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Recently Wendy’s asked me to come in and give my opinion on their fresh salads. As a traveler, I’m constantly on the look-out for good quality food to keep me fueled. So when I think “salad”, I didn’t immediately think “let’s go to Wendy’s” … but now I do!
And now so does my friend Sally who called me right when I got home. Here’s the conversation:
Me: “I just got home from Wendy’s – I was taste testing their salads”
Sally: “Hmm, I would never order salad from fast food place.”
Me: “Ooo, I just learned something new. Fast food is now ‘Quick Service Restaurant’ and their salads are awesome! ”
Boom, Wendy’s has a new customer. But we both agreed that the choice to also add fries to the order is pretty amazing. The staff at the Wendy’s on 6th and Logan in Denver put on a great demo – check it out!
Here’s what I loved:
- The lettuce is washed & chopped (using THE coolest looking ginormous salad choppers) each morning – it takes the prep person about 1.5 hours – that’s some wash & chop time!
- All toppings/ingredients are all prepared fresh in the am (including the chicken). And because the salads aren’t pre-packaged, it’s a nice peace of mind for vegans who truly want a non-vegan salad rather than a “I picked the chicken off” salad.
- The #FruitTea chillers in Strawberry Passionfruit and Mango Peach were a fun new addition – they use #HonestTea (one of my faves) – Both were great (although the Strawberry/Passionfruit was a little too sweet for me)
We tried these three salads:
Strawberry Mango Chicken Salad
This lovely treat is only available until Labor Day so you best head in soon. The combo of the strawberries & mango along with the roasted sunflower seeds, feta and Honey Citrus vinaigrette was perfect- sweet, crunch – all the fun sensations. You’ll see below that I have a thing for the Taco Salad so I was hesitant to cheat on my fave salad but I’m glad I did! (Don’t tell the Taco Salad, ok?)
Fresh Mozzarella Chicken Salad
I’ll be honest, I’m a fresh mozz snob and I not-so-silently judge mozzarella that’s not nice & fresh & sponge-y – this cheese was! Combine that with 3 lettuce mix (spring, romaine, iceberg) and add in the creamy basil pesto – DELISH.
Apple Pecan Chicken Salad
Here’s a quote from my friend Ellen who INSISTED on coming along for my Wendy’s visit due to her long-standing relationship with said APCS:
“I’m just glad I haven’t lived a single day of my 4th decade without the possibilities of the Apple Pecan Chicken Salad from Wendy’s. I could literally eat one every singled day. I’ll stay faithful to the APCS but that mango strawberry salad might have to be my on-the-side Salad”.
I see her point – that salad has the same combo of flavors that compliment each other – it has a super upscale Waldorf salad-esque feel but with pecans, cranberries and blue cheese to pop it off the charts.
Side Note: That Power Mediterranean Salad has its own special place on my faves list- really great for a post workout kick with the quinoa, chick peas, white beans & hummus (among many other ingredients)
My Thrill Moment.
The. Taco. Salad. Is. Back. – BOOM – this made my heart skip. I guess some people are only partial to it in the fall & winter months but, dang, it’s close to my heart and when it went off the menu, I was sad. That is no longer the case.
One more thing – they guarantee that their salads stay fresh for 36 hours (unless you leave them in a hot car then that’s on you!) – they were right. We brought home our leftover salads & were able to get our grub on the following day… yummy!
SOMEONE ate my leftovers (points at Lulu looking guilty)
And then there is the Frosty. Even mini-sized.. you know you want one.
Maven – Elevated Car Sharing Experience
Bloggers Note: Maven was kind enough to compensate my test drive – however, this blogpost is an honest account of my experience. All sentiments are my very own.
Ya’all know that cars are part of my Mia On The Go travel package and my recent experience with Maven was fabulous! I met the Maven representatives at the Denver Auto Show and was so impressed with the concept that I just had to try it out myself <insert vision of me jumping up & down and clapping my hands>. General Motors has created a mobile car sharing program that allows you to search your local area & find the car you want to rent from a cheap car rental. Super cool – just open the Maven app, search for cars in your area, choose a car and you can start the car with your phone. Cray Cray.
Here’s how it works:
Download the Maven app & get signed up. The sign up process takes a little time but that’s because Maven is super careful about the info you input – you are basically signing up for the ease of renting a car through your phone so you’ll need to jump through sign up hoops for that privilege! With that being said, I would suggest signing out of the app on your phone when you are NOT using it. Because hey, ya never know what happens if your phone goes missing. 😉
Once you get signed up, sign on, search for vehicles in your area, reserve it, show up to location, start the car with your phone and BOOM. You are good to go. Maven has built in chargers so no need to worry about your phone dying. On the flip side, though… keep it charged if you are away from the car. Obvs!
I was super delighted when I picked up the 2017 Cadillac Escalade – it was fully loaded and like driving a luxury tank.
Once you are done, drop off the car in the same location and end the ride on your phone. THAT’S IT! I love that Maven has partnered with the different cities to provide reserved parking too. Makes it SUPER easy for pickup and dropoff.
Find a car
Pick your location
Pick your car
Go!
— Mia Voss (@MiaVossOnTheGo) May 5, 2017
For a long term rental, Maven is pricey so it’s designed more for running errands and short term rides. The upscale cars are perfect for “must impress” situations such as realtor showings, business airport pickups, fool your date, that kinda thing. 😀
What started as an amenity to realtors in NY is now in these cities: Ann Arbor, Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, Orland, San Francisco, Washington, DC
Here’s another cool aspect. Julia Stein, GM VP of Urban Mobility (um, LOVE that title and that GM has females in the CSuite) recently announced that Maven also loan cars on a short-term basis to the ride-share industry. Steyn said. “You can drive for Lyft, you can drive for Uber … drive for delivery services like Grubhub and Instacart,” Source: This could definitely be a leg up for those who want to drive for income but don’t have the proper car.
Maven is perfect for me for my travels – hopefully they will be opening in more cities!
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I’ve teamed up with one of my favorite friends, Courtney Smith Kramer and Fanatics Media to launch a series about food and wine. WHAAAT?! My world involves showcasing luxury travel experiences and I love taking people along with me to make luxury experiences actually accessible. And that’s what this show is about too! Here’s a quick overview:
Getting Tasted: A series showcasing two women over 40 who like to drink wine, experience fabulous meals & bring everyone along with them! Each episode they experience a fun & quick education from food and booze professionals along with a challenge that puts their knowledge to the test. Each episode wraps up with the challenge loser subjected to a punishment designated by the winner. The purpose of the series is to make gourmet food and fine wine accessible to people who might be intimidated by it!
Dive in, dig in and check it out:
Big huuuuge ginormous shout of thanks to Fanatics Media for partnering with us on this project and believing in our goofy vision!
And now for a serious moment about fun and aging:
One of the main points of my travel adventures is to showcase that there is life over 50 that involves adventure, curiosity, fun experiences, wanderlust, and more. Let’s face it, women over 40 are marginalized in the advertising and buying market, despite the fact that we have a tremendous amount of buying power. Being “of a certain age” can seem scary. So I want to show that it’s fun. For women. For men. For everyone! So far, I think I’m getting that message across and this show will be a good example of that… Stay Tuned!!
I had the privilege to sit on a panel in Denver along with a great group of local YouTube experts who discussed various things, including YouTube views and likes packages. YouTube is NECESSARY for startups and our group discussed how you can use it for YOUR startup.
Host Anthony Prichard, along with the production crew, Mike Fox, S.G. Sharpknife and Scoop Nemeth put together this panel show for Denver Startup week. In the panel was travel and lifestyle blogger, Mia Voss, Google Partner and owner of Xcite Media Group, Klint Rudolph, owner of the Narcissist support channel, Tracy Malone and Matt Holmes of the Handshakin’ video series. Watch as they discuss, their experiences and answer questions about how to best use the 2nd largest search engine in the world.
And, of course, we had to goof around on set as well:
