Mocktails!

Our second annual mocktail party was a hit. We had about forty people over, which is more than last year. Perhaps we weren’t so picky about our guests and we relaxed the dress code, although most everyone dressed up. Every time someone came in dressed to the nines it brought a smile to my face.

My favorite part about the party this year was the photography contest. My friend Jon and I came up with the idea a few weeks ago to invite people to bring their photos and then we would award the winner by purchasing his/her photograph. I was the one purchasing the winner, so I chose the winner. But I wanted everyone else to judge the photos too, so we had a “viewer’s choice” in addition to the purchase award.

Coincidentally, Jon won both awards. We really only had two people with submissions, but they each entered several photographs. So the real contest was between Sean and Jon. Sean’s pieces were very picturesque. I think he took them in the Mediterranean somewhere. Nice photographs. Jon’s had a little more drama – which is what I was ultimately looking for.

Here is the winning photograph:


Jon kindly gave me my second choice as well so I could have a pair of playground pieces.


So I bought the see saw and the slide. I will now attempt to explain my reasoning. I was an art history major and had to write about artwork all the time, but I know very little about photography. So keep in mind, I only kind of know what I’m talking about. I’ll try and stick to visual and conceptual aspects rather than technique:

I like the playful shapes and energetic lines in these pictures. The aggressive perspective creates a sense of drama as it juxtaposes the innocence of the subject matter: the playground. It makes for a dynamic reflection, reminding me of what it felt like to approach a see saw or a slide when I was younger. But now, as an adult, the playground appears to be abandoned, rather than bustling with children. The emptiness of the black and white scene lends to a dream-like environment, allowing the viewer to return to his/her childhood in a quiet, and undisturbed moment of reminiscence.

Pictured below is the viewer’s choice award.


It has a bit of the “how’d he do that?” or “unexpected” factor with the vibrant color of the dandelion placed amidst a black and white background…very Pleasantville. This is a neat shot. Jon actually took this photograph at our house. It’s the southwest corner of our lawn. The part of the lawn that Kaila says is impossible to mow. So that’s kind of funny.

Thanks everyone for coming to our party! And a special thanks to those who participated in the contest and voted for your favorites. We’ll definitely do it again.

"Stumbling on Happiness"

That is a title of a book by Daniel Gilbert. He was on the Today Show this morning. I find it interesting how these news shows are doing a lot of stories on happiness lately and how money doesn’t make you happy.

A couple things they talked about this morning made me think:

1) The author quoted someone (don’t know who) who said, “If money doesn’t make you happy, you’re not spending it right.”

I don’t actually think money is the answer to happiness, but I believe what money does buy that makes you happy is opportunity. People with money have the opportunity to do things the less fortunate do not. Such as go to college, send your kids to college, take dance classes or music lessons and travel to far away places. Not to mention, live with the lightness that comes with being debt-free.

It’s funny (well maybe not funny) looking at my credit card bill and the long list of items here and there that add up to way more than I thought they would…small things I bought because it was something to do that day and they looked pretty under the spotlights. Spending too much money isn’t really a weakness of mine, but I could definitely spend less money. Especially because the day will come when that money will need to be spent on a mortgage or graduate school, or credit card payments for my husband who spent all his money on a car he couldn’t afford or computer equipment he doesn’t use. Of course, I don’t see myself marrying an idiot. Boy, I hope I don’t marry an idiot.

The author stressed spending money on experiences rather than objects. I’ve always believed in making travel a priority. As my dad says, “you’re investing in yourself when you spend money on the experience that comes with travel.” Those things make you happier LONGER than say, an expensive piece of jewelry or an overpriced haircut. The experience stays with you and actually cultivates your character. Especially when you travel with friends or family. When you travel with people you’re close with, you reminisce with each other, laugh and talk about the things you shared. Remember D.C.? The cruise? Las Vegas? New York? Those were good times. Looking forward to Hawaii in February. Which brings me to the second thing that makes me happy:

2) Spending time with friends and family.

Humans are naturally social creatures and we crave company and interaction others. That seems like an obvious one. But how it makes you happy is what’s interesting. Quality conversations and time with people you enjoy actually makes you healthier. And being healthier makes you happier. The number of friends and the amount of time you spend with them was actually a question on the RealAge test that makes you younger.

Looking back over these past couple years I’ve recently noticed how much happier I am. I used to get frustrated with myself more; I used to cry over myself more. I’ve lightened up; I don’t take the negative things people say so seriously. And I attribute a lot of this to the relationships I have with my family and more specifically my friends. I have great friends that I get to see or at least talk to every day. Most of which read this blog, and so to you, I want to say thanks for contributing to my happiness. I love spending time with you all and I love that you spend time with me. I don’t have much to cry about these days. mostly because I spend my time laughing instead. I don’t know, maybe life is a little too comfortable right now. I need to try harder at something, so I’ve been trying harder at expressing how much I appreciate everyone. Sometimes it’s harder than it needs to be, but it’s important to me, because my family and friends are important to me.

Dinner, Dinner and More Dinner

I must admit, I get invited to some pretty cool parties through work and the Gallery Stroll. Some are lame, but last night’s VIP Dine O'Round preview party at the Union Pacific was pretty awesome.

I took my friend Kaila who works right downtown with me. It was interesting seeing all the restaurants that participate because we had been to most of them this past year thanks to Thursday Night Dinners. (See previous post, “Fireworks and Philly Cheesesteaks”)

This was cool though because I could try food from places that I’m a little intimidated by like the Metropolitan, Cedars of Lebanon, and other places that are way too expensive. There were chefs from 35 restaurants handing out free food. One of the best things I tried was a Mexican sushi roll from Takashi. It had tuna, avocado, green chilies and…something else. I’m really starting to like sushi more than I used to.

I also tried some crostini from Panache that was really good. It restored my faith in their chef after the strange cinnamon cake last week at the Arty Party (see previous post). The spicy sausage penne from Buca di Beppo was too spicy for me, and the vegan chocolate cake from…shoot…where was that? Anyway, it was kind of tasteless.

The new restaurant Zola sounds interesting. They’re above Squatters and they just opened in August. We should try that place. I think it’s a $15 restaurant. The restaurants that participate in the Dine O Round either offer a 3-course meal for $15 or $25.

It doesn’t seem like I ate a lot, but man was I full by the time we left. And we didn’t even stay very long. Most of the food was itty-bitty appetizer portions, but then I run into Kaila with this $6 size piece of cake.

I wish I could have taken all my friends, because who wouldn’t have loved this? But there’s always next year. And there are other parties and things. For instance, tonight I have a reception at the Museum of Utah Art and History honoring “A Century of Art: The Collection of the Salt Lake City School District.” Any takers?

Yeah, I don’t even know if I’m going to make it to that one.

Make sure you come to Gallery Stroll tomorrow night though from 6-9 PM. I’m working solo so friendly faces are always welcome. The exhibit we have is “Utah’s Nifty Fifties.” The Rio Grande Café and Carlucci’s Bakery are catering, so if nothing else, there will be good food. AND you can see the cool Tinker Toy structure I made all by myself.

The Arty Party

Last night was City Weekly’s inaugural “Artys” awards party where they honor local artists, galleries and whatever else they can think of. I guess they have a ballot and voters. And then they have readers’ choice awards too. Kind of like the Slammys.

I met with Annie Quan, who does marketing for them last week about advertising for the Gallery Stroll and so she put me on the guest list. Pictured above is my nametag. There’s something about a laminated nametag that makes you feel important and one of the clan. My SLGA buddy Kristina came with Brandon. They're pictured below. They were making fun of me because I have a blog. I think mostly they were making fun of the fact that I have time to maintain a blog. I can’t argue. It’s 10:27 AM, I’m at work and I’m posting on my blog. Anyway, they have the cutest little boy named Che. Kristina calls me his “Aunt Laura.” Kristina also has a brilliant daughter named Lily. I’m glad they were there because I know them and I know I like them. But most of the people there are really nice. Ruth Lubbers and Amanda from Art Access were there. They’re nice. I also talked to Trent Call and Tessa Lindsay. Both exhibited at my gallery earlier this spring.

And then there were a bunch of people that kind of looked familiar; but I had to casually glance at their nametags to pick up on who they were. This one girl made a beeline for me saying, “Hi! How have you been?” She hugs me, “It’s so good to see you.” And then she tells me she has the Banana Republic skirt I’m wearing. I laugh, tell her how great it is to see her too and then she walks away. No clue who she was. Until I hear someone call her Lindsay, the bell rings and I realize its Lindsay Larkin, one of City Weekly’s salespeople. I’ve met with her a couple times, but mostly I return her phone calls saying we just don’t have money to advertise this month. She’s nice.

The party was at Panache, which is a restaurant on the second floor of the Wells Fargo Building downtown. The food was good. They had really good bruschetta, mini tacos and mini carrots (not baby carrots, mini carrots). They also had those tiny chocolate mousse cups that I like. But here’s something that confused me: I pick up this small piece of chocolate layer cake. I figure it’s just chocolate cake with cream filling in between the layers and maybe the ganache on top has a minty flavor to it. I take a bite and there’s a strong flavor I can’t identify right away. After a few bites I figure it out. It’s cinnamon. Not cinnamon like the spice cinnamon. That might have been good. No, this is cinnamon like Wrigley’s Big Red cinnamon or Cinnamon Bear cinnamon. Weird. I don’t recommend it. Of course I ate the whole thing.

I don’t get City Weekly’s categories for awards: “Most unusual gallery with least likely proprietor” sounds like a category Maria would make up like she did with the beautiful baby contest when she gave an unfortunate baby the “most delicate hair” award. And then if they gave Local Colors Artworks the award for “Best Local Gallery” simply because they have the word “Local” in their name, that’s kind of cheating, don’t you think? I guess its mostly just for fun. I don’t know. Is this serious? Do winners get award money? I wonder what kind of category I could come up with for me to win an award.

Overall it was a nice party. I stayed an hour. They had a little jazzy band there playing jazzed up Metallica and stuff. I kind of kept to my table though. That’s just how I am sometimes. I’m sure that’s how I’ll be at Dre’s birthday party tonight too. It’s at Jim Arbon’s house. I like Jim, I don’t know Jim, but he is a very nice and pleasant person. Not sure if we’ve ever had a conversation before. But there’s something about his parties that make me feel…invisible? Maybe. I mean, I always go with people I know, so that’s fine, but it’s weird. I walk in, I know all the people there because I see them at other parties, they glance at me, and I know they know me yet we don’t really talk to each other. It seems like at any other party we talk to each other. I don’t know there’s something about Jim’s house. I feel like I don’t have a station there, no place to go. Of course I’ll go because, c’mon, it’s Dre. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DRE! You gotta love Dre. Maybe if I print out and laminate a nametag I’ll feel like one of the clan.