this would have been a mobile blog post...

...but there was no time!!

So I was cooking dinner last night, and I got to thinking about the part where I would need to take that can of tuna sitting on the counter, open it up, and mix it in. Try to ignore the fact that the dinner I was cooking involved canned tuna for a second and lemme run with this...

^^this was the moment where I realized that every can of anything that was ever opened at my previous place-called-home was not opened with my trusty can opener that would be in the drawer to the left of the stove, because I do not have a trusty can opener in the drawer to the left of the stove. What I had was an amazing automatic electric can opener underneath one of the cabinets which is still nestled under said cabinet, 3 miles away, probably being enjoyed by the new tenant.

I looked at the stove timer...t-minus 7 minutes 33 seconds to dry, overcooked orzo. Folks, what I'm about to tell you is a true story based on real life events and, quite possibly, full blown singular justification for my choice of The Paramount as my current place-called-home.

In 7 minutes and 33 seconds I was able to:

1. stop panicking
   
2. throw on jeans and a tee
3. grab my wallet, a belt, my cell (because I'm neurotic), and flippies
4. set the timer on my iPod for 7 minutes
5. hop the elevator downstairs to Publix
6. check the timer
   
7. find the can openers in Publix
   
8. make the excruciatingly difficult choice of which can opener to buy (if you've ever been shopping with me, you know that this was inescapable)
   
9. check the timer (I've still got time)
   
10. second-guess my choice
11. check the timer (okay cutting it close now)
    
12. purchase said can opener (which, in hindsight, was definitely the right one to get)
13. check the timer (holy crap!)
    
14. run down the sidewalk, wave hello to a business acquaintance (can opener in hand)
    
15. hop the elevator back to my place
16. open tuna; drain, stir, continue to simmer

Yeah. Seriously.

Dinner was horrible, but by no means was that due to dry, overcooked orzo or a lack of tuna because I couldn't get the can open. Nope, I'm gonna go ahead and fess up to my apparent lack of culinary skills. Word on the block is I can follow instructions real well but the minute I try and get creative I can pretty much count on being disappointed.

So there ya go. CONVENIENCE - proof positive.

Life in DtO - 1
Life in the 'burbs - 0

COUNT IT!!

Day to Day

I suppose it's fitting to have this one come on a Monday! Here are some things I've noticed about day to day life in downtown. Well for one, since my walk to work spans about 5 minutes (sofa to desk chair) and I come home for lunch most days, I never actually feel like I'm going to work. I just kinda pop in the office, 4 hours at a time, twice a day, and all of a sudden I'm back home again...AWESOME! With this has come a seemingly inevitable inability to actually keep track of what day it is.

Example:

I hit the town last Thursday night and before dinner was over I was convinced that it was Friday - made for some interesting conversation, made for an even more interesting Friday morning. I ate a lot of words that night.

Overall I'd have to say the day to day is about one thing: CONVENIENCE. Yeah, that's pretty easy to guess, but it's hard to actually fathom without experiencing it. Being so close to the majority of things that I need has seriously revolutionized my life. No more rushing home from work to run errands, no more planning trips to make sure I can squeeze everything in before closing time. Everything seems a lot simpler now. Even if I have to hop in my car the destination is less than 10 minutes away. So "convenience" is already assumed as a perk of living in a downtown area but I'm gonna take it one step further and list not "convenience" as the perk, but rather "a-disproportionately-large-and-extremely-satisfying-reduction-in-stress" as the real perk here. I should mention that Publix is just right down the elevator from me which, admittedly, is spoiling me beyond belief, but I imagine that it's not really that much of a inconvenience for folks in other buildings to walk a couple blocks.

So that's the general bit, but there are a couple specifics about daily life here that I really love:

people. everywhere. all the time. This is really heaven for a person who enjoys environments with a lot of social interaction. On a personal level, I honestly just kinda really like to say hi to random people so I'm like a kid in a candy store. I've noticed that in general the people are all very friendly around the streets and even more so within the buildings.

noise. everywhere. all the time. But it's the good kind of noise! This is really why choosing the right building for yourself matters. I'm in the South Eola area and couldn't be happier...away from the train, massive crowds, and club music I get the calming background noise of the living, breathing city. I sit on my balcony during lunch or after work and it's extremely relaxing. If you like things a little more lively, grab a building in the CBD and you'll get all the action you could dream of! Something for everyone, haha.

me. everywhere. all the time. Maybe it's just the elevation and the fact that I can see everything but, seriously, I feel like I can be in 12 places at once. I like it. A lot.

So that's some good stuff about day to day life in DtO. Now for the bad part...

I feel like I didn't get enough done at work today so that desk chair of mine that's 5 minutes away from the sofa I'm sitting on right now?...yeah, I'm gonna go sit in it for a little bit and catch up. Maybe I'll reward myself afterward with a treat. On that note, if any adventurous entrepreneurs are out there reading: Downtown Orlando needs an ice cream parlor. Like, yesterday. Talk about a serious improvement for day to day life!

First Impressions

Okay, so 21 days into this shindy I've formulated a few opinions and impressions. I've also made some realizations and then some realizations about said realizations.

First thing's first - folks, we live in a tiny city. Either that or I've been in Orlando far too long. I don't mean that to have any negative connotations, in fact I mean the exact opposite. Despite living in Orlando for the vast majority of my life I've never felt that it was a connected community until these past 21 days. I realize (about this realization) that I'm way biased for a few reasons, and this feeling of community might not extend to everyone. I've been hanging out downtown for almost 7 solid years now, and working here for almost 6 so I've not only gotten to know the area quite well, I've collected a few friends along the way (not to date myself but those time periods are actually a decent chunk of my life). So now I'm living here and feeling like I'm finally home....what an amazing feeling! Running into random friends in random places, seeing the same strangers in the same places - it's all just awesome to me and I'm super stoked about it.

So, what else?...the experience so far is just plain enamoring - that much I expected. What I did not anticipate was how it has been so different than what I had originally conceived while still fulfilling all my expectations. That doesn't make much sense, but it works out somehow in the grand scheme of things. What is this 'grand scheme of things,' you ask? Well..I'd like to try and tell it from my perspective - that is what this is all about, after all - so I think I've just laid out the format for my next few posts.

Now I'm feeling a little more caught up with this thing and I think I've gotten the intro(s) out of the way. Over the next couple installments I'm gonna touch on my first impressions of the main aspects of Life in DtO. The day to day, the night to night, the nice little surprises and the obligatory downsides.

Also, a little plug - a friend of mine has a blog of her own about one of my favorite things on earth that I thought would go real well as a simultaneous read with my own. Her cFoodiEtc.com is all about food and the places around Downtown and more that serve it, along with just enough randomness to quench my ever-present thirst for spontaneous thought. Drop by and show her some love, revel in the glory of the incredible power of the Blackberry Storm's camera flash (pretty sure all the food pics are taken with her phone!), and read on an empty stomach 'cause, undoubtedly, you'll want to hop over to some of those joints for a bite to eat! Okay, that was actually a pretty big plug...oh well.

'Til next time...

Welcome to Life in DtO!

As a quick and brief introduction to Life in DtO I hereby offer the following:

At the time I am writing (typing??) this I have just moved to a condo in Downtown Orlando (DtO). In the two weeks that I've been here, enough interesting things have happened to convince myself that the experience is worth sharing and, even in the event of a complete lack of an audience, at least worth documenting. I will be learning downtown life and the art of blogging simultaneously so bare with me; I'll try and make the read worth the time.

What inspires me at the moment is my unfruitful search for a blog about DtO living as I was deciding which building to move into. I was always looking for people's opinions on daily life in this setting, complete with day-to-day routines and conveniences, weekend highlights, and run-of-the-mill boring observations alike. I feel that such an account would have helped me paint a decent picture of what I could expect from living here, so in the apparent absence of said account I'd like to create my own - for the benefit of all, or maybe just so I have something to do. Who knows...

Suggestions are welcome...actually they are encouraged...and feedback is my best friend. Join in, tell some stories, make this place your own!