What Do Alice in Wonderland and the Grand America Hotel Have in Common?
March 13, 2010 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 3 Comments
What do Alice in Wonderland and The Grand America Hotel in Utah have in common? I wish I could say Johnny Depp, but that would not be entirely true. And I’m certainly glad it isn’t the Queen of Hearts with her obnoxiously big head, because that could have been potentially dangerous. What they both have in common is tea!
The Grand America is a 5-Diamond hotel in the heart of downtown Salt Lake City. Every experience I’ve had there has been exquisite. The rooms? Spacious! The views? Amazing. The duet massage? Pure bliss (best massage ever, in fact). The food? Delicious (especially their cheese selection, but I’m a bit partial to cheese). Conference rooms? Awesome. The service? Impeccable.
So, adding another high quality experience to my already long list of amazing experiences there was nothing less than expected.
Afternoon tea! Have you enjoyed the tradition? I hadn’t until yesterday. Joined by Larissa from The Grand America and three blogging friends, we started with tea—Rooibus Chai for me with no less than 5 sugar cubes. What tea would you have ordered?
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Then, we had a selection of finger sandwiches and scones. My favorite? The smoked salmon with caviar. Mmmmm! Of course, we enjoyed all this yumminess while chatting a lot about travel, learning that we all had ties in one way or another to Europe. Who knew?
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But wait! There’s more. The afternoon tea also comes with dessert. Awesome, right? Chocolate cake, cheese cake, French pastries. Sound delicious? Not for someone who doesn’t like dessert. It’s true! I don’t really like dessert, so the beautiful chocolate cake didn’t call my name at all. A travesty, right? But, The Grand America had me covered and instead, offered to bring out cheese and crackers. Three selections of gourmet cheeses to be precise with a variety of crackers and berries. I was in heaven!
After tea, we all headed to see Alice in Wonderland, which was deep and sometimes dark and illuminating all at once and left me with far too many insights and questions and feelings to capture in this post. Let it suffice to say that Tim Burton is a true visionary and Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter never disappoint. The story? Well, I hope to sit with Lewis Carroll after this life and have a long conversation. His creative mind and ability to capture meaty matters in a nonsense sort of way fascinates me. Have you seen it? What did you think?
But tea isn’t the only thing Alice in Wonderland and the Grand America hotel have in common! They both have rabbits! Alice in Wonderland with its white rabbit and his famous pocket watch and the the Grand America with its Easter Eggstravaganza complete with visits from the Easter Bunny himself. Who wouldn’t want to have springtime tea with the Easter Bunny? You won’t want to be late for this very important date! Check out the details here and if you happen to be in Salt Lake City between March 21 and April 12, hop on in and enjoy Easter at the Grand America.
Thanks to the Grand America for treating us to Afternoon Tea and Alice and Wonderland. And thanks to The Daily Blarg for providing photos.
Friendship: Stepping Outside Our Comfort Zones to Make Others Feel Loved
March 7, 2010 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 5 Comments
Today an amazing thing happened. A gal from my neighborhood stopped by my house. What’s amazing is the reason why.
I opened the door to her big smile. She seemed a little embarrassed and anxious and all at once blurted out, “I miss you!” She shrugged her shoulders and the smile appeared again and she said, “I’m trying to reach out to the people I care about.” I quite literally wanted to scoop her up. What do you do with such amazing kindness?
I probably acted cool, calm, and collected. But, what she did was HUGE! She stepped outside her comfort zone to make me feel loved. And she succeeded!
Then I got to thinking about something that has been on my mind for a while. How often do we take advantage of opportunities to reach out to others right when we feel like we should? You know the nudge, right? You feel like you should go up to someone, or include her in your group, or help her feel part of the crowd, or stop by her house to let her know you miss her, or invite her to do something when you think she is the busiest person in the world and wouldn’t possibly have time for you. But, if you’re anything like me, sometimes it seems a little weird or uncomfortable or awkward. After all, what will that person think? How will she react? Will he think I’m stupid?
I can tell you from very recent experience (as in 5 minutes ago) that I didn’t feel like this gal was anything but lovely!
What’s even more awesomesauce than my feelings of being cared about is that now I want to go and help someone else feel this way. It feels AMAZING to be cared about like that, but the thought of spreading the love is even more appealing and exciting!
What will you do this week to spread seeds of friendship, step outside of your comfort zone, and help someone feel loved?
Photo courtesy of Flickr.Thrift-Store Shopping How-To’s From a Nordie’s Gal!
November 15, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 11 Comments
I am proof that you can swear undying devotion to Dillard’s and still rock it when it comes to thrift-store shopping. What’s the key to my success, you ask? My uber stylish friends (USFs) who just so happen to love all things vintage and make sorting, frugality, and thrift-store shopping an amazing art instead of the crazy chaos I thought it would be.
Looking to find a stylish steal of a deal and have fun while doing it? Don’t take it from me, learn a few tips from the pros, my USFs—Allison from Petit Elefant or @petit_elefant, Carina from Jet Set or @jet_set, and Melissa from Isly or @melissapher.
Here is what I learned this past weekend while thrifting in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah!
1. Get Organized and Connected!
While the actual shopping was fun (yes! I admit it!), the whole thrifting experience would have been void without friends. Sharing your finds is half the fun, so having one person organize the event—invite people, create a schedule, e-mail information—was extremely helpful. Before the outing, I loved knowing who was going, getting pre-shopping tips, organizing carpools, and chit chatting back and forth on e-mail to generate excitement.
(From left: Allison, Marie, Emily, Carina, and Melissa)
2. Prepare an Itinerary.
Receiving a schedule of the thrifting events was awesome, because it gave us a play-by-play of the day’s activity. That way, if we had to arrive late or leave early or only had a certain amount of time we could be there, we could plan accordingly.
3. Provide Pre-Shopping Tips.
For non-thrift-shopping gals, receiving a few helpful pre-shopping tips like these made the whole experience easier:
- If you’re looking to buy furniture, measure the space in your house and bring the dimensions with you so you don’t buy a piece that is too large or small for the space.
- If you’re looking to buy clothes or shoes, wear clothes that can easily be removed and put back on.
4. Choose Vintage Stores Close in Proximity But With a Variety of Products.
When shopping with 10+ gals, especially on a snowy day, make sure to schedule your stops close together. We went to several stores within walking distance and then drove to another two also within walking distance. I loved the diverse mix of products in each of the stores. I bought a red hat in Retro Rose and a cute silk dress at The Green Ant. Other stores sported bottle collections, furniture, a vintage Jack-in-the-Box, and extensive jewelry collections.
5. Tempt the Palate.
What’s an outing without food? Starting and ending on a delicious note not only kept everyone’s tummy’s full and happy, but also provided an extra opportunity for socializing.
Choosing the eateries also played a role in both setting the tone and wrapping things up in savory style. We went foreign for breakfast with Belgian Waffles from Bruges and to Gormandise Bakery “famous for its spectacular desserts” for lunch.
6. Open Your Mind and Your Pocketbook, But Not Before Haggling.
Being a non-thrifting gal myself prior to this event, part of its success for me was simply being open minded. I didn’t think the silky number would fit and wasn’t in the mood to try things on. Peer pressure got me into the dressing room and out of the store with a cute dress perfect for me at a great price ($20 folks!). Of course, I had to be willing to pull out the pocketbook. Frugal isn’t free! But, I did learn the price is always up for negotiation—a little friendly haggling!—one thing I wouldn’t dare do at Nordie’s.
7. Capture the Event!
One of the funnest parts of the experience was taking pictures as we went from store to store. Check out the entire activity on Whrrl by clicking here!
A seasoned thrifter? New to the game? Leave a comment with your tips, questions, or advice.
Finding time for Friendship
August 16, 2009 by Danielle Smith · 1 Comment
The older I get, the more I value the friends I have. True friendship as an adult, as a mom, takes time and effort. It isn’t easy because we all have so much ‘life’ spinning around us – our families, our homes, our work (either at home or away from it).
We have carpools and soccer games, dinner times and preschool graduations, doctors appointments and teacher conferences, family vacations and work obligations – to say nothing of taking care of your home, or spending quality time with your kids and significant other.
And yet, we manage. Because our friends matter. They keep us sane, help us navigate the minefield of motherhood and even guide us through pain.
It doesn’t matter how you met your ‘best friends’ – it matters only how you treat them and how they treat you.
Take Brandy Tanner and Dwan Perrin.
They met online. Until this summer, the entirety of their friendship had been via the Internet and phone. And yet, they are there for each other – they share a mutual respect and loyalty.
Brandy on Dwan: “Dwan is extraordinary because she is a single mother of three children. No matter how hard life may be financially and emotionally for Dwan, she is still a Mom who does extraordinary things for her children. She gives all she has to them and tries her best to make money working from home.”
Dwan believes her most important job as a mom is to teach unconditional love by example. This is a philosophy she lives daily as she cares for Tapanga who is 11, 7 year old Gabby and almost 3 year old Noah.
It was while dealing with Gabby’s extensive medical problems that Dwan moved from the corporate world to working at home full time, while caring for her children. Gabby suffered a pediatric stroke in utero and has since struggled with Cerebral Palsy and Epilepsy. In only her 7 short years, she has had 5 major surgeries – 2 of them on her brain.
With Dwan by her side, Gabby sees 6 specialists and 5 therapists on a regular basis. This is modeling unconditional love. And she constantly supports her family on all levels, “I work from home literally around the clock, in between caring for kids, doctor appointments, running errands, maintaining the house and sleeping.”
How is it even possible to balance everything Dwan has on her plate? “I take one day at a time and just when I think I can’t handle another day, I remember my children NEED me. I am the one they count on and I know God would never hand me more than I can handle.”
And of course, she has Brandy, “We talk daily and learn on each other constantly. I’d be lost without Brandy!”
Dwan on Brandy: “Although Brandy is married, her husband works at least 6 days a week and she basically has to run the home/children on her own. Along with breastfeeding, diaper changing (she has 2 in diapers), dealing with a child with ADHD and juggling business, she makes time to be a best friend to me.”
Balancing life as a work at home mom with raising three children – a 6 year old daughter and 2 sons who are 2 and under, Brandy’s days are full. And yet, the only thing she would change would be to have her husband around a bit more. She worries about the stress he endures working a 6 day, 50 hour week.
Though she does it all at home and manages a new business, Brandy considers having two small guys in diapers to be one of her biggest challenges, “it seems when I am changing one, the other wants mommy all to himself.”
Clearly, being a Mom is a priority for Brandy, “I hope to teach all three of my children that it is ok to make mistakes as long as you learn something from those mistakes and move forward in a positive direction.”
Helping her to constantly move in that positive direction: Dwan.
Both Moms are in the midst of managing blogs (visit Dwan and Brandy) and starting new businesses online. Brandy is an online virtual asistant and Dwan will soon be launching her new business - a definite passion for her.
About the Author: Danielle Smith is a mommy to two smart and sassy small people, as well as the founder and primary author of ExtraordinaryMommy.com. You can catch her hosting a brand new live show, The Spin Cycle, on MomTV.com every Wednesday at 9pmEST. She also hosts a show on Blog Talk Radio and contributes to WhyMomsMatter. Danielle is thrilled to be contributing to MomItForward as ‘giving back’ has always been an important part of who she is and what she hopes to teach her children.
Take the Summer of Service Challenge This Week by Including Others!
August 2, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 5 Comments
10 Ways to Include Others This Week
Feeling included is a great feeling. Walking into a room—whether it be at an event, an activity, a conference, church, a school function, or otherwise—and not knowing a single soul in the room can be difficult. What a difference it makes when, in that same situation, someone extends the hand of friendship, reaches out and introduces themselves to you, takes up that empty seat next to you, starts a conversation, and helps you feel welcome. Taking a step outside of our comfort zones to help someone else feel included and a part of things is an amazing act of service. It is also an important skill and characteristic to teach our children, especially as they transition from summer activities to back to school, where they will meet new kids, join sports teams, etc.
You can take this week’s Summer of Service challenge, sponsored by Crayola, by doing one of the following things. If you have more ideas for including others, please share them in the comments!
- Invite someone new to an event you’ll be attending soon—a book club, scrapbooking club, school meeting, play group, a church activity, a professional club or organization, etc.
- When you attend an event, look around for someone who is sitting by themselves and sit next to them and introduce yourself to them.
- Invite someone you have recently met, but don’t know well, to lunch just to get to know him or her.
- Plan a girl’s night out activity with your friends and encourage everyone to bring someone new.
- Invite a family in your neighborhood or from your children’s school over for dinner.
- Write a thank-you note to someone who has made an impact on your life recently, but who you don’t know well.
- Identify five people you’d like to get to know better and determine what you will do this week to take steps toward doing that.
- Role play with your children the act of including others at school—inviting them to their lunch table, including them on their sports team, playing with them at recess, etc.
- Have a date night with your husband and invite another couple you haven’t done something with before.
- When your friends are successful in their endeavors, pour on the compliments and share the love publicly. A little affirmation and abundance thinking goes a long way to strengthen friendships!
How Will You Give to Others This Week?
What other ideas do you have for including others this week?- What are things that get in the way of including others?
- What are ways to overcome these challenges?
- How has including others made a meaningful difference this week for you? For others?
How Else Can You Make a Difference This Summer?
Make a meaningful difference this summer by taking the Summer of Service (SOS) Challenge. Here’s how you can participate:
- Commit to do one act of kindness/service based on the week’s challenge.
- Leave a comment with ideas relating to the week’s challenge as well as your experience(s) performing it.
- Grab the SOS button in the sidebar and put it on your blog or social networking site.
- Enter to win each week’s giveaway. Check out this week’s prize from Crayola.
- Join #gno this Tuesday on Twitter to connect with other Mom It Forward moms about the challenge.
March of Dimes Fund Soars in Memory of Maddie Spohr
April 21, 2009 by Danielle Smith · 3 Comments
Less than 2 weeks ago, something terrible happened.
A mother and father took their little girl to the hospital.
Sweet Madeline Alice Spohr never came home again.
Maddie lived 17 beautiful, amazing months. In that time, she touched lives and brightened the world of everyone who met her.
News of her passing rippled across the Blog World. Friends and family of Maddie’s parents, Heather and Mike Spohr, reached out to help.
Something happened. One person shared the story of Maddie with another, and then that person passed on the light of this little girl – until hundreds of people were wringing their hands in their own homes across the country—feeling helpless, wondering what they could do to ease the pain of this family they didn’t even know.
Strangers sat at their computers late at night, reading post after post about the beauty of this little girl, about the tragedy of her loss, and sharing their need to help. Crying was the norm.
The color purple became a rally cry—Twitter Avatars changed color, Twitter backgrounds switched to purple, blog backgrounds made the jump.
Heather’s close friend became the source for information. AMomTwoBoys was where you could go for all things Maddie. You could find:
- Links to all the amazing tributes to this little girl (close to 500 of them)
- Learn about how to donate to the March of Dimes in Maddie’s honor. In less than 2 weeks, more than $31,000 has been raised. I understand 90% of that has been in increments of less than $25 or less.
- She even sent you to the websites that had the links for buttons to help the family—neither Heather or Mike are working right now and clearly, expenses are overwhelming.
If you would like to get right to the heart of Maddie – visit her Daddy, Mike and Mommy, Heather.
Pictures are from Maddie’s mom, Heather’s website.
Mamas Afternoon Out With Mom It Forward
February 28, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 1 Comment
Add a Little Extraordinary to Your Life
As a mom, do you ever feel like you are pulled in a million directions? Struggle to balance the many roles you play? Wish you had a parent’s guidebook tailored to each of your children’s needs and personalities? Want to give back and make a difference, but don’t feel like you have the time or ways to do it?
If you answered yes to even one of these questions, you are not alone! As women and mothers, we are all walking on, what sometimes feels like an unsteady tight rope, trying to find that perfect balance and reach our many expectations.
The good news? The tasks we perform—you know, the ones we feel are merely ordinary—are more times than not, extraordinary. Or, with a little help and inspiration, can be!
What’s on the Lineup?
Click here to RSVP and join Mom It Forward, other Salt Lake City moms, and these speakers Thursday, March 12 at The Melting Pot for savory bites, motivating bits of information, bunches of inspiration, bounteous networking opportunities, and incredible prizes to help you put the extraordinary in, what sometimes feels like, just an ordinary life:
- Changing the World One Mom at a Time: The Mom It Forward Mission—Carissa Rogers, mom of 3, owner of Apricot a Lot, and co-founder of Mom It Forward; Jyl Johnson Pattee, mom of 2 and co-founder of Mom It Forward
- The Balancing Act of Motherhood: Setting Realistic Expectations—Rachael Herrscher, mom of 3, author of the Utah Mama’s Handbook, and CEO of Today’s Mama
- Raising Happy and Successful Children: Taking It Up a Notch by Taking It Down a Notch—Muffy Mead Ferro, mom of 2, author of the best-seller Confessions of a Slacker Mom and Confessions of a Slacker Wife, which have been featured on Oprah, The Today Show, and in The New York Times, USA Today, and the Washington Post, and on NPR’s Talk of the Nation in addition to other media outlets. She has recently finished a third book, One Foot in Wyoming, and writes a monthly column for the website Today’s Mama.
- The Difference One Mom Can Make: Empowering Women in Kenya—Rainee Baldwin, mom of 2, production manager at US Synthetic, and volunteer extraordinaire at The Pope Foundation
What’s In It for Me?
We recognize taking two hours of of your busy schedules is a serious time investment. Here’s the return we can promise on that investment:
- A delicious lunch from The Melting Pot
- Networking with other amazing moms
- Motivational content from our guest speakers
- The chance to win one of many prizes
Be sure to share this with your friends! Also, if you own a business and would like to sponsor a table, please contact us at momitforward [at] gmail [dot] com.
This event is sponsored by Today’s Mama and The Melting Pot!
