THINGS I LOVE LATELY.

A little list of things I love lately! Because sometimes you just have to be grateful for all the little things. 

THINGS I LOVE:

1. This lovely little drink I've been making myself everyday! It's such a refreshing summer drink and it makes me so happy! Plus, I put it in my Rain Forest Cafe glass I got from my last trip to Las Vegas and that is a cute little reminder of my fun trip there in April! The drink is so simple. You just mix a can of Dole Pineapple juice and a can of Fresca. Add some crushed ice and a straw and you have a little piece of delicious Summer happiness!

2. Oprah's Super Soul Conversations! Her podcast is so uplifting and inspiring and helps me feel a little bit more lifted when I listen to it. 

3. Taking time for a little something small I enjoy. Lately, it's been sitting on the porch swing. Everyday when I get home from work, I put my things inside, change into some comfy clothes, and sit out on the porch swing to unwind. Sometimes it's just for 5 minutes and sometimes I'm out there an hour. I realized it's something I personally need to get back in tune with myself, and I've been loving that!

4. All the flowers in bloom everywhere! They're all so pretty and brighten my day. I love all the different blooms in everyone's yards when I go on my walks. I especially love stopping to smell the yellow roses and the yellow/orange ice cream mix rose bushes. Ooh so yummy!
 

4.The OC! Yes, that OC. The silly TV show from the early 2000s that we all secretly loved! I'm re-watching the seasons right now, currently on season 4, and it still holds up, you guys! It's just such a silly, entertaining show and makes me feel like I'm my 15 year old self again! Oh the drama!

5. All the little mid-day thunderstorms we've been getting these past few weeks! I love a good thunderstorm! I love just going out on the porch and watching the lightning light up the sky and the rain run down the street. I love the rain! Especially those quick little storms that show up out of nowhere with such force!



LINKS:
Oprah's SuperSoul Conversations:  www.supersoul.tv
Cookies from:  www.thirstdrinks.com

A TRIP TO THE HOGLE ZOO!

I went to the Hogle Zoo for the first time Sunday morning! I had been there once before for the Zoo Lights but you can't actually see any of the animals during that; I'm not even sure if the animals are there in the Winter actually. So this was the first time actually seeing the zoo and it was so fun!

For being a relatively smaller zoo, it's still super fun, and it's laid out nice so it feels bigger than it really is! About 10:00a.m. it started to pour so we hid out under the awnings next to the elephants who were also hiding out from the rain. It was fun to just sit for 15 minutes or so and watch the rain, but especially watch the elephants play with each other and hide from the rain too. 

We went to the bird show at 11:00a.m. and I'm so amazed you can train birds to participate like they did! They fly in from all over and have their little markers they know to go to for their treat. I especially love all the beautiful tropical, colorful ones; they're just so pretty to watch!

After the bird show, we had lunch at the Beastro. Clever name huh? We got pepperoni pizza slices and some macaroni and cheese to share. After lunch there was a little ice cream stand outside the Beastro that serves Dole Whip so of course I got that! I've been on such a pineapple kick lately so my little heart flutters when I see pineapple treats. :)

Okay, gorilla hands are so fascinating to me! This cute gorilla was laying on her back in the straw, staring up at the ceiling, picking at this log next to her and I couldn't help but just admire how human-like her little hand was! It really just looked like my hand in a gorilla costume glove moving about. It was fun to watch her be bored lying on her back just picking away pointlessly at this log.

This is the closest I'll ever be to a polar bear and it was so cool to watch him play in the water just a foot away from my face! He had a red little plastic pool that he kept trying to climb up on but it kept flipping over each time he would try. It's just nice to watch animals so closely while still feeling semi-protected. I probably shouldn't feel too safe though because I'm 92% sure a tiger got out at that zoo like a year ago! 
Okay, I just looked it up, a leopard totally got out of it's habitat last year when a guest found it sleeping!

We ended our zoo day with a ride on the carousel of course!
Go to the zoo, you guys, it's so fun! Unless you're against zoos, then just know in your heart that they looked happy. ;)

HOME.

As much as I love traveling and being out and about, there's nothing like being home. I love home! It has all my favorite things, and it's such a comforting, safe place. Lately I've been adding more plants to my indoor plant collection, and all the ferns and moss really brighten my day!

There's something fun about coming home to your house after a trip because you get to experience your house how guests experience it. It's fun to walk into the space with fresh eyes, and see all those things again that make you happy. I love seeing all my plants all over the house, and my two fish, Kristofferson + Mordecai, swimming about their tank!


I'm so grateful for my home, and for Salt Lake City being my home for the past (almost) 4 years. Thanks for keeping me safe, and happy, and feeling ...well, at home.


*Plants from the beautiful Cactus & Tropicals!
www.cactusandtropicals.com

And Paradise Palm:
www.paradisepalm.com
Bonus, you can save 20% on your purchase at Paradise Palm if you mention "crazyplants"!

LIFE'S TOO SHORT.

Sometimes I get caught up in my dreamer thoughts. Lately it's been the same one thought that keeps creeping up in my mind. I just keep thinking how short life is, and how in the grand scheme of everything, finding your own personal joy throughout life is all that matters.

I also keep thinking how sad it is that we have this one life on Earth, and the majority of us spend that life working jobs we don't enjoy. It seems so crazy that we have all decided that's okay; to spend our life working 40 hour a week jobs that we don't enjoy. 40 hours each week is a long time. So many people I know just live for the two fun days of the week that we're free to do what we really love doing. It just all seems so bananas to me!

I don't know what the solution is besides just working for yourself. Or being a famous Instagramer who gets paid to travel and promote hotels and products! haha. I just wish life was still a little simpler. I wish we all didn't have to work so much at jobs we don't enjoy just to buy stuff we don't really need. I'm making it a point to spend my money on trips and experiences rather than just stuff, but I also need to find the time to go on these little adventures I'm saving up for.

I just want a job that pays me to:

• Go to the beach
• Go to Disneyland
• Travel
• Eat
• Swim in rivers and hot springs
• Go on roadtrips
• See movies
• Go to Lagoon
• Play at the water slides every Summer
• Visit my family and friends

Once I figure out who's paying for all that, I'll let you guys know too. :)
I just think back to the older days where everything was simple and families worked their land, planted and sustained themselves off their farms, and traded their handmade goods in the markets. Granted their lives weren't as fun as we have it now, and they probably ended up working way more than 40 hours a week in the long run, but at least they weren't stuck indoors in little cubicles stuck at their desks. There's just something about that simple 1850s life that I romanticize a little. 

We're only on Earth once and it's hard for me to believe we should be spending our lives doing anything other than what we love and what brings us happiness!

I need to find a way to break out of this cycle and pursue all the things that bring me pure joy. I want to travel and see the world. I want slow days of swimming and hanging out in the Merced River. I want days filled with playing at the beach and looking for sea glass with my mom, Anti, and Sophia. I want Disneyland, Lagoon, and waterslide days. I want driving around the Pacific Northwest in the rain days. I want roadtrips around the United States. And I want my family and friends there alongside me.

MY TRIP TO DISNEYLAND!

You guys! Disneyland is the BEST!! 

I always sightly roll my eyes at all the crazy Disney fanatic people out there, but I get it now. It's just such a happy place! It instantly makes you feel like a little kid again and it truly does feel so magical.

I've only been twice before. Once when I was 5, and then once when I was 18. We didn't go that often growing up, but this time makes experience number 3 and I loved every minute of our 16 hour Disneyland day! Yeah... we stayed in the park 16 hours, but it still felt like it flew by!

We got to Disneyland about 40 minutes before it opened so we were near the front of the lines at the gate to get in. When they opened the gates, we decided to head to Space Mountain first since we figured that would only get busier as the day went on. As we were walking there, all the characters were out waving to everyone as we walked by; it was the cutest thing! Eeyore actually really startled me because I was walking along some hedges looking past at fairy godmother waving to Jeremy + I when I realized Eeyore was standing just on the other side of the hedges looking right at us. He was literally like 3 feet from me and I didn't see him until he shifted a little! It made me super laugh at the idea of Eeyore just hiding behind some hedges watching everybody walk by. I said "Oh, hi!" to him in a way too high pitch of a voice because he really startled me!

We got super lucky with an overcast, pleasant day! All my memories of amusement parks usually involve being super hot all day, so it was nice to actually wear my sweater for a good part of the day! We planned to put them in the lockers when it got hot and get them for the fireworks, but we ended up needing them more than we thought we would.

 

I'm such a fan of these Dole Whip Floats! Oh man, that was the most refreshing, yummy, mid-day treat! I could seriously have one of those everyday and not get sick of them! Thanks to the suggestion of some of my friends, Jeremy and I bought Maxpass with our tickets and let me tell you, that was the best decision we made! It's only $10 extra and lets you cut in front of all the big lines! I don't know why everyone doesn't just buy them? They must not know about them. Every time we waltzed right by a huge line I kept telling Jeremy I would have totally paid $10 each ride to not have to wait! It really was so worth it.

Some of my FAVORITE moments of the day:

• Space Mountain! We rode it twice and it was so fun!

• Seeing all the characters wave to everyone as we all entered the gates in the morning.

• Indiana Jones- that ride is so fun and just designed so well!

• My Mickey Mouse pretzel and cheese. Yum!

• Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room. What a cute little bunch of birds!

• Jungle Cruise- our boat captain was so un-enthused by her job and did not deliver her lines with much pizazz and it made me laugh.

• Fantasmic! Thanks to a really sweet employee, he saw us leaning against the walkway rail trying to figure out where we could watch the show when he told us he could get us under the rope to the VIP viewing area if we wanted. He was such a kind older man and a real lifesaver in that moment. More on that later.*
• The fireworks! We ran over right before they started (because we watched Fantasmic) and another super nice employee helped us find a nice spot to watch.They really start to herd you around like cattle during those busy moments and that stresses me out.

• It's A Small World. I absolutely loved it when I was little and still love it now. I didn't realize how long it was though! It really makes me appreciate my family even more for going on it so many times when I was 5! Such a catchy little song. :)
• Storybook Land. What a cute little water ride! I love any type of boat ride really, but especially when there's cute Disney stories involved.
• Getting pizza at Pizza Planet from Toy Story! It's expensive and doesn't fill you up at all, but it was fun.
• Riding Matterhorn early when there was still a perfect crisp chill in the air and no line!
• Haunted Mansion, that ride is so fun!
• The train ride around the park. It was a perfect way to rest and see all the sights. I always love the train rides at amusement parks. That's one of my favorite things at Lagoon actually!
• Walking up to the gates in the morning with the different Disney songs playing over the speakers. That was the perfect way to set the mood for the day!

 *Back to that moment above, I don't consider myself an anxious person in the least bit but I do have weird moments that sneak up on me sometimes. I I was on the verge of a weird anxious moment when we were looking for somewhere to stand/sit for Fantasmic because the parade earlier consisted of a lot of rude Disney employees telling us we had to move, couldn't stand where we were standing, had to keep walking, couldn't stop, keep moving. Literally when we were so far out of the way from foot traffic and the parade an employee still came up to us to say we couldn't stand where we were standing. We seriously couldn't have been further out of the way of everybody, but she still told us to move. I just wanted to eat my pretzel in peace! I didn't want another experience like that for Fantasmic so that's why that older man was such a sweetheart to help us. Maybe he could sense the anxiety? haha

I just really love the overall feeling in the air at Disneyland! It's just an entire day of being truly present in each moment, and feeling like your 5 year old self again! I love the characters, I love the amount of detail that goes into each ride, I love seeing the happiness on everyone's face, I love all the cute little ducklings following their mamas around the park (are there always that many ducklings?). I just love how fun it is! From the moment you're walking up to the gates with all the Disney music playing over the speakers, to the moment you leave so sleepy, and full, and truly content, it's just a magical place. :)

It was such a fun day and I can't wait to go back! We got there at 7:20a.m. and didn't leave the park until about 10:50p.m. and I still feel like we didn't get to do everything! I tried to meet Mickey and Minnie Mouse twice back in their houses and each time they were gone! What the heck kind of errands do those two have to run? Next time, I'll figure out what times I should try to meet them. I also have never been to California Adventure and I want to go there soon! Pixar Pier is opening this June so maybe I'll go sometime this summer to explore that park!

 

I love Disneyland! I can't wait to go back!  

I GOT LAID OFF. (for the first time)

I've never been fired or laid off from a job before. That was up until last Wednesday. My company decided to lay off all the photographers in Utah including yours truly. It's a weird feeling going into a corporate meeting with 15 other photographers and all be told simultaneously that we don't have a job anymore. 

In order to get my severance package I have to work until June 8th and I'm totally okay with that. I love the people I work with, so although it's weird going back to a job you know you don't technically have anymore, it's easy to hang out my co-workers for a few more weeks.

I weirdly feel at ease with all of this though. Despite everything being so up in the air, I feel a strange calmness about it all. I know I'll figure out what to do next, I know I have savings to float me until my next thing, and I know everything will just be okay ultimately. I've lived a relatively pretty easy life so far, so why would it be any different now?

On the silly side of things, I can now say I've been laid off. That feels like a real 1930s thing to me. 

I really don't know what I will do just quite yet. I'm looking for jobs currently, and trying to interview for an HR type role that just opened up on Friday, but who knows? Maybe I'll just take the Summer off and go travel and bum around for a bit. That sounds so delightful to me. :) That was the original plan anyway, but it's easier to plan it out than to actually quit and make yourself do it. 

Maybe this laying off was just the little push I needed!


 

DONE IS BETTER THAN PERFECT.

"Done is better than perfect."

I heard this quote on a podcast I love and it really resonated with me. I don't automatically consider myself a perfectionist until I realize there are so many projects I haven't yet started because of this overwhelming idea that it has to be perfect the first time around. I have so many things I want to do, but I don't start those projects because something so small holds me back. 

Well folks, done is better than perfect. Starting and creating something even if it's not amazing is so much better than never making the thing at all. The more self-help style podcasts I listen to, the more I realize successful people didn't just have all the answers in the beginning. They didn't wake up one morning and say "I'm going to have a successful clothing company/bakery/blog/etc" and it just magically happened. They tried and failed, they experimented, they walked down the wrong job path until they realized that's not what they were supposed to do. They tried, and they tried, and they tried. Until, eventually, they turned their once small, intimidating idea into something successful and extraordinary.

Even when I take a look at the back pages of my blog right now, I have so many drafts of blog posts that never got published because I didn't think they were finished. But what's the point of writing 92% of a blog post and then never clicking that "publish" button? 

I wanted to start a blog a long time before I actually did, but the dumbest reasons held me back. I didn't know what it would truly be about, I didn't know a good blog title, I didn't have all the ideas right up front so I didn't start for a couple years. How dumb is that?! If I had just started the blog, the ideas would have come, but I thought it was the other way around. 

It's so awesome if you already know your life's calling and you know what you are meant to do, but I feel like for the majority of us, we're all just figuring it out along the way. And I think that's totally okay! Trial and error help us grow everyday, and I personally want to give myself the freedom to try new things and fail at them than not even try at all. 

So that being said, I'm working harder every passing day to remind myself that done is better than perfect. I'm allowed to fail. I'm allowed to make a really crappy macaron the first time around and get better with each batch. If the worst possible outcome for a project or business idea is just that it won't be successful, who's to say you shouldn't try?

You can listen to the "Don't Keep Your Day Job" podcast here: www.dontkeepyourdayjob.com

The podcast is so inspiring and motivating to run after the one thing (or multiple things) in life that call to you, to live your life intentionally, and to live your happiest life. I really recommend it to everyone! 

I hope you, yes you, figure out what would make your heart truly happy if you just weren't scared of failing. And then I hope you take a step towards that goal today, even if just a baby step. We only have this one life, and I think you should live it doing what you truly want to do. 

Happy pursuing! :)