The Depot Renaissance
Posted on September 21, 2013 by Ching under Reviews, Travel.
I stayed at the Depot Renaissance while I was attending the MEA Customer Relations Roundtable in Minneapolis. I was thrilled to find out that the Depot is a Marriott property because it meant that I’d receive the great service that I’m used to and also earn some rewards points.
The room itself is small but tastefully decorated. And, I had an excellent view of the parking lot across the street (our recent stay at the Peabody Orlando has ruined me for life). LOL.
There’s a little desk which is perfect for doing some work.
The bathroom area is tiny but it’s sufficient for a solo traveler. The space wouldn’t be enough for Brian and I to get ready together if he were traveling with me. Since I was alone, it worked out okay.
When I returned to my room the first night following the networking reception I was surprised to find the message light on my room phone lit up. I figured it was Brian checking on me because I sent him my room number. It turned out to be one of our long time blog followers who lived in the area. It was a little creepy but then I realized that I made the mistake of announcing my arrival to the world by checking into FourSquare so I wasn’t really that hard to track down.
Brian and I always chat at night whenever one of us is away from home so I told Brian what happened. He totally freaked out. It wasn’t enough that I called the front desk to instruct them not to give my room number to anyone and not to accept any more messages; Brian actually called down there himself to give them the low down and to ensure that my safety was a priority for the hotel. The person in charge at the concierge desk must have sensed Brian’s concern because she assured Brian that security would check my floor a couple of times more than normal each night.
I was extremely impressed with the way the hotel handled the situation. Although they had blocked all calls going to my room, each night that I would call for my 4 AM wake up call the next day, Brandon would give me an update. He’d be like, “You received another call again today. Would you like to move to another room?” The first night I had already unpacked all of my stuff (that’s the first thing I do as soon as I get to my room after checking in) and I didn’t want to go through the hassle of packing and unpacking again. Besides, he didn’t know which room I was in so it didn’t really matter. The next night it was more of the same but I told Brandon that I was checking out the next morning so it mattered even less. Nonetheless, I appreciated that they remembered Brian’s instructions. It wasn’t like they remembered the first night and promptly forgot about it. They continued to respect and protect my privacy throughout my stay. Seriously. Not only did they block all external calls, they blocked all calls going to my room. So when I had problems with my breakfast order not getting picked up from the previous night and I had to call down to check on my room service order a couple of times they totally acted like I didn’t exist. LOL.
The lady who brought my breakfast apologized for bringing orange juice instead of pineapple juice as I had requested. She said they were out and she tried to call my room to ask if orange juice would be okay but that the call would not go through. That’s actually when I realized that ALL calls were being blocked. Even the ones initiated by hotel staff.
I was a little cranky about the problems with my breakfast door hanger not getting picked up not once but twice but I couldn’t really stay mad because of the extreme care and professionalism with which the staff handled my delicate situation. It seemed to me that they had some prior experience with this sort of thing. Brian did tell me later that the lady he spoke with reassured him that they’ve dealt with situations like this before. I’m sure this happens a lot when celebrities stay somewhere because their fans would be calling and making their room phones ring incessantly and maybe even trying to track them down in their hotel rooms, but I doubt that those instances involved regular people like me. I felt kind of bad that they had to go through all that trouble to protect me when I wasn’t really all that concerned or fearful. Brian was more freaked out than I was, to be honest.
Anyway, I bet the hotel staff was relieved when I finally checked out because then they didn’t have to go through all the crazy call blocking, extra security, and stuff because I think they finally resorted to saying that they didn’t have any guests staying there by my name any time that anyone would call or ask for me. I’m sure it was quite challenging to serve an invisible guest so, in the end, I really couldn’t blame them for the problems I experienced with breakfast. I’m sure it had to do with no one being in my room or me not existing. LOL.
Huge thanks to the Depot Renaissance staff for a wonderful stay and for making me feel like a celebrity. Even just for a few days.
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MEA Customer Relations Roundtable
Posted on September 20, 2013 by Ching under Travel.
Who says you can’t have fun at work conferences?
I had the opportunity to attend the MEA Customer Relations Roundtable this week. The highlight of the conference for me, besides the big bling, was meeting Terry Ousley, VP of Customer Satisfaction at MidAmerican Energy Company. They were ranked #1 on the JD Power Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study (MidWest Region: Large Segment, the same class that we are in).
MidAmerican Energy has held the #1 spot for the last five years. Quite an impressive record, considering that we are usually just in the middle of the pack. Naturally, I wasted no time. I started picking his brain over rum punch at the networking reception on Tuesday night. I didn’t have anything available to take notes right then, but I wrote a bunch of stuff down as soon as I got back to my room.
The next morning I found myself in the opposite side of the room but I figured that he would probably sit at the same seat the next day so I moved over to that side of the room when we started our session on Thursday morning. Mr. Ousley was not just a wealth of knowledge; he’s also super nice and very willing to share best practices. He even invited me to visit their call center in Iowa (note that you fly in to Illinois, even though their office is in Iowa — he says that always confuses people) and he said we could bring as many people as we’d like. He says it usually takes a whole day to go over everything. I was super excited and told him that I will definitely be reaching out to him, but we may not be able to visit until next year because our department is already over budget on our travel for the year. LOL.
Anyway, I can’t wait to go back to work and share everything I learned with my coworkers! Monday can’t come fast enough.
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More Polka Dots
Posted on September 20, 2013 by Ching under Shopping.
I’m obsessed with dots!
I love these new shoes!
I just want to wear them everywhere because they are so awesome. If you want to get yourself a pair, you can either go to the Nike web site or click here
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My New Flip Flops
Posted on September 15, 2013 by Ching under Shopping.
When I was at Beau Monde getting my waxing yesterday, I noticed that they had lots of products (mostly summer items) marked down to 40%, 50% and even 75%. As luck would have it, I found flip flops, that matched my Sorbet Spots smart phone wallet, for just $5. I couldn’t pass it up. LOL.
The flip flops also match the small duffel and cross body bag that I got earlier to take with me to 2013 Zumba Instructor Convention in Orlando. I didn’t even get to use either of them so they’re still unused and in storage.
Once I started packing, I realized that the duffel bag was too small because I had to pack a costume, etc. If I was just packing for three or four days of working out, that wouldn’t have been a problem. However, I was packing for workouts and parties. There were several people at the ZIN Soiree with really elaborate costumes and props. I can’t imagine what their bags must have looked like.
The cross body bag idea got nixed when I found out that we were getting these nice Zumba backpacks at convention because I wouldn’t need my cross body bag then. So the only piece of the whole Sorbet Spots collection that I’ve been using is the wallet and I’m not even going to be using it much longer. Since summer is technically over, it’s about to be retired.
Perhaps next summer I’ll get more use out of these really colorful bags. I doubt that I’ll be wearing all of them together simultaneously though because that would just be overkill; not to mention look ridiculous. LOL. As for the flip flops, I know that summer is over but I had to get them. They were only $5. Besides, Brian and I have been traveling a lot lately. I can bring them with me when I travel so I don’t have to walk barefoot on hotel carpets and they will bring me happiness and sunshine wherever I go. I just know it!
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MaMac’s Peach Cobbler Recipe
Posted on September 15, 2013 by Ching under Family, Food and Drink.
We had a full day of Brubakers today. First, we had grandma over for brunch. I had a waxing appointment at Beau Monde so I just picked her up from her place on my way home. Brian had our wonderful breakfast spread ready by the time we arrived.
Later that day Brian’s parents stopped by to borrow the pickup truck. We figured they would come back to return the truck so Brian made dinner for us. Donna brought the ingredients for MaMac’s peach cobbler so she could show me how to make it.
It’s actually really easy to make. I’m posting the recipe here for you guys and also so that I won’t ever forget it.
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup self-rising flour
3/4 cup milk28 oz can of peaches in heavy syrup (drain and reserve the syrup because you’ll need it later)
1 tablespoon cinnamon
4 tablespoons sugar
- Place butter in 9 X 13 pan. Place pan in oven approximately 5-7 minutes so that the butter melts. Remove from oven.
- Mix sugar, flour, and milk. The batter will be lumpy but that’s okay. Pour batter into the buttered pan.
- Spoon peaches over the batter. Pour peach syrup over the peaches and batter. Do not mix or stir.
- Mix sugar and cinnamon, and sprinkle mixture on top.
- Bake in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes to an hour (or until done). Ovens will vary so remember to check periodically.
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