the lap of luxury

Breakfast in bed. It’s the trademark of relaxation and luxury, the ideal mother’s day gift prepared together by your 5 and 7 year-old children (according to Hallmark’s TV commercials), and frankly, something that I think is a little overrated. When was the last time I had breakfast in bed? Never. When was the last time I ever wanted breakfast in bed? Never. Ok, maybe when I was like 7 years old, but that’s basically never. Of course our beds are comfortable, and of course it is often hard to haul your body out of that fluffy cloud of warmth on a cold, dark morning when you’re having super sweet dreams, but I think that staying there and actually eating in your bed is very un-desirable.

breakfast on a tray - classic

Have you ever tried eating—especially drinking—while lying down? It’s a disaster waiting to happen. In order to actually enjoy a sip of coffee, you have to be certain it isn’t steaming hot so as to protect your puckered-out lips from blistering while attempting to slurp the drink into your mouth on a 45 degree angle. Do I want to drink luke-warm coffee? No. 
Do I want to burn myself? Certainly not.

Orange juice is a little easier because temperature isn’t necessarily an issue, however little dribbles are sure to seep out of the corners of your mouth and end up dripping, slowly but surely, down the side of your chin and onto your favorite sleep shirt. Cereal milk, pancake syrup, and little bits of your scrambled eggs are bound to fall off of your eating utensil and onto your body as well. Laundry time.

Needless to say, breakfast in bed isn’t a dream of mine. However this past week while staying in the SW Marriott Country Hill Resort and Spa, I had a breakfast in bed of sorts that suited me just fine.

Because I didn’t actually eat in my bed, but rather on the couch sitting just to the side of it, ordering a delicious breakfast of whatever my heart desires, having it prepared while I shower, and then brought to my room on a tray with a smile (and some semi-awkward small talk) was a fabulous way to begin my day. For the past week, I’ve been in San Antonio at this huge resort for the culmination of my internship with Sherri, the senior event planner for Wolters Kluwer—a tax and accounting company having their mid year sales meeting. I helped to register and direct attendees, made sure everyone knew when and where they needed to be, made everyone feel warm and welcome at all times, and ate and drank very well along the way.

Throughout the week I was fortunate enough to sample to all of the delicious meals that the attendees were treated to each day, but prior to their arrival I mainly noshed on room service’s finest. Day one I chose a breakfast special: fresh berries and yogurt, Special K cereal with milk, a toasted English muffin with peanut butter and jam, a small pot of coffee, a glass of fresh orange juice, and a petite blueberry crumble muffin. Jumping from eating a rice cake with peanut butter on my bed while checking the weather on my laptop to eating continental spread with a couch, a coffee table, and Matt, Al, and Ann was a welcome change.

On day two I decided to order something a that would make me feel more virtuous so I went for the “pastel omelet,” a mainly egg white omelet with fresh herbs folded in and roasted tomato with sea salt, a pot of coffee, a glass of orange juice, and a cup of pineapple, grapes, honeydew, and my beloved cantaloupe. Not bad, my friends.

As for the rest of the days, we employees helped ourselves to the attendees’ breakfast buffet once they’d had their fill and made it into their first class at 8:00, lending us to a variety of pastries, eggs, frittatas, sausage and bacon, jams and jellies, and any other breakfast staple you could imagine—but kicked up a notch. The food was delicious, however my eyes were always bigger than my stomach, and I missed listening to the Today Show instead of the drone of the escalators next to the office.

I thought I hated breakfast in bed. I thought it would be messy, and hard, and uncomfortable. I thought I would spill and make a mess and get irritated real quick. But alas, I found a new way—a more deluxe way if you ask me—to enjoy this luxurious trademark. The service, the comfort of your own room, and although I love to cook, the lack of effort that goes into enjoying a delicious breakfast this way definitely tickled my fancy.