Category: Travel

Quicky Update… Now with MORE Beeping!

I’ve been doing so well at posting 2 – 3 times every week like I promised forever ago and darn if I’m going to let myself fall off the wagon NOW!

Most of you know that I’m chillin’ like a villain in Vancouver this week for a work conference and if you didn’t know you can stop by my bloggy Facebook page to keep up with my hi-jinx. Or my Instagram feed for random pictures of my adventures like one of my reveling in the fact that I have FOUR pillows all to MYSELF! Yeah, I’m LIVING LARGE people!

I promise to fill you all in on everything as soon as I can, but for now I’ll just share this odd little interaction between me and the housekeeper yesterday:

{beep… beep… beep… I’m stalking around my hotel room like a crazy person because I hear a very odd beeping noise.}

Me: (pokes head out door to see if the beeping is coming from the hallway and sees housekeeper) Hi! Do you hear beeping?

Housekeeper: Beeping? Um… don’t worry about the beeping.

Me: Um, I’m not WORRIED about the beeping. I’m just wondering where it’s coming from?

Housekeeper: Oh. Well don’t be concerned. There is nothing to be concerned about with the beeping.

Me: Well, I wasn’t CONCERNED (until now…). I was just wondering WHAT was beeping. I mean, it’s not driving me crazy or anything (it is). I just think that if I were trying to sleep at night that all I would hear is the beep…

Housekeeper: Don’t worry about that. There is nothing to be afraid of. Don’t worry about the beeping. It just happens sometimes. Don’t be scared.

Me: ….okay. Thanks.

A couple minutes after I shut my door and wondered if the beeping was a sign that I should be worried… the beeping turned into a super loud BEEEEEEEEEP that scared the crap out of me and then stopped.

So, I should probably go and finish getting ready now considering that I need to put on make up, dry my hair and get dressed within the next 7 minutes. Feel free to leave your comments with your best guesses to what the heck was up with the beeping!

What is your WORST Flying Experience?

Right at this moment I’m most likely sitting on a plane next to some stinky guy who is totally squishing over the armrest into my seat. That’s right, I’m on my way to Vancouver right this very second! Not that Vancouver is filled with stinky men, but it’s just my luck to have one all up in my business while flying.

Don’t believe me? Well, let’s revisit this little tidbit that I previously talked about in December 2011…

On this particular flight we were flying home from Miami. I was around 5 months pregnant and we had just been on a 7 day Carnival cruise to the Western Caribbean. We had hoped to upgrade to first class for the flight home, but the plane was totally full so we resigned ourselves to a slightly cramped ride back.

My husband is 6’4” and flying is typically pretty uncomfortable for him, so I usually take the middle seat to give him a little more room to stretch out in the window or aisle seat. I’m so nice, right? Well, this would have been totally fine, if the person who sat down on the other side of me wasn’t a 350ish pound man.

He literally overflowed from his seat, over my arm rest, and into my area. Once he sat down, my left arm was pinned and I couldn’t move it to lift a drink to my mouth or turn the page of my Sky Mall magazine.  He was so large that he couldn’t put down the little tray in front of him, so he balanced his family-sized boxes of Pizza Hut wings and cheese breadsticks on his stomach and then proceeded to eat every one of them within about 6 inches of my face. I had been pretty lucky with my lack of morning sickness, but I truly thought I was going to yack all over him and his stupid hot wings.

Sadly, this is not my ONLY bad flying experience… my bestie and I also were stuck on a runway for so many hours that we missed our connecting flight to St. Martin and were forced to re-plan our entire trip!

So here’s to hoping that I don’t have another horrible flying story to tell you once I land. But, just in case I do, please share with me your terrible flying stories in the comments!

Attention Hotels: I have an Amazingly Awesome Marketing Idea

On my drive into work this morning I was thinking how it would be so nice to actually have some time alone with my husband.

Now, don’t get me wrong – I LOVE Jack even more than cookie butter on a spoon and a fresh roasted s’more all rolled into one – but we’ve had TWO date nights in the past 15 months. Momma needs some “not being a momma but a wife” time.

Then it hit me.

Pretty much the most awesome marketing idea that I can’t believe someone isn’t already doing. So if you run a hotel, listen up because I’m about to BLOW YOUR MIND.

You need to offer a “Parents Date Night” package which includes:

  • A beautiful hotel room with a king bed. Not for a whole night though – maybe just four hours (7pm – 11pm would be perfect) because it’s hard to find an overnight babysitter.
  • A fantastic dinner delivered right to the room at a set time. I’m thinking some kind of surf and turf deliciousness with a bottle of chilled wine. Of course there should be some kind of decadent dessert like chocolate covered strawberries. Oh and don’t just shove a room service cart full of food into the room… there needs to be a table set up with a tablecloth and candles.
  • A brochure listing all of the latest movies offered on pay-per-view that parents never get to see. Maybe they can finally see a movie without waiting in line and paying $50 to sit next to some asshat teenager that texts the whole time. Or watch something at a normal volume instead of having their TV on the lowest setting possible so that the fight scenes don’t wake up the kid.
hotel pic
It would be like this — our cruise we took while I was preggo — but fancier. And with more steak.

Imagine it… all you have to do is book the Parent’s Date Night package for Friday night and plan for a babysitter. Grab your spouse, check into the hotel and have a clean and comfy room waiting for you. You get to laze around in a plush hotel robe, have an amazing meal, watch a movie and have some (wink, wink) “grown up” time.

It would truly be like a little 4 hour vacation without really going anywhere. Bonus points if the hotel has a pool.

If this were offered in my area, I’d take advantage of it in a heartbeat. So, if there are any Maryland or DC hotels out there that want to make this idea a reality… please hook a mother up!

How about you, would you want a Parent’s Date Night at a local hotel? What would your ideal package include?