Your Morning Sift

Good morning.

Yeah, we're getting a late start, readers. That's what days off are for, right? Enjoy your late, but substantial, morning Sift...

A- Get your week started off right with some nice butterfly photos from Some Blogging Guy.

B- And if the butterflies weren't enough to even out your Monday, check out the excellent burrowing owl images shot by Nikon Miami.

C- Miami, bro explains why she can be intelligent and live in Miami.

Today, I spent the most lovely day at the beach. The water was just warm enough, the sun and clouds were just so that everything looked clearer out there. The Atlantic's hues were more defined than usual. If I could take this day and pass it around, I feel it would be a lot less intelligent to leave Miami than to stay here.

D- Photographs from this weekend's Hands Across the Beach are up at Soul of Miami.

E- Midtown Chic-a gets engaged on the Brooklyn Bridge in NYC.

However, I continued to take pictures and then as soon as we reached the middle of the bridge, he pulled me to the side and blurted out, “I actually brought you here to ask you to marry me.” Just like that! My reaction was, “You’re kidding right?” I for some reason thought he might be joking but then he brought out a small box and that’s when I was like OMG, this is really happening! He got down on one knee and told me “You’re the love of my life and my best friend, will you marry me?”

F- Hard to tell what The Burger Beast thinks of Orale! Taqueria Mexicana.

If you're hungry, if no other food can satisfy that craving, and if you can find them, maybe you can eat at...Orale! Taqueria Mexicana (can you tell I just watched the A-Team?).

G- Bark Bark Woof Woof shares his thoughts on the passing of Senator Robert Byrd while The Reid Report has video. From the former.

Our friends on the right will remind us again and again that Mr. Byrd once belonged to the Ku Klux Klan. Yes, he did. And he repented and made amends, whereas other senators of the time who outlived the Jim Crow laws in their states did not; they simply became members of the party that didn't seem to mind having old times there not be forgotten. At the least Sen. Byrd didn't carry his past as a badge of honor; it was more a lesson that times change and people have to change with them.

H- Eye on Miami takes a look at the financial train wreck that is Marco Rubio.

I- Coconut Grove Grapevine gives us a sneak peak at a new restaurant in the Grove called Lulu.

The menu consists of lots of comfort food from Fried Green Tomatoes and Churrasco to Truffle Macaroni and Cheese.

J- 25 new photos are up over at The Street.

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