Your Vote is Needed! Help Sanford365 to win the Orlando Sentinel Orbbies!

Orlando Sentinel Orbbies

Yes, today I have to ask for your help in form of your vote!

Sanford365 has been nominated for the Orbbies (Orlando’s Rockin’ Blogs) in 2 categories!

Click here to vote. First for best overall blog, then by category in Neighborhood and Photography.

Click here to vote for Sanford 365 in the Photography Category

Click here to vote for Sanford 365 in the Neighborhood Category

What is an Orbbie? Well, it is an award given out by the Orlando Sentinel to honor the best Blogs in the Central Florida area. OrlandoSentinel.com asks you to vote for your favorite blog in each category and then, for your favorite overall blog. So essentially the Orbbies are the Oscars among blogs, at least locally, here in the Central Florida area And as you may already guess, I would be more than honored to win this award! The goal is, of course, best overall blog, but I would be already super happy to win in one of the categories Sanford365 has been nominated in. Those categories are: Neighborhood and Photography.

More than anything else, this award would be an honor and make me proud of my work. Recognition IS important for any blogger – and motivating!

You can vote once a day, starting on November 2nd at 10 am (so, yes, the voting is open now!) until November 20th at 5pm. So if you like my blog and have been following me, please take the time and give me your (daily) vote!

Click here to vote. First for best overall blog, then by category in Neighborhood and Photography.

Thank you so much!!

Claudia

Great Photo Shoot

Claudi

Yay! Thanks to Kamran Malik, a very talented photographer friend of mine, I now have a new profile picture ;o)

Kamran did an awesome job guiding me through on how to pose. Since I have no modeling experience I was afraid it might turn out to be difficult – well, it wasn’t at all, and instead it was lots of fun. Can’t wait to see all the pictures soon…

If you want to check out more work of Kamran check out his web site here.

Day 329 – The Eola Squirrel

Squirrel by Lake Eola Orlando

Those of you who know me a bit better might know that I find squirrels absolutely adorable! On top of that they make me laugh everytime they run/jum around – hillarious ) I have no clue what it is about those little rodents that I like so much… Squirrels seem to be quite common in the US and Canada, not in Germany. The only squirrel I got to see was the occasional red squirrel in our yard that came out in the Fall. I remember it used to be a big “event” and we all stormed out every year when the squirrel came back for a chance to get a glimpse of it… So when I first moved to the US you can imagine how excited I was seeing those cute little animlas on a daily basis. Well, I haven’t lost my excitement about them so here is my little tribute to my favorite animal, the squirrel…

Day 169 – Vamonos Taqueria is coming to Colonial Town Park Lake Mary

Vamonos Taqueria

Walking around Colonial Towne Park in Lake Mary, many of you may already have noticed the banner hanging from the corner building across from Liam Fitzpatrick’s and Dexter’s. Vamonos Taqueria, Mexican restaurant chain is supposed to be opeing here real soon. I personally can’t wait to compare this place against Chipotle (my clear favorite when it comes to Mexican fast food), Qu’doba’s (not such a fan of this one) and Moe’s Mexican Grill (honestly, do not like this one at all…). Hopefully it will rank high!

However, I have to say, I was hoping to see more of a Mexican bar style of restaurant, similar to Dexter’s, Liam Fitzpatrick’s or Amura Sushi which are all also located at Colonial Town Park. Would be a great place to go have some house made Margarita’s on the rocks (I like them with salt). Anyway, let’s see what Vamonos has to offer us

Here is a link to their web site for the curious ones

Update: Vamonos Taqueria and the new Mexican restaurant/bar Carlos and Charlies belong to the same company. Vamonos Taqueria is set to open in August of 2009. I will definitely check them out as soon as they’re open to try their food. Can’t wait

Day 122 – Monkey Bar at Wall Street Plaza Orlando Downtown

Monkey Bar - Upstairs Inside Bar

Tonight we were part of yet another birthday surprise party, and even though it was the 3rd or 4th in a row it was a great party. The location chosen was the Monkey Bar in Downtown Orlando. The Monkey Bar is located on Wall Street Plaza (off Orange between Central and Washington Street).

B-Day Party at the Monkey Bar

I really thought it was a great place to have a semi private (birthday) party. The bar provides the appetizers (you pay for those) and everything else is up to you. Altogether we were easily 20 people but we could have been twice as many and it still would have been enough space. Well, it may have been also because of the very cool and untypical (for Florida) temperatures.

A highlight at the monkey bar is their balcony lounge with stylish lounge chairs and the trendy sofas inside (the big seating section has leopard prints…).

Be sure to try their delicious martinis, I especially liked the Strawberry Martini, but be also sure to drink slowly and maybe keep it at one or two for the night.

Jessica, I and Jose at the Monkey Bar

The downstairs has a tropical style, resembling of an elegant Tiki Bar, with dark wood interiors. I have eaten here once or twice before and enjoyed the food very much.

So altogether the Monkey Bar is a great place to spend an evening and a night partying and enjoying downtown Orlando’s nightlife.

Opening Hours: 4pm-2am – Happy Hour: 4pm-7pm

Art inside the Monkey Bar

After your visit at the Monkey Bar, check out Slingapour’s (see Day 123)

Day 121 – Ginza Japanese Steak and Sushi in Ocoee

Ginza Sushi Ocoee

Since we were in Ocoee today showing houses we decided to visit Ginza Japanese Steak and Sushi. This is a hibachi style restaurant where the chef prepares the food in the center on a grill and guests watch as their meal is cooked (this is the same concept that Kobe has, see Day 63).

We decided however to try their Sushi this evening. As first timers we ordered conservative, a 3 roll combo for only 11.99. I chose California, Dynamite and Salmon Roll. Our friends and “Sushi Veterans” Diana and Mike were bolder and had some great sushi dishes which we also got to try (see picture below). I liked the look of the Rainbow Roll, but the taste of the Super Crunch Roll won me over. I know what I’ll order next time! Also highly recommended: the sea weed salad! One of the most delicious I have eaten in a long time. We ended the evening with some hot sake.

Here is their info:

Ginza Japanese Steakhouse
8933 W. Colonial Drive
Ocoee, FL 34761
407-523-8338

Monday-Thursday: 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. &  5-10 p.m.
Friday: 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. & 5-11 p.m.
Saturday: Noon-11 p.m.
Sunday: Noon-10 p.m.

Delicious Sushi!

On a side note: I know that Dynamite Roll, Rainbow Roll or Super Crunch Roll isn’t necessarily “typical” Japanese Sushi. As we learned tonight as well, most Japanese Restaurants in the Orlando area (including this one) are Chinese businesses. That doesn’t make them less likeable, I just thought it was an interesting fact that our (very friendly) waitress shared with us.

Day 120 – Crispers Salads and Such in Lake Mary

Crispers Lake Mary

A great place to have a light lunch in Lake Mary is Crispers Salads and Such at the Colonial Towne Park Plaza (located next to Publix and in front of Heathrow Urgent Care). I’m usually not a big salad fan but for anyone who enjoys “green food” I can recommend this place. A great alternative are their flat breads. So if you recently started a diet or really don’t feel like filling up for lunch, Crispers is a great place.

BTW, based on what I saw on their web site, Crispers is not a franchise and all locations are company owned. They seem to e Florida company since all locations I could find are in Florida.

Closest Locations to Sanford (it’s time they open a location in Sanford…):

Lake Mary
Colonial Town Park
1120 Town Park Ave.
(407) 833-0901

Longwood
Longwood Village
1869 W. State Rd 434
(407) 834-4191

Winter Park
University Park 1
391 South Semoran Blvd.
(407) 673-4100

Day 119 – French Avenue aka 17-92

French Avenue in Sanford

Just a snapshot from the car while waiting for the light to switch. When I first moved to Sanford in 2004 I didn’t know that 17-92 is called French Avenue where it passes by the Sanford downtown area and historic area.

Not sure how many names 17-92 has throughout the Central Florida area but it sure does have many. I started a list with the different street names that 17-92 adopts throughout Central Florida (please note that in some cases the road only becomes 17-92 at some point):

• Volusia Avenue
• Woodland Boulevard
• Charles Richard Beall Boulevard
• Seminole Boulevard
• French Avenue
• Orlando Drive
• Mills Avenue
• Colonial Drive
• Orange Blossom Trail (OBT)
• Main Street
• Emmet Street
• John Young Parkway
• Hinson Avenue
• Alfred Street/Alfred Drive

Feel free to add to the list! I’m curious to see if I forgot one or the other name

Day 99 – Christmas by the Beach

Daytona Beach on Christmas Day

This is a first time for me, too: Christmas by the ocean. Since we celebrated the “main event” already last night (in good old European tradition), we decided to drive to Daytona Beach this morning. So my parents, my sister Gabi, Jose and I all drove up to the beach to enjoy some sun.

Me, Ma, Jose, Gabi at Daytona Beach

We had to wait a bit for the rain to pass though, but in the end it turned out to be a rather sunny and mild day.  We even drove our car on the sand, something we usually don’t do because of the usually rather crowded beach. There were still more people at the beach than expected though. The picture above shows me in a pink shirt and standing next to me my dad. I like the scene, it has something so peaceful to it.

Day 98 – Christmas Eve 2008

Christmas Eve 2008

Finally – the day we all have waited for! As we have always done it in Germany we celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve (“Heiligabend” for us). I am especially happy that I can have my parents and my sister Gabi here with me this year. We also had my friend Natascha over for dinner and our gift exchange. It was a great evening and even though we accidentally mixed up some gifts (oops), we finally got it all done and everyone was happy. I was especially happy about my new red bag. From now on I won’t just be “the girl with the yellow bag” but also “the girl with the red bag”, so watch out

Heiligabend - The Germans

I love my bag