I have been enjoying some much needed away time with my hubby. We celebrated our Anniversary by going to a wine and chocolate tasting at the Marble Hill Chocolate Lounge on Friday in downtown Cincy. The atmosphere was romantic and the 3 chocolates that we sampled were decent but I was not really please with the customer service. We were served by the owner and I was really excited that he was present (always ready to network). I read an article about him in Black Enterprise (one of my fav. mags) earlier this year and had been dying to get in and sample his chocolates and scope out the decor. He was not personable at all and almost came across as a bit pretentious. I left kinda disappointed b/c I was hoping to do a girls night out there later next month but I think we will take our business elsewhere. Maybe he was having an off night but when you run a business (especially a young business) you can not afford to have an off night or day. I am all for 2nd chances but I think it will be along time before we go back. My hubby even agreed with me b/c I can be very critical at times. For now, I will stick to Godiva (owned by Campbell Soup Co. - just a fun food fact) next time I have a chocolate jones.
Lesson learned for Harmony : Customer service can make or break you.
Your decor could be perfect and you goods decadent but if your service sucks, folks will not return. And you can pretty much guarantee that they will tell someone else who will tell someone else and so on and on....
The weekend got better though. On Saturday we headed to Indianapolis for the night. We stayed in the heart of downtown near Monument Circle and the City Circle Mall at the Hilton. I cashed in some om my point for a FREE night stay (all the traveling I did at Heinz was good for something). It was a wonderful relaxing time. It was also nice to be somewhere we could walk every where. We had the most amazing hot chocolate at the Chocolate Cafe while we walked around the circle and looked at all of the xmas lights. We had a wonderful dinner and planned on going to see Chris Rock for some laughs. The tickets were a bit steep (and of course we are on a tight budget) so we opted to see the Great Debaters. Awesome movie- go see it!!!
Anywho, all good things must come to an end. I am going to enjoy the rest of my time with my hubby and continue resting up for the rest of the week.
Up later this week:
Agreeing on the LOI for our location and moving forward - it's a biggy but I am ready.
Tour a few daycare centers for Z-man- he will have to go somewhere once Harmony opens.
Spend some time with Chaka's mom before she leaves us on Sunday
Hang out with the kids and organize a few more play dates before school starts again on the 7th.