Flying With Class

Just read an article on Yahoo Travel the about the top 10 best airlines in the world. Now granted I don’t fly internationally very often--and when I do it’s certainly not first class--but boy have I been missing out! Judging by these photos I don’t even want to know what a first class ticket costs on one of these. And since I didn’t hit Powerball jackpot all I can do is dream…

Here are their top 3:

No. 1 Singapore Airlines

The Suites / First Class Cabin of Singapore Airlines come with your own bottle of Dom Perignon 2000 champagne to enjoy throughout the flight. Attendants escort you on and off the plane; then someone meets you at the jetway and whisks you away on a buggy to a "VIP Customs" lounge where your bags are retrieved for you and put in a waiting car to get you to your final destination. 



photos via Flickr by s.yume

 

No. 2 Air New Zealand

What is cool about Air New Zealand is that they Premium Economy Seating.  Although not quite first class, the seats are fixed shell design so that no-one can invade your space and each have 10.6-inch TV screens and bag-style footrests. The design allows travelers to slot tray tables together. As an added service they’ve added in-flight concierges who can assist passengers with making flight arrangements, adjusting itineraries, scheduling issues with weather disruption and managing frequent flyer miles all while in the air!               

photo via Via Flickr by PhillipC

No. 3 Emirates

Emirates First class suites gives great privacy when sleeping; the configuration allows you to get into just about any position you need to work or relax on the mattress and duvet with turndown service.  A ton of new release movies are at your fingertips with food and drink on demand.

photo via Flickr by orkneysports’ 

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

Just wanted to share a recipe I recently prepared inspired by Taste of Home. It’s a slightly different adaptation of chicken pot pie or chicken & biscuits. This is a simple dish that is easy to prepare in a flash, but has a real down home comfort-food feel to it. It’s one of the few dishes that adults and kids seem to equally enjoy. My daughter loves it and she can be a picky eater.  She even eats the vegetables (I think it’s because they’re nice and saucy). Speaking of the veggies, they seem to come out just right every time—soft yet still have a little crunch to them. It’s the kind of dish you could take to a grieving family or to a sick friend because it reheats really easily and seems to be a crowd pleaser. Can’t say enough good things about it so here it is:
 

Ingredients:

4 cups chopped fresh broccoli
3 cups of sliced fresh carrots
1 medium onion-chopped
2 tbsp of vegetable oil
2 lbs boneless-skinless chicken breasts
2- 15 oz jars of Alfredo sauce
1 can of Pillsbury Grands! Biscuits

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 400°F. Cut chicken to 1 inch cubes. In a large skillet heat 1tbsp oil on med/high heat. Add chicken and brown until no longer pink 6-8 minutes. In another large skillet, sauté the broccoli, carrots and onion in 1 tbsp oil until crisp tender 5-6 minutes. Combine chicken, vegetables and Alfredo sauce in a large bowl and stir until well blended. Transfer the mix into a 9 x 13 baking dish. Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly.

Bake biscuits according to instructions on can and place atop casserole. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

 Makes 8 servings.

Notes:

Try to chop vegetables as evenly as possible to ensure even cooking.

I use the Pillsbury Grand Flaky Layers Biscuits because they’re my favorites, but really you can use any kind of biscuit dough you prefer.

 

Buen provecho!

The Monster That Ate Thanksgiving

Last night as I was crunching on over-fried chicken wings instead of a big juicy day-old turkey leg it hit me. That darn retail monster took my scrumptious Thanksgiving leftovers. Let me explain…after Thanksgiving Dinner at my mother’s house our family sat around the table talking like we usually do waiting for our food to settle to make room for dessert. Towards the end as people started leaving my mom proceeded to promptly clean up and pack up the whole thing.  So quickly in fact that she didn’t even pack up any food for me to take home. You see she and my brother were in a hurry to get to the stores for early Black Friday sales. I thought nothing of it at the time and went home empty handed thinking I’d be back sometime this weekend and there would probably still be a ton of leftovers for me. But this is besides the point. I’d never seen my mother in such a hurry to catch a sale. After all, she’s no shop-a-holic. Then again, I don’t think Black Friday sales ever started on Thanksgiving Day either!

This got me thinking…if retailers realize that they make more profits by drawing people into the stores for Black Friday deals earlier than usual, where will it stop? Maybe 5 years from now Black Friday sales will begin at 7 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day! Who’s to say how far retailers will go to make record profits in a struggling economy (or any economy for that matter). Will Thanksgiving just become another retail holiday? Those who work in the retail sector are already very aware of the impact this will have on their family time. But will the rest of us eventually rush through or forgo the family time that was once an integral part of this holiday all together? I believe it could happen faster than we imagine.

Photo via Flickr by By Hotcouponworld.com

A Reuters article I just read on Yahoo confirmed that the move by some retailers to open before midnight on Thursday could put pressure on other retailers to do the same. They also stated that retailers who opened early brought in more non-traditional Black Friday shoppers—primarily families coming in together and buying more than just the "doorbuster" sale items. This all fits the scenario that played out after our Thanksgiving dinner. I wouldn’t call myself a traditionalist, but besides the typical December holidays (Christmas, Hanukah, etc..), Thanksgiving is traditionally one of the most family-oriented holidays of the year. Will the retail monster change this over time? I think it could. Keep a watchful eye. Five years from now your Thanksgiving Day tradition might involve more shopping and less bonding.

Check out this funny video called Sale Nights. It’s a song spoof of the hit song, "Some Nights" and an anthem for Black Friday shoppers. Enjoy!

Hola Amigos!

Hello world and Happy Black Friday! My name is Merlyn (but people call me Mimi) and this is my very first blog post ever. Gasp…I know right! Who in 2012 doesn’t have a blog yet? Well considering that there were about 450 million English-language blogs in the in 2009, I guess that would be me—until now that is. No sweat, I’m usually a little late on subscribing to social media trends anyway. It’s not that I don’t know they exist;  just that I’m usually too busy with real life to give a care about what’s trending in the world of mytwitfacebook land. But anywho, I’m here now and that is a discussion perhaps for another post.

Uh, let’s see I think this is the part where I’m supposed to talk about my dreams and expectations for this blog. Well, as you can see I’ve used this super hot free blog design which should tell you a bit about that right off the bat. Just kidding! I’m just broke that’s all. Maybe in time I’ll get something way more awesome-r but for now this is what I’m working with. So officially: I’m starting this blog as a place to talk about my interests and hobbies. I love celebrations and everything pertaining to parties, weddings and events. I’ll also be sharing some random thoughts and commentary about life (mostly mine). Basically the title says it all, I’ll be talking about life, love and parties—whoo hoo! Truth is I’m not really sure what this thing will morph into so all I can say is stay tuned to find out!