What I Really Wanted To Be When I Grow Up...

Didn't you have to come down to your knees at one point in your life, and ask yourself "What do I want to be when I grow up?"

Back in January, one of my clients had asked me this and I had a brain-freeze because of too much Cheetos, I was seeing lots of orange. I thought I knew myself too well... but sadly, I had no clue at that moment.

When I was a kid, I thought, "I wanted to become a nurse, or a lawyer." Then when I was in college, I thought, "I wanted to become a flight attendant." The reality after college, I chose to go a different path, and worked in a prestigious 5-star hotel in Manila and aimed for a sales manager position, which had been the case as I had planned. I migrated to the US, married my best friend and made some of our dreams come true. So, I thought I already have a pretty good success story, but I was not convinced... It's not even close.

Let's go back to answering this cliche question of what I wanted to be when I grow up... This is almost like a very spiritual moment for me. I prayed really hard.

I remember my favorite Bible verse. If ever there was a case that every Christian should "own" a verse, here's mine: "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:11-13. I have this engraved in my heart since 1999.

It was truly an AHA moment when I looked back in my blogs and in almost all of my public profiles, as I found the answers there. Part of what I wanted to be when I grow up, aside from becoming a professional career woman that I am now, is to become a model, an actor, and a writer.

In my biggest leap of faith this year, I have planned to set myself to success, to empower myself to create opportunities to achieve all these lost childhood dreams, and mentally picture this happening in my mind and affirm every day that "with God, nothing is impossible" (Luke 1:37). To start living and breathing this affirmation, I have started creating a "Memoir" of my self, and bought my own domain, http://www.czarinatrinidad.com/. In this personal website, I will write my life's purpose and dreams... my own mission and vision... and it will be out there in the world to see on how God faithfully declared His plans for me.

Check out my new UTAH SAVVY DIVA Blog

As you can see, I did a little bit of an experiment here in my blog featuring where I work, and I was surprised that I have increased my readership just by featuring my resort. Since I wanted to keep doing this blogging of my work, I have created a new blog just dedicated for my professional life and my passion in promoting Utah as a travel destination, especially the Wasatch County area, emphasizing on fun things to do and where to go in Heber Valley and Midway, Utah, where I live and work! So if you like my Zermatt Resort Blog, please follow instead my new UTAH SAVVY DIVA Blog at http://czarinatrinidadatwork.blogspot.com/. See you there!

Me at Work (Really? Really!)

I have bragged enough here in my vlog where I go to work. Now, you're probably wondering what do I do there... Ahmmm, I chose to skip that part. But let's just say that I'm very passionate at what I do at work! (But then I tried googling my name and tah-dah!! I realize that I can not hide anymore!!)

Let's put it this way, I have a big responsibility at work. I'm very professional, highly motivated hard-worker, and I possess skills that's unique and out of this world! In short, I'm the Diva in the office!

Most of the times, I'm like a very, very plain vanilla ice cream, no topping, no coating, no nuts, no frosting, nothing too exciting...

And on a stressful day, I get easily tempted to be friends with Mrs. Doughnuts, and his wonderful children, Cookie and Brownie!

And when I feel like kicking @ss at work, I sing along with Katy Perry's Ur So Gay!!

My R&R Weekend at the Zermatt Resort in Midway, Utah

Last Saturday, March 21st, was the first sunniest and warmest day of the month. It was a perfect 67 degrees! I took a weekend of retreat and recreation here with a couple of my friends for a relaxing spa get-away. We started with an awesome Pancake breakfast buffet at the Schneitter's Restaurant that Saturday morning, then hiked around the block of Zermatt Resort, until we reached the top of the Homestead Crater just across the street from Zermatt.

I didn't know that I could be incognito for real to my co-workers at Zermatt just by showing up with no make up, with wavy hair and headband, and in my athletic gear! Not sure if they were still impressed with my low maintenance look during my weekend retreat (I usually look like a diva on a good day at work at Zermatt!!), but this is how I look then! This is gutsy of me to post these photos but I wasn't that bad without make up.

This was at the driveway going the hotel and conference center building at Zermatt Resort!

This was at the top of Homestead Crater with Zermatt Resort at the background. Awesome view of the valley from here!

This was taken at our famous waterfalls hot tub in our indoor pool area. It's my first time in a two piece swim suit as well!! This is my "polished" look after my three-hour spa treatments at the Zermatt Spa. So shiny and exfoliated! (Flawless!)
To give you a good summary of our R&R experience (facial, massage, body scrub, swimming, hot tub, steam room, relaxation room, fitness center, everything is included in your spa treatment!) at our Best of State's Zermatt Resort's European Day Spa, I picked our video in Youtube for you to see how you can enjoy your own R&R at this beautiful place!

Relaxing at Zermatt Resort

The best way to relax my dad and brother is to let them play chess, whether it's in our outdoor life size chess area, or indoor in our upper lobby!
My mom just likes to relax by just looking at the beautiful view of Heber Valley. She tells me how lucky I am that I live in this country, especially in this peaceful valley, and that I work at an amazing place. This is their view from their Penthouse Suite's balcony of Hotel Der Baer.

This is Zermatt Resort's finest accommodations! Penthouse Signature Suite with two queens is ideal for family! I spoiled them for a few days here!

This is our Spa Lounge by our Wellness Center. If you have a spa appointment, this is where you will be meeting your therapist. This room is so cozy and relaxing!

This is our Wellness Center where our guests can work out during their stay. We also have a big Steam Room, another relaxation room, and individual wet/dry sauna in the male and female locker rooms!

This our Best of State Day Spa! This is my personal favorite place. Last weekend, I treated my self to a 3-hour half day package! I got an hour body scrub, an hour massage, and an hour facial! It was definitely a spa heaven on earth! I deserved it!

When you have multiple treatments, this is your in-between-treatments waiting area!! When you buy a treatment, you are also privileged to use our steam rooms, wellness center, relaxation rooms, indoor and outdoor swimming pools and hot tubs! That's why people can spend a whole day just relaxing here at Zermatt Resort while being pampered! Click here to check our Spa Menu!

The best hot tub ever with waterfalls! This is inside our indoor pool area. Our outdoor pool is connected to the indoor pool. There is also a separate hot tub outside! Every hotel guest at Zermatt Resort has a photograph at this waterfall!

This is at our Schneitter's Restaurant where we have our Best of State Sunday Brunch! We also have the best Seafood Buffet on Fridays, and the new Italian Buffet on Saturday nights. We also have a Pancake Buffet for breakfast on Saturdays! Yum!

This is at our Matty's Bistro, our comfort-food resto just right across the hotel lobby. My favorite items here are the Knife and Fork Caesar Salad with Salmon, Chicken Burger, and the Reuben!!! We have the best french fries, too!

Come and visit and taste Zermatt Resort now so you have your own story to tell! My top two highly recommended activities while at Zermatt: spend a day at our wellness center and spa, AND indulge in one or two or all of our buffets at Schneitter's Restaurant! For more info, visit our website at http://www.zermattresort.com/.

PS: I don't really understand why I have my glasses on that day in this photo! I look like a dork! But I'm sure I enjoyed my lunch!

Family Activities at Zermatt Resort

Upon arrival to Zermatt Resort, our warm and friendly Bell staffs will greet you and make sure you are well taken cared of at the Front Desk. They will even take you (and your luggage) to your room and will tell you more about Zermatt's history, amenities and interesting activities!
You don't see these kinds of vintage cars everyday at Zermatt Resort, but this one sure looked good in our driveway!

When you are at Zermatt Resort, you have to take a photo of yourself at this signage! Manila, Philippines is about 10,000 miles away from Zermatt Resort, and that's where my family came all the way from to visit me here. My dad can tell you that it's worth the trip!

This is our 18-hole executive putting golf course, which I also call our glorified mini-golf! This is a great family bonding activity. It's not as easy as you think, but it is so fun and the views from here are just breath-taking!

After doing the putting golf, my family can not resist not to stop by our Best of State Bakery called the Backerei & Eis to have a homemade gelato!

We also have a life size chess (and shuffle board) area. My dad and brother love to play chess so they spent a lot of time in this corner.
This is the most memorable of all! Zermatt Resort is Swiss-themed, so we have a Carousel! I have never seen my mom and dad so child-like until they were riding on it. They said it was their very first time ever to ride a carousel in their lives.... Sure, we don't have this in the Philippines!
This is me! I don't really get to ride this a lot... But hey, this carousel is so much fun!! I love riding the wild boar!

Zermatt Resort in Midway, Utah

I found out that people blog about Zermatt Resort for the longest time. They post photos of their activities during their stay and write about their memorable experiences to share with their readers, family and friends. Today, I browsed in our TripAdvisor and I am convinced that I should blog about this beautiful place because this is where I work everyday and I love everything about Zermatt Resort, from its wonderful location at one of America's most pristine valleys (Heber Valley) to the best hotel employees I have ever worked with in the past 14 years.

So, I am revealing half of my identity here (my professional life, yikes!) and I can't believe my gut that I waited for more than a year to do this. I wanted the world to know about my thoughts, so why not share my "other beautiful world" at the Zermatt Resort in Midway, Utah.

I posted here some photos of my family when they visited the Zermatt Resort back in the summer in 2008. I thought of posting my personal photos here rather than copying what's already in our website. And why not use real people and guests such as my Mom, Dad, my husband and brother as models?

This is the front of the Hotel Der Baer. A friendly, accordion-playing bronze bear statue will welcome you!

I always mention our big blue skies here in Utah, and here's a proof! This is not in Switzerland, but it definitely looks like and feel like you are in Switzerland!

Driveway to the hotel building! You'll see flagpoles with European flags!

Hotel lobby! You will see a lot of authentic Swiss-Bavarian sculptures and paintings! All these decors are imported from Europe!

We have a professional shot just like this in our website. Here's my own shot with my family in it!

I thought I would post several blogs about Zermatt tonight, so you'll see more above this with more posts and photos of my family bonding at Zermatt Resort!! How fun! (Now, I'm missing my family, and wishing it is summer soon! It's still snowing up here...)

My BLAH Moment of the Day - Stretching the Rock Star

Last Saturday was my first day of 1-hour session with my very first personal trainer. I was so excited but I wasn't sure what I was paying him for me to do. I could not believe how sore I was today after a couple of days. I did a very different kind of cardio, toning and some new and weird floor stretching that impressed me very much. It was nothing like I've ever done before. It was amazing though as I didn't realize that I was that flexible after being old and rotten out of luck in my work out habit.

First, he stretched every muscle and fat combo in me on the floor like I was Barbie being twisted like a witch's voodoo doll! Then he kneeled down and lifted my one leg up high and locked down the other leg with his knee like we were in some kind of kama sutra position. He then asked me to lift up my butt while he was holding both my feet up, then he wrapped my legs down over my head... I didn't know how he did it but I felt like I was turned to a human spring roll in a second! It was a very unpleasant sight for sure (seeing my meaty bootylicious right on top of my face)!!

I finally had lost my shame at that very degrading moment. The only thing I remembered after that life changing drill was Pink's song in my head... "So what? I'm still a rock star! I got my rock moves, and I don't need you!" (Whatever that meant to my lost shame.... )

Fabulous Pinay on Booty Camp

Last week, I decided to join in our company's Biggest Loser competition. It was based on the principle of the famous reality show here in America, only in a friendly work environment. There is an individual and group prize for the biggest loser of percentage of weight and fat. The competition started February 1st and will conclude April 30th.

My "Before" information was a requirement in this competition. So, I weighed-in last Friday with my personal trainer. My "Before" strategy was to be as fat as I can on my first weigh-in. So I ate a big platter of pasta, cinnamon coffee cake, and my peanut butter passion ice cream (for one last time the night before), and I had peanut butter toasts and coffee for breakfast and I drank lots of water before I weighed in at 10AM.

I was very conscious of my body during this weigh-in process especially when it's another male measuring my fabulous body. So, he measured my neck and arms, and when he got to my chest part (ahem!), he quite noticed I was heavily padded. He gently asked me if I could measure myself without the "pads!" I said, "Excuse me? Did you mean to say that I need to measure myself without my bra?" He nodded and smiled. OK. I thought I could cheat that way but I didn't want to argue so I did what he asked me to do. When he got down to measure my belly-button belly, I was holding my breath, like I was sucking in my belly! He looked at me again. I kind of guessed and asked... "Now what? You want to measure my expanded-tummy version? There you go! So are you happy now?" I released my tummy as he started laughing, "You are sooo funny!" Whatever.

So, now we go to the tricky part. He pinched me with this thing that's supposed to tell you how much fat you have in your body. He pinched my arm and my belly and he happily announced, "You have 26.4% body fat!" Like it was a miraculous revelation to me that day! I said, "What does that even mean to me? Like in every inch of meat in my body, I have about a quarter inch of fat?" He laughed again and I said in a serious tone, "What's so funny about that?"

I realized after that that I owe my self and my body some appreciation and motivation to win this contest so I signed up with him to train me for a few weeks.

To pump myself up next time I see him on our first training session, I created my own playlist in my Ipod and these are the Top 2 music in my list that I wish to play if I ever have to do some cardio. I called this playlist "My Girl Power Trip!" I got these videos on YouTube and they are not your typical girlie-girl music! Presenting to you Katy Perry and Pink! (The're both crazy like me!)





And by the way, I had the honor of naming our Biggest Loser team of five voluptuous women and it's called the "Bootylicious Team!" Later on I found out that the meaning of "Bootylicious" is "sexually attractive especially in the buttocks!" Huh?? They all loved it so I guess we're sticking to it, although I don't think there's anything bootylicious in me than my new punk attitude towards this Biggest Loser competition!

Story of a Lost Ski Bunny in the Windy City

I am fortunate to be able to travel a number of times a year for sales mission for my company. This December, my destination is the Windy City of Chicago!

Chicago is my favorite city of all! Since it's my third time now to be in the windy city, I found that Chicago is so easy to navigate as the downtown area is well planned. I instantly felt comfortable walking around on my own and discover new places, and still be able to find my way back to my hotel safely in one whole piece. I knew I was going to walk a lot on my free time, so I was smart enough to prepare for the worst weather in Chicago! To fight the freezing wind and possible snow while wandering outside, I brought with me my thickest SKI JACKET! ... And my story just begun!

City Preview: This is Barack Obama's and Oprah Winfrey's hometown. The hotel that I stayed at was soooo huge that my whole town could fit in it. Parking fee was $25 for one-hour or 24-hours. Lots of city busses and cabs for people who don't want to drive. There were literally thousands of people out in the streets walking to shops, restaurants, to train stations, everywhere. There were scary looking beggars in every corner. As a small mountain town diva, I easily got overwhelmed and claustrophobic!

Chicago Story: There were no signs of recession in this city. In Michigan Avenue, people shopped in expensive stores like Louis Vitton, Gucci, Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, etc. They all dress up in their fancy hats, fur coats and wool jackets, and nice boots! Crazy people lined up to be able to get in the Apple Store! I was brave to walk inside Macy's Department Store. There were blood-thirsty shoppers in every square foot of this forsaken place. I thought I was in a club but I was not! So, before I could pass out of suffucation, I managed to get my self out of that place.

My Story: Ski Jacket in Downtown Chicago? What the h--- was I thinking? The first 2 days I was out, I looked like an outcast-ski-bunny in the city! I mean, I looked terribly weird. I was having a beauty meltdown. The ski jacket served me it's purpose. I was SWEATING to death... from my head, my neck and my armpits! I wanted to try out some tiny clothes in one store but I was afraid I was going to stain all over it. The only time I appreciated my ski jacket was one night when it was negative 20 degress outside! My gloved hands were frozen... and the strong wind felt like there were blades brushing through my cheers. So this is what bad weather they are talking about... and oh boy, it was cold!

Here's my only self-portrait in Chicago in my hotel before my hair and make up get messed up outside. The rest were taken as I walked down from my hotel to Michigan Avenue. The more I looked up at these skycrappers, the more I love our beautiful mountains in Utah.

My Fine Dining Experience at Sundance, Utah

To start off this fine dining experience, I made sure I was taken cared off... so there's my coke and a bottle of white wine (Riesling)... that I shared, of course, with my Zermatt friends at my table...

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This fine dining restaurant is called the Tree Room at Sundance Resort where we had our Zermatt group dinner last Friday night. Very rustic and rough . But you will be forgiving as it is the theme of the resort. It was a worthwhile experience. Great ambience and fantastic cuisine!


These were the wonderful people at my table. Four of us didn't have our partners with us, so we called our selves losers that night... but it doesn't look like it!

Prior to our 4-course meal, was this Chef's welcome treat! The name of this appetizer escaped me when I swallowed this down my throat. It was awesome though!

This was my scallop appetizer. Really tender and refreshing.

This was my second course. Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Bisque. It was sweet and definitely a new taste for me. They used a giant soup bowl for a 3/4 of cup soup.


My third course was Utah Trout! I don't cook fish in my house so when I get the chance to eat out, I always order some seafood. It was delicious!


Well... this was not part of my meal, but this tea candle holder caught my attention. This is made of recycled glass and made in Sundance Resort.


I wanted something light and fruity for dessert. So this was my fourth course, Berry and Custard!


It was delicious and pricey! After 3 hours of being served these wonderful culinary creations in this unforgettable night, we proceeded to the Owl Bar where there was a band playing some American Honky Tonk Music, and of course, concluded by more photos at this hidden treasure in the Utah mountains.