Let's Blog!

Have car – camera, recorder – will blog! Today, I covered some territory.

First, getting something which is not pleasant out of the way. Whilst on Park Avenue today I learned that there was a robbery on Tuesday evening of Le Macaron. Everyone is fine, no one hurt, but you can imagine what such would be like. I stopped in to say ‘Hi’ today, and just tell them we’re all glad no one got hurt. How about going in and enjoying some of their delicious macarons this weekend and just showing them some community support? If you think you might have any information which would assist the police in apprehending the creeps who did this, PLEASE call them and share. I stopped in to see them today and their VERY young daughter was in her stroller up front. This is a young family living the dream of owning their own business, raising a young daughter. If you have info to get the creeps who did this off the street sooner, please let the police know. And do drop by tell Geraldine and Gregory (Guillem) hi, enjoy their delicious taste treats!

Whilst along Park Avenue I also stopped in to see a number of businesses, including Sweet Traditions Bakery. Gary Little is now working there with owner Christine Crochet. Gary’s been at other businesses on the Avenue but is now often the first person you’ll see when visiting Sweet Traditions. Gary likes to say he’s the guy who’ll put a smile on your face just before you get the best service and food on the Avenue. He knows how much I enjoy their Notre Dame and Club Wraps, so I find it hard to argue! They also seem to be convenient when I have the rare sweet craving, as well.

From there I was off down the Avenue to do a bit of research for a column I’ll be writing in the next few weeks. Did you know June 22 is national ‘Bring Your Dog To Work Day’? It is! And if I took even one of our crazy girls along with me, I think the complaints would last me a while. BUT, there are others who are well-behaved and I’ll be profiling some of them that week in my I LUV Winter Park column in the Winter Park / Maitland Observer. One of these apparently “works” at Shooz, but had the day off today. I left him my card. Then popped over to The Blue Door Denim Shoppe and met Quinn. Oh, he is a cutie, but he also has some of that Napoleon thing going on. Logan Van Ost, Quinn’s mom, and The Blue Door Denim Shoppe will be providing some stunning looks for my Totally LOCAL Tuesday blogs starting next week. AND . . . well, you’ll be reading about Quinn in the column a few weeks later. Such a cool store . . . bright, colorful and a bit eclectic, which is right up my alley!

Darted back into the Hidden Garden Courtyard for a bit to take some new pictures for our new page on facebook celebrating this Winter Park gem, and for The Bistro pages I’ll be helping with now. The changes in The Bistro are looking REALLY great! Stop in and check their progress. This courtyard may soon become the place to see and be seen . . . and YES, some fun stuff DOES happen around here during the summer, too!

From there . . . off to College Park. Grace Boutique on Edgewater will also be participating with clothing in my TLT blogs. Grace didn’t need much time to identify this gorgeous red and blue chevron dress as one to include in the lineup. It’s her best seller and it’s a looker! I think these blogs next week . . . starting outside with Patio & Garden and then going indoors including shops with great merchandise from around our community.

I also popped in to the Artistree Gift Shop, now located just a few doors down from Grace. They used to be in the Infusion Tea building. I was dropping off some work from Kimberly Turner, who just had a nice write-up in another Local publication. Artistree is a very cool shop with some GREAT Local art. A portion of their sales goes to help a mission in Honduras. They may well be next week’s column . . . we’ll see. Cute store, so stop by and check it out.

Then I was off to see the two very large nurseries on Edgewater, Apenberry's and Blodgett's nurseries. I LUV them both, and I’ll be including items from both in the TLT blogs on Monday. For now, I’ll just say that I found some AWESOME very industrial, very contemporary chandeliers at Apenberry’s before I was momentarily distracted by a Boxer who lives just behind the nursery. (Yeah, I always get distracted with a Boxer around . . . just like I had earlier with Bruno, one I met on Park Avenue earlier.) I then went down to Blodgett’s and talked for a while with Frances Francisco, the matriarch of the Blodgett’s clan. Blodgett was her maiden name and her father started that nursery in 1936. Watch for this in a future column. Frances is a hoot and my kinda woman! They now make and sell some very cool terrariums in their indoor space, and their pottery selection is awesome! I’m going back to both tomorrow for additional info for the blogs.

On my way back to Winter Park I ended up north on 17/92 to check out Lily Lace Antique Market. My other half keeps threatening to make me a t-shirt which reads: Hi, I’m Clyde and I’m a Hoarder! So, of course, I had to buy something! I’m an easy sell for vintage! I just am. Great store and there’s a new Brown's New York Deli going in next door and the new Jazz Tastings restaurant – see Josh Garrick’s recent review also on the WPMO site -- is just the other side of Lily Lace.

Last stop of the day was Towns’ Garden Center on Howell Branch. New nursery manager Mary Ann Blackstone, new from Savannah, showed me around and gave me a great rundown on what’s been HOT for them now that the weather is heating up. Read about it, along with Apenberry’s, Blodgett’s and – hopefully – Palmer’s all on Monday. We’re going gardening, people! Don’t wear anything too nice!

And last item of the day . . . new ‘Give A Dog A Home’, featuring Snappy, a female black Lab pup. She’s a adorable. You can check her and other dogs who need homes on the Pet Rescue by Judy webpage: www.PetRescuebyJudy.com. Also, reserve your calendars for June 19 . . . for Veils and Tails to benefit Pet Rescue by Judy. Veils and Tails is a wedding event supporting Pet Rescue by Judy. The bridal salon, Something Blue, closed its doors and donated 19 dresses to PRBJ. We will invite every Bride in Central Florida to come eat, drink and bid on these designer gowns! The event will be held at Heathrow Country Club on Tuesday June 19, 2012 at 6pm. For more info, see their facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/VeilsandCockTAILS