Every year for the past five, Golden Tarot Ink Club hosts Cattoo Day, a fundraiser and adoption event, with the Orange County Animal Shelter. Get a purrfect tattoo, help find cats and kittens a forever home (possibly your own) — it's a fur-sure win-win proposition. The artists work for free that day, donating their usual fee to the shelter, and OCAS brings in plenty of kittens to tempt you into an on-site adoption. The day also includes a raffle, tarot reading and plenty of Caturday-ready photo opportunities.
May 28, 2023/annual event; 3784 Howell Branch Road, Winter Park, goldentarotinkclub.com
Dozens of businesses have bravely tried this space next to Stardust, and one after another got kicked to the curb by the toughest crowd this side of Disney. But local entrepreneur Sara Taylor is even tougher, and has opened a great beauty studio with a cool urban boho interior fitting nicely into the Corrine Drive scene. She's created a magnificently clean interior, a safe space for customers to discover what beauty means to them, whether that's immaculate gel nails, lash extensions, microbladed brows, permanent freckles, stick-and-poke tattoos or tooth gems. Within the space there's a small pop-up boutique (Buff); Pinkie's artists are friendly and encouraging for customers, and you may want to hang out all day.
1844 Winter Park Road, pinkieorlando.com
Fluent Cannabis Dispensary, getfluent.com
Like terpene-powered fruit cocktail syrup, THC oil Moods Drops (available at Fluent dispensaries) are an economical and non-skunky way to regulate your, well, mood without cashing your lungs. Both the indica-based and the sativa-based varieties have a breezy lack of edge; no paranoia here so long as you follow the very accurate dosing recommendations. Florida-esque names like Golden Hour, Midnight Cruiser and Miami Vibes are truthful descriptions of the vibes. And listen, we're not kidding about the Trix; these drops taste like kiddie cereal. Bring on the cartoons.
Oral health in Florida is among the worst in the nation. Sixty-six of Florida's 67 counties lack the amount of professionals needed to provide care, and the expense of dental care isn't supported by Medicaid, leaving many to simply ignore preventative care and visit emergency rooms with toothaches or dental emergencies. Central Florida Health Care, Inc. is among the statewide coalition of groups supporting Floridians for Dental Access, a movement to get dental care added to the Medicaid-supported services offered in health access settings around the state. Proposals in the 2023 legislative session aimed to add mobile dentistry units (like a food truck, but with floss instead of empanadas) to health access settings, but your very enlightened elected representatives allowed both HB 1177 and SB 1000 to die in session. Write to them before next year's session — find their contact info at myfloridahouse.gov and flsenate.gov — to express your support of this crucial initiative.
Piattella, a terpene-rich aged water hash that looks like Nutella and hits like a nuke, has landed in Orlando thanks to the heads at Sunburn Cannabis — the only legal dispensary in the United States that offers it. The cold-cured artisanal hash is vacuum-sealed and aged, allowing the cannabinoids to interact with each other and to oxygenate, resulting in a robust flavor profile that's far from the Moroccan hockey puck or temple balls you may have tried in the past. But take care; just as Cookie Monster discovered that "A cookie is a sometime food," Sunburn CEO Brady Cobb advises that piattella is "something that may not be every day for somebody, but it's definitely something worth trying." Consider yourself forewarned.
Sunburn Cannabis Dispensary, 11551 University Blvd., sunburncannabis.com
