Red Butte Gardens - April 30

April 30
Location: 300 Wakara Way Salt Lake City, UT
www.redbuttegarden.org
FREE - Arbor Day is a free admission day thanks to Salt Lake County Voters & Zoo, Arts, and Parks. July 24, September 7 and December 4-5 are also Free Garden Gift Days.
Click here for regular admission prices.

When I first moved to Salt Lake this was one place I would go frequently, just to wander. It is a beautiful, well kept garden, but not too manicured. There are acres and acres to explore. I would plan to spend at least 2 hours, maybe even bring a picnic. The plants, flowers and trees are labeled which makes it fun if you are looking for landscaping ideas. You can look forward to a great children's garden, herb garden, medicial garden, rose garden, fish pond, arboretum, wisteria trellis's, and many hiking trails. This is a place that has something for everyone.

National Learn a Snow Sport Month

January 1-31, 2010

Location: All local ski resorts

$39 Beginner Packages include: a lift ticket, lesson, and equipment rental.

To view a complete list of beginner packages click here.

"I hate winter"

"I'm so sick of cold weather"

"I wish it was 70 degrees and sunny"

I used to waste my energy on these phrases all winter. (They still come out of my mouth during our terrible inversion days.) When winter feels long, it is time to play in the snow. (Secret: It is easy to stay warm when you are skiing, snowboarding, sledding, snowshoeing, or making snow angels, sometimes you even have to shed a layer.) The blue sky, pure white snow, evergreens and aspens are stunning. The sun is blinding, bright and powerful. In fact, one of the worst sunburns I have EVER had was from a day of snowboarding.

If you have never been skiing or snowboarding, this is your month. All the local resorts are offering inexpensive beginner packages. Several offer packages for $39 that include rental equipment, a lift ticket and a lesson. This website lists all the resorts and what their beginner deals are.

Thriller presented by Odyssey Dance

October 14 to 31
Kingsbury Hall, Salt Lake City
Tickets: $20 - $40
http://www.odysseydance.com/

Whether you are dance aficionado or a first time goer, you will find yourself dancing your way home after this show; the energy of this show is contagious.

Odyssey Dance is going into their 12th season with this show. It is a crowd pleaser year after year. I have seen it several times myself. After the first time I saw this, I found myself trying several of the dance moves at home. Warning: it is much harder than they make it look:)

For the men in your life that might feel too macho for a dance concert you can assure them there will be chainsaws, Frankenstein, and almost sexy zombie chicks.

I noticed there are several ways to get discounted tickets, so click here for discounts. I think the best seats are the first few rows in the balcony.

Tarahumara

Location: 380 E. Main St. Midway, UT
Hours: Monday-Saturday 11 am- 9:00 pm
Online Menu

This is a fun, clean, and yummy Mexican restaurant with a very pleasant outdoor patio. If you are a salsa lover, you will love their salsa bar which has 20 or 25 different types of salsas or other dipping sauces. You could probably come up with another 50 just by mixing a few together.

We went on a Saturday night and they had a live acoustic music. Their menu has so many options. I ordered Pork Tamales, they were great. I wish I had known the plate came with three tamales, I would have ordered a few different types. J ordered Lamb Braised Burritos. The meat was tender, and was just like pulled pork, but was off course lamb. His plate came with 2 five-inch burritos: a lot of food. Be prepared to take some home.

Next time I am going to try their Seared Scallops in Passion Fruit and Tomatillo Sauce or their Mole Pablano. It would be a great place to eat at during the next couple of weeks so you can take advantage of sitting on the patio, and inhaling every last bit of Autumn that you can.

Silver Lake, Big Cottonwood Canyon

Date: Any day during the next few weeks, don't miss the colorful leaves.
Time: Lunch picnics are ideal, it can be chilly on either end of the day.
I love Fall. I could spend all day every day outside. Silver Lake is perfect for every age. Drive up Big Cottonwood Canyon. Park in the Solitude Nordic center lot, it is just before you get to Brighton. Pack a yummy picnic and take friends or family.There is a fun boardwalk/hike around the lake with several picnic areas. I think the leaves will be changing in the next two weeks. This picture was taken around Sept. 25th last year. Tomorrow, I will post a piece of art that I created by gathering leaves on this hike.

Nutella S'mores

Campfire in the Canyon. Anytime. Any day.

I have been out of town the past two weekends. So this weekend will be low key and filled with "get back in the groove" chores. I think a campfire up Millcreek Canyon is in store.

I have always been a fan of S'mores but it I don't like it when the marshmallow is not hot enough to melt the chocolate on the graham cracker. This summer, I solved it with what turned out to be a very tasty and practical solution. Spread a thin layer of Nutella on one side of the graham cracker instead of using chocolate squares. It will melt in your mouth.

I hope you like it.

Ooh, Aah, Aerial

This past weekend J and I went up to Park City. I wanted to write about this event right away because this is the last weekend of the summer to see the Flying Ace All-Stars perform at the Utah Olympic Park. It is a 25 minute free style aerial show. Current and future Olympians perform triple double twists, quadruple twisted back flips and anything else you can imagine before landing in the splash pool. The pictures hardly do this event justice.

The Show Starts at 1:00 pm on Saturday (September 5).
Be sure to get there a little bit early to get seats. This is right off the Kimball Junction exit, so it is quite close to Salt Lake.

General Admission Adult: $10; Senior or Youth: $7.

For more information: http://www.olyparks.com/uop/shows.asp