Friday Favorites 002

Hello, hello – it’s another Friday Favorites installment! It is looooooong overdue. You probably thought I forgot about this series. I did not... life got in the way. Anyways, this is a series in which I offer recommendations (that no one asked for) for various things. You can read the first installment here.

Favorite Quote

“You have to be willing to be bad at it in order to get good at it.”

Perfectionism is a trait that’s no stranger to many of us, myself included. Who wouldn’t want to be good at everything the first try? *looks around, raises hand* However, that’s usually not how it works, unless you are disposed to naturally have the talent or skill. Most of the time, you will be bad at whatever you try the first (and probably second, third, and fourth) time. This quote reminds me that it is okay to be bad. I have to start somewhere if I want to be good, no matter skill or hobby I'm learning.

Favorite Recipe

I love pancakes, and this mini chocolate chip recipe from Six Vegan Sister has become my go-to! I've made them almost every other weekend. I'm not actually vegan, but rather lactose intolerant, so anything with no dairy that tastes great is a win in my book! If you follow the recipe for mini pancakes, you'll definitely have enough to last all week. Or not, because you'll want to eat the entire batch.

This recipe works well with gluten-free flour; I use Krusteaz. One suggestion I have is to add an extra splash of non-dairy milk as you mix the batter, otherwise it's very thick.

Syrup and strawberries are my favorite pancake toppings!

Favorite Song(s)

Lately I've been feeling like I've been listening to the same songs over and over again, so I've made it a point to check out my Weekly Discover playlist on Spotify. I enjoy a variety of music, from CHH (Christian hip hop) and rock, to Disney, movie soundtracks (mostly Star Wars) and musicals, to gospel and worship. I also love a good lofi playlist while studying or working.

A few weeks ago, I discovered this song called Big Feelings by PEABOD. Immediately I couldn't get enough of it! It's got a catchy, punchy vibe. It's about the confusion, or "big feelings," you feel when a friend turns on you.

I also enjoy finding German music! Recently I found cute long song called Lieblingsmensch by Namika. Basically, she sings about her favorite person (Lieblings = favorite, Mensch = person) and lists the reasons why they're her favorite.

Favorite Podcast

Over the past few months, I've fallen deep into the Star Wars fandom on Twitter. (It is 100% Twitter's fault for making the "Topics" function.) This deepdive (and further reflection of my own) dramatically impacted my understanding of Star Wars and its storytelling as a whole. I have deviated from my previous love-hate relationship with The Rise of Skywalker to more of a hate-hate relationship. (I may have ranted about it one too many times to my friends.)

That's how I discovered a lovely fan podcast called What the Force?, hosted by Marie-Claire Gould, along with various co-hosts and guests. I enjoy the discussions Marie-Claire facilitates, as she applies meta analyses through mostly Campbellian and female gaze lenses to everything Star Wars, from the canon, the Force, and the fans. For starters, I recommend The Power of Myth and Symbolism: The Mandalorian (great for learning about the Campbellian monomyth!); interview with writer Charles Soule (even if you hadn't read his stuff; I haven't!); and Live: Feminine Gaze & Q&A.

Favorite TV Show

In my Utah travel blog, I briefly mentioned the Netflix Original Sweet Magnolias. I need to give it the full love it deserves. The show follows three best friends, Maddy, Helen, and Dana Sue, who open a spa together in their small Southern town of Serenity, while dealing with problems of their own. Maddie is going through a divorce after a cheating scandal, Helen wants children but is single, and Dana Sue owns and is the head chef of a restaurant.

Helen Decatur (left), Dana Sue Sullivan (center), and Maddie Townsend (right) celebrate their spa opening

This show will make you laugh and cry in the best way! What I love is that each character has their own arc that I'm invested in, even the minor characters. Sweet Magnolias encapsulates so many aspects of life – friendship (particularly, female friendship), parenting, careers, relationships, high school drama, growing up – in an endearing and relatable way. I cannot wait for season two, especially after that season finale.

If anything, you should watch for these three words: Coach. Cal. Maddox.

Favorite Instagram

If you’re not following Morgan Harper Nichols, do you even Instagram? For real – her work is incredible. She is a musician, poet, and artist, who draws inspiration from real stories and her own life, which makes each one of her posts resonate deeply. Her voice is a calming one in the midst of all the chaos that social media can be.

Favorite YouTuber

The last favorite I will share with you today is personal style YouTuber and blogger Audrey Coyne. Her pleasing aesthetic and soothing voice were the first things that attracted me to her channel, but I stuck around for her solid advice! She has inspired me to look at my wardrobe with a critical eye in order to define my personal style. I've only begun this personal style journey, and I'll be taking you along with me in future posts. Here is one video I recommend starting with if you are interested in curating a better personal style:

That wraps up this edition of Friday Favorites! What are some things you're enjoying lately? I'd love to hear your recommendations, too.

#FridayFavorites #Music #Recipes #TV #Podcasts #Fandom #PopCulture

Utah Family Road Trip

My family and I went a road trip to Utah the first week of July (how it’s already been two months is beyond me). I’m not exaggerating when I say that it was the best family vacation of all time! Here’s why: Utah is unbelievably pretty. Like out-of-this-world, surely-I-am-on-a-Star-Wars-planet beautiful. Today, I’m sharing how we explored Utah’s beauty ourselves.

Bryce Canyon National Park

To the Destination

We drove (yes, we drive everywhere). Since it was roughly 20 hours to our destination, we split it in two legs. We left around 6 or 7 am (CT) Thursday morning and arrived at our hotel in Cheyenne, WY around 10 pm (MT). We had about 6 hours to go on Friday. I don’t have much to say about our drive there, except that my brother Joey and I made a bomb road trip playlist, I read two books, and got hooked on Netflix’s original series Sweet Magnolias.

Antelope Island--Great Salt Lake--Salt Lake City

Our vacation was divided by two locations: Sandy, which is just outside of Salt Lake City, and Panguitch, a little town neighboring Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks. In both places, we stayed at amazing Airbnbs, which I’ll review in a bit.

We spent the Fourth of July in the great outdoors at Antelope Island State Park and the Bonneville Salt Flats.

Antelope Island State Park

Antelope Island is the largest of the ten Great Salt Lake islands. It was named by John C. Fremont, who mapped the land in 1843 and survived off pronghorn (antelope) during another trip in 1845. To kick off our outdoor adventure, we hiked Buffalo Point Trail. It was incredible! Utah’s landscape is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Next, we floated in the Great Lake Salt at Bridger Bay Beach. The water is gross, since it’s full of brine shrimp and brine flies, but you know what they say – you only float in the Great Salt Lake once. The cool water felt great under the sweltering sun. We also drove around the island, looking for bison, and we spotted a handful.

The Bonneville Salt Flats, which is a salt pan left over from Pleistocene Lake Bonneville, are hands down Utah’s most unique feature. It was about an hour drive from Antelope Island down I-80. It’s a desolate, bright white landscape that’s straight out of Star Wars (not the first time I thought that while in Utah). Walking and driving on the flats was scary at first because we kept thinking it was ice! The desert goes on for miles, salty ground as far as the eye can see, save for a few mountains.

Afterwards, we had a two-hour drive back to our Airbnb, but even that was amazing. A gorgeous orange sunset behind us, majestic purple mountains ahead of us with a full moon, fireworks shooting off everywhere, a killer playlist – all the proper elements of an indie coming-of-age film.

Our Airbnb in Sandy was the bottom level of our host’s house, to which we had private access through the back patio. The whole place was incredibly spacious for the four of us. It has two bedrooms, open kitchen/living room set-up, one and a half baths, a patio with a spectacular view of the mountains, and an inground heated pool. Our hosts, Don and Deanna, were helpful and friendly! They offered great advice on things to do in the area. The décor was super cute; I was obsessed with this giant map they had on their wall. They also had goats, chickens, and ducks on their property!

The next and last day at our first location was spent in downtown Salt Lake City. Traveling during a pandemic limited much of what we could do, but we still enjoyed our time. We got a free walking tour of the Mormon Temple (which was under construction, unfortunately) and ate Döner at Spitz. I hadn't had Döner over well over a year, so I was thrilled to find that gem.

One of my bucket list items is to visit all 50 state capitols, so we swung by the capitol building. We also visited the Utah Jazz arena, which had cool statues of John Stockton and Karl Malone. SLC is a beautiful city, though much smaller than I expected. I can’t wait to go back one day!

Nebo Loop--Panguitch

We took the long way – on purpose – to our next destination via the Mount Nebo Loop. It’s a 38-mile scenic byway that takes you through the Wasatch Mountains, climbing over 9,000 feet in elevation. The loop has plenty of outlooks to stop and enjoy the view, which we did several times. The best one gives you a look at Mount Nebo, the highest peak in the Wasatch range at towering 11,928 feet.

The Mount Nebo Loop climbs 9,000 feet!

We arrived at our Airbnb in Panguitch in the late evening. The converted trailer home was the cutest place. It was colorful and homey. This location had a spacious game room with a trundle bed, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, open kitchen/living room set-up, and a front patio. Our host Doug was also helpful and kind! We did have trouble with key code lock, but that can mostly be attributed to user error.

Tuesday was a day to relax. We slept in and enjoyed the afternoon at Lake Panguitch. I read Fairest by Gail Carson Levine while my dad fished, and my mom and brother took a walk. The lake was too cold to swim, but it didn’t matter. We ate at C-Stop Pizza, a pizzeria recommended several times in our Airbnb’s guestbook. It was delicious!

Bryce Canyon--Arches Trail--Navajo Loop

Horseback riding was the first thing on our agenda for Wednesday. The tour, which we booked through Ruby's Inn, was a hour and a half and it took us to the rim of Bryce Canyon. Our trail guides were great! It was so much fun, though I was sore for a few days after.

After our horseback ride, we toured some of Bryce Canyon: Sunset Point, Inspiration Point and Bryce Point. The rich red and vibrant orange landscape simply stunning! The national park isn’t actually a canyon but rather a series of natural amphitheaters, known for a distinct geographical feature: hoodoos. Hoodoos are a rock formation created by frost weathering and stream erosion. According to Native American beliefs, the hoodoos were Legend People whom Coyote tricked and turned into stone. I personally half expected to see Tuskin Raiders or Jawas scurrying around.

In the evening, we attended a Dark Rangers telescope tour. After a highly informative and mildly terrifying presentation called “Viewing the Void,” we got to check out Jupiter, Saturn, Pluto, along with a few galaxies and star formations through their telescopes. (My apologies to Dr. Kuehn, if he is somehow reading this – I did not remember as much from Astronomy 101 as I should have.) We stayed past midnight for moonrise and seeing its craters up close was so worth it! It was incredible to see the Milky Way with our naked. Be sure to dress warm; it gets cold in the desert once the sun goes down! Thankfully, our guides had hot cider and cocoa, along with extra blankets and jackets.

Thursday was our final day. We began with a hike on Arches Trail in Red Canyon. That hike was a bit challenging but filled with incredible views. After that, we went back to Bryce Canyon and hiked the Navajo Loop. The loop has two main features: Thor’s Hammer and Wall Street. We started our hike with Thor’s Hammer and returned via Wall Street, which I think was the best way to take. Thor’s Hammer is a hoodoo that literally looks like Thor’s hammer, which is really fun. Wall Street is a path that goes through the narrowing canyon walls. The hike is supposedly only 1.3 miles, but I think that’s lie. Nevertheless it was worth the effort!

We ended the day with a rodeo at Ruby’s Inn. My favorite parts were the barrel racing and the kids riding sheep and goats.

The Drive Home

The views on I-70 as we drove home were spectacular! On one side of the road we had desert mountains, and on the other was covered in verdant forest. We were welcomed by humidity in Denver, where we stopped for the night. We saw the capitol building, so I got to cross another off! The second leg of the drive home was long and uneventful. I read The Rise of Skywalker novelization by Rae Carson and listened to the podcast What the Force's interview episode with Charles Soule.

Overall, I highly, highly recommend Utah as a vacation destination! It’s become one of my favorites. There was much more we could have done, so I can’t wait to go back. What is your favorite place to visit?

#FamilyVacation #Utah #RoadTrip #Travel