This morning it was snowing, and as I was walking to work, realized even though it was nice fluffy snow  (great for pictures) underneath was sleets of ice, yes I fell a few times. Luckily, I did not rip anyting. Lately, at work I am feeling as if I am not good enough for the team.  My big boss man, sends me stuff/information from my counterparts in the other properties and did could not handle it anymore. I directly asked him, am I just not living up to your expectations because I feel that everytime I turn around there is a new email from what they are doing?

His response, well that is a loaded question. He explained he was looking for ideas and such and guess what never answered the question.  I never really expected him to answer but he is always going on about reviews to let employees know how they are doing.  Well, I started with this company Feb. 9, 2009 and guess what still no review.

My direct boss, she has been working on for months, and she is out of town this weekend, I was on her computer and saw it but did not open it, because I know it must suck if I still have not received it.  I feel this company has no loyalty when I sit around the big manager meeting every week, and see all the faces have changed but 2 ( my boss and mine) makes me nervous, and alittle ticked off, because they hired the wrong leader and had her in that position for 18 months, then no one for 4 months then our new big boss.

In those 18 months we all were doing 2 - 3 jobs instead of the one we were hired for, and then for the 4 months interium we were each running our own departments at one of the busiest times of year for the property.  Then when my husband was so rudely ousted, he luckily quit first and was replaced with someone who thinks knows everything and nothing about this property.  I admit I felt defeated then I had some bad months in my sales but I seemed to have gotten revised in the last month or two and getting excited again.  I have been handling weddings for over 20+ years and admit, I feel burned out on weddings.  I really want to move forward in my career, I can handle it but no one will give me a chance due to never been a director.  I have done a Director's job for many years, but never the title and now that I work for a small boutique property they do not even have the Director position I want. What do I do?

Part of me thinks I should look around to move forward in my career the other part thinks this is the best I am ever going to get and you love the property you work at, why rock the boat?  I am not getting any younger and life is so short, should I take another leap of faith or stay put?

This is what my street looked like yesterday morning.  Up here in NH it really has not snowed since Halloween, a little dusting on Christmas but this is so much better. Personally, I do not like shoveling or driving in the snow, but business wise, we need this.  We also need the lake to freeze so the people come for the cross country skiing and the ice fishing.

Today, it was raining so now the snow is mushy and when we leave work today it will be slick. Normally, it is nice to stay inside and snuggle, watch tv eat great meals, but due to a mess up with my paychecks in December, we are playing catch up with bills, so basically I am working for a paycheck not working for fun or life.

It has been really hard on the husband, his business is starting to pick up but it slowed down in November and did not exist in December, so we ended 2011 harshly, eating burgers ( yes broke)..

Once, the first paycheck hits in February we should be back on track, so as I watch the snow fall I try to remember that it is only for another 6 weeks, we can survive.....

On our adventure back to New Hampshire from CT, on Dec. 26, we saw a sign for the "Smith Mansion" Historic site, due to our last name we had to stop this was the view for the parking lot. So peaceful and quiet, it was not open but we walked around outside and took some pictures.

We do alot of "drive by" sight seeing, we will stop and take pictures but never actually go inside the buildings or even get out of the car, it cracks us up for whatever reason.  Getting ready for the New Years Eve big weekend here at the Inn.

Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday!

On our way back to New Hampshire, I drove the husband to one of my favorite beaches, in Rhode Island. I used to come here every Jan. 1 and when Thomas died I came here, when my relationship with Scott ended I came here. This spot always made me feel calm. I wanted to finally go for a wonderful reason and show Stephen.  It was a beautiful day Dec 26, 2011 , a bit chilly but gorgeous, we walked on the rocks and I took this picture from the beach..

Well, 2011 is ending in 3 days and 2012 begins, it seems so unbelievable to me that 2012 is here, when I graduated from High School in 1982, it seemed so far away and unfathomable to think about it. Now, it is upon us and of course, makes you reflect what has happened in your life time.

Technology is a big part of changes, kids today all have cellphones, and computers. On Christmas Eve I was sitting with the young kids 4-22, and they are all sitting there on their separate phones, twitting, texting, facebook not really talking to each other. I had my cellphone with me then thought I should put it away to enjoy the family.   Growing up at these family functions we talked, laughed and no one was on their phone, has technology taken away communication in the normal way?

Even at work- my clients don't really call me everything is done via email. Even for weddings, it is easier for them to email a question and they can do it while at work and not have to explain why they need the answer right away to their boss.  Seems so impersonal sometimes and you have to keep checking when you send an email to not come off wrong, so hard. Things can get interpreted differently on line then on the phone.

So, we bought this "little" fireplace with stockings from Job Lot and I love it, even though it is small makes me feel Christmassy, ( is that a word).. We are in the Hampton Inn, Mystic CT visiting the family for the holiday and since, the husband and I are not exchanging presents this year, for me,  I want it to feel as much like Christmas without presents. I am not upset about no presents, just worry about the husband feeling guilty for our current situation. When you are starting a business it is tough in the beginning and I know in my heart it will take awhile for his business to take off, but I have full confidence.

He does not always like Christmas, and wants me to be happy, I just love him so and when we got married I said for better or worse and richer and poorer and really meant it.  We are young ( ish) and both work hard, so I know it is just a tough economy but you must take a chance to better yourselves and our lives.

I started this post before Christmas, and became side tracked.  We had a wonderful Christmas with my family and each other.   Now, we are back trying to make our lives better and to see if we can actually survive in our own business..

This was the beautiful sunrise over Lake Winnipesaukee on Thursday, December 22, 2011 up here in Wolfeboro,NH

This morning Friday December 23, 2011 I woke up to Snow! It will be a white Christmas up here in NH, we leave around 1pm today to go down to Connecticut to spend the holidays with my family and I do not believe there will be a white Christmas down there...

 Work has been really slow this week, waiting for the anticipation of engagements happening in the next week or so... Then we have Valentine's Day, work wise I love this season then my sales go UP!!!  What bothers me is the people who are Shocked you do not have that Saturday in Summer available, then refuse to be flexible,  Friday and Sunday weddings are usually less expensive and  you are pretty much guaranteed to be the only bride that day, on a Saturday you can not promise that, also if you really want to cut your list go to a Friday.  Sunday's are nice you have do a Brunch early afternoon and guests will not feel obligated to spend money to spend the night which is helpful in this economy. 

Just a few thoughts on weddings in this "ENGAGEMENT SEASON"! Congratulations to all the new brides to be coming up and a Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year...

It is the week before Christmas and I still have nothing for my mom.. Tonight, I begin my sauce to make my lasagna for the family Christmas Eve.  The husband is working hard to bring in some extra money, we had to tighten our belts this Christmas and now are just waiting for the New year and my paychecks back up to where they are suppose to be.

We leave for CT on Friday, to spend with my family, am looking forward to it... Hope everyone's Christmas is safe and Happy...

Christmas Eve Outfit

Ok, Christmas Eve is coming up again!!  We just colored my hair,and yesterday we were on the hunt for a Sparkly Shirt for me to wear with my winter white dress pants.  I really wanted a Green one, but one it is hard to find, especially with sleeves. I am not a designer but why are there no sparkly tops with color for adults not teenagers? There were some beautiful tops at "Maurice's" with one sleeve but again not sparkly.

Then went to Kohl's nothing!  Walmart/Target/JCPenney Nothing!  Did try Kmart and there was a red shirt with a little sparkle from Jacklyn Smith, but still not what I wanted. So, we went down to TJ Maxx my favorite store and we found (3) 2 black and one Gold ( Jacket), ended up with black by "Michael Kors", I love the style and the fit with cap sleeves but wish it had more color... Here is some pictures.

I just want to say what annoys me: People that for some reason throw anyone under the bus for what reason to better themselves in who's eyes? It is just so frustrating.

Why say you are uncomfortable by something you over heard? Don't ease drop....None of your business, or my favorite, their b**** about someone and I may make a comment and then I am backstabbing... I have decided to unfriend and block anyone I work with from facebook. I do not put anything on facebook but not going to give them a chance to use my personal stuff against me..

NEW YORK – The 13-year-old boy who admittedly threw a shopping cart over a fourth-story railing in New York -- striking a philanthropist mom of two -- cared more about his sneakers than the woman he nearly killed, officials revealed Tuesday.
"The respondent was more concerned with the condition of his sneakers than with the condition of his victim," city lawyer Leah Schmelzer said of pint-sized Jeovanni Rosario, 13, whose legal fate in the prank -- originally set for decision Tuesday -- was delayed due to lingering sentencing issues.
Rosario and his even younger partner in crime, Raymond Hernandez, 12, had spent their time at a Harlem precinct "laughing and joking," and showed "no empathy or remorse," following the Oct. 30 tragedy, Schmelzer told Manhattan Family Court Judge Susan Larabee.
"Am I going to be able to get my sneakers back?" Rosario asked as he was led off to detention, a police source said.
Both boys have pleaded guilty to dropping the cart over the railing of a shopping mall despite knowing it could seriously hurt those below. At sentencing they face anywhere from probation up to being jailed until their 18th birthdays.
Victim Marion Hedges had been at the mall purchasing Halloween candy in bulk for disadvantaged children -- and her own 13-year-old son watched in helpless horror as she was struck.
She remains seriously injured from a severe head injury, though prosecutors have kept mum about her specific condition.
"All we know is that she is out of the hospital and getting rehabilitation," Rosario's lawyer, Shahabuddeen Ally, told the New York Post of Hedges.
"I'm being told only that she is at the point where she has to relearn her name, and other basic functions."
The lawyer said Rosario is quite concerned with her wellbeing, and has written her a letter of regret that says, "I did not mean to hurt you," and "I hope you feel better."Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/12/07/police-say-boy-who-dropped-cart-on-mom-more-concerned-with-shoes-than-victim/#ixzz1fsswQKWP

"It is the most wonderful time of year". Today at work was Breakfast with Santa, it was quite the success, I truly enjoy my job when you get to see people so happy.

The kids were so excited and Santa & Mrs. Claus made sure each child felt special (as they are). It does make me wish I could of had children but since I was not blessed it is wonderful to see them come in and be so happy...

I love Christmas and with kids it makes it even more special...

I hope everyone realizes Christmas is a time for family and to enjoy the season not just getting crazy with presents. The kids actually brought in a presents for other children which to me really made it wonderful..

I was just on the Hotel News Webpage and saw this article , on a new service called Backbid.

I do not agree with this, I think this business is already cut throat now it is just downright dirty. We all know it will be a bidding war, I am in a small town and it is hard enough getting people here, now you want to put businesses against each other, and the real possiblity of putting a small hotel out of business? This economy is so tough as it is. Who came up with this? I know Chris Patridge, but has he worked in a hotel ? Does he realize the hard work and such...

The fight for guests heats upPosted by Jason Q. Freed at 12:00 AM

As if the street-corner hotel business wasn’t already competitive enough, a new third-party intermediary undoubtedly will turn up the heat. BackBid, just 10 days old, allows hoteliers to essentially steal—for lack of a better word—guests from hotels down the street by offering a more appealing stay.

How it works: Travelers book a room and then send their confirmation number to BackBid. Hotels in the surrounding area are then able to query guests from BackBid’s database and bid, or pitch, to that traveler with value-adds and private rates. The consumer can pick his or her favorite bid and change their reservation. The new reservation is pre-paid and non-refundable.
Chris Patridge, executive VP of marketing and co-founder of BackBid, told me he hopes hotels will compete with value-adds instead of discounts. For instance, hotels can use BackBid to learn about a guest who already has booked at a competing hotel in their area and then pitch a more customized experience. If the traveler is there on business, the competing hotel could offer free Wi-Fi or free breakfast, he said.

It’s a nice thought—but I don’t think that’s how it’s going to work. If BackBid catches on the way Patridge hopes, hotels are going to be undercutting each other left and right. I don’t think a consumer would go through the trouble of canceling their reservation and changing to a non-refundable hotel down the street for a free bagel and orange juice. But to save US$50 a night …
Fortunately, the system, Patridge said, is completely opaque. So if Hotel A sees that a guest has booked Hotel B down the street, contacts the guest via email through BackBid and convinces the guest to change his reservation to Hotel A, Hotel B will never find out. At least theoretically.
Patridge says the system is set up to allow hotels to determine a competitive set that must have a certain amount of hotels. The hoteliers can create an unlimited amount of competitive sets, but there are limits on how many hotels appear in more than one comp set. So hoteliers won’t be able to gain proprietary rate information about an individual competitor or single out a particular hotel and attack it, he said.

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There are two ways hoteliers can offer bids: A full Global Distribution System model is a little less flexible on what kind of packages the hotel can offer; or hotels can use BackBid’s extranet to get granular by looking through the database and offering specific packages tailored to individual guests. Hoteliers can set detailed parameters for their queries—such as certain days of the week or certain types of travelers—and can automate the query-and-bid process to run at specified intervals.

“We hope that in the future both hotels are going to be partnering with BackBid and accessing reservations that are coming in,” he said, “so it will be a wash losing some reservations and picking some up.”

Chris Anderson, professor at Cornell University, said during a price optimization webinar this week he is “fascinated” by BackBid. “Suppliers have been very slow to adapt; there hasn’t been a lot of desire by individual suppliers to participate in BackBid,” he said. “As a consumer, you have a lot of flexibility with the reservation. At one level, we don’t want to reinforce that more with something like BackBid.”

However, during the past 10 days, BackBid has signed on 100 hotels, and Patridge expects to add a dozen or so each week. In the meantime, the company has developed an algorithm that searches a partner online travel agency for what it considers a “better deal” and then presents those deals to the customer.

“Consumers will always get bids either from BackBid partner hotels or hotels we’ve determined are better deals,” Patridge said.

In researching and developing the product, 85% of hoteliers offer rates that are refundable with no penalty, he said. There really is no downside to a consumer posting his or her reservation on Backbid, he said.

But I wonder if there will be long-term consequences; if the trend catches on, will more hotels offer non-refundable rates?

I know it is a dark picture, this is the hubby and myself at the Tavern to celebrate his birthday.

We went to the Restaurant for a cocktail first, then the tavern for dinner then after dinner up at the new place. I was upset at the new place due to the owner was standing behind me touting how wonderful his new property and restaurant is when only (6) People were there, no one in the dining room. He also knows where I work and what I do, how rude!! Will most likely never give them my money again...

Stephen actually seemed to enjoy his birthday for the first time since I have known him. Birthday's in my mind are to be celebrated, and he never seems to really want to do that..

Here are some pictures of the wonderful food we had...

Yesterday, was so beautiful on our way back from CT, we took a different route and came about the Wayside Inn in Sudbury, MA..

We had such fun, it was so pretty...

Well it is snowing!! Shocker! So, we are leaving NH around 4pm to head south the CT to spend Thanksgiving with my family... Once we reach MA it will most likely be rain, but how long to the MA border? When on a good day should take about 90 minutes, on the most traveled day of the year, how long will it actually take us?

I have had people say, leave at 4am and go down tomorrow, yes that will make a relaxing Thanksgiving... We have both been at the Inn the last 3 years, so this should be alot of fun!! Glad do not have to work on Friday...

Work is so stressful right now, I feel as if I am going to be let go.. due to being part of the "old" team... due to only (2) of us are still here from the old management team.

Well, it is (2) Days until Thanksgiving, and today was frost and over the lake was this beautiful fog. I of course, had to have the hair colored and cut before I see the family, so it is my new look, since I took my own picture I can barely see, and I am walking to work. That is the Inn behind me..

I just saw that Gone with the Wind will be playing tomorrow all day! I love this book and tolerate the movie but most likely will catch pieces of it...

Well, Thanksgiving is next week, how the year begins off slow then it speeds up! I finally went to a professional for my hair, especially since will be seeing my sister's and mom next week, and I do not want to hear what is wrong with my hair, eyes, and of course weight. I actually look forward to spending time with my family, but I stress out sooo much in the weeks leading up to it.

I always stress, work, home life, money! That seems to be my life right now.

So, I made an avatar of myself, it is horrible, my hair looks better on the avatar and I dont' have glasses, but it looked better this way. How do you make a better likeness I ask of you?

Anyone a new Hotel and Restaurant has opened up the street last night, and I went for a cocktail, pretty, new modern, and packed! Definately, huge competetion for our restaurant and for me personally, a big barn for weddings and I have already lost a wedding to them for next year. I am so upset!!

The person up there is from this town and has had her own wedding business, I feel this is going to be even harder closing. The husband is telling me to just do my job and stop worrying about them but for me its personal.. I do not mind competetion, I just get scared..

I saw this Article in Hospitality news Written by Jay Schultz, Sr. VP, Hospitality Group. Due to the fact this is my business, I thought he was so correct and thought I would share it.

Sallie Krawcheck’s departure earlier this month from Bank of America Corporation is just one more example of the ongoing difficulty women executives have had securing, as well as maintaining, C-level jobs in the hospitality, finance and real estate fields. Krawcheck—whose job was eliminated after running the wealth management division of the nation’s largest bank for the past two years—leaves a noticeable void of women holding senior-level positions in the aforementioned industries. One could definitely say that Krawcheck’s untimely departure is a classic example of “taking one step forward and two steps back.”

I was curious to know more about where women executives from hospitality, finance and real estate ranked in comparison to their counterparts from other industries. As a result, I turned to FORTUNE magazine’s current “50 Most Powerful Women in Business” rankings and what I learned surprised me. Aside from a few non-commercial banking and asset management executives being ranked (including Krawcheck at number 26) no other women from the hospitality, finance and real estate industries cracked the Top 50. According to the FORTUNE data, women realizing the most success worked in the technology and branded company industries.

Coincidentally, the same day I learned of Krawcheck’s ouster from Bank Of America, the September 7th issue of HOTEL BUSINESS® was being put to bed and page layouts were beginning for the edition you’re reading right now. Both issues include coverage from the Hotel Business Executive Roundtable Series. The theme of September 7th event was “Redefining Luxury: New Tactics for a New Decade” and on page 2 of this issue, you’ll find coverage beginning of the “Unconventional Wisdom: Identifying Brand Opportunities” Roundtable. Despite my involvement in the events, I was a bit surprised when I came to the realization that of the 22 executives featured in the Roundtable coverage there were only two women.
My initial reaction was to figure out what we were doing wrong. I wondered aloud, “could these lopsided figures be accurate and reflective of what’s really going on the marketplace?” Then I took into account the male versus female ratio at any of the hotel industry investment conferences: Enough said. Anyone who has attended ALIS, NYU, or the Lodging Conference can testify that these events are overwhelmingly dominated by men. Right or wrong, it made sense our events would skew similarly.

It seems that as an industry we could do a better job of recruiting, promoting—from both a career progression and public relations standpoint—and most importantly, retaining, the best and brightest female executives. There’s little question that our industry has a tremendous amount of female talent within its ranks, nevertheless many don’t seem to be staying for their entire careers or advancing at a reasonable pace.

Are women perhaps forced to deal with situations that men do not? Do they face some sort of ceiling as a result of an “Old Boys Club”? Are top graduate schools advising their best female students to go explore industries other than hospitality, finance and real estate? I don’t proclaim to have the answers but as an industry we owe it to ourselves to at least ask these difficult questions.

A few weeks back, my husband started stressing about Europe and our money in a national bank, he wanted to look into a credit union or local mutual savings bank, and we would move everything. Then life took over and until today, we finally made a plan an apppointment and moved our money. We still have to keep a checking at the Big Bank until Dec. 1 when my direct deposit will change over.

I was mentioning this at work and no one seemed to know what I was talking about, so I found articles about "Transfer Bank Day", and found one I liked, so here it is below...


Article on www.broowaha.com; Tony Berkman
Facebook Page makes it clear that while they appreciate what OWS protestors have done Bank Transfer Day movement was neither inspired by, derived from nor organized by the OWS movement.
While enrollment in Credit Unions has skyrocketed, according to the Chris Bowers a reporter for the Daily Koss, it would be invalid to conclude that this was the result of the Occupy Wall Street Movement.
The Facebook Page of "Bank Protest Day" which is to be held tomorrow November 5th specifically reads:
"While the Bank Transfer Day movement acknowledges the enthusiasm from Occupy Wall Street, the Bank Transfer Day movement was neither inspired by, derived from nor organized by the Occupy Wall Street movement, and the Bank Transfer Day movement does not endorse any activities conducted by Occupy Wall Street."
While the organizer, Kristen Christian, credits Edddie Cola for Use of the "Guy Fawkes" image ( http://www.facebook.com/eddie.colla ) it is interesting to note that Guy Fawkes has become the "offical logo" of the hackster group, Anonymous.
Kristen is clear that, however, that she has no association to Anonymour and neither to Occupy Wall Street. According to her Facebook "Kristen Christian, a private citizen and small business owner with no affiliations to Anonymous or Occupy Wall Street. While she's now a proud member of Coast Hills Credit Union... and Los Angeles Federal Credit Union, she's not a credit union employee. She's received no public or private donations for her efforts or costs associated with this movement. Every bit of work on BTD is a testament to her love for her community & neighbors. She genuinely believes we can pull ourselves out of this economic mess the big banks caused by investing in local not-for-profit credit unions."
According to Kristen anyone can join. To join visit her page on Facebook and she has a list of instructions about what to do including:
Research your local credit union options
Open an account with the one that best suits your needs
Cancel all automatic withdrawals & deposits
Transfer your funds to the new account
Follow your bank's procedures to close your account before 11/05
More people joined Credit Unions since the Bank of America Fee debacle, according to the Huffington Post, than in the entire year of 2010:
"At least 650,000 customers opened new accounts at credit unions since September 29, the day Bank of America announced it would charge customers a $5 per month fee to use their debit card for purchases starting in 2012, the Credit Union National Association estimates. If that number holds true, it would be more than the 600,000 consumers that joined credit unions in all of 2010."
Credit Unions around the country clearly are major beneficiaries of this move and are enticing customers to make the switch. While many in the Occupy Wall Street movement will claim that they are the cause of this move, it seems apparent that the connection between Bank Transfer Day 2011 and OWS and Anonymous are tenuous at best.