Friday, March 21, 2014

Third Annual Valentine's Tea

Every year I host a fun little valentine's tea party for my neices and nephew that live in Utah.  I have so much fun putting it together every year.  To see what I have done in the past click HERE and HERE.  I try to do a little something different every year, but I also enjoy reusing things I have bought or made in years passed.  My main goal is to make it a dream day for the kids, I try to think what would be the most magical thing to a child...Various candies on the table to much on all afternoon, cherries in our drinks, marshmallow hearts, cupcakes, grilled cheese sandwiches etc.
























My mom made these adorable heart themed veggies, aren't they just adorable?!




Bethy brought this amazing fruit cake



Lunch is served


The Griffin's brought the soup, it was so delicious.  It was gluten free, and it was the perfect tasting tomato soup and it was so creamy and just delightful all the way around.



Favorite quotes from the day:

Evie: : This is the best day evverrrrrr!

Sammy: Valentines is my new favorite holiday







After lunch we gathered in the family room to make some valentines.  I put a few decorations up to make it feel a little festive.  Sadly, I didn't get any photos of the cute valentines we made.



And I couldn't resist throwing in this awesome photo bomb .... 

Happy Valentines Day!



January Light


I took my Christmas tree down right after Christmas to save it from the kitties, but I left up my mantle decorations because I wasn't quite ready for a bare house just yet and they are more winter decorations then Christmas decorations.  I took these photos of them one evening when the glowing sunset was streaming in through the window and I just needed to take some pictures.  So I got my SLR and had some fun.  I didn't know quite what to do with the photos, so I decided to post them to make them feel of value.











The Magical World of Disney



This past January, some good friends and I made a midwinter escape to sunny California to have some fun in Disneyland and to get out of the cold and gloom that is known as Utah during the early months of the year.  It was absolutely lovely.  We got to stay at the Grand Californian which was an absolute dream.  It was wonderful to be so close to the park, and that hotel is just beautiful all the way around.

The weather was glorious.  Warm and sunny, but not too hot.  And a much added and exciting bonus was that most of the Christmas decorations were still up, which makes Disney all the more magical.  We spent 5 fun filled days hopping back and forth between the two parks 


Our of all the times I have been to Disney I have never been to the magical Sorcer's Workshop in California Adventure.  It.  Is. Awesome.  You get to go to the beast's library, ursala's lair and a few other cool locations.

In the beast's library you get to take a test and see which Disney character you are most like.  The first time I took it I got Edna Mode because we are both creative.  The second time I took it I got Alice, because we are both curious (and love kitties and have one named Dina...)







Our first night in the park we stayed until the park closed.  We got to explore the new princess meet and greet place with absolutely no one else there.  One security guard came over and helped us look for hidden Mickeys.




The new Frozen additions were adorable!  The talking Olaf was too cute, at night time he snores and occasionally wakes up to tell us it's bed time.



I am pretty sure we were the last ones out of the park.  We had the most glorious time having all of main street to ourselves for a few minutes.  We danced up and down the street and took photos and just had a ball, until the guards told us we couldn't anymore ...



The Grand Californian Christmas tree was up for the first night we were there, what a lovely sight to come home to after a long day of Disney fun.

The next day was spent mostly in California Adventure, they have so many fun rides over there.  And Carsland, don't even get me started on how adorable that place is.



Another first on this trip was getting a Ghirardelli's Sundae.  I got the cookie bottom one and it was one of the best things I have ever eaten in my life.




We snuck in a little Disney as well..



That night we had dinner at Carthay Circle in California Adventure.  It is modeled after the theater that Snow White premiered at so there are subtle Snow White details through out the interior decor.  Then we headed back into the park for more!










On the day we flew out we tried to squeeze in as much as possible before we had to say goodbye, we were pretty productive..


We got to draw Olaf at the Animation Academy which we were pretty stoked about!



And we got to see Small World all done up in it's Christmas glory!




This trip was the most perfect balance between fun having, relaxing, eating yummy food and treats and enjoying each other's company.  It was the perfect get a way!