What a Busy 1st Quarter! My favorites TPS Kansas City in my hometown and AC Mall of America!!!

Oh my....what a busy first quarter it was.....SOOOOOO many awesome times I had on the road and such a busy time that I didn't get to blog after every trip and have just had time to get it together!  Here are some of my favorite times from the cold months!





 



 

I had the great pleasure of opening the AMAZING, AWESOME, BEAUTIFUL TownePlace Suites Kansas City, only 5 minutes from my house, I had a newbie with me who is pretty good :) and the GM is a friend, so it was a great opening with tons of laughs, lots of work and one awesome opening.  Of course we played banana phone and she was taking notes with the chalk board writer!  You give the GM one job and this is the chalk she brings us back!!!! :)

When they re done...I make them put their  finger on their nose.  Not because it is helpful, because it makes me smile!!!  And is always good for a picture!

 

Oh Jewels...she is adorable....that smile, that laugh and those facial expressions....she kept me laughing all week and is rocking it taking such great care of their guests!

They lost a TV Show Theme Song Trivia....they were sad!

Christy's team killed TV Show Theme Song Trivia.....they are giving us their best Charlie's Angels!!! 

SUCH a fun group.....Matt and I had so much fun with them! 

When you move tons of boxes to the storage on the roof and it is a bit icy and snowy....and the newbie gets to close to the edge....oooopppppsss....watch that ledge my friend Matt! :)

When the GM is cute as a button....this lady is one of the best!  Christy was super organized, had her stuff together, hired and amazing team, is great at motivating and inspiring them, they want to do a good job for the hotel, themselves and her.  I was so proud and honored to be able to help open her hotel!

Team Selfie! 

Come on Lorraine...get in the picture!  A whole week and we only got maybe one picture of Lorraine, the AGM, she wasn't into it!  But man she was so funny....and what a hard worker....we really had a great time with her all week!

Julie and I have the same selfie face!!! :) Mouth open....why?!?!?!

Look at this awesome hotel!  SOOOOO PRETTY!

 

Loudean sent Christy flowers for her opening, after they were delivered I took a pin before Christy saw them and wrote "& Kandi" and then sent Loudean a picture!!! :) :) :)   Do you think she noticed it was in a different handwriting?!?!??!

The hotel gave me flowers and I didn't have a vase so they chilled in my sink until I went home the next day!!!!

BACK TOGETHER!  Oh how this face makes me smile!  Maricela and I back at it at the AC Hotel Mall of America, we also had newbie Joe in tow with us....he's okay!!! :)  We of course had to find a place in the hotel to take a selfie...we found a few more but those pictures won't make the blog!

That Joe...he is a great guy and will make someone a great boyfriend one day!  We spent Valentine's day together and he put out quite the spread....sushi, dessert, a card, presents, a note in the lobby to invite us to join him, a trial of Hershey kisses leading us to the media salon, sappy music and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days playing on the TV.  Such a great night of food, laughs and great cocktails he whipped up as well!

Their signature cocktail contains a stencil that they then use a spray can (filled with WINE) to put this AC on the top of the cocktail! 

Of course they said we need to make sure that it is right and do some tests after hours before we teach the staff....we said well lets not let it all go to waste!

When the Mall of America has indoor go karts that go like 60 miles an hour and you are a competitive bunch, we make time to go!  I mean you know it is serious when you have to wear a neck brace, skull cap and helmet!

You also have to wear these little sanitary masks when you participate in some of the other virtual games at the go kart place, so we of course wore them on the way home like we were fighting crime! 

Saving Bloomington one street corner at a time!!!

When you get access to the roof and decide you need a picture by the giant AC Hotels cube on the top of the building!

B&F Team Selfie...and Mona! 

OH MONA!  Mona is their management companies HR, VP of all things important, Resident Graphic Designer and all around go to for anything that we needed during the week.  She spent a lot of time with me in the kitchen to learn the back of the house food stuff and let me tell you, she was a hoot, always good for a laugh and kept me on my toes with the questions and clarification of things I was training.  She was a great addition to the week!

Picture with the B&F Team....what a great group of people!  Hardworking, customer focused and so willing to learn and go the extra mile.

The Housekeeping Crew, I had such a blast with these folks and they where such a joy to get to work with all week.  Huge smiles, so proud of their new hotel, their new uniforms and did an amazing job of getting the hotel together.  Such a great team!

A little snap chat fun with my girl Mona!

When the Mall of America is next door you do some shopping, Joe and I tore it up at the mall the day after opening, Maricela had already left us or she would have joined us as well!  Made a few purchases that make me smile and feel like a big girl! 

 

As you can see it has been quite the start to the new year!  If you notice, my time in Vienna isn't captured on this Blog, I'll have to do a separate one later for it as there is just to much to lump it in here!

 

Team Meeting - I just LOVE these people!

December brought a lot of things and one that I couldn't have been more thankful for was a chance to see some AMAZING people at Team Meeting!  It was super sad because there were too many openings to get the whole gang together, but those that were there we did have a good time, and missed those that couldn't join us.  Looking forward to the next time we have together, even though now that the team is growing so much it is going to get harder and harder to get us all together and for the fact that we are projected to open 400+ hotels this year!

Chantel, Vanessa and I....two amazing ladies that make me laugh when I need it the most!

 





Oh Racida!  "Boss Lady," I have given her a lot of trouble this year over the fact that I don't report to her, but when it comes down to it I am super thankful for her smiling face, random text message once in awhile (usually when I need it the most) and support throughout my first year.

 



Get out of here!  This picture is the cutest and these two make my life so complete!  I can't believe I only met Tricia a year ago in the DFW airport, shared a Baylor game, took in Time Square, 2 baseball games, the list could go on and on....I feel like she has been in my life for so much longer and I am constantly thankful for her!  And the other one...can't believe this year it will be 3 years since she walked in the front door of Leavenworth to open our hotel and the rest is history...Reason #5445 I heart her is that adorable face!!!

Ben photo bombing in the background is the best!!!  So thankful for Queen Zirkle, this year I wouldn't have survived without her.  She taught me so much during my first 2 assignments and hasn't stopped teaching me yet.  This week was no exception when I needed to reach out to her, even though it was a stupid mistake on my part, she helped me out told me what I did and moved on!  I just heart her and whenever I get the chance to talk to her or even better facetime her it makes my day/week so much better!

Just a little stop by the Moxy for a tour!  We wanted to check out the ironing room!!!

Just a little night out in New Orleans, I mean what bar doesn't have photo props ready for you!  Well when you are in a pirate bar the of course do!

When you are almost as tall as your friend!!  Our little Chiquita is so adorable!!!

Charlotte - Dual Residence Inn and Fairfield --- Another One for the Record Books

What a great time in Charlotte with Tricia and Hope, and what a crazy hotel!  A Residence Inn and Fairfield Dual hotel, connected by a hallway!  The picture shows the Residence Inn half painted red and the Fairfield side painted blue, such a cool hotel and an even cooler staff!  Tricia did FOSSE training, Hope ended up doing mainly housekeeping as they needed some assistance in that area and I had the pleasure of hanging out with some pretty cool ladies in the kitchen all week.  The kitchen was located in the middle of the building a long hallway to transport the food to both sides, but the kitchen was huge and full of lots of learning and lots of laughs, music and dancing during our training week!  Also we got a visit from Tom, the VP of our department, it was so nice to see him and get to spend some time with him at dinner and around the hotel. 

This panorama shot shows the hotel from the outside, such a cool building when you drive up.  Then you walk in and some of the best people I have seen in awhile are manning the front desk, providing breakfast and working in housekeeping!

 



Puerto Rico!!!!  This lovely lady spent all week in the kitchen with me learning how to balance cooking breakfast for both sides at the same time in the morning!  Which means on scrambled egg day we have to have a pan for both the Fairfield and Residence Inn side, so one spatula in each hand!!  She was also from Puerto Rico so that is what I kept calling her and we talked about my vacation there the month before, her smile each morning made it such a blessing to come to work.

OMG...then there was this amazing lady!  Patsy AKA "Miss P", she made my day each and every morning and even made me shed a tear on the way out the door the morning that I left the property.  She is such a great soul, such a hard worker and the light in a crazy day, she reminded me so much of my Mom, I just wanted to take her home with me.  When I'm in Charlotte I have promised her that I will come and visit her!

We were so excited to be in this giant elevator with so much room for activities!  Not sure why the local Publix had such a huge elevator from their parking garage, however it made me laugh every time!

The night that Tom came for dinner we went downtown Charlotte to our large Marriott property, I laughed at their coffee condiment station slogan that says "Pimp My Brew!!!!"

This is their coffee area where they often have live music at the downtown Charlotte Marriott, it was a really cool space that I would totally hang out in!

Of course I had to take time to take a picture with one of my favorite people as we took a tour of the downtown Marriott, we tried to find our Christmas spirit in front of the HUGE tree in the lobby!

 



The night we went to the Downtown Marriot we had dinner there (I might have called ahead to let them know we were bringing Tom with us and they gave us the best table in the house!) it was great!  We sat at the end of the counter right next to the kitchen, we had a front row seat to all the action.  The food was amazing, the F&B Director and the managers kept coming by to check on us and see how everything was going with our dinner.  We had the pleasure of a couple of our old team members join us, two members of the IT department since we were at a dual hotel and of course Tom.  Such a great night and time spent with some great co-workers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friendsgiving, Kenny Rogers and KU Basketball ---- 3 very uncommonthings!

November came and went!  I got late the night before Thanksgiving from Butte and felt like crap!  I had been nursing a cold all week and the 3 flights to get home were killer on my sinus and head.  I was glad to be able to sleep in, medicate and have a day full of friends and laughs!

When Marks rolled to Friendsgiving in her button up we all decided to show up in ours!  :)  We are such good and supportive friends!!!

Very serious about our button ups!

Working on the meat for Friendsgiving, we had ham and turkey!!

We took Mom (Ann) to see Kenny Rogers and it was Saige's first concert!  I can't wait for her to tell someone later that her first concert was with the Squad, our Squad Mom and it was to see Kenny Rogers...she clapped and danced along all night, it was adorable. 

Kenny was joined on stage by the choir from Blue Valley School, it was amazing!  He was so kind to them and it was cool to see local kids singing some of his hits with him. 

We had such a good time, man he is getting old and singing seems to be a bit hard for him these days, but the stories he told about his life on the road was totally with it.  Mom had such a good time and we sang our little hearts out to all the hits on the way there and home!

 



When you are asked to go to the KU game and they are good seats and there is the promise of a hot dog, well you say yes!

We had really good seats and were so glad to take Russ with us and to see Marie in the pep band...they are awesome!

My face once I realized I was at a KU game and going to have to cheer...it was a great night and I even found the bench warmer to cheer for when he made it in for all of 60 seconds during the game!!!