hold Beauty Pageants there and many famous people visited and more recently, historians. There were also orchestras held there.




It looked a bit tired and in need of some attention, but you could just image it in all its glory.




We ate our picnic, which we had bought at a supermarket on the way over; cheese, biscuits, hummus, coleslaw, nachos and a pack of Smirnoff Ice.

Later we went to a party called Ospina. We’d heard about it through a DJ called Oscar P who also has a Media company that we will be using to promote our forthcoming documentary (have you clicked on our web trailer yet?).



The party was in a small bar, and the atmosphere was great. The 1st dj that played was Ospina himself; he’s given us a CD that we have been listening to in the car, its really good. Somewhere in between dirty and funky, not mainstream but quality. Next up was Oscar P. We caught about half of his set, which definitely got the crowd going, they loved his Latino grooves that seemed very at home in Miami. I got some shots of the party people then headed off to Mn2s party at Amika.

When we arrived the queue was massive. Well I say queue but really its just a huge crowd of people bunched up around the roped off entrance, trying to push their way forward in no particular order at all! I called Erling to follow me and edged to the front of the crowd squeezing between the people and the wall. Then hey presto; the doorman says ‘any one with a pass, line up against the wall, meaning I was Ist in line! I collected my press pass and we walked in to a room that was packed and pumping.















We went straight towards the DJ booth. The 1st 2 DJs,

Michael Gray (Full Intention)

and ,

Roog (Hardsoul)

were playing some wicked tunes, it was old skool but with a funky modern twist. Quite a lot of vocals for me to sing along to! Micheal Gray played a ‘Sweet Dreams’ by Eurhythmics remix (that I’ve got on vinyl. Plus remix ‘Grover’s Delight’ and then was using the Dela Soul baseline. The crowd was loving it and the DJs were really enjoying themselves.

Erling plotted himself up at the back of the DJ booth and was giving out my business cards and networking, chatting and even managed to take a photo of himself and some girl!! I was here, there and everywhere, getting some great shots to be used on the Mn2s website.



They had a great line up of DJs and the night was a storming success. DJ Sneak was the last DJ to play in the main room.



I’d never heard him play before and he really ripped it up. The whole dance floor erupted.

Upstairs Tom Novy was ripping it up, the room was jumping.

As we left, Erling spotted Spiller (from the tune Groove jet) we got a shot of him. Erling said it’s the 1st time in 7 years that he’s seen someone taller than him!

Thursday 23rd March 2006

We headed out in the car, roof down and with the wind in our hair!

I had my camera with me and was shooting as we drove along. There are so many things to attract your attention. The trailer parks where people live, the little one-storey bungalows with fences around the plot, the huge mansions that over look the harbour, the sky scrapers all with in a stones throw from each other.







We headed to the beach.

It’s warm and breezy, with sandy paths to the beach. Miniature sand dunes, remind me of Cornwall. Familiar smells of beach, hard to describe but you just want to fill your nostrils with it.








Miles of wide sandy beach, being enjoyed by a multitude of people; old brown men with white hair playing bowls on the beach, shirtless college boys playing American football, bringing each other down in tackles, onto a soft landing. Bikini clad girls, all laughs and smiles, some with flat tums, some with fat tums.

Plenty of joggers going each way, up and down the beach. Groups of people lounging on the sand, enjoying each other’s company, shaking their sarongs free of sand. One man is going from one dust bin to the next, rummaging in them to see what he can find, trying to get 1st pick over the sea gulls who are in swarms, ducking and swooping around my head.

There is a contrast to the blue wavey sea to the right and the buildings that line the street to my left, Ocean Drive.







Interesting buildings of different shapes and sizes and heights. Art Deco. Some seem higgledy pickledy, with bits stuck on. They are a multitude of pastel colours with interestingly placed windows. Many have rounded edges. In the main they stand proud but look like someone who grows old gracefully….still beautiful, intriguing and individual, but if you look closely, you can see their age and the lines, but this adds to the charm and realism.

Cutting through one of the sandy pathways that lead me back on to Ocean Drive. A barrier of palm trees divide the two. People sit beneath them. One older guy is showing a young dude how he makes a rosette from a palm tree leaf. The young dude listens intently.


White skins, black skins, brown skins. Men who work out, shoulders broad. People taking showers after a day on the beach. Roller bladders, people on bikes, a kid standing on a rock. Pastel blue/ turquoise benches with people sitting on them watching the world go by, their world.



The phrase ‘people wearing their hearts on their sleeves’ springs to mind. But instead of wearing their hearts on their sleeves, they are wearing their religion on their back. A young man has “Only God Knows Why” emblazoned on his back, across his shoulders. Something I’ve never seen in England.



In fact, people look so American. How do you define that…men who are body conscious, but all seem to be of the same build, broad with muscles wearing vests and knee length shorts. Girls with big white smiles, and a good tan, wearing shorts and a colourful vest top. Almost a uniform, no one stands out because of what they are wearing.







The neon lights start to come on as dusk settles, lighting up to complement the lines of the buildings they adorn.



















The wide road is busy. Full of yellow cabs, Cadillac’s and convertible cars. Other cars with their windows open, music pumping out into the night.

I walk a while on the beach side of the street, taking it all in, and getting a good look at the buildings, Soaking up the vibe.

Now crossing over, I’m amongst it…the bustling street, the pavement full of diners, and the bars with people looking out onto the street. The waiters holding trays above their heads…tempting people in with happy hour offers and a display of a few of their best dishes on a table as an example of what you can order.

The heavens opened up and it poured down. Defected’s outside party just wasn’t going to be happening. Nikki Beach is such a cool venue, but definitely needs the sun as its got as huge outside area with palm trees, beds and wig wams!

The party was still rocking inside and those who were there were true Defected followers and were really into the sound that Simon Dunmore, creator of Defected describes as ‘modern funky disco’. Poor Simon didn’t look too happy that it had rained on his parade but kept his chin up.


The upstairs was rocking. The DJs were playing some phat beats and a face off broke out. Some of the guys in there really had some moves. In traditional break dance stylee a crowd circled around them, then of course everyone thinks they can break dance and you get a few stragglers wandering into the circle doing some half-hearted swaying of the hips. And as I’m poised with my camera I suddenly realize that this is all they have to offer and although they don’t know a break dance from a fox trot they still have the front to put themselves on show!

Erling got chatting to a DJ/ artist called Mike P, from New York and seemed to like what he had to say, that he was “true to the cause and not corrupted, a modern day poet, with a cause, married with 3 children” ….looking forward to hearing some of his stuff.




Back downstairs; Sandy Rivera was on the decks and rocking the house. He dropped his ‘Kings of Tomorrow’ track and the room erupted. One girl even began climbing the DJ booth!

Wednesday 22nd March 2006

6.45 PM

So we’re here! It was quite stressful at the airport.
When you reach passport control, you have your visa and forms to hand in (which although I’d had a 9 hour flight to fill them in properly, I’d still managed to miss a whole section out and had to stand aside to complete it!) Plus if you make any mistake or cross a word out you have to redo the whole thing. Next you have to have to give your fingerprints onto a machine and finally a photo taken!

Then you get to the caracal (that seems to be built for 10 bags) The baggage reclaim board is telling us that Mexico City, Panama and Heathrow all have bags that will need to be collected from this caracal! As we patiently wait for our bag’s to come chugging round, we discover the system here is for someone to take the cases off and leave them all on the floor before they reach you!



Felix, the Hertz car hire guy, was very abrupt and bossing us around and not particularly helpful.





We have booked a Mustang convertible, but there were none left, so we are given a Chrysler convertible…. its a bloody hard life!

Once in the car we were happy. We really wanted to get the roof off straight away, but considering our luggage had spilled over from the boot of the car into the back seat, we thought we’d keep the roof up, in case someone nicked our stuff.
We drove off in the direction of South Beach. After a few wrong turns, we made it! I recognised one of the buildings on 5th Avenue and Collins as I’d taken photos of it last year. Its really cool, all colourful Art Deco designs on one side then a big lit up coloured cylinder on the other side. We’d finally made it.


Just round the corner and after only having just arrived we see Mark Doyle (creator of Hed Kandi crossing the street in front of us, record bag over shoulder. I call out to him and he tells up his new night “Tokyo’ was on that night. He said he would put us on the guest list and we had every intention of going (forgetting about the jet lag!)



Driving along Ocean Drive we really began to feel the buzz. There were lots of people striding along to their destination, couples strolling hand in hand, girls standing in their cars, hanging out the top of their convertibles as they cruise by. The sidewalk is filled with tables and chairs and people sipping drinks and eating food. Everyone seems to be smiling and happy and dressed in colourful summer clothes or just walking along in a bikini!













It has definitely got that American dream, perfection here. Well at least that’s how they see it. Sometimes it is just all too much everything has to bigger, bigger is better; bigger boobs, bigger muscles, bigger cars, bigger portions. You are immediately hit with the whole ostentatious ness of Miami!



Pulled up in front of our hotel and leave our keys with the valet parking guy.
We have a nice room, really spacious, 2 double beds, 2 dressing tables, one that I’ve taken over and the other now has the laptop on it.

The to the right is an extra little turn to the room where there is a round table and 2 chairs and a fridge. The furniture is creamy coloured with floral seats and there are several lamps. The walk in wardrobe is quickly filled up and so is the fridge. We put our alcohol in there and as I am typing this we are enjoying our first chilled bottle of Champagne. Believe it or not, as I am tying this I am also having my toenails painted by Erling. I just suggested that I needed them painted and asked would he do it for me. He said, ‘I’ve never painted someone’s toenails before, after I replied there’s a first time for every thing he agreed and when I showed him my nail polish telling him it was sparkly and Chanel, he actually looked quite pleased! He has seven gone and got tissues to stuff between each toe, telling me he’s seen it on TV! Luxury, drinking champagne while having a pedicure by your boyfriend!

So the hotel is really ok. When we were booking it there wasn’t much left as accommodation gets snapped up really quickly during the WMC week and prices go sky high. We booked on the Internet and from some of the ratings and comments given by previous customers we were really bracing ourselves for the worst!


Back in the car Erling pressed a button and the roof of the car went smoothly back. It felt quite mad. I said to him that I felt really on show and he said that was the point! We cruised down Ocean Drive.

border="0" alt="" />I took him to Jerry’s Diner. It’s a fantastic art deco building that has kept almost all of its original features and unlike some places its been well maintained, keeping its original grace. border="0" alt="" />The tall pillars that stretch up to the ceiling are topped with and upside down umbrella shapes and covered with mirror and lights. The windows look out onto the bustling street and between each one are symmetrical patterns with golden mirror mosaic. The seats are red leather. Most are 2 seat chairs with a table between, but at the edge of the wall, half circle booths look out onto the restaurant.



I came here last year, but as it’s open 24 hours, I seemed to end up here in the morning time, after a long session of clubbing and once every where else had finished, with a group of party animals and bedraggled looking casualties! So to go here at a reasonable hour, feeling hungry and actually really taking in my surroundings was a whole new experience!

As we were seated and handed our menu, Erling’s jaw dropped at the sheer extent of the menu! He has been a chef for many years and was shaking his head in disbelief at how they could possibly offer this amount of food choices!






He ordered half a chicken with a honey dressing, fries and home made cole slaw. I ordered Salad Nicios and we shared onion rings. Scotch and cokes washed it down and for 60 bucks including the tip it was a great meal in a wonderful setting and how could I not mention, fantastic company!

Once the food hit our stomachs, the tiredness began to creep in and all our good intentions of hitting Marks party began to melt. Our bed was calling and we simply couldn’t hold it off!

Tuesday 22nd March 3 pm

I’m now flying into Miami. There is less than an hour to touch down. It was an almost 9 hour flight but time has passes quickly, once we were fed and watered with several vodka and oranges we settled down for a bolt upright, well deserved snooze and pretty much woke up to them saying we are landing within the hour.

It’s been a long day! What with my never ending lists of stuff to achieve before today, we didn’t get to bed until late last night. It was almost 1AM when I crammed the last few articles of clothes and last of 4 cameras into my luggage. Actually, the very last thing that went in was 2 pairs of extra glam false eyelashes, one silver pair and one black and silver, so you see I’ve remembered all the essentials!

Good old Steve, the London cabbie, who has got me home from many a late night clubbing sesh, turned up outside my house in his new pink cab, telling me


“you have to be a real man to drive a pink taxi” (apparently he’s been getting some stick!).

We arrived at Heathrow with plenty of time to spare (which makes a change for me!) We wanted to be early so we could request extra leg room seats, as Erling, my boyfriend is 6 foot nine and not a contortionist!

Once we got to the desk, we learnt that Virgin now charge £50 per exit seat! After having just paid 80 quid in the cab, we thought that it might be unwise to shell out another £100 before even going through the check in, so we declined. The girl on the desk was really nice and did try her best and told us she’d let us know if anything turned up.

We hit duty free, stocking up, on Vodka and Champagne. I always take a good stash for the hotel room; just add ice and a mixer and you are sorted for pre drinks all week! No need to shell out a fortune on the mini bar just fill it up with your own!

Once we were seated on the plane and just about to settle down a hostess came and said 2 seats were available, so we were moved to the bulkhead and have had a pretty comfortable flight all in all, thanks to the girl who checked us in.

I’ve been busy flicking through DJ mag and I’m noticing a few parties that I like the look of. At the moment I’m pleased with all the ones that we will be covering, looking at our already packed diary for the week, I’m not sure that I should try to fit any more in. It’s mad. When I was there last year there is just so much going on all the time, and everyone is hitting different parties that you still wonder to yourself what you are missing at the parties you don’t go to! Well I do any way, I think that that is part of my character really, I never want to miss out on any thing!

The parties that I am shooting at should be enough to satisfy.

So as we head closer to Miami, my excitement is building. Its lovely to have Erling with me. Last year I flew alone and it was a different kind of excitement, heading into the unknown…going boldly where I’d never been before! Although the WMC has been going on every year for the last 21 years, last year was my 1st time. Erling has been to Miami years ago, but not for the WMC. So all in all it will be a different experience.

Monday 20th March 9 AM.

Hello and welcome to my new blog.

I am really looking forward to Miami! I am leaving tomorrow morning. I am going to shoot the WMC (Winter Music Conference). This happens every year around this time. It's a conference all about Dance Music that lasts a week. There are lots of awards and product launches, but best of all there are loads of parties put on by virtually every promoter who has ever thrown a party!

I went last year for the first time an absolutely loved it. There are a lot of people from the Dance music industry who attend, what a great job to be sent on.

Last year my friend Alex who lives in New York came to stay with me for the week end, unfortunately she cant make it this year. However my lovely boyfriend, Erling is coming with me, so we are looking forward to having a great time together, plus it will be his first WMC, so I’ll be able to show him the ropes!

We have got a hectic day ahead of us getting everything ready in time…I have 4 lists of things to do and I haven’t even started to pack yet! So I’m off and will catch up with you later.