Orlando Food Tour - Brio Tuscan Grille and Disney's Brown Derby

I was in Orlando for 5 days (but really just 3 days - the other two were traveling days), and I got to eat some good food!

First notable location: Brio Tuscan Grille
Sorry, West Coast folks...Brio is mostly scattered around the East Coast, and the nearest location would be in Las Vegas...
I had their Brio chopped salad (LOVED it) and Romano crusted tomatoes (these were pretty tasty too!). Then I tried one of their tiny little desserts! They have individual desserts served in little tea cups (milk chocolate caramel cake, NY cheesecake, orange creme brulee, white chocolate bread pudding, tiramisu, etc.) - the perfect size to make them hard to resist, even after a full meal! Tried the bread pudding...so good! :) It might have been a different story if it was a full-sized dessert.

Second notable location: Disney's Hollywood Brown Derby
The inventors of the Cobb Salad and the famous Grapefruit cake!
Since I got to the restaurant after they closed their kitchens, the front desk let me take a piece of their grapefruit cake to go. I stumbled across a recipe for this cake on the internets a while ago...and it was pretty good...but it definitely did not do this cake justice! Finished the whole thing myself and it made me sad that I couldn't have more. :(

Anyway, those were the two highlights. I'm so full just thinking about them...

Stylish Baby - Armani Style!

Have a baby that needs to be spoiled? Saks Fifth Avenue can help you with that...here's a glimpse into the collection.

Here's the Armani baby pacifier - a bargain at $45!!

Ikariam

It's Easter (Happy Easter, BTW) and the beginning of my spring break (which will be short-lived - ending tomorrow morning - since I am heading to Florida for a work conference tomorrow).

Everything is closed today, so I'm here at home playing Ikariam! I just started on Friday, so my town is not quite as advanced as others, but it's a pretty fun (sometimes funny) game! I'll be looking to form alliances and write up treaties soon, so join in the fun and give me some friends! :)

My Black Pen and my Voice

I lost both of these things this week. I have been sick (on and off) since the beginning of the year, so I should've seen this coming. Losing my voice was not a huge shock...it just doesn't happen very often. But my black pen...ARGH...this is what I am upset about.

I have taken a liking to the Pilot G-2 series of pens because they offer the extra fine points that I like in a pen. I've developed the habit of keeping three colors with me at all times...BUT I ALWAYS LOSE THE BLACK PEN! This is the third one I've lost. I have been able to keep the other two colors. I don't know what to do!!!! I guess I can keep buying them and losing them...but that may become a little expensive.

I'm guessing this is some mean trick that someone is playing on me. And since I lost my voice, I don't have a voice to complain about it...hence the blog vent.

Street Fighter Movie - 2009

Capcom is attempting to get a GOOD Street Fighter movie out there...this one's entitled "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li." It's scheduled to be released in 2009, and they've revealed their cast!

Kristin Kreuk will be starring as Chun-Li. I wonder if she'll have to learn Chinese...or just a good Chinese accent. She'll probably have to pick up some superhero moves from the Smallville cast.

Seeing Magic Johnson

A few of us went to watch the Lakers vs. Kings game back on March 9, and my brother got us box tickets! That meant that we used the VIP entrance, not the general entry.

As we were getting into the elevator to get to our box, I was looking around and saw this tall guy walking toward us. I didn't have my glasses on, so I squinted to get a better look. It was Magic Johnson! Crazy! I was speechless. But I wanted to make sure that the others I was with saw him, so I tried to tell them...

"Gr..."

Hmm...okay, start again...

"Grandpa...look...its...uh...Ma..Magic!"

As I was talking to my sissy this past weekend, I realized that I was completely starstruck...which is not my norm! But I asked my brother what he was thinking when he saw Magic, and he was more speechless than I was. He said that his jaw dropped and didn't come back up until the elevator door closed. Then he said, "Dang, we should've waited to take the next elevator with Magic..."

Hindsight is 20/20.

Starbucks Addiction

I think I've gotten trapped in a Starbucks addiction.

Tall or Grande Hot Chocolate, soy, with 1 pump Peppermint

It just rolls off my tongue these days...and the money just flows out of my account.
But lemme tell ya...after they closed down for retraining, the drinks have been flawless! :)

Good job, Starbucks.

Happy Pi Day

Yep...it's March 14...

3.14

I don't usually use dots when it comes to writing dates. I'm more of a slash user.

3/14

But the slash approach doesn't support today being Pi day. So just for today, I'll recognize the date as 3.14.

Happy Pi Day everyone! Eat some PIE (an explanation for those who need it - Pi and Pie sound like the same word, but they're actually different! That, my dear friends, is a great example of a homophone!) to celebrate!

Airborne Refund

Have you ever used Airborne? Some people swear by the stuff...even Oprah. Although I've never used it, I've recommended it to others...just based on the things I've heard. But we've been tricked - this product has never been clinically tested (details). False advertising? Absolutely.

The company that sells Airborne has agreed to refund customers their money - with or without a receipt. Check out this site for settlement information and the form that you'll need to fill out to get your refund.