Good Weekend

Had some crazy stuff go down over the past week and just needed to get out of town. Megan was a great friend as usual and cleared her weekend and joined me for a night of girly insanity out at Clearwater Beach.

The traffic was insane, the NBA All Star game is in Orlando this year so traffic along I4 was slow going. Since the trip was so last minute we didn't even have a hotel booked. Once we arrived we drove around a bit, picked the least skeevy looking low budget hotel and pulled in. We got all dolled up and went for a nice dinner at the Beachcomber. The food was amazing and we had a couple of bottles of Kim Crawford wine which was fantastic. The service wasn't so hot but comical so that made up for it. We were sat next to a couple and the quarters were quite tight so we couldn't help but overhear each other's conversations, at one point they had stopped talking and were so clearly listening in on us that I had to really prevent myself from saying something outrageous just to shock them... :) We closed the place down and had a great night, one of those that will not soon be forgotten. :)

To finish off the weekend I went to a costume Oscar Part at John & Laura's. Everyone was asked to dress as a character from a nominated film, I dressed as Celia Foote from The Help. :)

Tip the Pilot

Found this article to be a amusing. Here's an excerpt: "Even if a mere 20 passengers did this [tipped their pilot] per flight, that’s $100 per flight. I read that regional jets fly somewhere between 3 and 5 flights per day, so let’s settle on four, and that makes $400 per day of flying. And if the pilots are flying, say, 15 days per month, that’s $6,000 extra per month. Even if you split the take 50-50 with the copilot, that’s an extra $3,000 per month, $36,000 per year. That doubles Bridget’s salary, and, quite frankly, ought to make you feel a lot better about Bridget staying focused on doing her job well and not fretting about the rent and the electric bill and her kid’s college tuition and getting her car fixed and funding her 401(k), etc."

Apopka Folk

We spent the day with some friends at a festival in Apopka. We went primarily for the chili cookoff and people watching. Chili was sad, the people did not let us down...

I especially enjoyed the irony of the Hunting & Fishing tent next to the Wildlife Conservation tent and the inflatable kids shooting range.

The Alligator Snuggie disturbed me. It's a 16 year old Cayman, born into captivity, no tape on the mouth, kids petting the head... Not sure if they're sending the right message...but I admit I was a little jealous :)

Booth Shopping - Wishing for Art

This weekend we went to the Mount Dora Art Festival.

I'd never been to Mount Dora's before and I don't know why but I expected it to be small compared to the Winter Park Art Festival but man were we surprised. It was huge! It was well planned, well laid out and super busy. The quality of art was really impressive.

I always take the business cards of the artists that I really like and add them to a growing list so that one day when I can afford to buy art I know who to go to. Here is who I added to the list this year:

John Moran Photography he had all sorts of amazing shots, mostly of Florida Flora and Fauna. I tend to be more impressed by photographers who can capture an amazing shot vs one who can add all sorts of filters and techniques after the shot - John had a little of of technique but most of his stuff is exactly what I like.

Jackson Junge has a sort of etherial style. Some of his pieces are abstract with lots of subtle shapes and colors while others are fun and whimsical representations of themed alcohol.

Lilian's Oils on Canvas - I wasn't in love with the colors she uses but her technique was great, you can't tell in her online gallery but she gives the flowers a great 3D effect with the oils. This was my favorite.

The craziest artist of the day was the couple at Out of Paradise - when you walk up it looks like their frames contain gorgeous paintings with smooth gradients, bright colors and intricate details, but upon closer examination they aren't paintings but embroidery. It's absolutely mind blowing the effect the manage to get, here's a picture from their website but it really doesn't do their work justice at all.

I did buy one thing, an anklet. It's woven of this really sturdy fiber and has delicate silver studs woven in. It has a clasp so I can remove it as well. It's a really unique piece. I wish the artist had a website I could share but all they have is a phone number. Jenna Hirt of Tying Tribes - 352-219-8039.