Ember Vibes

I recently went to a sweet place with a great ambiance. Ember is a little indoor, as much as outdoor venue in Downtown Orlando. They have many drink specials and tasty food with a great staff to cater to you. Happy hour may never be the same for you all!

I will begin with my personal experience at Ember. Even on a rainy Friday they had a packed house. That did not stop the staff from being on their toes throughout the night. Even from the host at the front, she greets you with a smile and points you to the right place. The whole place is perfectly spaced, nice big tables too. Lots of areas to hang out with friends, and to make new ones too. There is a DJ there for the night, the music selection had me dancing a bit more after each drink. Our bartender was Jeremy, he was very attentive and friendly. He was very patient with us and our questions too, all with a genuine smile on his face. I could tell that their whole staff are probably similar in that sense, but he ultimately was the face of Ember that day. Friday's are 3 for 1 (no typo). There is no entry fee and the drinks are all premium liquor, bottled beer, and select wine; call the Uber there and back. Use Uber code "UberMarsUe" for a free first ride. Use a new email, same card for a free ride.

Ember's week of great food and drink specials start early. Sunday sets it off with Sunday Funday brunch. For $29.95 you get bottomless mimosas, red and white sangria along with an all you can eat brunch. This is from 10am-3pm be on time. You want to be able to eat and drink, then head over to Lake Eola for a nice stroll if wanted. For others it may just be the last hooray before the Monday blues take over.

Don't be too sad, Ember has Wednesday's covered too. Let's make our way to the Wine Down Wednesday greatness. From 5pm-9pm for only $10 you get bottomless mimosas, sangria, select beer and wine. This also includes endless appetizers. For $10 you must text "WINE" to 25827 and must be there before 7pm. Other than that, ladies are $15 and men are $20. You spend more than that on two drinks anywhere else, NO food included. Make this your new and light hump day entertainment.

Can't wait to continue coming out and enjoying the ember vibes. I want to thank the professional staff of Ember for showing myself and my friends a great time. Below are a couple of pictures of when we went there Friday. Thank you to all my supporters for your ongoing love. Hope to see pictures of you all at Ember @ me or tag me in them please. ALL feedback is welcomed, and appreciated. Remember to always love and allow to be loved. Xo

Ember

42 W. Central Blvd. Orlando, fl 32801

407-849-5200

Monday-Friday 11:30am-2am

Saturday 4pm-2am

Sunday 10am-2am

Choo Choo Shot

This low key may be my new hang out spot for the weekends. This is perfect for people like me who want a dope environment to match the vibes. Not to mention coming along with great, cheap, strong tasting drinks. Check it out.

Found this bar a couple of months ago. It's called "The Hammered Lamb" and I find it very appropriate, because you will leave hammered. This is a bar on Orange Ave. It has a nice view outside looking to a pretty lake and park, even a volleyball area if you are feeling up for it. Last time I went was on a Friday night with my friend Lei. They have happy hour everyday, 4pm-7pm. And even after that the drink specials keep going until 2am. $2 domestic beers, $3 call liquors, and $3.50 select wines. Everyday a different type of liquor has amazing specials. My favorite part are the FREE SHOTS when a train passes. It is so cool because the train station is not far at all, so they come VERY often. Saturday and Sunday they have brunch, between $8-$12. 11am-4pm Saturday and Sunday they have $3 single mimosas and $5 for a double, all types of flavors. All their drinks are 2oz, so drink up. Our fine ass bartender Patrick took such good care of us. Please make sure to ask for him when you sit at the bar. He was so polite, helpful, and entertaining.

Live music is played every Friday from 5pm-8pm. They musician was kick ass. He was playing old school jams, but with a guitar. Total Rap vibes with soul feels, music lovers will appreciate it. They also have a live DJ from 1030pm-2am on Fridays. As well as trivia Tuesdays 5pm-7pm. They have ping pong tables inside as well.

This is where you want to blow off some steam after a long day at work, or if you want to get your night started for little money. Everyone is nice, and the eye candy that work here help the cause. I love that they have so much variety too. Please make sure to drive safe. Do not drink and drive, use my Uber code uberMarsue for a free ride back home. If you already have an account, just use a new email to get the free ride. I want to continue to give you all places to enjoy and not go money crazy. We had a shot, and 4 drinks each and it was all under $35. You can NOT beat that. Hope you all make it out here I know you will have a great time. Thank you all for the ongoing support, feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Remember to always Love and allow to be loved. Xo

The Hammered Lamb

1234 N. Orange Ave. Orlando, Fl 32804

407 704 3200

Monday-Sunday 11am-2am

Jack and Mary's

With this cloud over my city, I tried to bring an old school spot to my blog. Jack and Mary's has been around for years. Anyone who lives in East Orlando has ate here at least one, if not for sure know where it is. This a super mom and pops diner. They are the ones to close at about 2:30pm and reopen at 5:30am.

To me the service was fast and great. Had a sweet bilingual woman who was on it. She was a one woMAN show for real. She was getting everything on point from drink and food orders to cashing people out and asking people how their kids are. The food comes out fairly fast too which I love because I had class that morning. I had the meat lovers omelet, it had sausage, ham and bacon, real cheesy too with home fries, and a biscuit. I love the food here because it is from scratch. What you would eat at home, you get made here for a low price. My plate was $9.95 and that is because I was extra hungry. Their breakfast/lunch specials range from $4.95-$7.00 plates. The most expensive thing on the menu is the Greek omelet $11.95 because it has Lamb in it.

This is a great place to go to for a quick morning/brunch meal. They have a great variety of different meals and everything is fresh. I can not wait to continue to go to Jack and Mary's for a nice meal and not hurt my pockets afterwards. Hope you all make it out and continue to show support for beautiful Orlando. We need all the prayers and love we can get from everyone. I appreciate all the ongoing love from you all. Remember to always Love and allow to be loved. Xo

Pray for Orlando

First and fore most, I want to give my condolences to all the families who lost someone early Sunday morning. A huge, devastating tragedy has hit my city, my home. My heart is heavy for all the lives lost at Pulse night club. So sad to see us living in a world filled with so much hate still. I can not fathom how someone can just kill so many people for absolutely no legitimate reason, I want to ask you all regardless of your God, to pray for the lost souls, and families in this madness. 

I can not believe that something this big happened where I live. I always pray for scenarios like these to stay away from me and my loved ones, we see them all the time on the news. We have came untied to heal all these wounded people. I am in so much love with everyone around Orlando right now. So many people in line donating blood, food, and support. Lines were out the the hospital doors and onto the streets filled with young and old people wanting to help and donate blood. I hate to say that something so disturbing like this event made us come so together, but happy at the same time for the great love we have gained from it (bitter sweet).

I want to make something clear too, my background is Catholic and I praise Jesus loud and proud. He is my savior and who I thank for keeping myself, my family and friends safe. But I also know, and love many Muslims. I respect their religion and what they stand for. I am a very open minded person and always appreciate learning. So I ask of you all to not judge a couple bad, soggy apples in a basket of fresh, crispy red ones. 

I hope we all can continue to come together in this time. Let Orlando rise from this, and NOT let the enemy win. We will grow stong and fearless from this. Below I have some locations that are still allowing for people to donate blood. All donations are being taken for people standing in line. Even if you can not do one or the other, at least pray. Keep the victims and their loved ones in your prayers. I hope that this makes us more aware of our surroundings anywhere that we go. Let us always tell the people around us how much we love them, and try to keep good vibes with everyone around. Too much hate around to not want to shine compassion and love every chance we get. Thank you all for the continued support, and remember to always Love and allow to be loved. Xoxo

Blood Donations

Orlando West Michigan Donor Center, 345 W Michigan Street, Ste. 106, Orlando, FL 32806

Orlando Main Donor Center, 8669 Commodity Circle, Orlando, FL 32819

Oviedo Donor Center, 1954 W. State Road 426, Oviedo, FL 32765

Asbury United Methodist Church – Bloodmobile 220, West Horatio Avenue, Maitland, FL 32751

St. Luke’s United Methodist Church – Bloodmobile, 4851 S. Apopka Vineland Road, Orlando, FL 32819

Metro Church – Bloodmobile, 1491 East State Road 434, Winter Springs, FL 32708

 

Gun Range and Safety

Living in Florida 17 of my 24 years, and having a father with a military background, guns have always been shown to me more as a way to protect. As broken record as it may sound, guns do NOT kill people, people kill people. Not everyone will agree with this post and my beliefs, and that is alright. Opinions are to be shared, so feel free to drop a comment or two below on your thoughts. I feel like a lot of the shootings that have been going on, could have been avoided or defused if an experienced and responsible firearm carrier was around to stop it. I live in a state where if you have a clean record you are allowed to purchase a fire arm and keep it in your home, or in a secured place in your vehicle. I personally just sent over my paperwork to receive my concealed weapons licenses. I have the right to bare arms if someone is endangering me or my family. I do not take the lives of my loved ones lightly. I will let you all into my gun range trip, and some tips too.

The gun range of my choice in my area, is the Oak Ridge Gun Range. It is best to be a lady and go on a Friday, or fellas even as a date day it is perfect. Ladies shoot for only $5 on Fridays. Regularly it is priced at $13 per shooter, $10 for each additional shooter. On Tuesdays it is seniors (65+) and Military (active and retired) day. You all shoot for only $10. If you do not own your own weapon, you are better off heading over with someone who does. They do not charge for you bringing your fire arm. In the case that you do NOT own one, they will rent one out to you for about $20 plus ammunition. I was fortunate enough to have my friend Angelo come along with me and allowed me to shoot his .45 caliber. We also rented a .38 revolver. I love both pieces, but that .45 has a special place in my heart. Another great deal that they have is when you buy a gun from them you have unlimited range time for 30 days and classes to learn how to use it best. 

Rock was the person who was the assisting us while we signed in and got everything in place. He was extremely knowledgeable of everything and very attentive. Answered all my questions in detail. It is a simple process, fill in some paperwork, give an ID make sure you are not a fugitive and you are GOOD to go. You can even take your younger kids if you feel they are responsible enough to learn about guns and the safety needed to use them. They give you targets which range anywhere from $.30 to $1.75. Major key in a lot of this is understanding that guns are NOT just a game, even though they are fun they still have to be treated with respect and caution. One wrong move from you not being careful may end someones life. You are game in the range minus letting off back to back, you have to at least let half a second pass between each shot. They will give you a guide through if you have never shot before. Even if you have never held a gun before, ask for Rock, he will get you shooting like a pro and onto the next step on how to protect yourself, or just have a new hobby.

In conclusion, I hope this shined a little more light on guns and the importance of knowing how they work if you are around them or plan on using one. Check out my shot though, zoom if needed. I hope you all get to check this place out, and let them know who sent you. Any questions contact me or the number below for more information. Thank you all for the endless support and feedback. May you all continue to be great, and remember to always Love and allow to be loved. Xo

Oak Ridge Gun Range

6160 S. Orange Ave. Orlando, FL 32809

407-857-5663

 

Jimmy Hulas

Food with lots of flavor is where it's at. I am not one to eat some plain a** food. So I want to always try new places, with different type of flavors. My friend Charles, from UCF put me onto this place. The owner is someone who travels all around the world and takes foods from all over, and brings them back to the states. Enjoy my Jimmy Hulas experience, and see what it is that you want next time you're there.

I went out here with my dad Rafael, and little sister Rakel. We started off with the Cabo trio. This consisted of a lot of tortilla chips and three dips, queso, guac and salsa. $4.59 My little sister had the Crack'd corn. This was corn on the cob with crema, chili powder, cotija (cheese) and cilantro. $3.29 Not spicy, extra creamy and boiled to perfection corn. Rakel ate on the light side, grabbing a filling Caesar salad. You can choose to have your chicken fried or grilled. $6.29

My taco loving self, of course I went taco crazy. I grabbed the Wipe-out taco. In it they had steak, shrimp, and fries. Inside came jack cheese, salsa, avocado, and baja sauce. $4.25 I also grabbed a Street taco, this can be done with beef, chicken, steak and pork. I chose the chicken one with onions on the side (yuck) cojita, and sirracha one the side. $3.59 My OG (Dad) grabbed a juicy burger called the Aloha Burger. This had Teriyaki, pineapple, Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and creamy Teri. $7.35 I took a bite of it, it was super BBQ style meat with juicy meat all around. I enjoyed how much tenderness and flavor it had to offer.

One thing I also loved were the drink specials, they are all below in the last picture. They had amazing drink specials all week long. Week days 4pm-7pm they had their happy hour. Then on Weekends they had the happy hour all day long. Some of the drinks are down below. The main weekends one were $3 Mimosas, $3 Screwdrivers, and $3 bloody Marys/Marias. 

Jimmy Hulas

12400 Lake Underhill Rd. Orlando, Fl 32828 (have other locations)

Sunday-Thursday 11am-9pm Friday-Saturday 11am-10pm

407-930-6511

Barber Park Farmers Market

Farmers Markets are the go to for bargains, handmade or from scratch products and a great environment of amicable people along the way. Every first of the month Barber Park holds their own farmers market open to the public, they do not open for December, but they will resume this the first Sunday of January.

Like most farmers markets, they have just about everything available for sale you can think of. A lot of the eateries have samples to reel you in just a little more. They have from fatty foods, to veterinarian foods, to sweets galore. They have a lot of jewelry stands, a place where you can adopt animals, handmade candles, and honey too. All while listening to live music as you shop and mingle around.

First place I made a pick up at was a very delightful candle making business by the name of "Juliet Scents." A very lovely couple who helped me find just what I needed. I enjoy light, lavender scents and they pointed me to "calming" the perfect mix to melt in my home. Her products are all natural and dye free, also she makes them all by hand so it gives it an extra sense of warmth and love to them. She makes different salt and sugar scrubs along with oils for sensitive skin. The pampering is endless for your home, and your body. I grabbed 6 wax tarts for $7

Next pickup was a sweet treat. A gentleman named Mark, helped me taste a few dabs of honey from his "Happy Bee Honey" collection to see which would be my favorites. There were so many options, so I decided to leave with two and even that was hard. I chose the "Nutty Amaretto" and "Cinnamon" honey. Both were amazing. I actually cooked with the Cinnamon honey on Thanksgiving and my family loved the flavors I incorporated into the dish. They have so many products that they make with their amazing honey. They have body butters, walnuts and honey,cream and salt soaps, they even have raw wasabi honey. Needless to say, they can add their honey to just about anything. I paid 2 for $5 deal on the products.

I will put these couple of companies I personally enjoyed down at the bottom, that  way you all can enjoy them for yourselves. I hope to get you all out to the farmers market the first Sunday of January to mingle with other people around the city, as well as get some great food and goodies for great prices.

Barber Park

3701 Gatlin Ave Orlando, Fl 32812

407-254-6860

Juliet Scents 

Email: Julietscents@Gmail.com

Facebook.com/JulietscentsLLC

Phone: 407-913-0394

Happy Bee Honey

Trish.HappyBeeHoney@Gmail.com

www.HappyBeeHoney.net

407-733-7514

Teak Neighborhood Grill

Everyone can appreciate good food, killer drink specials and great service. Teak is a grill place in West Orlando right near Valencia's west campus. I went this Wednesday to indulge in a few extra tasty and odd treats they had to offer.

Let's start with the service. The waiter's name was Cliff, he was great help and very attentive to our needs and questions. Be sure to ask for him when you head over there, tell him Wendy the blogger sent you.

I started my lunch off with a very delightful spinach and blue crab dip. It was so creamy and filled with the perfect amount of crab meat. I just wanted to keep dipping every chip in, but I needed to save room for the other stuff. It was very cheesy, perfect consistency to enjoy the seafood added to it. The crab wasn't like biting into a crab itself, but it was a great balance to taste it with the greens.

My main course was the succulent Cronie Burger. Now if you have heart problems, or suffer from wild medical issues, this would be your very LAST choice. This burger in the middle was an amazing half pound of Angus meat, topped by some smoked Gouda cheese, an egg, and some bacon (no swine) all in between two bad ass french doughnuts tossed in cinnamon to seal the deal. This burger was so huge I had to press it down to make it fit inside my mouth without looking like an ant trying to eat a whole grapefruit. On the side of that sinful burger I dove into some fresh, sweet potato tater tots. These tots were the perfect meet of toasty outside, and soft warm inside. I asked for a side of warm caramel to dip the tots in, greatness.

Of course I would not miss the last bit to close out my meal. The REAL sweets. I purchased a Trio platter. Pieces of cake, pineapple with a layer at the top of coconut flakes. Strawberry, with a creamy white top maybe buttercream, vanilla, or cream cheese, could not put my finger on it. Lastly was the Nutella with walnuts topped over it all. These three cakes were so good and allowed me to get a little taste of more than one cake.

This establishment makes everything gluten free, minus most of the buns.. But they have clearly labeled where some meals are completely gluten free also. They also serve flat breads, soups, sandwiches, and entrees. 

They have great drink specials everyday, and ladies night on Wednesday which include great food and drink specials on top of the great deals they provide daily. Also they have days where they provide life music too. This is a great place to grab drinks, watch a game, grab lunch, or relax in the outside patio at. The food was amazing, the service was great, and it isn't too pricey. I paid $12 for my huge burger, my tots were included, my dip was also $12 (which my friend put on her bill) and dessert was $7. This was all full price and nothing on sale except the drinks my friend had. She drank two drinks for $4.50 of vodka and sprite (I don't drink.) They do however have great choice for their daily happy hour picks.

Hope you all get to grab a bite to eat, or even a few drinks to start or end your night off well. Feel free to contact me on my social networks or via email on my 'contact tab' to ask any questions about this or any other place I've visited.

"Love and allow to be loved" XoXo

6400 Times Square Ave. Orlando, Fl 32835

(407) 313-5111

Open Everyday 11am-2am