Where I've Been - One Month Left

Hello AGAIN from Columbus, OH. Pretty sure this has been my most frequented location of tour...and let me check - Yep, according to foursquare it has been (47 check-ins here to be exact).

Well, I only have ONE MONTH left of tour now, which is so stinking crazy! And to be precise, I have 29 days until I'm on a plane back "home" (which is going to be NC at this time) and because we have to drop the vehicle/trailer off in Wisconsin & finish up work in Chicago before we fly home...technically I only have 25 days left of actual "event" work. I cannot believe that it's almost been a year & that I've been living out of hotels for almost ten months now. Ha.

I could officially do this at the very end of tour, but I feel like writing about it now, the "best & worst" of Map Team 1 (aka Team Jetfire) from my perspective & a review of the last 9+ months.

We've been to 23 states, driven approximately 39,000 miles...visited countless cities, (I) made it to 12 MLB stadiums and 2 Spring Training stadiums. Our most common event to do in our "free time" is shopping, whether it was just window shopping or actual shopping, we found ourselves in a mall in basically every city that had one. My favorite cities were, Orlando (probably because it was right after spending a MONTH in Indianapolis in February...), Kansas City, State College, PA & Milwaukee (disclaimer: when we visited these cities, the weather was PERFECT & usually the events were fun, which had to do with my "decision" on this). My least favorite cities were; Annapolis, Maryland...rude people, nothing special to look at or do, Wheeling, WV - terrible, just terrible...oh & I also disliked the entire state of New Jersey.

Let's talk food: Best cupcake (and we tried SEVERAL) goes to Smallcakes Cupcakery in Kansas City, which is also where I had the best BBQ of my LIFE...at Oklahoma Joes! Best Brazilian place (we tried a couple) was at Brazil Grill in NYC on 8th & 48th, most of the staff spoke Portuguese & according to Michelle, the food was pretty authentic! We had a running theme of finding "fro-yo" in places & basically Menchie's has the best. And the best brew I tried along the way (didn't have much of an opportunity for this) was White Beer from Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee.

While at work: My favorite event to work as far as the "cool-factor" goes, was probably the Jets/Giants Draft Party at New Meadowlands Stadium (aka MetLife Stadium). While I enjoyed working NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB, PGA, LPGA, NCAA & Minor League Baseball events...that one really stuck out since I actually got to go on the field (first time EVER on an NFL field) and be a part of the action, it was really fun! The most interesting event has to go to the Lunar New Year event in NYC, our very first event! It was SO different than any other event we worked & will forever stick out in my mind like, yeah...I just did that (along with driving a SUV & trailer through Manhattan!) Another cool event was the series of Droid Scavenger Hunts we did for the launch of the Samsung Charge...it was really fun to be a part of something so interesting & viral-marketing driven! The only "celebrities" I saw/met were, Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns while in Indianapolis, Jack Nicklaus in Dublin, OH and I got to meet Dan Mead, President and CEO of Verizon Wireless, while at State College, PA.

While at play: My favorite thing we did on our day off is when Kevin & I were able to go to Universal Studios in Orlando to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! I have a whole blog post about it back in March, if you haven't read it...you should. :) I also very much enjoyed going to sporting events, I got to see baseball games at Yankee Stadium in New York, Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, PNC Park in Pittsburgh, and Miller Park in Milwaukee as well as the Braves vs Tigers spring training game at the ESPN, Wide World of Sports Complex in Kissimmee, FL! And just recently I was able to watch the Red Wings take on the Blackhawks in a pre-season game in Chicago at the United Center!

The most beautiful place we went would have to be Traverse City, Michigan, and I would say it's because I'm biased...but looking back on all the places, that really was the most beautiful in my opinion. It also had my favorite hotel we stayed at...the Great Wolf Lodge, which we stayed at by force, due to a complete sell-out of hotels for the National Cherry Festival!

I think that pretty much sums it up for now, hopefully I can do a more complete overview with some exciting stuff to throw in from these next 25 days! Hope this posts finds you all well, MUAH!

From Here to There and Everywhere!

Hello from the car (that’s a first)! On our way from Annapolis, MD to Prattville, AL with a stop in Knoxville, TN tonight. Now, your first thought if you know me is…Knoxville, TN!? Like University of Tennessee country…Neyland Stadium!!! YUP! When I visited Tennessee back when I was a teenager, I totally fell in love with everything, the people, the schools, the football and the state as a whole & I’m still in love. UT is my second favorite college…right after my Alma Mater of course, Western Michigan University! So needless to say, I am STOKED about passing through Knoxville!

Now, let’s talk about Annapolis, MD. If I had to describe this city in one word it would be…rude. I swear to you, everyone I met that was from Annapolis acted as though they had GIANT stick up their butt! Ugh, what a way to live! But seriously, I did not meet one nice person there unless they weren’t FROM Annapolis! But, it officially wins the award for the rudest, most unfriendly people in all of the cities I’ve traveled to so far. A close second would be all of New Jersey, but to be fair…I’ve only been in the Carlstadt/East Rutherford areas mostly…but besides their people, their road systems SUCK…no left turns!? What is a JUG HANDLE!? I’m excited to be heading South for some southern hospitality, that’s for sure!

We’re going to be in the South for a couple weeks, we’re heading to work the LPGA Golf Tournament in Prattville, AL, and after that we’re doing a couple University of Kentucky football games. I’ll be experiencing fall in the South for the first time, which is almost a bummer because fall in the Midwest is my favorite part! I know that working at college football games is going to bring back a rush of nostalgic memories of being at WMU with my best friends in the whole wide world! Ahh, just thinking about it makes me miss those days!

Speaking of sports, we’re coming to my favorite part of the year! This is when baseball season is serious business, football season is underway & hockey is about to start! It’s even better when the Tigers look like they’re headed to the post season (magic number is 7!!), the Lions had a great pre-season & won their first game (even though they turned into the typical Lions & made the end of the game pretty nerve-wracking!?) AND the Red Wings may have had some crucial changes due to retirements, but we still have a solid program that is going to bring it home this year! Man, I love being a Detroit sports fan! I’m a fan win or lose, but when they’re winning it’s a whole lot more fun! I’m really pumped about the Tigers, seems they really have their pitching down which is what we’ve been missing for a while & I couldn’t be happier (okay, maybe if we had the Phillies’ record, but still).

Well, that’s kind of an update on my life lately…I would update you with the rest of the month, but out schedule isn’t posted yet! I never realized how much of a planner I was until I live my life week by week & sometimes don’t even know four days in advance what state I’ll be in!! Talk about anxiety…ha, I guess it’s helped me manage the fact that I’m no longer in control of ANY part of my life! And guess what…tour is almost over! Saturday will officially be our 8-month mark, meaning only two months left! Crazy.

I miss all my friends & family back home & am so blessed I’m able to have them as long-distance support when I need it! Until next time…MUAH!

::Update:: Made it to Alabama & am staying in an INTERESTING hotel...

BEST.WEEK...EVER!

Hello from Cleveland, OH. (Obviously I was elsewhere for my BWE)

As you know from my last couple posts I was in Orlando, FL last week...Best.Week.EVER. Let me tell you about it.

It started off with beautiful weather, warm & sunny! And as my last blog post indicated I went to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter! If you didn't read my last post & want to know all about that...please read it, it's worth it...it was EPIC. While donning a tank top through the park I started to get a tan which I worked on throughout the week while doing different events! :)

The next day was a guerrilla marketing day which my team & I promptly decided the beach would be a perfect place to work! So we headed to the Tampa area and found ourselves at Clearwater which was a gorgeous white sand beach! It was a beautifully warm day and full of people enjoying the sunshine! After we finished working we relaxed on the beach for a little while before we met up with my friend Jess & one of her friends! It was awesome to meet up with them, even though we missed the sunset by less than a minute due to parking :/ We enjoyed a couple margaritas, some amazing food & fresh air off the ocean! I can't wait to go back to spend more time with Jess...and Michelle & I have even considered taking up residence in the area as well!

While in Orlando...it wasn't ALL a vacation, we actually did work, I promise! Our event was the International CTIA Wireless Conference which was very cool! The product we were promoting was a device by Sony Ericsson called the Experia Play. Now, I'm not a gamer or anything but even I thought the device was pretty awesome. It is a smart phone that runs on Gingerbread (the latest version of Google's Android platform) and is also a PlayStation certified device! It looks like a regular phone with a slide out keyboard which is actually a PlayStation controller! There will be games available for download on the Android market that you can play right on your smart phone...my favorite was Madden '11...FIFA is coming soon!! The rest of the conference was cool as well, we got to see the latest in wireless technology including 3D phones, new 4G phones & the newest Samsung Galaxy tablets. That was just the tip of the iceberg too, there was SO much going on there I didn't even get to see it all. The event lasted three days & after each day I relaxed at the pool & took advantage of the weather and ran a couple miles in shorts and a tshirt!!

Our last day in Orlando was a day off & oh how amazing it was! It started off by me renting a car from Enterprise & when I made my reservation I requested an American made car, which apparently the two men at the office found funny. They asked where I was heading & I told them Lakeland so they assumed I wanted an American car because Lakeland is a 'country' area & I wanted to fit in...but it is really because American cars are better. :) They were about to give me a Chevy Impala when I inquired about the Dodge Challenger out front & both were surprised that that was the car I wanted...but BOY did I want that car & I got it! So I headed out to Lakeland to visit Joker Marchent Stadium, even though the Tigers weren't playing there that day, I just wanted to check out the field. While on the highway I got PLENTY of looks in my sweet car while I was jamming to some music, my favorite songs to hear was Keri Hilson's "Pretty Girl Rock" and Eminem's "Lose Yourself"...awesome songs to rock out to! As soon as I parked my car a man came out from the field & I thought for sure he was going to tell me I couldn't park there but he just gave me a smile & said, "Nice car"...I returned the smile & just said, "Thanks"...I mean, no one needed to know it was rented, right? (I also got several other compliments on my car...it might be a good investment for me in the near future!) So I walked around the park, took some photos & then headed off to Kissimmee where I was ready for a baseball game!

I went to Champion Stadium at ESPN's Wide World of Sports for a Tiger's game against the Atlanta Braves, which just so happen to be my favorite two teams! As soon as I walked into the stadium I could smell baseball, between the grass, hot dogs, beer & a faint smell of leather...I was right where I needed to be! I got myself a PBR & found my seat next to a wonderful old man from Michigan, transplanted to Orlando. He & I had great conversations about Kalamazoo, Detroit & of course the Tigers as he used to be in the farm system back in the day & because of Willie Horton, didn't make it on the team! On my other side were a couple guys, one who used to play college baseball & described how much he missed the game which brought me to miss playing ball too. I was on cloud 9 though with PBR in hand, the sun going down & baseball in my sight...it definitely made for an awesome end to an awesome week. The Tigers lost the game and actually didn't play all that well, but they were also finalizing their rotation & line up...I'm not worried.

If that wasn't a great ending...being able to spend a day and a half in Charlotte was! As we were heading back to the Midwest, our half way point just happened to be in Charlotte!! So, Kevin & Michelle dropped me off & I spent some much needed family time with Ellie, Stef, Nick & Gabbers. As soon as I got in Nick had the Red Wings game taped & a Bell's beer chilling in the fridge, just like before! I also got to see Stef & Nick's new house and my/Linda's new bedroom (for when I'm done with the tour)...I LOVE IT! I was sad to leave, but very happy to see my little Boo-Boo!!!! Our first event was a Blue Jackets game in Columbus & I was also able to meet up with my bud Shulack while there for a few days which was awesome, tomorrow's event is the Cleveland Indian's opening day game...MORE BASEBALL!!! <3

Overall, you put that mix of things together & I look at my life & just see how amazingly blessed I am! It's a little early in the tour to say it was the best week of the whole tour, I think it's my goal to top it in the next eight months!! :)

As I sit here watching baseball, enjoying an Oberon...I hope y'all have your BEST.WEEK.EVER soon! Muah!

P.S. A special shout out to my dear friend Jess Waugh...CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR ENGAGEMENT!!!! <3 I can't wait for the wedding!

After Parties, Vegas Hopes & Eight States Later...

Hello from Orlando!

Last time I posted I was in Indianapolis, Indiana for the Big Ten Basketball tournament! That seems like ages ago even though it was less than a week! So, again...sad to report OSU swept the Big Ten tournament...the men played great as well & won. ANYWAY...the fun part was the Big Ten after party we were invited to! We weren't told what the appropriate dress code was for the event, so we played it safe & dressed up...and BOY, did we overdress!! We walked into a room full of people who probably had been in suits all week working for the tournament & were now all in jeans & their favorite team's tshirt! As Michelle & I walked through the room in our dresses & Kevin in his stylin' outfit...we definitely turned some heads! LOL. Overall the party turned out to be a blast! We hit the dance floor & had a lot of fun, but the OSU fans showed everyone up with the cutest little boy that was "break dancing" and an older, rather portly guy that was also breakin' it down! Both were very entertaining as were all the other dancers on the floor! I got to share a moment with some MSU fans as the band played Journey's, "Don't Stop Believin" and we all belted out the line, "just a city boy, born & raised in SOUTH DETROIT"! It definitely made me miss home, especially the good times it reminded me of with Mel & Maris (miss you girls!) I also got a chance to meet up with my friend Gina from High School who was in town for the tourney, so fun!!

After Indy we got word we were heading to LAS VEGAS! We thought it was too good to be true, but we headed West & planned a stop in Kansas City & one in Denver before we landed in Sin City. We had a great, successful day of marketing some of our new products to the folks of Kansas City & got to enjoy the gorgeous 70 degree, sunny weather while we worked! As we were about to head West to Denver we got a call that we were being re-routed to Orlando (see, it WAS too good to be true!) I was pretty bummed because I wanted to see Colorado & even more...one of my best friends from High School, Tory! We were both really disappointed that didn't work out, but that's my life these days...gotta go where the wind blows! So, off to Orlando it was!

We stayed the night in Nashville, which was St. Patrick's Day! We had been driving all day & planned to leave fairly early the next day, so I settled for a Guinness at the hotel bar instead of going into the city...but man, I need to spend some time there, Nashville is such a fun city, Tennessee in general is awesome, traveling through it was gorgeous! Overall, traveling from Indy to Orlando we passed through eight states! Craziness!

Another great thing about our recent travels is that I got to stop at three more baseball stadiums! Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Busch Stadium in St. Louis & Turner Field in Atlanta! The Braves are my second favorite baseball team so I was really pumped to stop there! So that brings my current total to eight stadiums on the road! Since we're in Florida & SO CLOSE to spring training...I'm really hoping we get a day off so I can go to a Tigers game, even if I don't get to visit Joker Marchant Stadium...any field will do for me to see my boys!

Well, this was just an update on my life on the road I suppose. Some of you are probably wondering why I didn't mention "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter"...that deserves a blog post of it's own, stay tuned. For now, love y'all! Muah!

Perks of a Nomadic Lifestyle

Hello from Poughkeepsie, NY!

Well, I had a day off so I thought I would post another update...LUCK YOU! :)

Michelle, Kevin & I made a 2 hour drive to Washington, DC on our last day off & had a great day! The weather was a serious gift from God, sunny and mid-upper 50's! We were able to visit most of the "touristy" sites like; Washington Monument, White House, National Museum of Natural History, National Air & Space Museum, war memorials, Lincoln Memorial, National Mall...etc. We were really only there for 3.5 hrs or so, but we walked fast, took quick photos & moved onto the next site! Michelle & Kevin had both been before, so I (again) was the one wanting to see all the sites! After our quick day of sight-seeing, I left Kevin & Michelle to have dinner in DC while I went out to Arlington, VA to have dinner with Beebs & Adie (and Mr. Bebe) at Pie-Tanza (www.pie-tanza.com) which had INCREDIBLE food! Adie was working, so Beebs, Jason & I had dinner while she stopped by the table as often as she could to chat with us! It was SO FUN! It was like catching up with old friends! I feel bad though, I was so excited I don't even know if Beebs, Jason or Adie ever got a word in! Haha! I'm so glad I got a chance to meet up with all of them though, it was SO fun & I can't wait for the day when we can actually spend some time together!

The next day was a drive day for us & my team is so supportive of my love for baseball we detoured a little to go see the Washington Nationals Park!! That's five parks in like three weeks, ahh, makes me so happy! Speaking of baseball...pitchers & catchers have reported to Lakeland & Spring Training is RIGHT around the corner!! I need to figure out how to subscribe to mlbtv or something so I can be sure to catch ALL of the Tigers games possible while on the road! I hope I'm able to visit a couple cities & see some baseball games while I'm traveling instead of JUST visiting the stadiums. :)

So, I had my first weigh in since my initial one...and I gained, BUT I was kind of expecting it because I had also worked out the day before for the first time in a while...and we did a ton of walking in DC...and I may or may not have eaten a whole (fairly small & thin) pizza at dinner with Beebs & Adie! ...and then had an icecream sandwhich! OOPS! Oh well, I stayed within my Points Plus!! And speaking of WW, I've been really trying to adjust to this nomadic lifestyle of mine by making time to visit the hotel gym whenever possible. Most gyms have at least a room with an eliptical or treadmill in them, so I do what I can when I can & my goal is to work out three times a week, but some weeks I physically can't do it & other weeks I'm sure I'll be able to do more! Also, since I know some places we visit are KNOWN for their food I've been making a point to eat a light breakfast, which mostly consists of a yogurt or oatmeal & a piece or two of fruit! Unless we go somewhere special for lunch, I've been sticking to Subway or using my eTools to find healthy options at other places we go. I'm determined to make this work...so, it's gonna work! Haha.

Today has been a low-key, relaxing day off...mostly because there isn't much to do in Poughkeepsie & Boston (the only city we thought we might want to go to around here) is four hours away. So, we turned it into a "pamper" day! I took a long, hot shower & am about to do my nails & Michelle got her hair done...and then in an hour or so we're all going to the salon/spa to get pedis, massages, hair, etc done, I can't wait!

Hope all is well with all my readers, if there is anything you're curious about in my life right now or just want to ask me questions, feel free to email me at any time (collinsm227@gmail.com) or comment on a post! I miss all of my friends & family! Love you all!! Muah!

Empire State of Mind

Hello from Baltimore! Yeah...I've left NYC already & haven't blogged about it yet! I'm a terrible blogger! BUT, in my defense it was launch week & we were SO busy I didn't really have time to blog. I have time now & that's what I plan to do!

We got into New Jersey (which is where we stayed) on February 1, just beating out the terrible weather that presented problems for our West & South teams! I didn't get to go into Manhattan until THURSDAY! It was killing me to see the city & it was right at my fingertips, but we had so much work to do. Our first event was Thursday, the Lunar New Year in Chinatown. So, I got to go into the city, but straight to Chinatown & straight out. The event was interesting though, quite a language barrier as most of our consumers did not speak English! We were finally able to make it into the city to see Time Square & eat at an amazing Brazilian restaurant, Michelle ensured us it was authentic & it was seriously delicious...and we had 10 different kinds of meat, among other things! We had another event in Chinatown on Sunday that was a much younger crowd, which made communicating a lot easier. Friday we went to Soho & stopped in the Dash boutique, no Kardashian sightings & no souveniers either...$60 for a "Dash" tshirt...I'll pass. But the employees, the "Dash Dolls" had a ton of questions about our phone service & plans, it was pretty comical actually! I think they were more excited to see us than we were to visit the store! But it was a typical boutique, very expensive clothes in small sizes with a very small selection, fully equipt with Kardashian photos & $10 bottles of Kardashian water.

The food in NYC is crazy! There are so many options and so many places that are "special" or "famous" or "unique to New York" that it's really hard to eat well. I know if I haven't gained weight yet...I sure did last week. Although, my jeans still fit...so that's a good sign! I've made a goal though, to work out at least three days a week & I plan to strictly stick to that. Speaking of NYC & crazy, I TOTALLY drove the SUV & trailer THROUGH MANHATTAN! Most people would never imagine even driving in NYC, let alone with a trailer! It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, it was more stressful driving in New Jersey in my opinion! The people were rude & the street sytems are MESSED up. Haha.

Last night Michelle & I were able to visit Yankee Stadium & Citi Field, both which were impressive! Michelle worked her magic & was able to get a security guard to let us in the front offices lobby area to take a quick photo! I'm so not good a flirting to get my way! Also, today on our way to Baltimore we were able to stop in Philly to visit the Citizen Bank Field & get ourselves a Philly Cheesesteak! If you're counting...that's three baseball stadiums in two days, I'm on cloud 9! I'm hoping tomorrow after we set up our event site we can stop by Camden Yards! I also want to stop by Charm City Cakes...which is where the Food Network show Ace of Cakes is filmed!!

All this traveling is fun, but it's hard work, 67 hours & no day off going on 3 weeks! And I miss my family, friends & my Detroit sports! Hockey season in NC was okay because Nick had the Center Ice Package, but roaming the country is rough! I did however find a website where I could listen to the games for free!! I've been "that girl" in the hotel room listening to the Red Wings & cheering loudly for goals! Another thing about being on the road that is difficult is not being able to go to church! We can go if we have the time to go, but like last Sunday we had the Lunar New Year event & left the hotel by 6:45am. Michelle & I are determined to find a church service this week. In the meantime I've been enjoying Lake Center Bible Church podcasts from iTunes! It's a little piece of home on the road!

Well, after Baltimore we head to Richmond, VA for a couple days & then to Poughkeepsie, NY. I'll try to update more often, hopefully it'll get a little less crazy! Fingers crossed. Muah!