A little video of our road trip through Erin's eyes!
Through Erin's Eyes
June 21, 2018
We took a little road trip over to Arizona a few weeks ago. Drove to Grand Canyon and camped a few nights. Stopped by Antelope Canyon and then finished in Vegas for a couple of nights.
It's about a 7-8 hour drive to Grand Canyon. We took one stop, driving about 3-4 hours each time. There were no issues with the girls during the car ride (hooray!). I think the TV really helps. Dumbo was on repeat with a little Frozen and Moana here and there. Oh and the weather in Grand Canyon turned out great. I was concerned it would be too hot, but it was mid to high 80's during the day and it dropped down to 40's at night. We stayed at the Mather's Campground. Lots of elk walking around and tons of birds trying to steal your food. The girls had a blast playing with dirt and watching the elks. We did a couple of hikes and Erin was a rock star and finished an almost 2 mile hike on her own! Grand canyon is quite the sight. It's amazing how vast it is...pretty dang breathtaking. The girls were pretty easy during the camping portion. We had one rough night (Ava wanting to share a cot with me (tiny cot), it being cold at night, and Erin complaining about her knee), but in general the girls did well and it wasn't all too challenging. It's definitely getting easier traveling with them.
Before getting to Vegas, we stopped by Antelope Canyon to take the canyon tour. We took the lower Antelope Canyon tour. Girls were more interested in the sand than the actual canyon itself. The tour took a total of about an hour. You don't walk too much. A lot of the time was spent waiting for people to take pictures and move ahead. Antelope Canyon is significantly hotter than Grand Canyon, but since we were inside the canyon where it was nice and shaded, it wasn't too hot. The girls walked the entire time. They had fun climbing the ladders themselves. One last stop we took was at Horseshoe Bend. It's only a 3/4 mile hike to the view point, but it was the hike of death. It was over 100 degrees and no shade in sight. Hard to enjoy the view when there was no escape from the heat. We probably looked a little strange dragging the girls with us. Ken ended up carrying both of them to and from.
Vegas was the nice ending to our little road trip (no pictures, whoops). It was nice to take a proper shower/bath and just relax. We didn't have much planned so we just took it easy. We ate a lot of food and spent some time at the pool. A few highlights from Vegas:
The Oyster Bar - Palace Station Hotel: Ken went out to pick it up around 10:00 pm. Took him about 1.5 hours to get. He brought it back to the hotel for us to eat together. He got the combo pan roast and the clam chowder. So good!
Momofuku - Cosmopolitan Hotel- We just ordered a couple of the pork belly buns to go. Pork was nice and thick and I very much enjoyed.
It's about a 7-8 hour drive to Grand Canyon. We took one stop, driving about 3-4 hours each time. There were no issues with the girls during the car ride (hooray!). I think the TV really helps. Dumbo was on repeat with a little Frozen and Moana here and there. Oh and the weather in Grand Canyon turned out great. I was concerned it would be too hot, but it was mid to high 80's during the day and it dropped down to 40's at night. We stayed at the Mather's Campground. Lots of elk walking around and tons of birds trying to steal your food. The girls had a blast playing with dirt and watching the elks. We did a couple of hikes and Erin was a rock star and finished an almost 2 mile hike on her own! Grand canyon is quite the sight. It's amazing how vast it is...pretty dang breathtaking. The girls were pretty easy during the camping portion. We had one rough night (Ava wanting to share a cot with me (tiny cot), it being cold at night, and Erin complaining about her knee), but in general the girls did well and it wasn't all too challenging. It's definitely getting easier traveling with them.
Before getting to Vegas, we stopped by Antelope Canyon to take the canyon tour. We took the lower Antelope Canyon tour. Girls were more interested in the sand than the actual canyon itself. The tour took a total of about an hour. You don't walk too much. A lot of the time was spent waiting for people to take pictures and move ahead. Antelope Canyon is significantly hotter than Grand Canyon, but since we were inside the canyon where it was nice and shaded, it wasn't too hot. The girls walked the entire time. They had fun climbing the ladders themselves. One last stop we took was at Horseshoe Bend. It's only a 3/4 mile hike to the view point, but it was the hike of death. It was over 100 degrees and no shade in sight. Hard to enjoy the view when there was no escape from the heat. We probably looked a little strange dragging the girls with us. Ken ended up carrying both of them to and from.
Vegas was the nice ending to our little road trip (no pictures, whoops). It was nice to take a proper shower/bath and just relax. We didn't have much planned so we just took it easy. We ate a lot of food and spent some time at the pool. A few highlights from Vegas:
The Oyster Bar - Palace Station Hotel: Ken went out to pick it up around 10:00 pm. Took him about 1.5 hours to get. He brought it back to the hotel for us to eat together. He got the combo pan roast and the clam chowder. So good!
Momofuku - Cosmopolitan Hotel- We just ordered a couple of the pork belly buns to go. Pork was nice and thick and I very much enjoyed.
May 9, 2018
Had Mommy and Me tea time at the cutest little cafe in Orange County. Got the girls dressed up and dragged Ken along for the ride. Their pre-fixe menu was quite tasty. They have a handful of juice alternatives for kids which Erin loved and Ava enjoyed all the petite desserts. Oh and tons of spots to take very instagrammable pictures (Too bad the girls were so not cooperative when it came to taking a picture with me).
Location: Morning Lavender Cafe: https://www.morninglavendercafe.com/
Location: Morning Lavender Cafe: https://www.morninglavendercafe.com/
April 3, 2018
Some of you may know, but I started a little event planning/styling business last year. Sweet + Modest Events to be exact. I marked April 2, 2017 as my launch date, so I have officially made it through a year. Hooray! I honestly feel like it's a miracle that people have actually reached out to me because there are SO many talented people in this industry. Definitely had some low points..but quite a few high points too. Here's a little glimpse of what the year looked like for S+M:
Some things I've learned:
- Stay true to yourself. Like I mentioned before, there are tons of talented people in this industry. So of course with that comes a lot of comparing. I started S+M with the intention of doing things a specific way, which was, like the name of my business, in a very modest way. My motto in life has always been that simple and sweet can go a long way. I definitely want to challenge myself, but I also want to stay true to my motto. There will always be cooler things and more beautiful set-ups, but I don't want that to be my motivation.
- Plan ahead/prioritize. With two little ones, there had to be a lot of planning ahead. You never know what surprises will come up (i.e, sickness) which might suddenly monopolize all your time.
- It's ok to say no. I think with the pressure of starting a new business, you want everything and anything. But it's definitely ok to say no. The added pressure and stress isn't worth it.
- Document everything. Take pictures of everything you work on. It's amazing how much change/progress you can see as the months go by. I mainly documented all the flower arrangements I made. See photo below (top was from September last year and bottom was from March this year). There is such a difference in depths/shape and usage of greenery. Still got tons to improve/learn and grow!
As for the future, I haven't actually thought that far. I don't think I really thought about anything except the now when I first started this. So maybe I should sit down and really think about where I see myself in a few years. The year was definitely enjoyable but it was also very challenging. I still have two young kids and a full-time job, so it did often cause extra stress and this stuff can seriously take up a lot of your time. Maybe it'll get easier as the kids get older or maybe it'll get easier with time and I'll have mastered the art of juggling things. We'll just have to see. But a big shout out to those who have hired me, encouraged me, helped me set-up, watched my kids...You all rock, thank you!
March 21, 2018
It's been a rough couple of weeks. With Ava's sleep transition, I'm no longer getting a full nights rest and daylight savings did not help. I think it took me a whole week to adjust to the time change. Ew.
Some highlights:
1. We registered Erin for Kindergarten. We'll be saving some money this fall (score!).
2. Ava is the worst sleeping partner. She kicks you; pulls your hair; sleeps on your arms, stomach and legs. This girl is all over the place and it ain't cute.
3. The girls saw Dumbo for the first time and they loved it. It's on repeat in our car.
4. We finally finalized our vacation plans for the summer. Decided to go with a road/camping trip in early June. Heading over to Arizona (Grand Canyon/Antelope Canyon) for a couple nights of camping and then finishing off our trip with a few nights in Las Vegas. Hoping it won't be too hot.
I leave you with some photos from an impromptu session (the girls were so obedient!):
Some highlights:
1. We registered Erin for Kindergarten. We'll be saving some money this fall (score!).
2. Ava is the worst sleeping partner. She kicks you; pulls your hair; sleeps on your arms, stomach and legs. This girl is all over the place and it ain't cute.
3. The girls saw Dumbo for the first time and they loved it. It's on repeat in our car.
4. We finally finalized our vacation plans for the summer. Decided to go with a road/camping trip in early June. Heading over to Arizona (Grand Canyon/Antelope Canyon) for a couple nights of camping and then finishing off our trip with a few nights in Las Vegas. Hoping it won't be too hot.
I leave you with some photos from an impromptu session (the girls were so obedient!):
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