GE Momsperience {My Trip to Louisville}

Hey friends!

I wanted to take a few minutes to share with you the fabulous trip I took earlier this week to the beautiful city of Louisville, Ky for the GE Momsperience.

“The What?” you ask.

The GE Momsperience.

GE hooked up with some bloggers at Blissdom this past January  to host the first ever GE Momsperience. Those bloggers hosted giveaways on their blogs for an all expense paid trip to the GE Monogram Center in Louisville.

I entered one of those giveaways at Kristen’s place, High Heels and a Hammer.

And I won!

Shut.the.door.

I have seriously had major blog luck when it comes to winning giveaways. My sister….not so much. (Sorry, Sis.)

However, I was a little unlucky when my camera broke two days before this trip, so all of the pictures in this post, except for one, were taken with my iphone.

 

This past weekend, I was actually in Georgia with my husband’s side of the family celebrating my sweet SIL’s birthday. It was great being with family!

So on Sunday, GE flew me from Atlanta to Louisville. I got to fly with a blog friend of mine, Tara, from Therapy4Roses.

We were picked up at the airport by our concierge. (I know! Doesn’t that sound so cool?!)

Then we were taken to the 21C hotel. It was an amazing hotel full of modern art, but I have to be honest, it was a little too provocative for my taste. However, the service was beyond comparison. They took great care of us!


I slept in the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in!!!

 

The first night there, we had a wonderful little get together over some delicious food…

 

 

And we got to make our very own derby hat with the help of the wonderful and talented ladies at Dee’s Crafts.

It was such the perfect “girly” thing to do! :)

And they made us these adorable monogrammed totes!   And guess where they got the idea for the bag and the flower….BLOGS!  Woohoo!

The bag was full of amazing items…

Funny story…

That night, when I went back to my room, I immediately noticed something was different.  I stood in the middle of my room a little scared.  “Someone has been in my room,” I thought.  There was a robe laying on my bed that wasn’t there earlier.  Someone had taken my pillows off my bed and put them in the chair.  I was starting to freak out.  I looked in the bathroom…everything looked the same in there.  But someone had definitely messed with my bed.

Then I noticed the chocolates on my bed, and it hit me!  They had turned down my bed for me!

I laughed out loud!  I’ve heard that this happens in fancy hotels, but I had never experienced it myself.

“So THIS is how the other side lives!” I thought.  hee.hee.

Then I was wanting something cold to drink, and I saw a water bottle on my dresser.  It was at room temperature, so I decided to get some ice.  I picked up my ice bucket to head out the door to find an ice vending machine, and guess what?

The darn thing already had ice in it!  Are you kidding me?!  I knew I was staying at a fancy hotel then!  :)

Whew!  I crack my thrifty self up!

The next morning we headed to the GE Monogram Center.  It was fancy-smancy!  So fancy-smancy in fact, we couldn’t even take pictures of certain rooms in the building.  Top secret, ya know.

But they did let us take some pictures of their appliance rooms.

We all fell in love with the GE Advantium Oven when it cooked us some delicious Filet Mignons in half the time.  This is the Advantium Guy showing us how it works.  {I really, really, really want one of these!}

We got to cook in the beautiful kitchens under the direction of their fabulous chefs, Chef Joe Castro and Chef Brian Logsdon.  They have their very own food website that you should  check out called,  All in Good Food.

This was an absolute blast!!!  They gave us our own GE Monogram Center aprons to wear.

We made frind chicken with red eye gravy and a salad.

Yum!

Can you tell that I loved it?!

 

 

We also learned about microwaves, refrigerators, dishwashers, and washer and dryers.  I was really surprised at what these appliances can do!  My husband and I have always bought the cheapest model of appliances because that was all we could afford.  But now, I am wanting to save a little more money to get a better product.  It will make life a little easier for us all. :)  And they look so pretty too!

 

That evening, we all got dressed up in our derby hats and went to Churchill Downs.  Can you believe this Kentucky girl has never been to the Downs?

Well, now I have!  :)  (I will share more pictures later.)

Here I am with my new, precious blog friend, Beth from FreeStylin’.  She is an absolute sweetheart, and thrifty like me!  :)

The food was delicious and hanging out with so many amazing ladies was incredible!  I laughed and smiled all night long.
The next morning, before we headed back to the Monogram Center, we walked across the street from our hotel to the Kentucky Museum of  Art and Craft.  We were given a gift card from GE to purchase something from the store.
I am telling you…we were absolutely SPOILED by GE this entire trip.  It was amazing!
Next, at the Monogram Center, we had a little wrap up session and some brunch.
We learned about lighting, and we had the most fabulous conversation with Wendy Burke Brown about digital and social media.  It was my favorite session of the whole event!
Two lucky ladies won a brand new GE appliance. (Nope. Not me.  Drats!)
But I got to ride home in this…
And yes…my boys think I am famous.  :)
I had the most amazing time!  And I want to give a special thanks to Megan Robison and Nancy Wolff who pulled it all together.  And I know there were so many others who helped out.

THANK YOU, GE! You are amazing.

Here is a list of all the amazing folks we had the privilege to meet:

GE Momsperience 2011 – GE Appliances & Lighting Speakers

Introduction:

Eddie Martin – Chief Marketing Officer

Range:

Ben Cecil – Merchandising Specialist

Susan Gregory – Product Manager, Global Products

Julie Muennich – Senior Marketing Merchandising Specialist

Shawn Stover – Product Manager, Built –in Cooking Products

Refrigeration:

Casie Banquer – Senior Marketing Merchandising Specialist

Rebecca LaRocque – Training Manager

Monogram Experience Center:

Chef Joe Castro

Chef Brian Logsdon

Entertaining made simple:

Wendy Sommers – Team Leader

Industrial Design:

Marc Hottenroth – Industrial Design Manager

Dishwashers:

John Nichols – Senior Marketing Merchandising Specialist

Paul Riley – Marketing Manager

Laundry:

Peter Pepe – Product General Manager, Clothes Care

Jennifer Schoenegge – Product Manager, Clothes Care

Raegen VanBogaert – Product Manager

Lighting:

Dawn Riedel – Brand Manager

 

15 Comments

  1. Loved meeting you in Louisville nd this was such a fantastic, well-organized event. Kudos to GE!

    Great post…Also? That is a sweet ride!

    p.s. I totally wanted to wear my purple Derby hat to work or school pick up this week but refrained. ;)

  2. Traci, it looks like you had an amazing trip, lucky girl! I used to live in Louisville and I loved Dee’s. I have a big twig wreath that I bought there almost 10 years ago, and I redesign it almost every season. It’s on my front door right now!

  3. Traci,
    what a wonderful opportunity for you and the other ladies. Sounds like a lot of pampering (choclolates and a turned down bed) and good food and fun was had.
    BTW, you look great with your derby hat!

  4. It was so great to meet you at the GEMomsperience! I had the same thoughts when I walked into my room on Sunday night!! I freaked out when the first thing I noticed upon walking in was that my ice bucket was not in the same spot it was earlier and my iPod was playing! Then it too dawned on me that I was in a fancy hotel and they turn down your bed for you :) Glad to know I’m not the only one who was a bit confused at first!

  5. Oh girl, it looks like you had a marvelous time! :) You are so photogenic…that pic of you cooking is so adorable! :) (and the food looks good too!) lol
    Hope you’re not killing yourself packing!
    Hugs
    Missy

  6. okay….I so totally hope you will not be mad at me for what I am about to say. I actually find this somewhat bothersome and my only question is this…..how did GE pay for it all? Did you know that GE did not pay ANY federal taxes in 2010? and that they claimed “corporate welfare” and claimed 3.2 BILLION in tax benefits in the same year?? I love that they want to include the community but I think the community would love them more if they were just as fiscally responsible as all the households that they want their appliances in. Please dont be mad…..I just had to say this!

    and ps: I probably would have gone too! ;)
    and pss: you look amazingly beautiful as always!

  7. Wow – what a wonderful trip! I have a dual fuel GE Profile stove which I love, love, love. It’s gas cook top with electric regular and convection oven with warming oven on the bottom – wonderful!!! Had one small issue early on and contacted GE by e-mail. They responded so quickly and were super kind and efficient. I would definitely buy their appliances in the future.

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