How to win friends and influence people

Posted on September 14, 2016 by Amelia M.

How to win friends and influence people:

Step 1: Team up with a nice slice of pepperoni pizza

gab

Step 2: Take your pizza to fun and exotic locals. Console said pizza when the dolphin upstages him.

The pool! The lake! Giant Slip n’ Slides! Pretty much the only place my floats didn’t accompany me this summer was Seven Peaks [Although it would have been amusing to see a pizza float in the middle of the wave pool].

At Slide the City we had a number of floats with us and while my pizza definitely got reactions, the dolphin float stole the show. A guy came over and offered to pay us to ride the dolphin down the slide while full on monologuing about his love of the dolphin. We leant him Herbert [said dolphin] and thankfully he was returned to us safe and sound despite the dolphin obsessed stranger.

Me sliding with my pizza [The guy working there asked me if this was a pizza delivery, get it???] at Slide the City in downtown Salt Lake City [it covered three blocks].

Step 3: Assemble a squad of likeminded friends

What makes a float day better? More floats, of course. Not all of these are mine, but I enjoyed taking them out for a spin.

Lifehack: If you have a large amount of floats to inflate, but only a $3 plastic pump to blow them up, Gilmore Girls help pass the time. Also maybe eventually buy a second electric pump.

Stampede.

Gabby moved to a place with a pool and it definitely changed my summer for the better.

Gabby and I living our best summer lives.

We had a lovely ward “campout” that ended with a great lake day. Please note Herbert is front and center.

Step 4: Challenge yourself

While Herbert is great for giant slip n slides, it’s actually very hard to use this dolphin as a float [There are some serious balance issues involved … annnd the float may have been designed for children]. But the view is worth it.

Herbert in his [almost] natural habitat.

“Have floats, will travel” has it’s obstacles.

When you’re exerting yourself this much you gotta stay hydrated. My drink of choice: the diet pepperlada.

Step 5: Repeat

I think the float addiction may be permanent and it’s definitely contagious. I’ll keep you updated on next summer.

NOT PICTURED: The latest addition to the fam, a pretzel float. I snagged this baby during an end of summer sale and managed to get in one swim with it at the ward pool party. It has three holes so it’s perfect for floating with friends.

Currently: Excited for the next season of Project Runway to start!

Red Rock. Blue Sky.

Posted on August 28, 2014 by Amelia M.

If the ever present drizzle of rain didn’t do it, the two school zones that suddenly popped up in my morning commute this week were more than enough to help me realize summer is winding down. So before the season’s officially gone I thought I would write a little about my trip to Moab [Southern Utah]. I went with some friends a few months back [May? No, April I think, okay maybe this was technically a spring time trip, roll with it]. Call it a throwback thursday if you will.

I’ll keep my commentary pretty simple, but if you would like to feel inspired about the beauty of earth and majesty of nature here is some music to serenade you as you flip through the rest of this post.

Moab, in case you are unfamiliar, is a land of red rock,

Blue skies,

and Arches.

This is probably the most famous and recognizable Arch: Delicate Arch.

At the top of the hike to delicate arch [minus Sean, who was acting as photographer].

Landscape Arch.

Moab is also home to purple flowers and twisted trees.

In addition to hiking trails, Moab has jeeping paths you can go on. At first you may feel like this about jeeping:

Careful reenactment of our initial reaction to the first steep hills in the jeep. Before you laugh you should understand that sometimes it looks like you are going to fall into the earth. Directly. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.

But you’ll get over it and have a good time [and maybe admit to being over dramatic? no! never!]. Possibly even make jeeping friends.

Some fellow jeeps out and about, in primary colors, no less.

Jeep trail. Not the super steep part, obviously. One of the nice things about jeeping is we were able to bring a cooler with us and have a picnic lunch. This was all very picturesque until the wind picked up and made everything a mess, haha.

But mostly Moab is just more red rock and blue skies and that was plenty enough for me.

Here’s to finishing summer off in style and having a wonderful fall!

Currently: drooling over this list of greatest dances from SYTYCD (So You Think You Can Dance for anyone unfamiliar)

More Summer Please

Posted on August 18, 2013 by Amelia M.

So much summer, so little time. In the last two weeks or so every time my friends and I try to swim the storm clouds roll in or some other anti-swim disaster strikes. But, honestly, those have just been tiny bumps in the road. I’m really just sad to see the signs that summer will be gone soon (It’s probably my favorite season). There’s something wonderful about the summer life.Good thing I’m ending on a high with a little getaway with my friends soon.

In the meantime, here are some of the reasons I’ll miss summer:

Baseball Games

Don’t laugh. Yes, I’m not the sportiest girl around, but there’s something so pleasant about watching a game with blue skies overhead and a hot dog in your hand. Just don’t make me tell you what’s going on.

I went to a Bees game with my ward and had a great time. We all sat on the grassy open section. This picnic blanket really is getting a lot of use this summer.

Frozen Treats

Summer foods are the best! In addition to ice cream, sorbet, popsicles, and the like, I love grabbing a cool drink. Whether it’s a McDonalds diet coke (the best deal around) or a Sonic Cherry Limeade Slush a good drink can make a summer evening just right.

Um, who could resist a sprinkle edged delight like this? Thanks Meg!

Have we talked about this Lick’d popsicle yet? The flavor is Avocado Pistachio! Not something I’d do everytime, but it was a summer adventure I truly enjoyed.

Visits from Friends

I love it when I get to benefit from other people’s summer vacations :D My friend Kimberly came into town this year and it was great to see her and her girls!

A police officer came by our picnic table and gave us a ton of temporary tattoos with the SLPD logo so we “deputized” the kids (and ourselves) haha.

I’m a sneaky photographer, hehe. I took them to liberty park, which was really fun EXCEPT for a crazy concert going on (definitely not aimed at children).

Farmers Market

The Farmers market is a summer must! Yummy food, great produce, and interesting craft booths. Always a good time!

These raspberries were crazy good. You can’t tell from this picture, but some of them are even purple.

Outdoor Movies

Salt Lake has these in ample supply. Most recently I caught American Graffiti at Big Cottonwood Park. I really, really, really loved the film noir series at the Gallivan. They also show movies at Capitol Hill and in Park City. One of the most unique outdoor movie experiences I had this summer was getting to watch Sandlot at the actual Sandlot. The movie was filmed in Salt Lake and for the 20th anniversary they showed the film and brought in the director and a lot of the cast.

The Sandlot!

There were a lot of people there! The autograph line was so long the cast was signing things all the way through the movie and they still didn’t finish! They seemed really grateful and down to earth though (from the Q&A portion; I chose not to wait in that crazy line!).

The Cast! It was fun to hear their memories. They let the audience ask questions and a surprising amount were about Wendy Peffercorn, haha.

Wedding Bells

A summer wedding is pretty much guaranteed and I couldn’t resist the opportunity to post something about my good friend Teal’s wedding. This girl has been a great friend to me since the day I was born and she had a beautiful wedding (Such a happy, crazy in love couple!).

The beautiful couple, flower bouquet, and Karen and Meg!

The beautiful couple, one of the bouquets, and Karen & Meg!

Me with some of the other bridesmaids :)

Here's a peek of what they're reception was like.

Here’s a peek of what their reception was like.

It was a great day and a fun party!

This cutie also enjoyed the wedding!

Oh yeah, and somehow this happened to their car? ;)

While we are talking wedding, let’s sneak in a picture from the bridal shower! Love these girls!

So this doesn’t even begin to cover all the wonderfulness of summer (Maybe a part two is in order? At the very least I need to chronicle my garden/plant journey this year), but it’s a good start.

Currently: watching celebrity wife swap?! Yeah, that’s happening. But after that I’m going to finish rearranging my room (I dragged everything out of place after I got an impulse to switch things up. Some things still need a new home).

Bedelia

The less literal and fictional Amelia

Tag Archives: summer

How to win friends and influence people

Red Rock. Blue Sky.

More Summer Please