Pulse of Central Florida

No, not to Central Florida … or at least, not yet.

Two years ago last month, I saw Coldplay perform at the Amway Arena.  Sitting side-by-side with Pulse of Central Florida’s Akeorlando and another dear friend, I was blown away.  I’ve been to many concerts, and what I presumed would be low-key was anything but.

The follow-up to “X&Y,” “Viva La Vida or Death and All his Friends” drops June 17, but the band teases the album a bit by offering a FREE download of their song, Violet Hill, on their Web site.

Grab the song here: http://www.coldplay.com/song.html.

Motherhood. Not something I’ll soon know about. Actually, what am I talking about? It’s not something I’ll ever know about!

Being a mother, I’ve always thought, has got to be one of the most stressful, complicated responsibilities in life. I hear it’s also one of the most rewarding. Both of those combined, I imagine a mother would appreciate any kind of help or advice that’s offered her. And I’ve recently become familiar with a fantastic online resource for mothers (and even soon-to-be mothers), authored by someone right here in Central Florida. It’s BalancingMotherhood.com.

Why in the heck is a guy reading a blog about motherhood, you ask? Well, I must admit I started reading it because the author is a former work colleague of mine — someone I’ve always thought is very talented and has something to say. And the more I read her blog the more I enjoy it, if for nothing more than I feel it truly is a relevant, valuable resource for women who work, have children, are married, and…ultimately…just trying to make it through life. Sound familiar? Then check-out the blog!

I sent Alicia an e-mail to see if she’d mind being featured here on “Pulse,” and she jumped at the chance. Of course, keep-in-mind Alicia lives right here in Orlando, which is why I thought she’d be a great fit for our blog.

Alicia was kind enough to respond to some questions I sent her, and here’s what she has to say:

Q: BalancingMotherhood.com speaks to a pretty specific audience. Was that your intent when you came up with the concept?
A: Yes, I want to speak to mothers because we all have similar challenges … how to balance all that we do with quality time for ourselves and for our families.

Q: Where do you get your ideas for content?
A: Ideas can come from just about anywhere – from just being a mom, to watching my son learn new things, to daily observations. I am also an avid reader and I’m on the Web all the time. I watch TV too, so I share great ideas that I find through all of these mediums.

Read more…

Chachi Mang (aka, “Chach”), a Chihuahua, just celebrated his 3rd birthday. He weighs 7.5 lbs. He enjoys nummy-nummy-steak and nummy-nummy-turkey, boar’s head of course. Chach loves to lay in the sun and go for rides in the car. He loves to sleep in and take an afternoon siesta (resist urge to make inappropriate Mexican comment).

He spends half the week living with his mom, Priscilla, in Conway and the other half with his grandparent’s “Pa-Pa-Bob” and “Ma-Ma-Betty” in the UCF area. Uttering the words “Pa-Pa-Bob” will send chachi into a frenzy, because 1) he loves to ride in the car, and 2) he looooooooves to go to the grand parent’s house. All-in-all, he’s about as spoiled as they come.

Chachi also speaks when spoken to, as I had the pleasure of learning when I met him last year:

Thursday is without a doubt my favorite day of the week … the only real reason for that, is its closeness to the weekend. I know I’m not alone in the sentiment that most working folk live for the weekend.

Today riding around the lake in Baldwin Park, enjoying the sun and the outstanding spring weather, I wondered how do you spend your weekend?

Do you sleep in and hit up Wall Street? Do you shop at some of Central Florida’s best malls, like Millenia or Florida Mall? Do run around to the area’s theme parks?

This weekend I took full advantage of the weather by playing (I use that word very loosely) a few holes of golf, a little tennis (about as lousy as I played golf), and took a bike ride.

Now it’s your turn, I’d love to know how you spend those coveted days after putting in your 40 hours?

* Disclaimer: This post is not meant to be taken with a negative tone. Merely a tone of “awareness” and precaution. * I don’t ever want this blog to be a forum for being mean or calling people out. However….

I was “out and about” today, and saw this car twice — once at the grocery and then while I was driving home. Something struck me very funny, actually when I saw the car in the parking lot of the grocery store: if you look closely (and I tried to get the best photo while I was driving) the three bumper stickers in the rear are scotch taped…yes, taped…to the window! I started to wonder, “Is this a new fad I’m not aware of?” I mean, if you’re going to display bumper stickers on your car, just commit to it. Know what I’m saying? The tape doesn’t make the stickers look any more classy.

I’m thinking this is probably not a new trend in the cult of bumper stickerdom. Just someone not wanting to ruin their precious Lexus SUV.

From this person’s bumper stickers here’s what we can deduct:

1. They were going to vote for a Presidential candidate who, honestly, never had a chance of winning. So now that he’s dropped out of the race, you can’t even make the effort to peel off the scotch tape?
2. We know they listen to the local “positive” radio station, Z88.3.
3. They love their husband. Hmmm…with this bumper sticker, are they trying to convince us they love their husband, or themselves? After all, shouldn’t you love the person you’re married to? (Something to think about.)
4. Their car means very much to them.

Here’s the part that could be misconstrued as “negative” (but I promise it’s not):

Now normally when featuring a photo like this I would blur out the license plate number, unless it were something cryptic I was needing help in figuring out. But I chose to leave the tag in the photo because the driver of the vehicle was catapulting it through my [residential] neighborhood–Delaney Park–at just over 35 mph…not to mention completely ignoring about four yield signs. I was a little ticked-off, not only because I had to speed as well to capture the photo (LOL) but also because there’s a park across from my house where many children are always present.

(NOTE TO DRIVER: If you are going to send out the message that someone who listens to Z88.3 is associated with, you might want to start obeying the law, and being a little more cautious of those around you.)

But probably not what you were thinking, huh? I doubt if this is a place I’ll be visiting anytime soon! Pugh!

(Location: Corner of Curry Ford Road and Bumby Avenue.)

…well, sort of!

While the posts here on “Pulse” are certainly written from mine and klynn’s points-of-view and experiences, neither one of us have never really written much about ourselves personally. It’s not really essential to the end result. And I’m not necessarily going to start now; however, I will let it be known that I have an affinity for Madonna. That, of course, includes looking forward to the release of her new album “Hard Candy” next week.

This means I was definitely excited to learn that one of my favorite music/multimedia stores, Virgin Megastore, is throwing an album release party, of sorts, next week. (That afforded me the opportunity to publish this post!)

If you’re a Madonna fan, why not make the trek out to Downtown Disney and join-up with other Madonna fans? Who knows, maybe you’ll see me there!

Virgin Megastore:
1494 Buena Vista Drive
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
407.828.0222
Hours: M-Th, Su: 11a-mid
F-Sa: 11a-1a

Haven’t heard any of the new material from Madonna? Check-out the first single from “Hard Candy,” “4 Minutes” (featuring Justin Timberlake):

Buster (full name Buster Bailey Brown) is a Beagle/Jack Russell mix. He is turning 6-years-old in May, even though lots of people think he is a puppy. He enjoys long walks, laying in the sun, and being scratched behind his ears. Like any dog…he loves treats of any kind!

Buster has a number of nicknames: Buster, Buster Brown, Buster Brown Face, Buster Rooney, B., Mr. B., Brown and Buster Muster.

Mexican food is probably one of my favorite cuisines (here I go talking about food again). Good Mexican food, that is. And in the Central Florida area that’s been a little hard to come by in the past several years. Until now…at least in my opinion.

Colibrí Mexican Cuisine is a relatively new restaurant located in the charming Baldwin Park community. I’ve been wanting to try it for months-and-months; fear of a new restaurant not being so great, and a mediocre review published just after opening (not that I pay that much attention to critics of any kind) kept me from going. I gave in about a month ago though, and enjoy Colibrí’s food so much I’ve been there twice: the first time to celebrate my birthday (that’s my dish featured below), the second time with a couple of other folks.

Colibrí’s menu doesn’t necessarily offer anything innovative, per say, but the dishes they do offer are prepared well, are delivered quickly (even during busy times), and at affordable prices. If you’re interested in checking-out the restaurant for yourself, I would recommend visiting their website first to do a little “research.”

ColibriOrlando.com offers insight on:

• Appetizers
• Soups & Salads
• Lunch
• Dinner
• Seafood
• Favorites
• Kids & Dessert Menu

In addition to a quaint dining room and energetic bar, the restaurant offers-up outdoor dining by a lake. If the weather’s right, the outdoor seating could be a quite enjoyable experience.

There are a couple of things to consider if you plan on going to Colibrí for a meal:

1. Day of the week. Obviously dinner on a Friday or Saturday night might be busier than any other time. This can create longer waits, particularly given the restaurant’s dining room is fairly small.
2. Time of day. While I haven’t been to the restaurant for lunch, I would imagine it’s far less crowded than dinner.
3. Parking. There’s not much “standard” parking here, or really anywhere in Baldwin Park, for that matter. So keep in mind you might end-up having a bit of a walk to the restaurant.

Colibrí’s location and hours of operation:

4963 New Broad Street, Orlando, FL 32814
M-TH: 11am to 9:30pm
FRI-SAT: 11am to 10pm
SU: 12pm to 9pm

While “out-and-about” a few weeks ago, I snapped this photo (of a fountain/logo). Do you know where it is?