Author Archives: meganandeggs

Tipping at Hotels? Yay or nay?

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Tipping at Hotels? Yay or nay?

Recently Chris and I took a weekend trip to Las Vegas. During this particular trip we stayed one night and no maid service was required. No bed turn down, no morning cleaning (except when we checked out), hell we didn’t even ask for an extra towel. But as we were leaving I asked if we should leave a tip. This got me thinking.

Why’d I even ask about a tip? Is it normal to leave one? And how much is the right amount for a tip? Do I tip once or every day?

I began asking my friends what they thought about tipping housekeeping and they all had the same confused response. Well they’re doing their job, right? So no tip required. But they’re cleaning up after you. So then yes tip them. But in our case about our weekend in Vegas, we didn’t leave a mess and they were just setting up for the next customer. No one knows!!!

This note totally deserves a tip!!!

This note totally deserves a tip!!!

As I look more and more into it, it seems like really, no one knows. Etiquette experts and hotel hospitality experts all have different opinions about the situation but generally have the same guidelines.

In a USA Today article from 2009 experts suggest $1-5 per night is acceptable depending on the hotel you are staying at. The nicer the hotel the higher the tip. However a more recent article from CNN quotes an etiquette expert from Emily Post Institute suggesting that at motels no tip is necessary for a one night stay.

What’s my opinion? What’s an extra buck or two after I’m already spending $120 a night?

When I was in college I was a waitress at a few different types of restaurants. One of my co-workers once said to me, it is just an extra buck or two to the customer for them to tip us well, but if each customer gave us an extra buck or two, it adds up at the end of the night. At a hotel say two housekeepers clean 100 rooms together. If each room leaves a $2 tip a day that gives the housekeepers an extra $200 to split.

As for when do you tip, leaving a tip with a small note each day your room is cleaned is what seems to be the norm. That way the person who is doing the work each day gets the tip. Not one big tip at the end of your trip.

Fewww I am glad I got that cleared up. As for our trip to Vegas at the end of the month, well housekeeper, I now know what I will be tipping you.

Do you tip at hotels? What’s your general rule of thumb?

Challenge: Week 5

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Challenge: Week 5
As much as being active is important, working out is only part of loosing weight. February’s focus in the 12 Months to a Healthier You Challenge is eat more fresh fruits and veggies. I am going to change that a little since I already eat farmer’s market, or Trader Joe’s, fresh fruits and veggies. Instead eating healthier in general will be my goal.

This week I will shoot to not eat any fast food this week. This includes my usual Bacon breakfast Sandwich from Starbucks. With my new job, weird hours came with the territory. The majority of my shifts start at 4 in the morning and go to 1pm. So while the rest of America is packing brown paper bag lunches, I am packing breakfast and my snack is usually some sort of lunch food. This is why I love the breakfast sandwiches Starbucks offers. It is easy and warm at 7am when I am starving already.

This month I am also going to be continuing my goals each week. I want to turn these goals into habits and not just forgetting them after the week is over. So I will be keeping track of my goals in each weekly post and I will continue letting you know how I am doing.

What are some quick foods I can take to work this week?

Lemon Crusted Tilapia

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Lemon Crusted Tilapia

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4 tilapia fillets
2 cloves garlic
1 lemon
2 Tbsp butter
Salt, pepper, parsley
Spray cookie sheet with non-stick spray and pre-heat oven to 375⁰. Lay fish fillets on cookie sheet in a single layer. Squeeze half of lemon over fish. Chop, or slice garlic cloves thinly and scatter over fish. Sprinkle with seasonings and place ½ Tbsp butter on each fillet. Top with a slice of lemon and bake for 30 minutes.

Challenge: Week 4

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Challenge: Week 4
Chicago is a chilly 30 degrees today. Boston is a whopping 14 degrees. At home in Connecticut it’s 17. Here in Los Angeles it will be mostly sunny and 72 degrees. Yeah, I’ve got to say: I love living in Southern California.

Driving home from work the other morning all I could think about is how I didn’t want to drive across the valley (a whole 5 extra miles from my house) to go to the gym. I was looking out the windows of my car and it was beautiful outside. Then my brilliant idea. I will just run outside.

Chris and I used to run outside last spring and we had a few routes already mapped out, although I had never run them myself. Now that I am running more often, and it is coming to me with more and more ease, I was proud of myself. I’m such a go getter running alone.

As I ran down the street I found myself breathing a little deeper than I have been as I run on the treadmill. Ooh shit, now my shins are starting to hurt. Really am I already having to slow down? I’ve only been going for 3 minutes.

I barely treaded around a mile and a half long route and I was out of breath. Wow street running is 10 times harder than running in doors. Yesterday I went back to the gym and there was my nice pace again. I ran for 15 minutes straight before my cool down. I even went back to working on some machine weights and workouts I had done when I was in college. It felt good. I think from now I’ll stick to the gym, drive my butt the 5 miles to the gym and hop on a treadmill to do my running.

This week I completed my goal of 4 times working out. Next week I am bringing it down to 3 because we will be taking a night trip out to Las Vegas. Check back in later for a post about that.

Do you have any workouts you do using machine weights? Any suggestions to get my arm strength back?

Crispy Ramen

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Crispy Ramen

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2 packages ramen noodles
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
Bring water to boil. Add in two packages of ramen and let boil 3-4 minutes. Drain water leaving about 2 Tbsp in pot. Add ramen flavor packages mixing well. Add vegetable oil to frying pan and using a tong transfer the ramen from the pot to the frying pan. Let cook on medium-low heat for 5-6 minutes, flip and let the other side cook just as long. Serve hot as a side dish. It is easiest to pre slice the ramen before serving as frying it fries the noodles together.