What: College Park Jazz Fest 2009

Where: Along Edgewater Drive between Smith Street and Winter Park Street

When: October 10, 2009 – 6 to 11 p.m.

Come out and enjoy music from Grammy-nominated Sam Rivers and the RivBev Orchestra. Food and drinks will also be available for purchase.

For more info visit: www.DowntownCollegePark.com.

In 17 days, H&M will open two stores in the Central Florida area: Florida Mall & Seminole Towne Center.

This is pretty exciting news for fans of the store, who may’ve shopped at H&M in Boston, New York or other major cities around the globe.

Klynn, a friend, and I went to Velvet Sessions this past week to see The Bangles perform, and I have to say it was a fantastic show! These girls still ROCK! Honestly, it exceeded my expectations by far.

A few of the well-known songs they performed were “Hazy Shade of Winter” (opening number), “In Your Room,” “Eternal Flame,” and “Manic Monday.”

I recently purchased a new camera (which I’ve already returned) – the quality of pictures pretty much stink, but I thought I’d post a few here so you can get an idea of what the show was like. Hope you enjoy….

If you ever have an opportunity to go to Velvet Sessions at the Hard Rock Hotel, I highly recommend it!

This past weekend I spent a couple hours canoeing down the Wekiva River. About a mile down the river is Wekiva Island.

Wekiva Island is a pretty cool combination of what they call “river-banas,” or cabanas on the river, an outdoor bar called “The Tooting Otter” and a fire pit for when the weather cools down.

From the river’s edge, there’s nothing seemingly fancy about Wekiva Island, but it does seem like a great place to pull up the kayak or canoe and grab a drink or maybe a bite to eat.

Canoes & Kayaks can be rented for a competitive $22/4-hour period, or $30/day (Renting at the Springs is $16 for a 2-hour rental).

Check out Wekiva Island’s Web site to learn more about their Green approach to fun … it’s definitely a unique twist on river activity!

I’m starving. I’m gonna eat somebody.”

(Location: Downtown Orlando. And I’m pretty sure that’s illegal here in the US.)

Adhere to this advice:

(Location: Outside of a Wall Street Plaza venue in downtown Orlando.)

I’ve always wondered what it’d be like to be shot!”

What? Are you kidding?

Fat babies are gross.”

(Overheard in an office building in downtown Orlando.)

You might recall a post several months ago announcing the Pet Shop Boys in concert at House of Blues Orlando. Well, that show was last night, a friend and I went and had an absolute blast! I didn’t take my camera but managed to capture a few photos with my phone (sorry for the quality).

Yes, those signers & dancers do have blocks on their heads.

If you ever have the opportunity to see a Pet Shop Boys show I highly recommend it. Great music, fantastic entertainment!

I’m not ashamed to admit The Bangles are one of my all-time favorite bands. Mostly because I had a major crush on lead singer Susanna Hoffs while growing up, but also because I thought “these chicks rock”! So needless to say I was super-stoked when I got a special invite via my e-mail to come see them play at Hard Rock Hotel’s “Velvet Sessions” in a few weeks.

Never experienced Hard Rock Hotel’s “Velvet Sessions”? It’s a great opportunity to see some of your favorite bands up-close-and-personal, and it’s typically extremely affordable. (This particular concert is a little pricier than most because some of the proceeds are being donated to breast cancer research.)

A few tips if you’ve never been to the Hard Rock Hotel at Universal:

• You’ll have to pay for parking
• You might want to arrive early to avoid crowds
• Consider giving yourself some time to look at some of the memorabilia in the hotel

Here are a couple of my favorite songs performed by The Bangles:

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Hope to see you on the 24th! If you wanna keep-up with other bands making an appearance at Velvet Sessions you can become a Fan on Facebook.