Summertime In Salt Lake City

Tomorrow is the official first day of summer and I have to admit it...I love Salt Lake City! I was determined that I'd never live in Utah for very long. I had a long list of reasons why and I won't go into detail here. But I really like it! I've found a few pockets of this beautiful state that fit my personality and everything I'm looking for in a place to live and raise my children and downtown Salt Lake (especially the Avenues) is one of them. I especially love summers here. The mountains are so pretty and you can be in the canyon hiking, camping, or roasting s'mores just 20 minutes or less from your doorstep. Where else can you spend a Wednesday night at 7pm roasting s'mores in a majestic and beautiful canyon with the YM and YW and be back in the city before bedtime? We did just last night.

The city also has a ton of things to do all summer long and this past weekend we began our summer full of fun! Last summer I was morning sick 24-7 so we have lots of making up to do this year.
We started last Friday night with the Gallery Stroll. Every third Friday several art galleries in the downtown area stay open late and serve food and drinks while you wonder through and look at art. It's so much fun. Jeremy loves the art and I appreciate more of the experience of it all. It's a different crowd and I love that. We took Ty with us and he seemed to enjoy it as well. He even became a work of art as we noticed his face had turned blue from sucking on his baby carrier...oh my!

On Saturday we visited the Downtown Farmers Market. This is always fun and this year is the biggest one we've seen yet. The only problem is that it's more crowded too! But we navigated the crowds ok with stroller in tow. We picked up some delicious tomatoes and snow peas and bought a bottle of Mediterranean Marinade that will go perfectly with some salmon, chicken, or lamb. Can't wait to try that out. We indulged in some down home BBQ and an Italian Ice, just for fun and even ran into a few friends.

Next we headed over to the chalk art festival and were just amazed at the beautiful drawings and works of art that were created. It was fun, but we looked quickly as it was the hottest day of the year and we worried about Ty over heating. We took refuge in Anthropologie, one of my favorite stores. My entire wardrobe would come from there if I could afford it. Those are works of art as well!

We also stopped by a really cool furniture store and took a look inside. Most of the items were imported from India and we really enjoyed looking around. It's in a warehouse on the west side of the Gateway.

This weekend is the Arts Festival and it's always a lot of fun. It always brings out the inner artist in Jeremy and the compulsive spender in me. He keeps me in check though and really makes me think before purchasing that $40 hand painted, blown glass bird feeder that I think I can't live without, not to mention all the yummy food that is incredibly over priced. I guess I don't need souvlaki and bratwurst and gelato all in one meal.

Now we just need to find time to fit in the Garden talks at the park, and movies and free concerts at the Gallivan Center. Anyone who says there is nothing to do in Utah needs to get out more!

The thing that makes this summer the best ever (so far)is that we get to share all of our adventures with Ty! It's so much fun to bring him along and keep on doing what we love. He makes it even more fun. Of course there is a little extra planning and packing, but it's no big deal. So far he seems to enjoy Salt Lake City in the summertime too!