Even though we are adamant in our FDR throwback song declaration that happy days are here again (or if they haven’t quite fully arrived, they are well on their way), it seems that the Great Recession may have got the best of some. When greed meets in the middle of the road with fear, more often than not, disaster will strike, which could quite possibly be the case for some with ties to both the Big Apple and the Magic City.

If you’ve been living in Miami for the season, and paying the least bit of attention, then it will not be shocking news that we have been on a quest to elevate our culinary scene to be worthy of national attention. Perhaps 2010 has been our most successful year yet in this mission. At the start of the year, non-beach restaurants earned mentions in the New York Times travel section. We followed that up by welcoming the Food Network and Lee Brian Schrager’s South Beach Wine & Food Festival, an event that has become so popular that NYC decided to follow in our footsteps with their own version of the same idea.

There are few luxuries in life that are as exquisite as the timepieces that come from the hands of the experts. The name Hublot exudes the type of expertise that we are referring to, so when the watchmaker has big announcements, we make sure to perk up and pay attention. On Friday, April 23, Cipriani Wall Street’s Club 55 will be the place to find Hublot head honcho Jean-Claude Biver, as he welcomes back Olympic Gold Medalist and brand ambassador Bode Miller for a special “Reliving the Gold” press conference.

Today is a great day to be living near Los Angeles—that is, if you’re on the invite list for Leeds & Son Fine Jewelers. Today is a private reward day for special guests and it all starts at 8 a.m. and lasts for a full 12 hours.

Just because you haven’t seen Scott Rothstein’s name in the papers on a daily basis, doesn’t mean that the fall out from his billion-dollar Ponzi scheme has subsided. In fact, even as he sits in jail, waiting for next month to roll around so that he can find out his fate, he claims more victims. This weekend reports surfaced that Anthony Bova, dubbed a “once leading South Florida restaurateur,” could be preparing to bid a bittersweet adieu to his last namesake dining establishment.

Even though the new Trump SoHo has stolen the spotlight for the time being, we don’t want to leave anyone out, which is why it is important to pay attention to some of the latest news about the current state of affairs for the Manhattan hotel industry.

We reported last week that it would be happening, and on Friday morning, at 11 a.m., the Trump family and the City of New York proved us right by celebrating the official ribbon cutting to mark the opening of the new Trump SoHo. The VIPs who made a trip to support the cause, of course included Donald Trump himself, flanked by his offspring and project partners, Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Eric Trump, along with Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Robert C. Lieber, and our own Haute Ambassador of Travel, Joe Cinque.

Looking for a six-bedroom, 9,000-square-foot mansion in Pinecrest? You just missed your chance to get your hands on one at below market value. Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade is gearing up for a year of changes; when the summer months roll around, he is expected to go to the top of the free agent list. But for the spring, Wade’s big news is that he just unloaded his six-bedroom estate in the upscale suburb of Pinecrest, located in South Miami.

Jerry Powers is hosting the 2010 Model Beach Volleyball Tournament at Nikki Beach on Saturday and Sunday, along with an incredible team that includes the likes of Rick Delgado, Michael Malone, and Olivia Ormos. So what could be better than watching some of South Florida’s hottest bodies bouncing around on the v-ball courts? Well, until the weekend gets here, our answer to that question would be to catch up with Mr. Powers himself to find out the details that you just can’t get from a press release.