Shopping and Wine

Friday, September 24

My sister, who lives in St. Augustine, drove down to Orlando after work to spend the weekend with me.  We had a great dinner at Seito Sushi before heading over to The Wine Room on Park Ave in Winter Park.  It's a really cool wine bar where you can sample up to 150 different wines.  You start by purchasing a $3 "smart card" that you pre-load with as much money as you want to pay (you can re-use the card for return visits).  Then you help yourself to 1-oz, 2.5-oz, or 5-oz samples of wine from a variety of different dispensers.  They also offer sell cheese and other snacks, as well as beer and wines by the bottle. 

The atmosphere was cool and relaxed, and we really liked the music selections (they played music by Lupe Fiasco, A Tribe Called Quest, and Talib Kweli, among others).  The prices of the samples vary depending on the wine, but my favorite was a sweet red Italian wine called "Sangue di Giuda" which cost $1 for 1 oz, $2  for 2.5 oz, $4 for 5 oz, or $18.99 for the whole bottle.  We definitely plan on going back again for another relaxing evening of wine tasting!

Saturday, September 25

We started our shopping at the Florida Mall.  Although this mall is very tourist-y, it's still one of my favorites in Orlando.  We love shopping at Macy's, The Limited, Gap, Old Navy, H&M, Forever XXI, and much more!  They have a great variety of stores, and you never know what you might find.  For example, we saw this Stormtrooper and R2-D2 interacting with customers at the Build-A-Bear Workshop!  Fun!

After a few hours at the Florida Mall, we went back home for a break and some lunch.  Then, back to the shopping!  We spent the rest of the evening at Prime Outlets.  I love late-night shopping at the outlets.  They're open until 11pm, and the crowds are much lighter than during the day.  We shopped at Kenneth Cole, Gap, Banana Republic, Nike, Aldo, and New York & Company (to name a few).  Love it!

 
Sunday, September 26

We definitely needed to sleep in after our all-day shopping spree on Saturday.  We finally left the house around lunchtime and ate at Tijuana Flats in Winter Park.  It's one of my favorite places to eat, especially when I'm really hungry and craving crunchy pork tacos.  Plus, you gotta love the hot-sauce bar!

BIG thanks to my little sis for coming to Orlando and hanging out with me this weekend!  I had a great time (and telling by the number of shopping bags she's taking home, so did she!).

Halloween Horror Nights? No, thank you!

So, I've been hearing a lot of buzz recently about Universal's Halloween Horror Nights (which officially begins this Friday, Sept 24). I have to admit, I've never actually been to HHN. It looks really cool, and I would be certainly be interested in seeing the sets and costumes and shows. One problem, though...I don't like being scared. I don't watch horror movies, not even during the day with all the lights turned on. I don't like things jumping out at me or chasing me with chain saws. I don't like running around in the dark, I don't like blood and guts, and I really don't like haunted houses. So....you can guess that I will NOT be attending HHN this year. Oh well!

For those that are scaredy-cats like me, there's always Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party over at Disney's Magic Kingdom. I've been a couple of times, and it's a lot of fun. The park is open late for trick-or-treaters and offers special shows, parades, and lots of candy! Much less scary than Halloween Horror Nights :)

I'm sure that all the fans of HHN will have a great time this year, but for now I'm looking forward to my favorite holiday at the theme parks....Christmas! I leave you now with a couple of videos from last year's Spectacle of Dancing Lights at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Happy Halloween!

My Commute to Work

As much as I love having fun in Orlando, I also have to work. I know a lot of friends and coworkers that live in the suburbs of Orlando (Lake Mary, Sanford, Winter Garden, Casselbery, Altamonte Springs, etc) and have a crazy commute to and from the office every day. I'm lucky to live close enough to work that I can avoid all the major highways (and traffic) that many people have to deal with on a daily basis. Sure, my rent may be a little higher than it might be if I lived outside of Orlando, but the trade-off is worth it.

on the road to work, early in the morning

It takes me about 20 minutes to drive to and from work every day, including red lights and traffic. I leave home at 6:45 each morning and am usually home between 4:30 and 5pm. My commute to work includes passing by the Mennello Museum of American Art and the Orlando Science Center, with a quick shortcut through the residential neighborhoods of College Park. On my way home I take a different route, passing through Ivanhoe Row and cutting past Leu Gardens.

driving home

Although the smaller cities and towns on the outskirts of Orlando certainly have a lot to offer, I love living in the heart of Orlando....close to work and close enough to the theme parks so that I can enjoy them nearly every weekend.

@FunLifeOrlando insider tip:  Don't live for work.  Work hard so that you can afford to live the fun life you truly want!

Tom Sawyer Island

Saturday, September 11th, 2010

Cinderella fountain

We spent most of the afternoon watching college football (go Gators!) before I finally convinced my husband to go with me to Disney World. I wanted to go to Magic Kingdom to try out the new sound effects on Space Mountain. When we got to the park, it was a bit more crowded than I was expecting (people were there early for Night of Joy, which was taking place later that evening after the park closed). The wait for Space Mountain was 50 minutes, which is a little too long for us. So we skipped it for today and went on to see what else we could do.

The wait for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh was only 10 minutes, and it was a nice break from the heat and humidity outside. After the ride, I took some photos near the castle before wandering over to Frontierland.

Here's the thing about our Disney annual passes...every time we visit a park, we manage to do something we've never done before. Whether it's a ride, a restaurant, a shop, or a show, we always find something different to try every time. Today was no exception. Despite having our passes for almost 2 years, we had never visited Tom Sawyer Island. It closes at dusk, and Magic Kingdom is a park we usually visit in the evenings for the fireworks or parades. But today we were there early enough to hop aboard a raft and explore the island. Despite the heat, we really enjoyed it! The caves were dark and spooky, the fort and other buildings were fun to climb and explore, and the trees and pathways made you feel like you were really out in the middle of nowhere. It reminded of my childhood, when my brother and sister and I would make up adventures in our backyard.

Tom Sawyer raft

map of Tom Sawyer Island

barrel bridge

view of Big Thunder Mountain from Tom Sawyer Island

Before we left, I managed to trade a pin with a castmember in Frontierland. Another Mickey to add to my collection!

I had been hoping to have dinner at one of the nearby Disney resorts, but lightning and an impending storm had us running to the car and back home instead. Oh well, maybe next time!

Labor Day

September 6, 2010

I didn't really do too much this Labor Day.  I slept in a bit, then met up with my sister and some friends on Park Avenue in Winter Park.  I love strolling Park Ave on the weekends, and today was no exception. 

First, we had a fabulous lunch at 310 Park South.  Everything was absolutely delicious (I had the pulled pork lunch special; others in my group ordered the loaded burger and the chicken salad sandwich).  After lunch, we strolled the shops and made our way over to Tutti Frutti for some self-serve frozen yogurt.  That's when it started to rain.  We ran in and out of a few more shops before deciding to head home for the day.  That's it!  Pretty low-key, but still lots of fun!  :)

Family Feud; Saturday September 4, 2010

Today my husband and I went to Universal Studios to attend a taping of Family Feud. The show has been taping in Orlando all summer, and I was super-excited to be in the audience. We picked up our tickets at the "Studio Audience Center" inside the front entrance to Universal, and strolled around the park while we waited for our time to line up. We watched the Terminator show, had some ice cream, and stayed out of the heat by browsing the shops. At around 3pm we lined up by the concert stage (near Twister), and watched  the Rip-Ride-Rockit fly by as we waited.

The studio was a little smaller than I expected. There were 4 rows of about 25 seats right in front of the stage, then another 4 rows of 20 or so seats on the next level behind the cameras. As we were seated, a very energetic man on stage was demonstrating to the audience how we were supposed to react during certain parts of the show. Lots of clapping, lots of cheering, sit up straight, don't cross your arms, don't have your cell phones out, etc. We would be watching the taping of 2 episodes that day. The new host of Family Feud, Steve Harvey, came onstage and greeted the audience before the show began.


The first taping featured wrestlers and "knockouts" from TNA (Total Nonstop Action) wrestling. They were dressed in their full wrestling outfits, and there were quite a few funny moments between Steve Harvey and the scantily-clad female wrestlers. During commercial breaks, Harvey would interact with the audience by asking questions or cracking jokes about the show. He was really entertaining. After the show, they shot a few promos with Harvey and the group from TNA.

After the first episode, we were taught some groovy dance moves and danced in our seats while they set up for the next show. The second show featured two ordinary families, and it was exciting to see them compete. The entire process took about 3 hours, but I had a lot of fun. It was really neat to be part of the audience and see how the show is filmed.

After the show, my husband and I decided to go over to Islands of Adventure and have dinner at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Now that summer is over, it was a lot less crowded. We ate at the Three Broomsticks. I had the Cornish pasties with a side salad, my husband had the turkey leg with french fries, and we both ordered frozen butterbeer. Everything was delicious. After all that food, we were too full to go on any thrill rides so we browsed the shops until the park closed at 8pm and headed home.   :)

Three New Pins :)

I went to Epcot on Sunday because I had heard, through Twitter, that they were hosting a public viewing for Disney's Trade City USA. This was an opportunity for Vinylmation collectors and pin traders to take a peek at new/upcoming sets and trade with other enthusiasts. Although I don't consider myself a collector nor an avid pin-trader, I enjoy going to these (free) events and checking out what they have to offer.

Disney Vinylmation

cast member & the pin-trading board

new Disney pin collections

more Vinylmation

I didn't do any trading at the Trade City USA event, but I did manage to get three new pins this weekend. First, I bought a pin for $2.99 at Disney's Character Premiere store at the Premium Outlets (the red Mickey silhouette pin pictured at the right).

Soon after I arrived at Epcot, I overheard a cast member gushing over a new pin that a guest had just traded (the white Monorail Mickey Vinylmation pin pictured to the left). She said it was so neat that she probably wouldn't be able to hold on to it for 5 minutes (Disney cast members are required to trade pins with any guest that asks). I traded it from her less than 60 seconds after she got it! She said she was happy it was going to a "nice young girl who likes to trade for the fun of it."   LOL  :)


I found the third pin, Baby Minnie (pictured below), on a cast member in Norway. I was trying out the Norwegian perfume when I saw him walk by. I was so excited! My Baby Mickey pin finally found his match!

Another weekend in Orlando; August 27-29, 2010

Friday night - After work, I met up with friends for dinner at the
Funky Monkey Wine Company in Downtown Orlando. 

Saturday - My sister came to visit from St Augustine, and we spent the
day shopping at the Florida Mall and Prime Outlets.

Sunday - A little more shopping at the Premium Outlets, followed by an
afternoon stroll at Epcot.

the China pavilion at Epcot

rice crackers and other snacks in China at Epcot

@FunLifeOrlando Insider Tip: When visiting Epcot, be sure to make a stop at Club Cool!  You can quench your thirst by helping yourself to free samples of 8 different sodas from around the world.  My husband likes the ginger ale from Mozambique...I prefer VegitaBeta from Japan.  :)

self-serve soda fountain at Club Cool