I flew home from Mexico City with a carry on containing my size 2 Roland Mouret dress, Jimmy Choo suede pumps and my laptop. There are not too many things that make me want to voluntarily leave my life in the DF, but when you are one of fifty invited to a 50^th birthday party of the first all-luxury fashion center featuring high-end retailers in a tropical, open-air setting, anchored by luxury department stores Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue and home to approximately 100 top designer boutiques and specialty retailers, including Chanel, Bulgari, Salvatore Ferragamo, Valentino and The Webster, you do what you need to do: call Amex Concierge and voila, it is booked.

Even though I have blogged about it numerous times and publicly shared my existence with my readers and friends, I was born as a result of the Bal Harbour Shops. My grandmother owned Steiner Galleries where Sergio Rossi is now located. My mother, worked at Ted Lapidus.  My dad owned Kron Chocolates.It was only meant to be that my playboy Cricket Club living dad pursued my beautiful mother, who was then, only 21 years old, and the rest is history.

Eighteen years before I was born, Stanley Whitman came up with the idea of creating the world’s most beautiful city. This visionary executed his dream perfectly, hence the Bal Harbour just having celebrated 50 years.

In celebration of Bal Harbour Shops 50^th anniversary, 50 guests were invited to a casual lunch at the Grill (located above the escalators) and we were each privy to a day of pampering that included appointments for make-up sessions from the on-demand, app-based beauty provider,  GLAMSQUAD at Bal Harbour Shops Red Market Salon, Natalie & Celine Gee’s GEE Beauty brow treatment (Natalie is the brow goddess and I have been using her this past year religiously), false lash application or a mini oxygen blast, a fitting with Phat Buddha designer Alissa Benishai, perfect handmade hat from luxury hat & accessory designer Eugenia Kim, Designer Eyes fitted guests with a special pair of Miu Miu sunglasses, personalized acupuncture ear bead treatments by Dr. Ronel Corbin, Photo&Go 6 personalized photos, personalized SkinIt case for guests electronic device of choice. Upon departing the afternoon guests received an exclusive resin bracelet from Chanel Bal Harbour Shops and a personalized gift bag. OMG, and it did not stop there. It seemed like a massive gifting extravaganza of luxury, and to be honest, I am kind of nervous to open the rest of the bag. It is A LOT of HEAVEN and I get excited with gifts, so I’m opening slowly to feel like the gift keeps on giving….Everything came inside of Big Bag Theory’s gift bag is a leather pouch expands into a tote that included a candle from Dyptique soon to open in Bal Harbour Shops, an oxygen facial from GEE Beauty, limited-edition leather pouch with surprise gift inside from VINCE, $200 store credit from Sara Colombo Nest Casa, gift card to eCreamery for four pints of customized ice cream which Bal Harbour Shops personalized Stanley Whitman’s favorite flavor for his 97^th Birthday on Sunday, capri skort from the chemical free sun protective lifestyle apparel brand that block’s 98% of sun’s rays Bloq UV, holiday collection bath and shower products by Molton Brown, Honeydew Intimates night shirts, Wildfox apparel, five fitness classes to FlyWheel, a friend’s of Cecconi’s  card at Soho Beach House, Ivana Berendika’s Arme de Lamour jewelry, personalized pencils from Lilian Vernon, perk up dry shampoo from Amika Hair Care Products, FlyGrip customized device grip, organic self-tanner with full size tan mitt by Vita Liberata, clarity pouches from Truffle, honeycomb facial mitts by Supracor, a fitness class to Barry’s Bootcamp, gift card to CinemaNow, cuticle oil & winter collection polish by Deborah Lippman, movie passes from Ipic, friend of Tamara Mellon card, Fine Stationary, additional gifts included items from By Lilla Hair Ties, Dylan’s Candy Bar, Leone/Emporio Italiano USA, Leonor Greyl, Life Extensions Vitamins, Equinox Spa Aventura, Nails Inc, Pure Fiji, Red Flower, Eden Bars, Supergoop! Sunblock, and Zing.

Guests included Gigi Whitman (who told me she loves my blog, werk!), Blaine Trump (who liked my last blog post too), Bal Harbour Magazine’s Editor in Chief Sarah Harrelson, Bal Harbor Shops Marketing Director Cheryl Stephenson (obsessed), celebrity chef Ingrid Hoffman, Susie Wahab, Executive Vice President of FAENA Rose Pablo De Ritis, Kinga Lampert, Lisa Heiden, Christy Martin, Dasha Valdez, Bass Museum of Art’s Silvia Cubina, Vogue Mexico’s Ana Hughes, CBS reporter Lisa Petrillo, EXTRA’s Renee Bargh, Criselda Breene, celebrity hairstylist Oribe Canales, renowned Dermatologist Roberta Del Campo, Christina Getty, Martina Borgomanero Basabe, Miami Country Day’s Ingrid Palmisano, world renowned photographer Iran Issa Khan (by far the most hysterical woman in Miami who we must all say J’adore about), Arme de L’amour jewelry designer Ivana Berendika, Yolanda Berkowitz, Carolyn Travis, Susanne Birbragher, Pediatrician Dr. Leah Glasser, Sarah Lacharlotte, Laura Buccelatti, Monika Kalpakian, sisters Lara Shriftman & Erika Koopman, Natalie & Celine Gee, Ransom Everglade’s Amy & Stephanie Sayfie.