Ever wondered how to balance an exciting travel schedule with maintaining your health goals? This episode is your guide! Join me as I recount my thrilling journey from a cozy coaching session in Atlanta to the vibrant hustle of Minnesota's Mall of America. I share personal triumphs like resisting the tempting allure of a Cinnabon stand, all thanks to my trusted Legendary Protein Pastries. From a picturesque flight connecting Atlanta to Asheville, to a luxurious stay at the Radisson hotel, I take you through the highs and lows of my travel experiences. Listen in as I reflect on a heartwarming breakfast with a special person and the anticipation of exploring the Mall of America while staying committed to my fitness regimen.
Feel the camaraderie through serendipitous connections made while working as a flight attendant, particularly a heartfelt "jump seat therapy" session where stories and photos are exchanged with a colleague. Navigate the large Minneapolis airport with me, experience the amusing shuttle confusion, and the thrill of unpredictable room assignments at the Radisson. The adventure further unfolds with a memorable day at the Mall of America alongside a fellow flight attendant. Additionally, delve into the transformative power of empowerment coaching with Coach CJ, as we celebrate strides toward achieving "freedom money" and the impact of a supportive community. Start each day with gratitude and positivity, and learn how to shine your light on the world!
Ever wondered how to balance an exciting travel schedule with maintaining your health goals? This episode is your guide! Join me as I recount my thrilling journey from a cozy coaching session in Atlanta to the vibrant hustle of Minnesota's Mall of America. I share personal triumphs like resisting the tempting allure of a Cinnabon stand, all thanks to my trusted Legendary Protein Pastries. From a picturesque flight connecting Atlanta to Asheville, to a luxurious stay at the Radisson hotel, I take you through the highs and lows of my travel experiences. Listen in as I reflect on a heartwarming breakfast with a special person and the anticipation of exploring the Mall of America while staying committed to my fitness regimen.
Feel the camaraderie through serendipitous connections made while working as a flight attendant, particularly a heartfelt "jump seat therapy" session where stories and photos are exchanged with a colleague. Navigate the large Minneapolis airport with me, experience the amusing shuttle confusion, and the thrill of unpredictable room assignments at the Radisson. The adventure further unfolds with a memorable day at the Mall of America alongside a fellow flight attendant. Additionally, delve into the transformative power of empowerment coaching with Coach CJ, as we celebrate strides toward achieving "freedom money" and the impact of a supportive community. Start each day with gratitude and positivity, and learn how to shine your light on the world!
Where will you take flight next? Share your dreams in the comments! #TakeFlightWithMonica
Speaker 1:
Good morning, good morning, good morning, good morning wherever you're at in this beautiful, big, beautiful world. I am coming, live from Minnesota, minnesota, yes, minnesota. Well, guess where I'm going? If you've ever been to Minnesota, what's the one place you should go to? The Mall of America. Yes, the Mall of America is here. It's attached to my hotel room. I am so excited.
Speaker 1:
I got to bed late last night after I did a really fantastic coaching session with Coach CJ. My coach said whew, last night was good, last night was real good, good. I arrived to the hotel room, hotel motel. Let's just say this is no Holiday Inn, no offense to Holiday Inn, but this hotel is gorgeous. When I walked in I was like what? This is the Radisson? Yep, and it's attached to the Mall of America. And I was really surprised because when I had my training in Atlanta, we used to call the Radisson, sorry Radisson, we used to call you the ratty Radisson. Oh, but this is not ratty. Y'all this I'm gonna talk southern now y'all it's not, no, it's not ratty, it was beautiful.
Speaker 1:
When I came in last night, walked in last night with my crews, I was like what? We just some pictures in the lobby. They had like this faux fireplace type thing going on. They had like these giant pods going on. I'll post some pictures in our private Telegram group and if you're not a part of the Telegram group, you got to go to takeflightwithmonicacom. Give me your information and I will let you know how to get in. It's completely free to see some of them behind the scenes. I'm gonna be posting some pictures in there about the Mall of America. I'll post some of the pod stuff and some of the stuff that, oh, I got the most beautiful, beautiful images flying in.
Speaker 1:
Oh gosh, where was I flying in? I went from Atlanta to no, it wasn't Charleston. Oh, my God, I must be tired. Where did I fly in? Where did I fly in? Oh, asheville, asheville. I flew from Atlanta to Asheville. Sometimes it starts running together. As a fly girl, I kid you not. So I went to Asheville and flying in on the 717 gorgeous, I was taking pictures like a mad fiend out the window and getting some great social media content. It was so beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.
Speaker 1:
I had a little sit, and a sit for a flight attendant is exactly what you think. It's a little sit, although this was not a little sit, I was actually sitting for over three hours. So I found a cozy spot, I plugged in but you know what? I was sitting right across from the. They were making Cinnabons.
Speaker 1:
Oh, it was torture. It was such torture and, luckily, luckily, luckily, I had in my bag because it's important to plan when you travel to have these little snacks because you never know where you're going to be at so I had those. Um, they're really good, they're like protein pop tarts and, uh, if you're part of my private telegram group, I'll post a little picture of the pop tarts because they let me see, I think I have them in my bag. Everybody should know about this, because it stopped my sugar cravings from getting over there and eating something naughty that I was not supposed to have. So these are called Legendary Protein Pastries and, oh, thank goodness, thank, thank goodness, I had in my bag brown sugar, cinnamon, brown sugar, cinnamon one let me grab my glasses so I can read it to you guys there's 180 calories, 20 grams of protein and zero sugar and whoo. And I was having those little cravings, like getting a week, and thought, maybe, maybe, you know, after sitting over three hours right in front or across from a Cinnabon place, I was getting weak. My you know my level of resistance was going down, down, down. But my mind is like no girl, no, we're working so hard, working out, staying in shape. We don't want to do that. So I'm really glad that it satisfied that little sweet tooth craving yummy actually. I felt like between the smell of the Cinnabon and that, oh, it was good. Oh, okay, let me get back on track. Let me get back on track.
Speaker 1:
So yesterday started in Atlanta. I had breakfast, a really wonderful breakfast with a very special person that I will chat with you later about at a different time. But it was really great. I was wearing my beautiful hot pink dress, feeling very sassy, feeling beautiful, feeling loved, feeling appreciated and, just you know, had a really enjoyable breakfast.
Speaker 1:
So then I hopped in the car, went off to the airport and then that's when I did something called a deadhead. What is a deadhead, you guys? A deadhead is where they are transitioning you to meet up somewhere. So when I say they, I mean crew scheduling. You're going to hear that word quite a bit from me. Crew scheduling, so crew scheduling that word quite a bit from me. Crew scheduling, so crew scheduling. They deadheaded me from Atlanta to Asheville. So that means that the crew that I was meeting. They were already in. They weren't in Asheville. Oh, yes, they were in Asheville. Actually, at the time I didn't know where they were at. I later learned that they were nice and cozy, waiting in the hotel even though the flight was delayed. But I didn't have a hotel yet, so I was waiting in the airport and it was so crowded. The airport is under construction, but people were so nice and once I found that little, quiet, little area, it was awesome, except for the torture of the Cinnabon. But the legendary protein pastry saved the day. It saved the day, so okay. So back to my story. So how the heck did I end up here getting ready to go to Mall of America? Well, it's something called reroute, reroute, reroute, reroute, reroute.
Speaker 1:
I was supposed to be in Omaha, and I love Omaha. I was planning on going downtown and doing some social media pictures with the cobblestone streets and the horse-drawn buggies. If you haven't been to downtown Omaha, it's a surprise, because there's two well, several things I love about Omaha. One is the Omaha Steaks. I'm hungry just thinking about it. Omaha Steaks, omaha Steaks are fantastic in Omaha and most of the restaurants there have Omaha Steaks. Now the is. It's cute, you guys. It's so cute. It's got like the cobblestone streets and it's got the horse-drawn carriages and some live music and some quaint little bars and restaurants, and I was so looking forward to it. I was.
Speaker 1:
I stopped at the store before I hopped the flight, before I got on the deadhead, and I found the most adorable, adorable, adorable dresses. And I don't I don't want to ruin the surprise because I'm going to be doing photo shoots in the mall. So, anyways, I got my dresses, got on the flight, was sitting there waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting. Finally met up with my crew. They were so fun, just young, energetic, happy, smiley. And in Asheville you meet the plane, they bring up those little stair thingies. Have you guys ever seen that? So it's not a jet bridge that comes out, they actually bring the stairs over.
Speaker 1:
And so the sun was setting last night. It was absolutely gorgeous. It was so gorgeous and we were doing like selfies and I was taking pictures of the sunset and it was just really beautiful. And then one of the sweet, sweet ladies that I love at Asheville they're so personable and one of the sweet ladies that's she works there at the gate and she helps to clean the plane. She makes sure that we have everything that we need. She was out there just chitty chatting with us and we were talking about the weather and it felt so nice that I had like a little fall crisp crispness, if I can say that word to the air and after being in hot lana and other really hot places, it was very, very refreshing, just chill. It felt just so nice just standing out there we're laughing and giggling and you know, as flight attendants, we have to wear our hair up, so it was nice just to kind of let the hair down. I took my hair down, I did some selfies and again, if you're part of, if you go to takeflightwithmonicacom and you put in your little information, I will send you the Telegram channel so that you can see for free all these pictures and coolness that I'm talking about. So we did our little pictures, we did our selfie pictures. I got a really cool picture of one of the flight attendants. Like I asked her, I said, hey, can I take a picture? She's like yeah, and she was walking away and she was walking up the ramp and just the sun setting behind there was just amazing.
Speaker 1:
So fast forward. We get everybody boarded on. It's a completely full flight and summer flying, it's going to be all full, full, full full. So everybody gets on, everybody gets situated, uneventful, which is how you want it to be. Let me take a sip of my coffee. Stand by Yum, and I have one. I have actually the legendary pastry right here too. I can't wait to enjoy that. If I heat that up a little bit, it is the bomb. Okay, so we get loaded up. Everything's fine, uneventful, all is good. A little bit bumpy getting out of there. No big deal, everything was great.
Speaker 1:
About midway to the flight, one of the passengers ding. So we go over there and she goes oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. We can see the northern lights. I'm like what? Get out? I'm immediately thinking where am I? I'm not like in alaska. Is this passage? Has she been drinking? I don't know. Sure enough, she takes the picture and she shows me the picture and you guys, my mouth dropped. Sometimes it's hard to see with the naked eye the Northern Lights, but the cell phones will really pick it up. And I said girl, can you take a picture for me? And she said, sure. So she grabbed my phone and she took the most amazing picture. I was like that is gorgeous. I went back I showed the other flight. I'm like you won't believe it, this passenger, she just took a picture of the Northern lights. What that is so cool.
Speaker 1:
So you know, we we thought about making an announcement but everybody was sleeping and you know it was kind of one of those. So I went up and talked to the lead and said what do you think Should we make an announcement? She's like no, we should kind of leave the cabin quiet. So you know, I wasn't the lead on that flight. I'm like okay. So a few passengers kind of heard the little buzz going on Ooh, coffee sip. This coffee tastes extra good this morning. You know why? Because it's in a real cup. I have a real cup instead of a plastic cup. That's probably all the difference in the world. Anyways, okay, back to my story.
Speaker 1:
So after that, pretty uneventful, a few passengers were taking pictures of the Northern Lights. It's super cool. Then I'm in the pictures of the northern lights, it's super cool. Then I'm in the back of the plane and on this particular plane we're on the 319 and the 319, the one flight attendant. We're pretty much like facing each other, inches away from each other. So so it was pretty bumpy.
Speaker 1:
We had to kind of take our seat a little bit early and we just chitty chatted. We got to kind of know each other a little bit more. And we just chitty-chatted. We got to kind of know each other a little bit more. I found out a little bit about her life and saw the pictures of her kids and it was just really nice and I love that about being a flight attendant that you make connections with people that you never thought you would meet and you learn about their life and just what makes them happy, and it was just really beautiful. She showed me her kids, I showed her my kids. Both of our sets of kids are grown. I have man children.
Speaker 1:
She has beautiful young ladies and we're talking about you know, just talking about life. We call that jump know, just talking about life. We call that jump seat therapy, just talking about life. And for some reason for some reason because most of the time you don't fly with the same person again and you just feel safe you feel safe to just have some jump seat good old therapy. But in this case we just shared life's joys and it was very special. She's a beautiful lady and a beautiful person with a kind heart and a loving soul, and we just chitty-chatted, it was a little bit bumpy, landed, totally uneventful.
Speaker 1:
So here we landed in Mall not Mall of America, in Minnesota, minneapolis, and so what an adventure. Once we got to the airport, oh, my goodness, we're trying to find where to meet the darn shuttle. You would think, oh yeah, that's super easy. But the airport is rather large. We're all fairly new. We've been with our company for between one and a half to two years.
Speaker 1:
So, you know, I got directions, I called the van company they're supposed to meet us and it was. It listened, it was over the river and through the woods and it was like, um, I think it was after midnight, it was, listen, it was over the river and through the woods and it was like, I think it was after midnight. It was definitely after midnight, but we found it. So we're out there, waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting. We see what we think is our van, but it has a different number. Okay, hmm, well, they said our number is this number, but that's a different number. So what do we do?
Speaker 1:
So we're there like 10, 15 minutes and I'm like you know how many crews are coming out here at, like you know, midnight. So I decided to walk over you guys, that was our van, and I go, uh, are you waiting for crew? Da, da, da. And they're like, yeah, uh, are you waiting for her crew? And they're like, yeah, and I'm thinking like we're the flight crew, only flight crew in uniform, standing out there. You're sitting over here, like what do you think to be like, hey, are you flight crew? But no, does he get up out of the car and be like are you flight crew? No, so, thank goodness, I walked over and was like, okay, are you like? Yes, silly, silly, silly, silly.
Speaker 1:
So we get in the van. It's a short, like I don't know 10, 15 minutes to the hotel, which was really awesome. And then we walked into, not the ratty radisson, but beautiful radisson and it was very gorgeous. Like you got to see these pictures, the lighting they had, and, uh, man, I was just snapping pictures away and then, uh, that one little area that was just adorable was a kind of roped off and the security guard was standing there and he's like go ahead. And I'm like, really, he's like, yes, go ahead. So I went in there. It was awesome, we did some little pictures and, just you know, our lead was checking us in, getting us all situated, which was really nice.
Speaker 1:
She got us all situated off, we went to our rooms and that it's like Christmas surprise, when you get to the room, you don't know if you're gonna get the gag gift. You don't know if you're gonna get that oh my gosh gift. You don't know if you're gonna have gourmet coffee in the room. You don't know if you're gonna have robe and slippers and luxurious lotions and luxurious soaps. You don't know if you're gonna have one bed. You don't know if you're going to have one bed. You don't know if you're going to have two beds, because we don't get to say so. It's always a surprise, like Christmas. It's a package. It's a package waiting to be opened, because it's not like you did all your homework, you studied it, you read all the reviews. No, no, you don't even know you might be getting you know.
Speaker 1:
As a matter of fact, I haven't even looked out the window. Let me see what my view is today. I'm looking out the window. It's a rooftop. That is my view. It's a rooftop. But sometimes I look out that window and my mouth drops open and I'll be like, oh, I'm in paradise, paradise. And I can't wait to share with you some of the stories and adventures of some of those paradise layovers, like San Juan oh, san Juan. Puerto Rico oh, my goodness you guys. Now that was a view to wake up to. Oh, that coffee is so good.
Speaker 1:
I am excited. I'm ready to get my shower, I'm ready to get my day going and I'm ready to go to the mall of america. And what's really cool is my other fly girl that we we were having like jump seat therapy with last night. She's gonna go with me and she's going to go with me and she's never been to the Mall of America and she's excited and I'm excited. And I haven't been here for years. It's been my training with my other company when I graduated. We came here and we all rode the roller coaster rides and we did some cool stuff. So we don't have a lot of time. I'm going to get my hustle going on, thank you, Thank you, thank you for being a part of Take Flight with Monica.
Speaker 1:
I hope I make you laugh, I hope I make you giggle, I hope I make you smile, I hope I inspire you. If you want more, come on. What you waiting for? Come on, reach out to me. You can message me through so many different ways. You can go to takeflightwithmonicacom, you can on your social media channel. Here you can connect with me. You can connect with me on Instagram. Shoot me a message.
Speaker 1:
I offer private coaching, I offer group coaching and if you have some goals and you're looking to earn what my coach CJ calls freedom money freedom money to do what makes you smile I know how to do those things. I know how to inspire you, motivate you, hold your feet to the fire, keep you accountable and take you on your way to your freedom money, whatever that is. Maybe freedom money is hanging out with your kids more. Maybe freedom money is going on that dream vacation with some friends. I don't know what your freedom money is going to be used for, but I can't wait for you to have some. And, coach CJ that's what he talked to me about last night was the freedom money.
Speaker 1:
And, man, I feel blessed, you guys. I feel blessed that you're listening to me right now. I feel blessed that you took the time and you made it all the way through past 22 minutes of listening to this flight girl. You're taking flight. You're taking flight. In your life, in your actions, in your world, you're making a difference in someone else's world. You're lifting your spirits up. You're feeling amazing. You're feeling incredible. You're starting each day with gratitude and a smile and you are a gift to me and to the world, and never forget it. Have a blessed day, my friend. Tap in tune in, connect with me, hit a like, hit a comment so we can keep growing and heading as many people as we possibly can shine their light on the world. Much love to you all. Chat with you soon.
