Pavilion at Port Orange

Looks like our little town is moving up in the world. Construction is going strong on the new Pavilion at Port Orange. The part I'm most excited about is the 14 screen Hollywood Theatres. We have to drive about 30 minutes to go to the newest theatre in town and it's over on beachside in the heart of the tourist district. Needless to say, I think it's been over 1 year since DH and I have gone out to see a movie here in town.

I love the look of the new Pavilion, reminds me of the outdoor malls in California and even Jacksonville/St. Augustine area. Looks like they've edited the list of shoppes and restaurants coming to the new Pavilion at Port Orange in the fall (it's the new shopping center on Williamson near the Taylor Rd. Publix here in PO).
Circuit City and Barnes and Noble are off the rendering now. Although this article from just last month show Barnes and Noble signed a lease for the spot. The article also says the store will open March of 2009 which I see as impossible. They also say they'll have Starbucks which will be welcome since the only other Starbucks is in our Target.
Belk fashion department store will be the big anchor store, along with junior anchors Michaels, Marshalls and Home goods. A national pet store is also in the plan, 1 place says Petsmart , another shows Petco .

Now also on the list:

Shops: ATT store, David's Bridal, GNC, Lee Nail Spa, Rack Room Shoes, Sunglass World, and Visionworks

And food: Alfredo's Restaurant, Cold Stone Creamery, Olive Garden, Five Guys Burgers and Fries, Red Brick Pizza , Red Robin Gourmet Burgers,
From their press release The Pavilion at Port Orange will offer customers a unique shopping experience with Main Street style architecture, two-story themed buildings and extensive landscaping in an open-air pedestrian-friendly environment. A focal point of the development will be a seven-acre lake surrounded by numerous upscale sit-down restaurants overlooking the water. The center will also feature a community pavilion along the lake that will serve as a gathering place for residents and tourists and a covered children’s soft play area. Curbside parking will provide customers with easy and convenient access to the shops.

Babies

A friend of mine just had her 2nd son on Tuesday and tonight I'm going to my SIL's baby shower; she's due April 1. Babies everywhere! I actually attended my 1st baby shower a couple of months ago for DH's cousin whose baby boy is a month old already! He is just plain adorable! Looking forward to meeting my friend's baby boy - Jackson is his name, isn't that a great name?! One day DH and I will embark on the baby experience, but until then, I can learn from my friends and family. Who knew there was such a thing as a burp cloth?

So, I've got to go to Target to get some extra baby items for the party - how fun does this baby wrap look? No straps or buckles, just swaddling cloth. I think my mom carried me in something similar. I bet she still has it!

And of course the good Johnson and Johnson products. I like this sleeptime line even for me - bet it's great for babies!

As you may recall, the last time DH and I went shopping for baby products, we got lost. There are just so many different products and at both Babies R Us and Target, nothing was where it said it was on the registry. Johnson and Johnson items are useful and always easy to find. Guess we'll go with that and a gift card that can be used toward the big ticket items since this will be SIL's first baby. They're thinking about Gabriel Michael for his name. First they were told it was a girl, then a month later, found out it was a boy - long story there. Anyway, in a couple months, I'll be an aunt again!

Weekend recap

Friday was a day of ups and downs and ups. I'm a member of a few flickr groups but most active in a standard poodle group Standard Poodles Caniche Royal SPCR (French) www.flickr.com/groups/69361585@N00/ . It still amazes me how people meet over the internet. It's less shady these days since the majority of the population has internet access - I guess the numbers are in your favor in meeting someone nice vs. someone creepy. This SPCR flickr group was introduced to me by my MIL when we were in the process of finding a pup. All members either have, have had, or are looking for standard poodles, or "spoos". Some have 1, some have more than 5! Some members are here in the US, some over in Eurpoe. There's so much helpful information in this group, and so many helpful people. Anyway, one member in California had a pup Daisy who was an honorary member (she was part Golden Lab) whom she rescued and brought back to the best health possible. Just last week, Daisy had to be put to sleep and the lady was devistated. All members sent words of comfort, but being the caring poodle group it is, there was more. My MIL had rescued a pup named Blaze a few months ago and she spoke with the lady who had to let Daisy go and they both agreed that Blaze was meant to go to CA to be with her. Blaze had been in an abusive, neglected situation before my MIL got him and it would be best for him to be with this retired lady whose only other pet is an older female dog. Very comforting and thoughtful to give Blaze away, but it didn't stop there. Members of the group worked together to donate money to cover the travel expenses to fly Blaze from FL to CA. And it didn't stop there. A member has a relative in the airline industry who could offer reduced fair AND either she or her husband would travel with the dog on the flight and deliver him to the lady in CA. Other members of the group live close to the retired lady, so they offered to check in with her and make sure all was ok. What a wonderful situation for a true spoo lover! Blaze will probably be here through new years and fly out in January. Here he is above in a photo from my MIL's flickr photostream. And that was a down into an up.

I also found out DH didn't have to work Saturday as we had thought he may have to. Another up. Friday night dinner was Long Doggers fish and chips - delicious as always. http://www.longdoggers.com/ They use a cornmeal breading on their fish - yum!

We watched the new Batman The Dark Knight movie - another up, even though it was 2.5 hours long, which I usually fall asleep about half way in. I made it through the whole movie and was pretty impressed with the movie. It did disturb me to think that Heath Ledger passed possibly due to his role as the Joker, I could definitely see how he could have immersed himself into the role. I usually always like Christian Bale too (except in that American Psycho and that other movie where he wasted away physically - ok, maybe I just like him in Newsies and Batman), but the ridiculous voice he used when he was dressed as Batman - I could have done without. I just couldn't understand him half of the time.

Saturday we went to the barber, Publix for a load of meats (whole chicken, beef brisket, boston butt pork, ground turkey and a couple nice rib-eyes which were on sale). Rufus and I went over to my MIL's to play for a few hours while DH mowed our lawn and smoked some meat. Ruf had a blast as usual. We watched the UFC fight finale and hung out on our new furniture in the den by the fire. Here's Rufus doing his best to pose for a photo. Saturday dinner was smoked chicken, veggies and potatoes with mini-cheesecake bites for dessert.

Sunday morning we went to our church's Christmas presentation at 10:45, lunch at Applebee's with MIL+FIL, then shopping for an ottoman. We found one at Target which was nice, bonus it was $10 off and we had a $20 GC, but I wasn't sold on it. We checked a few other places and decided to get the one from Target when I went grocery shopping later that night. We got it home and it looks good in the room, but I'll still keep my eye out for a little larger one. Maybe 25-28W x 36-42D rectangular brown leather storage ottoman. This one we have is 18Hx32Wx16D.

Weekend recap

This will probably be a short post day - I'm fairly under the weather and may go home early.
Friday was DH's company party at the Hilton. There were over 400 people there! I think they estimated 470 adults and nearly 50 children. We got there around 6:30, had apps and drinks then had our photo taken and went up to the ballroom for dinner. Dinner was buffet style - a nice salad, pasta salad, steamed veggies, mashed potatoes, bread and salmon and roast beef. The dessert table had eclairs, chocolate cookies and bite sized pieces of cake. I was pretty tired after working all day and DH had to work in the morning, so we called it a night around 10pm. Rufus was glad to see us of course. :)

Saturday and Sunday DH had to work all day, so I did some errands, found a mesh chain for our fireplace for $65 (and we're going to try to paint the frame - thanks pedalpower!). I also went out to Beach Street to get some chocolate goodies for Christmas at Angel and Phelps, a wonderful chocolate factory here in town http://www.angellandphelps.com/.

I also stopped at our favorite jeweler Jessups to have my rings cleaned and checked. Of course I checked out the items for sale too. I'm thinking about upgrading my wedding band. It's getting pretty scratched up. We purchased it because it was the style I was looking for, we didn't spend too much time checking the quality of the metal or diamonds (white gold and I don't even know the diamond ratings for this band). My engagement ring is platinum with a perfect diamond, which I love! Our jeweler said they can rhodium plate my rings for about $75 which will bring back their luster. Apparently rhodium plating lasts for about 3 years, which is just less than the time I've had my wedding band. Any thoughts? I just too a quick snapshot of my rings here at the right. I guess with the terrible lighting in my office, this is what I get. The engagement stone is actually quite sparkely and completely colorless.

Sunday was a day of house projects (well, by projects I mean laundry and sweeping). Rufus and I also went to the pet store which is one of his favorite things to do. He's such a gentleman, he walks to the door, sits and waits for me to open it and then he goes straight to the counter, jumps up (2 front paws up on the 3 ft. or so tall counter) and looks for his treats. Everyone loves him. I still get people asking if he's a labradoodle. I also went to lunch with my parents at Buca di Beppos. I hadn't been there in a while. It's still pretty good for an Italian chain. We had the mixed green salad, chicken parm, a side of spaghetti and tiramisu. Everything was great of course. The tiramisu was a little strong on the rum for me.
I didn't take photos, but thanks to http://flickr.com/photos/mariecannabis/2457762077/ for her pic of Buca's tiramisu bowl

On the food front - we had Tijuana Flats for dinner again Saturday night. That place is becoming one of my favorites! DH had tacos again and I tried their nachos - huge!! We also had churros which were delicious! Nothing like a warm piece of fried dough covered in cinnamon and sugar. Dinner last night was ribeye steak (how is it up to $11.49/lb. now?!) and Velveeta shells and cheese - nice, warm comfort food.

Long weekend

I just love long weekends.
It all started Wednesday night - DH and I finished up some final house preps for Thursday's company. We also brined all 3 turkeys. Yeah, 3. It was just a simple brine - water, dark brown sugar, kosher salt. Early early Thursday morning around 5:45, we got up and got the turkeys ready for smoking and frying. The smoked turkey was rubbed with butter, garlic, pepper and seasoned salt and then stuffed with coca cola, 1 apple, 1 onion and garlic powder. It was good - next time we'll leave out the onion and add an extra apple instead. The 2 fried turkey's were rubbed with Cayenne pepper, black pepper creole seasoning and garlic powder, then filled with some Italian dressing. The smoked went in around 6:15 am and was ready around 1pm. The fried took about an hour start to finish. The birds were delish. We had a lot of food to accompany the turkey - sweet potato casserole, sweet potato patties, green beans with ham, acorn squash, cranberry stuffing, mashed potatoes, herb rolls and more! Apps were deviled eggs and Parmesan puff pastry. And for dessert - pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake, apple pie and pumpkin bread. Yeah, we're still eating it all.

Friday DH and I went out around 8am for some black Friday shopping. We were on a mission to find some furniture for our den. Started out at American Signature - their sales weren't really sales. The same living room set we got 2 years ago is the same price. Then to Ashley Furniture where we had great help from the manager/interior decorator. We found a set we loved and she helped show how we could place each piece with sketches. The collection is called Logan Stone. I have been thinking about a chaise lounge, but for the space, 2 chaise's would only make seating for 2 people. Here's a nice chaise sectional combo. It's too big for our den.We decided on the chair+1/2 and the loveseat. I also loved the tables they had with it and the ottoman, but we decided to wait until we get the furniture in to see how it all looks. Loveseat is on the right in this photo. And the chair+1/2 fits both DH and I comfortably.Since we were there between 7am-9am, we got a coupon for 20% off our purchase, which made the already affordable pieces really affordable. We got up to the counter to pay and were told it was additional $100 (well, $99.99 as the quietly spoken woman said) for delivery. We said we'd just pick it up, but she said that wasn't an option, unless we wanted to drive to Tampa. Now I still don't know what the huge sign notifying customers about their pickup policy was for since we didn't have the pick up option. We decided to look elsewhere. It wasn't the extra $100 that made us leave, it was that no one told us about it before hand. Why didn't they just have a weekly delivery to their store and give people the option to pick it up. We went to Rooms to Go after that and I kept comparing everything to that set at Ashley. We decided since that room's been empty since we moved in, we didn't have to get anything that day. But we decided to make one last stop at Haynes Brothers since they didn't look too busy. We walked right in and they were also having 'beat the clock' sales. We walked around and saw a couple pieces that would have been ok, but I told the sales lady I had to ask about any extra fees beforehand. Then I told her about the adventure at Ashley earlier that morning and she said 'oh, we carry Ashley furniture and will get it for you at the same price and deliver it for free'. I was happy!

So next time we go to get furniture, we'll look at Ashley's showroom and then order it from locally owned Haynes Bro's. (hopefully, we'll see how the whole delivery process goes within 5-10 business days).

Then it was back home for some Thanksgiving leftovers and out to Target to check out their sheets. We ended up getting a 2 pack sheet set in camel (only 300 TC) for $40 and also a chocolate brown duvet cover for our comforter for $20. The 1000 TC sheets were sold out in king size, so we got a raincheck for some in pewter gray. I'm looking forward to 1000 TC. I had wanted to get Walmart's 500 TC set for $20, but didn't want to get up at 5am and risk my life with the other early shoppers. I put one of the 300 TC sets on last night and didn't really like the way the color blended in with our oak headboard. DH convinced me that it wasn't that big of deal, so we'll keep them. They were actually pretty comfy last night.

Saturday and Sunday we did some housework, more shopping and did some of the Christmas decoration. The tree's up and decorated, most indoor decor is out and we've only got the icicle lights left for the outdoor display. We had a tornado watch and 40 mph winds yesterday so DH didn't get to get up on the roof to finish the lights. Hopefully we can do some today after work before it gets dark.

Oh, today's the first Monday of the month, that means it's Dog Night at Ritters!

Weekend update

It's been an interesting few days. I guess it's more realistic to say I'm going to blog Monday through Thursday, but yesterday I was in bed for half of the day so there was no blogging going on then. I woke up feeling fine at 7am, but after DH left for work, I started to feel light-headed and dizzy and then my knees started giving out like I was walking in a moon bounce. It was very strange. I started feeling a little better and went in to work, but my mind just wasn't functioning, so I went home at noon and rested the remainder of the day. I'm feeling better today, just still a little cloudy with a slight headache. If I had to get sick, I'd much rather it be a common cold, or allergies or something that could easily be diagnosed rather than on and off dizziness and confusion, but oh well, such is life right?

We had a good weekend. DH did smoke his pork butt Friday and it was great (yes, I did try a little bite). I think by the time he lit the smoker to the time we shredded the pork took about 12 hours. Next time we'll definitely cook more meat since it doesn't really take much more time cooking 15 lbs rather than the 4.5 lbs we cooked this time. He also made another batch of his mustard based sauce that is delish! We also did go to Deland Friday and got a 55 gallon metal drum so DH could make a smoker. That's going to be a fun project...

Saturday we slept in and then went to Babies R Us to shop for DH's cousin's baby shower which was later that day. Neither of us had ever been to a Babies R Us so we didn't know what we were getting into. We located her registry and printed it out and spent about an hour to find a few things. We actually got items that we could find, not items that I would have actually been looking for. Apparently there are icons on the registry that match the high signs for each department, but this store is so small we should have been able to find the items easily. The employee offered to help but we decided to try to find the items ourselves. We did ask where one item was that I really liked and I'm glad we did because it was on the Toys R Us side of the store; a cute little seahorse that glows and plays music for the baby to go to sleep with (Fisher-Price Ocean Wonders™ Soothe & Glow Seahorse, photo from amazon.com). Similar to the glow worms of my time. Several packs of onsies and baby washcloths later, we were done. One thing I did like was that they had wrapping paper there (for free!) so I just rolled some up and wrapped the items when we got home.

Sunday was gardening day. We tried Home Depot for plants but we were really looking for blue flowered Agapanthus, or Lily of the Nile which we had seen at Epcot's Flower and Garden Festival in May. We headed out to Big Value Garden Center which we then found out was not open on Sundays. The trip all the way out there wasn't a waste because we also visited Harbor Freight which is always an adventure in itself. Then it was out to Butcher's Nursery at the Flea Market. They had our blue lily of the nile! We decided to get enough plants for the area near the pool pump, the sort side of the pool screen and also the side of the pool nearest to the shed. We ended up with (3) 3 gallon Agapanthus, (2) 1 gallon Agapanthus, (1) African Iris (white flower I think), (8) various crotons including broadleaf and corkscews varieties, (2) Society Garlic, (1) Lakeview Jasmine (blooms year around and smells like orange blossoms), and (1) Nightblooming Jasmine. And I think that's it. We also got (1) variegated Cordyline from the Depot to add to the mix. The last plants to complete the area will be either a variegated ginger or Helicona (false bird of paradise) or both. I'm really starting to love plants! We moved our (2) bird of paradise plants to the pool side nearest to the shed on either side of the palms and added the agapanthus to complete that area. I'll have to take photos of it all later. For now, here's a pic of the bananas and elephant ear when we first put them in this past summer. Tomorrow, when I show you a pic of how this area looks now, you'll be amazed how quickly these plants have grown.

Personal shopper

I stopped at Bealls last night on my way home to get DH some new shoes. I used to enjoy shopping at Bealls, but it seems like that place is always swarmed with older women visiting from up north that have all the time in the world. Maybe I'll try to go there around 8pm next time, that should be past their bed time :)
We are getting more shopping options around here which is nice - Kohls and Ross so far. Soon I won't even have to travel outside of PO for some good shopping.

I had already picked out the shoes I was going to get him (and they were on sale!). They didn't have his size, so I checked out their BOSS system. I ordered the shoes on that, got the sale price, and it was free shipping to our house. They should arrive within 3-5 business days. If they don't fit, we can return them at any Bealls store. Easiest shoe shopping I've ever done. (photo from beallsflorida.com)

While I was at the counter ordering the shoes on their computer, a lady brought a cart full of clothes up the the register and started unloading them on to the counter. She started piling them up saying 'I don't want these', 'Check the price on these', 'These are on sale, make sure they ring up at the sale price'. I just couldn't believe her! I glanced at the cashiers expression and it seemed as though this was typical for her. It's one thing to give the cashier 1 or 2 items that you don't wish to purchase rather than just putting them back someplace where they don't belong, but a whole pile, come on. Yeah, I'll definitely go later next time.

I got home and fixed honey ham, potato and cheese pieorgies and fresh steamed green beans for dinner and then it was relax time.
Today's been a long day. I'm pretty glad the weekend's almost here.