Tag: Food

The Possible Week At TPI Extravaganza

The Possible Week At TPI Extravaganza

Xamara L Maisonet

 

Last week it was TPI Extravaganza, a week full of training and motivation for travel agents. What that means is that our host agency Travel Planner International put together the best activities, conference and classes for us. Any person working on its own business needs to find motivation for the everyday life “impossibilities” that running a business can bring.The subject of the week was Mission Possible! So I am sure you know, that if you are new in the business the “impossibilities” that we mention earlier are even bigger. I am not only new in the business but also I have a full-time job that deprive me of time to work on my travel agent dream job.

 

 

 

Thanks God for this past week Mission Possible theme! It took me out of my routine, of my obstacles, of my stress and put me back on track. I know, it not only help me, that I am a rookie but it refocus those that are veterans in the matter too.

It was so good to relate with other people who are as passionate as me and with a lot more experience. I was like a sponge with a filter, absorbing all the good stuff. I met on the last night  a super nice lady , Lourie Gibbons she has been on the industry for 17 years. We talked, sat together, ate, rode the Everest together and while the night passed I stored in by bag some tips of her experiences and knowledge. I also met Mary Scanlin from Texas. She was energetic, retired and full of life. She gave great tips for marketing, branding and more. Another young lady that I met was Destiny Young, she was there with her mom and dad. There are all travel agents working as sub agents of her mom, including her. It is awesome that the whole family is involved in the business but at the same time there are all independents. I could keep mention some great people that during the week at some point or another interacted with me leaving a mark of their experiences imprinted in me. 

 

Beside the training and classes they also treat us like royalty! We ate so much good food like if we were in a luxury cruise! We got, food for our body and for our brain with all the talented speakers and suppliers.

We ended the week with our farewell party at Animal Kingdom, and if we were not yet spoil enough, then that night it did it. They had an exclusive Lion King show for us after the park closed and we were able to ride The Everest ride all night long! How cool is that?

 

 

 

What an awesome week! Now time to work and make everything possible!

Thank you TPI!

Until then,

xamlinnette 🙂

 

Food Tour in Winter Park

Food Tour in Winter Park

Xamara L Maisonet

Sometimes is impossible to be traveling 24/7 like I will like to, or at least to travel a lot more than I want. But thanks God I live in Orlando that the list of things to do don’t have an ending. No matter if you a tourist or local there are plenty of things to keep you entertain in Orlando FL.

One of my favorite places in Orlando is Winter Park, called like that because it was the “paradise park” during winter for a lot people from up North. Winter Park have this European look, with a classy feeling on the air. Nice, expensive stores and restaurants with the classic outdoor sitting. Winter Park is dog friendly, there is a bowl of water in every other entrance of restaurants and/or stores. You can see people of ages walking with their furry friends, sitting outdoors to eat and the furry friends could sit with them to eat.

There are so many restaurants that if you are not familiar with the area its difficult to choose where to go. It was my husband birthday few weeks ago,and I wanted to do something different. I wanted for us to try something new with the edge of feeling out-of-town. In my search I found this Living Social deal for a food tour in Winter Park. Boom! Perfect!!

 

Orlando Food Tour

We all met at 11 am at Prato, a modern rustic Italian Bistro. We were a group of five couples, I think and two tour guides. We absolutely loved their pizza! We have pizza with a choice of wine or beer.

 

 

The second place we went was the Ancient Olive, is an Olive oils and balsamic vinegar shop. I would never imagine that a place like this could be included in a food tour. Well let me tell you it was my favorite place. We were able to sample different types of food, snacks, dips, ice cream, drinks,olive oils, and more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went for a walk after our tummies were full of deliciousness. We learned a little bit of Winter Park history and saw some houses that could tell the story.

 

 

A wedding at Casa Feliz

We continue our tour to The Spice & Tea Exchange, this place is own by the same people of the Ancient Olive. Again a wonderful place, where you can’t imagine that you can taste so many good things. Here we bought some spices to mix with cream cheese and sour cream. We tried it here and it was an explosion of delicious flavors that you can eat with pita chips.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we went for some Thai food at Orchid Thai Cuisine where we had sample plates with different things to try. Then we went for dessert at Kilwin’s chocolate & Ice Cream. We finished our tour on a candy store; Sassafras Sweet shoppe. I don’t care much for candy and less for cotton candy that it was what they offered us, so that is the only part of the tour that I didn’t enjoy like the rest of the tour.

In general we had a wonderful time, I would recommend it to anybody. My next food tour will be on the east coast of Florida, when we do it I will tell you about it and we will compare the experience.

Until then,

xamlinnette 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Food and Wine Festival At Epcot

Xamara L Maisonet

 

It’s that time of the year again. Since 2008 every year I visited the Food and Wine Festival in Epcot and this year will not be any different. There is a variety of activities that you can enjoy, from culinary events, concerts, demonstrations, tasting booth and more. You can find international food of all kinds and of course beer and wine! If you happened to be in the area of Orlando don’t hesitate to come by and have fun. Here I share with you the schedule of concerts that are going to be happening during the months of September through November 2014.

 

2014 Eat to the Beat Concert Line Up!

Sept 19-21 – Jo Dee Messina (NEW!)

Sept. 22-23 – The Pointer Sisters

Sept. 24-25 – The Commodores

Sept. 26-27 – Christopher Cross

Sept. 28-29 – Hanson

Sept. 30-Oct. 2 – Air Supply

Oct. 3-5 – STARSHIP starring Mickey Thomas

Oct. 6-8 – Sugar Ray

Oct. 9-10 – Fuel (NEW!)

Oct. 11-12 – Sister Hazel

Oct. 13-14 – Richard Marx

Oct. 15-16 – Billy Ocean

Oct. 17-19 – Night Ranger

Oct. 20-22 – Smash Mouth

Oct. 23-24 – Jim Brickman

Oct. 25-26 – Los Lonely Boys (NEW!)

Oct. 27-28 – Wilson Phillips

Oct. 29-31 – Dennis DeYoung, original member of STYX

Nov. 1-2 – 38 Special

Nov. 3-5 – Boyz II Men

Nov. 6-7 – David Cook

Nov. 8-10 – Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

For more information of other events you can go to their official website

Disney Food Blog here you can find all kinds of links, information, suggestions, activities and a lot more… More than can you imagine. Its Disney! You know… 😉

 

Until then, have fun and enjoy life!

xamlinnette