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...

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!

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!