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Amy’s Butterfly Wedding in Downtown Salt Lake

Posted on April 15, 2013 by Kristin

One of my last single girlfriends is about 5 seconds away from being engaged. All the excitement has me thinking about weddings!

And…when I think about weddings I think about May 2009 when my friend Amy and I planned her wedding. It was the most beautiful Butterfly Themed wedding anyone ever saw. Since #91 on my list is related to attending a wedding I thought I’d reminisce and share some photos from her wedding, including the most unique center piece I’ve ever seen. It was the creative high-point of my life.

Amy has always loved butterflies and wanted her wedding centered around them. I thought up what I believed would be an amazing center piece for each table. It involved butterflies, jars, ribbon, and Gerber daisies.

See for yourself, these jars were amazing. They weren’t easy, and they weren’t cheap, but they were very beautiful.

When we first decided on this idea we searched the internet for live butterflies and found that they cost around $100 for a dozen. Amy wanted as many as she could get so we decided to buy butterfly larvae and attempt to grow our own. We thought it would be cheaper. We were wrong. By the time we assembled all our supplies we spent nearly $300 (or more). A week before the wedding it was clear that we WEREN’T going to get ANY butterflies in time for the wedding.

So…Plan B. We had two dozen rushed and they arrived the day before the wedding on ice and in individual envelopes.

They were perfect and were easy to work with. Because they were shipped in a cold packed container, they were temporarily paralyzed. We had about 45 seconds to a minute to get them where we wanted, which in our case was inside a jar, before they warmed up and wanted to fly.

Everyone LOVED the center pieces and were memorized by them.

Here’s a few other shots of my favorite things at her wedding.

She wanted cupcakes instead of a wedding cake, so we hired a cupcake maker who made dozens and dozens of custom flower-frosted cupcakes. It was a marvelous addition to the decor in the room. The only problem was that the guests felt free to grab a cupcake at anytime, especially before the bride and groom “cut the cake.” We ended up assigning a cousin to watch the cake to keep people at bay until the bride and groom had the first taste.

The wedding venue was at Gallivan Center’s downtown amphitheater stage and adjoining patio. It was ridiculously inexpensive to rent and also offered chairs and tables for an unbelievable bargain. Amy wanted an outdoor wedding, but in May you can never count on nice weather for sure.

This venue gave us both an indoor and out door space which ended up being perfect. Guests stayed a long time and lingered outside and inside since there was lots to see and do.

The other high note was the beauty of the chocolate fountain. I was counting on the fountain to be delicious, but I never thought about the elegance it would add to the room. Also, it was delicious and I’m sure I ate my weight in chocolate that night.

The real highlight of the wedding was near the end when the bride threw her bouquet and the guests released the butterflies in the centerpieces.

The butterflies were in no hurry. They seemed especially happy to meet the bride. They also landed on the noses an clothes of delighted children. You can only imagine the squeals and screams of the kids holding a butterfly for the first time in their lives. It wasn’t just the girls who liked it either. The boys loved it too. They turned out to be great little butterfly keepers.

We had ceramic pots holding butterfly nets and the kids ran around the patio and grassy area until it was dark catching butterflies and letting them go.

The butterflies especially loved the bride’s bouquet which was so thrilling to Amy and her photographer. I don’t know if I’ll ever attend another wedding as well-suited to the bride’s wishes as this one. Glad the list gave me the opportunity to remember this fun event.

It was such a magical night. Well worth the money we spent on butterflies to have them shipped. If only we hadn’t wasted the money trying to grow them on our own…oh well. Live and learn.

P.S. If you liked this post, feel free to pin it.

The Happy Couch

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Kristin

Lots of good stories are sad in the end. This is one of those stories, but I thought the subject matter was so cute that you’d want to hear about it anyway.

Even though this has a sad ending I really did get a lot of satisfaction out of thinking about it.

I was at Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago and I saw this couch. It spoke to me.

It spoke to me like no other piece of furniture ever has. Look at how amazingly cute it is. I really wanted to buy the couch, but there were two problems. First, the couch cost $908. And, YES, that is the sale price. Second, I literally have no place in my home to put this couch.

I thought about building on a sun room to accommodate the happy couch. But…my accountant assures me that this isn’t a possibility at this time.

This is probably the cutest, HAPPIEST, funnest piece of furniture I have ever seen. I’ve been thinking about buying it all week. “Thinking about buying something” just happens to be number 221 on the list in case you’re keeping track. It totally counts for a Pleasant Event.

I even went back to Hobby Lobby a second time just too look at it. Don’t you think me and this couch belong together? So do I. But the reality is that we can’t always have everything we want.

On the way out of the store the second time, I noticed a similar, but much smaller sofa at a much smaller price, $350. It’s not quite as happy as the big couch, but it’s still very cute.

It would be perfect in my bedroom. I could throw my clothes on it at the end of the day instead leaving them on the floor like I do now.

If it cost half what they’re currently asking, my husband might actually buy this for me Mothers Day. He’s very neat and gets tired of seeing my clothes on the floor.

But for now, I’m just enjoying thinking about buying it. But, you never know. They say thoughts lead to actions, and I’ve been thinking about it a lot.

Posted in PLEASANT EVENTS, THOUGHTS ON HAPPINESS, VOCAL SOKOL LOCAL | Tagged Happy Furniture, Hobby Lobby Furniture, Pleasent Events | 4 Comments

Spring Break at Zions Park–What to Pack

Posted on March 27, 2013 by Kristin

I thought I’d follow up yesterday’s post with few tips that might be helpful if your planning a spring break trip to Zions. Great temps and awesome scenery make it the perfect way to spend Spring Break!

We left soon than we planned in order to get out ahead of a giant storm forecasted for the next day. Even though it was a two-hour scramble to get out the door, leaving in a hurry ended up to be a genius move.

Because I was not prepared to leave that soon I ended up throwing together all my food and winter clothing in just a few minutes. I wasn’t sure I what to bring, so I packed everything. We have a van with plenty of space so we threw it all in and left.

When arrived in Springdale, Utah we found a very small resort town nestled right into Zion’s Canyon. We thought it would be a lot like Moab. But…it was not. It’s much smaller and much more seasonal than we expected. Since it was low season, 85 percent of the shops and restaurants were closed for the season. It was then that I realized over-packing was going to pay off.

Here’s a few tips and tricks we learned on this trip that might be helpful if you’re planning an off season trip to Zions National Park.

Bring plenty of food. Visiting in the “off season” means you’ll get fantastic rates at the hotels, but it also means most the seasonal town is closed down from December to March. Unless you like buying $15 sandwiches for your kids, load up on groceries before you leave town. We hit Costco and brought lots of sandwich makings, chips, fresh and canned fruit along with microwaveable foods like Taquitos and teriyaki chicken bowls. They were the perfect meal at the end of the day.
Bring a DVD player or other electronic devices. It gets dark early and we ended up spending more time than we wanted in the hotel room at night. We were glad we had some entertainment for the kids. They built a hut out of the hotel bedding and watched Wizard of Oz quite happily inside it. It worked out great since the Shawshank Redemtion was on cable and I’d never seen it.
Bring your winter necessities. It was about 45 degrees most days which is unseasonably cold. Zions is usually one of the warmest places in Utah. But the weather can be variable depending on the day and the elevation you spend time at. Up high in the park it was cold and snowy. In the bottom of the canyon light jackets were enough. We were glad we came prepared with snow boots, hiking shoes, hats, mittens and coats. We used it all. We changed our shoes and outerwear quite frequently.
Bring your boots and a box. We wore every pair of shoes we brought. We each had a pair of hiking boots which were great for hiking the trails and on the slickrock. We each had snow boots which we wore in the higher elevations where the trails were snowy. We also brought a pair of easy slip-on shoes which were so handy when removing dirty trail shoes. I also recommend having a large shallow box or bin to throw dirty, wet and or muddy shoes in when you get back into the car.

Don’t let your fear of getting your feet dirty scare you away from what might be your favorite family destination during a really un-crowded time of year. May your next off season trip be filled with lots of fun, adventure, memories and many delicious things to eat (that you brought from home).

Posted in GREAT FAMILY GETAWAYS, PLEASANT EVENTS, RED ROCKS-SOUTHERN UTAH, VOCAL SOKOL LOCAL, VOCAL TRAVELS | Tagged How to pack for Zions National Park, Spring Break ideas for families, Wholesome Family Activities, Zions National Park | Comments Off

Five Reasons to Take a Redrock Winter Getaway

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Kristin

I won’t lie, my favorite place to travel for our winter break is Maui, Hawaii. Unfortunately going to Maui requires lots of time and money.

Lucky for us, we live in Utah. There are LOTS of fantastic places to enjoy Utah winters in a variety of ways. Besides skiing, we LOVE to see Utah’s red rocks in the winter.

In this post I’m going to give you 5 reasons to travel to Zions National Park in the winter.

1. No crowds. In the Spring/Summer and Fall it’s wall to wall people and cars. In the late 1990′s tourist cars were banned from driving inside the park. Before then, more than 5000 cars a day snaked through the park looking for fewer than 500 available parking spots.

You can imagine how traffic and parking problems could detract from the parks serenity. In the winter ALL cars ARE permitted in the park. During our trip our car was usually the ONLY one in the parking lot. It might have felt eerie if the serenity and natural beauty weren’t so distracting.

2. Natural contrasts. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen the contrast created by snow covered red rocks under bright blue skies. It’s breathtaking and worth the drive.

3. Photo opportunities. I won’t lie, sometimes I do things just to get a photo I can keep forever. In a place like Zions Park all the best photo opportunities are crowded by the zillions of amateur photographers all wanting their own original shot.

With almost no one there, we hung around the most incredible vistas and took as many photos as we wanted. AND…We never had to wait for the token hairy European guy to move out of the shot. It was photo paradise.

4. Incredible hotel rates. We stayed at the Pioneer Lodge in Springdale which is the town right in and around the park. It was a charming log themed motel which was super clean, very comfy and only cost us $57 dollars a night. That’s $100 less than their regular season rate. Their basic room included two queen beds, a fridge, microwave. Although it wasn’t the largest room we’ve ever stayed in it was definitely the nicest one for the money.

5. Incredible warm temperatures. When most of Utah is experiencing frigid winter temperatures, Zions is usually mild. Sure, it cools down in winter too, but a jacket and a cute winter hat will keep you comfortable while you’re hiking.

Truthfully when we visited, It was unusually cold. We wore coats, hats and mittens half the time and light jackets the other half. The good news is we were completely comfortable outside all day long dressed in our warms.

No matter what we were wearing to keep warm, It was so nice to hike with out getting hot and sweaty.

If you’re considering a winter trip, I hope I’ve given you enough reasons to try Zion’s National Park. There are hundreds of other reasons to come and see for yourself that Zions is the place to be in the winter.

Posted in GREAT FAMILY GETAWAYS, PLEASANT EVENTS, RED ROCKS-SOUTHERN UTAH, VOCAL SOKOL LOCAL, VOCAL TRAVELS | Tagged Redrock family adventures, Winter Getaway, Zions National Park | 1 Comment

That’SNOW Problem

Posted on March 23, 2013 by Kristin

I hear a lot of unhappiness related to spring snow.

There really is no reason to fear spring snow. It won’t last long. It’s supposed to be 60 degrees in a matter of 48 hours.

I know some of you will probably want to throw tomatoes at me for suggesting it could be fun, but…Try looking at this as your last chance to go sledding or make a snowman or you could pick number 9 from my list.

Or you could do one better and go and get you some fresh powder skiing like we did yesterday.

It snowed on us all day at Alta and there was 6 inches un-tracked powder on all the groomed runs and 18 inches on all the un-groomed runs. It was my first ever ski experience in powder. It was twice as much work at regular skiing but it was 10 times as much fun. I was able to ski runs I’d never dare to run ordinarily because I don’t like to ski too fast. If you can’t tell from this photo. The powder slows you WAY down.

So…since there is nothing you can do to stop spring snow, I live by this old adage “If you can’t beat em, join em.

*Interesting side bar. Steve is out shoveling the snow right now while I am in the warm house typing this up.

Posted in FOR COUPLES, PLEASANT EVENTS, THOUGHTS ON HAPPINESS, VOCAL SOKOL LOCAL | Tagged Alta ski resort, Spring skiing, Wholesome Family Activities | Comments Off

Famous People Doing Unusual Things

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Kristin

I was surfing the web the other day when I found something a little bit awesome and a little bit inspiring on KSL.com.

Turns out that Adrian Dantley, a former Utah Jazz Basketball Player and NBA hall-of-famer is now a school crossing-guard in his hometown. I hope that if I were ever rich and a little bit famous, that I’d be like him. I’m going to add “Be a Rich and Famous Crossing Guard” to my Pleasant Events list.

Who else would make a fantastic famous Crossing Guard? Tops on my list would be Ellen DeGeneres, Michelle Obama and probably Sandra Bullock( l just love her).

You’ve got to read the article and see the video of him at work. It’s cute. Go Adrian Dantley! Who wouldn’t want to be helped across the street by a giant former professional basketball player. More good famous people like this in the world. Please and Thank you.

Posted in INSPIRING PEOPLE | Tagged Adrian Dantley, Ellen Degeneres, Inspiring People, Michelle Obama, Sandra Bullock | Comments Off

My Home-Woven-Handicraft

Posted on March 19, 2013 by Kristin

(Bonus points if you can reference the movie I stole this title from)

I’m so excited to share this Pleasant Event post today. If you’re keeping track, its #99 on the list.

More than five years ago my aunt was offering free fabric for quilting because she had so much of it. Being a extreme lover of home-made blankies and bit of a hoarder I happily took some.

The fabric has sat in my closet for years now. I’ve felt just a tinge of guilt every time I look at it knowing I should have/could have done something with it by now.

I feel like I grew up around quilting frames. As the youngest child in my family, someone was always getting married. A cousin, a brother, a neighborhood girl. In my culture, every wedding commissions a home-made quilt.

I’m a pretty serious NON-CRAFTER. I mean, I own a glue gun, but mainly just to glue things back together when they break. I have a sewing machine, but that’s mainly because me and my hubby are both short and we have to shorten all our pants.

I realized that my daughters who are 7 and 4 have never seen a quilt being made. I felt like their non-crafter mom was holding them back. They’ve never played house under a quilt. They’ve never built a fort under a quilt. They’ve certainly never seen me quilt or taken a single stitch on a quilt.

This thought made me remember how much my Grandma Louise loved to quilt and how disappointing she’d be in me if I let the art of quilting die on my watch.

So…I began the process. With all the things I was doing, it was a process which took many months. But…little by little I acquired all the things I needed which were as follows:

Fabric
Yarn
Batting
Quilting frames, tacks and clamps which we borrowed from my Mom’s friend Paula
Sewing Machine
Worker bees

First, my mom and I laid out the batting and fabric to make sure they matched up. Then we pinned the batting and fabric together wrong side out. Then, because I hate binding and sewing handwork, I stitched the batting and fabric together leaving an 18 inch hole. I used the hole reverse the entire blanket making it all appear right side out. Then I used the machine again and carefully stitched up the hole.

Even though it wasn’t done, we used it for a few days because it was fun and we were proud of what we had accomplished.

A few weeks later we got back on task and put the quilt on the frames. I let the girls play in and around the quilt for as long as they wanted. It was, after all, the whole point of making the quilt.

After play time was over we got to work stitching ties all over the blanket. Sunny especially LOVES ties on blankies. Against my wishes, she still sucks two fingers while she holds her special blankie. They both had a ball moving the large needles up and down pulling the yarn through the fabric.

They also loved learning to tie square knots. I had to have my eagle scout husband show me how to tie a square knot because I’d forgotten how and I know they’re the kind that stay tied best in blankets.

They girls love tying them too. I’m not sure they did it correctly and I guess it just doesn’t matter anyway.

They important thing is we had a fantastic time together creating a blanket that we all LOVE to snuggle under together.

I know my girls had a great experience they will always remember. I can feel my Grandma Louise smiling down on me from heaven and I can hardly wait to make another blanket it was a great experience I’d highly recommend.

Posted in PLEASANT EVENTS | Tagged How to make a simple quilt, How to tie a quilt, Pleasant events, simple sewing projects for kids | 2 Comments

Being a Stupid Idiot

Posted on March 10, 2013 by Kristin

I wrote this a few days ago and wasn’t sure if I’d post it or not…I hope I made the right decision. I hope some of you can commiserate with me.

I know I’m usually the Queen of Happy and Self-confidence, but I have bad days too. Today has been one.

As I’ve walked through the rooms of my house, I see things cluttered and un-done. My floors need to be swept and the laundry washed and my car is dirty and my fridge is empty and the weight of the world is resting on me and I can’t handle it.

My mind has felt a lot the same way. I’m thinking of all the things I haven’t done and NEED to do. I can only think of the things that should be done by now, the things I said I would do, but have not.

I also ate WAY too much pizza today at a stupid pizza buffet, and yes I do know better.

The worst part is that I am married to someone is is neat and orderly and basically perfect. His strengths are my weaknesses. We’ve enjoyed a happy, fun marriage for more than 8 years now and every day I’m afraid he’ll catch on to the fact that I’m really just a stupid idiot who is sucking his time (and money) away.

We’ve been involved in some pretty hard-core recreating this week and after returning home to the reality of life, I crumbled under the pressure of catching up and confessed to my perfect husband that I’m really incompetent and unqualified and he could do better.

Being the perfect husband that he is, he let me know that it was okay and not to worry because underneath it all, **everyone is a stupid idiot.

This seems like a strange post to share on my little positivity blog, but I just want all the ladies who are under the weight of the world comparing themselves to their perfect neighbor next door (or in my case, a perfect husband) that really, when it comes down to it, we’re all just struggling to keep our heads above water sometimes.

So…the take away here is simple. Dory from Finding Nemo said it best. Just keep swimming. Accept what is. Do a little more when you know you’ve slacked off or lower your expectations a little when you don’t feel like you can do anymore. And…if you ever feel like a stupid idiot, you’re not alone. Everyone feels like one more often then you might imagine.

**Steve wishes to apologize for calling everyone a stupid idiot.

Posted in THOUGHTS ON HAPPINESS | Tagged Having a bad day, How to feel better, How to improve your mood | 3 Comments

Disney On Ice Dares My Girls to Dream BIG

Posted on March 8, 2013 by Kristin

Can you imagine anything more exciting to little girls than seeing one of their most favorite princesses flying through the air!

You might imagine that our family outing to Disney On Ice’s newest show Dare to Dream did NOT disappoint.

I was so delighted to be able to take my family and attend this show thanks to the producers, Feld Entertainment who gave us complimentary tickets in exchange for writing about it. I’ve had more than a few of you tell me that you bought tickets after reading about it here. I even one reader let me know she’d cut and donated her hair after reading my last post and learning that Disney on Ice supports the charity Children With Hair Loss.

The highlight of the show for my girls was seeing Rapunzel flying and whirling through the air on what seemed to be her hair. Alyssa who is seven was absolutely enchanted by the stunt. She leaned over to Steve and said, “Dad! THAT is what I want to do when I grow up.” The girl is convinced that someday she will be able to fly. Seeing this show only presented more evidence that this dream will one day be her reality.

They really did a fantastic job bringing Rapunzel’s story to the ice. Every minute of it was enthralling. The scenery, the costuming, the talented skaters, the illuminated lanterns and the flying were all incredible to see live. It’s an evening we’ll remember for a long time.

Even though Rapunzel was so fun to watch, I think my favorite story told was Cinderella’s. The music, the story, the bumbling step sisters, and the talented ice dancers all made me feel like I was six-years-old again. The highlight was when Cinderella’s coach made a round in the ice rink. It was incredibly beautiful!

If you’re looking for something fun to take some little princess-loving girls to this weekend, don’t hesitate to consider Disney On Ice’s Dare to Dream. It’s only here for a few more days. Use the code MOM for a special Vocal Sokol discount when you buy tickets on line.

Posted in PLEASANT EVENTS | Tagged Dare to Dream, Disney On Ice, Disney Princesses, Wholesome Family Activities | Comments Off

Ski for FREE at Wolf Mountain Resort

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Kristin

I can’t think of many things mobettah than FREE skiing and I’m so excited to be partnering with Wolf Mountain Ski Resort to offer FOUR ski passes today!

If you’ve been reading anything I’ve been writing this winter you know we’ve been working on getting kids to ski this winter. I won’t lie, my motivations for this are selfish.

Skiing takes a lot time and we want to ski a lot and it’s easier to take the kids with us rather than get a baby sitter for many hours.

I was recently invited for a day of free skiing for me and my girls at Wolf Mountain in Ogden Canyon. It is such a cute little family boutique ski resort. We absolutely loved it!

A few weeks ago we took the girls to Alta for their first time up the ski lift. It was a smash success for Alyssa. What can I say? The girl is afraid of nothing and is a natural born skier.

Sunny who is two and a half years younger was obviously NOT ready for the lift. I DID know that, but I thought I could get her down the hill fairly easily anyway.

Without going into a lot of the unpleasant details about the most unpleasant ski run of all time, I’ll just say I was WRONG. It was not easy.

Which brings me back to Wolf Mountain. Their offer was for ski lessons for the kids and me.

They met up with their ski instructors and hit it! Sunny who struggled so much at Alta seemed to be right at home in the Wolf Mountain beginner area. She learned to turn and to stop which were the two things she CLEARLY could NOT do the week before at Alta. Plus, she was DANG cute while she was doing it.

Alyssa took to the Wolf Mountain terrain like she’d been skiing there her whole life. They have a half-pipe and some roller-coaster hills that she LOVED! Her teacher was also adorable and so great at instructing her lesson while having fun. I don’t think she even realized she was in ski school.

This was my first-ever non Alta ski experience. I must admit that at first, I struggled. I felt out of control and willy-nilly on the slope. But…after my first run I realized that my boots were UNBUCKLED! That might explain why I felt out of control. It’s much harder to make your skis do what you want when they’re not actually fastened to you.

We ate lunch at their newly remodeled lodge. IT was affordable and delicious. After lunch we hit the slopes again. The thing I loved best about Wolf Mountain was that the beginner area was so accessible. I could see Sunny skiing the whole time AND I was free to join her anytime I wanted.

They have a cute “magic carpet” that anyone is welcome to use.

We rode it time and time again together.

Wolf Mountain besides offering the absolute lowest prices on lift tickets and rentals is the perfect place for families with new skiers to get up on their own two skis. The hardest part of the whole day was getting Alyssa out of her ski boots. Seriously I was afraid we were going to have to break out the hacksaw.

We had so much fun at Wolf Mountain. I’d recommend it for a day of family fun for anyone. I’m so excited to offer a four pack of passes in the giveaway below. Feel free to enter and to tell your friends!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Posted in DAYTRIPS, GREAT FAMILY GETAWAYS, PLEASANT EVENTS, VOCAL SOKOL LOCAL | Tagged Free ski tickets, Learn to Ski, Magic Carpet for Skiing, Places for kids to learn to ski, Wolf Mountain Resort | 24 Comments