Accomodations

If you’ll be traveling from out of town, here are the hotels for the wedding.




We suggest the Residence Inn Cottonwood. This hotel is near our house and the wedding venue on I-215, and it offers a shuttle to the wedding. Please let us know if you’ll be staying here so we can coordinate shuttle logistics. If you’d like to make a reservation, call (888) 825-3164 and say you’re with the Smith-Tomchak Wedding. All rooms have a kitchenette, and they come in studio, 1-bedroom, and 2-bedroom options. The 2-bedroom option also has a pull out couch. The group rate we have negotiated for each option is $100, $120, and $160 per night, respectively (excluding tax).








For those who are looking for a more budget-friendly option, here are some more hotels that are close to our home and the wedding venue:




Extended Stay America on Fort Union
This hotel is not too far away on I-215. Rooms also include kitchenettes. The rate should be $59 per night (excluding tax).






Candlewood Suites
This hotel is also not too far away on I-215. Rooms also include kitchenettes. The rate should be $76 per night (excluding tax).



Econolodge
This hotel is downtown, which is not as convenient to the wedding, but it is still not too far away. The rate should be $69 per night (excluding tax).





P.S. This is Rod's first submission to blog!

Gone traveling

Until March 24, you can find me on my travel blog.

Something Blue

I know what you're thinking, I've already read this one. Well . . . keep reading. This time I had to pick out another kind of blue. After several late-night rendezvous at Home Depot and Lowes and not finding anything we could agree on, Rod and I found the perfect tile at Tile for Less. It was another thing to add to list of things I never thought I'd do: get excited about tile. It was not quite like finding the perfect pair of shoes, but I knew it as soon as I saw it. It's called ocean blue, and it is perfect.

Stay tuned

Well it only took me a year, but I've finally finished blogging about my trip to China. Check it out here. What was my source of motivation to (finally) finish . . . I am going to Honduras in 4 (FOUR!!!) days!

Sweet Flower Girls

Rod's cousins Lainey and Catherine have just agreed to be our flower girls (we'll post pictures soon), and we are so excited! They are such cute, sweet little girls. Unfortunately they live very far from us so we don't get to see them often. Because they are so far away, their mothers will be picking out the flower girls dresses. Here are some simple styles that I like.



1. Children's Boutique
2. Cotton Candy Dress - Ivory Shantung 204 (Don't worry the sash and flower are removable)
3. Snippet and Ink
4. Cutie Clothes - Sage Girls Dress
5. Cutie Clothes - Blue Girls Jacqueline
6. Cotton Candy Dress - Ivory and Lilac Victorian (Don't worry, the sash and flower are removable)

Something Blue

I LOVE shoes! They are my favorite accessory and I'm more likely to base my outfit on my favorite pair of new shoes than on any shirt I own. Ever since I saw this pair of shoes, I have been obsessed with having Nina pumps for my wedding. The problem . . . I want them in blue.

Blue is supposed to be a symbol of fidelity, good fortune, and love. My wedding dress also already has a touch of my favorite shade of blue in it. So blue shoes was a natural choice.

This last weekend (I swear it was fate), Nordstroms had exactly one pair in my size of Nina pumps in the perfect shade of chlorine. I love that they have leather soles and make a perfect slap on our hardwood floors. I just hope that the spiky heels don't aerate Log Haven's lawn too much.

Karthik and Eve

This last weekend we got to spend a lot of time catching up with old friends. On Friday night, we went to Karthik's birthday party at his and Eve's newly remodeled condo. It was amazing to see the transformation. Karthik was one of the first friends I made when I moved to SLC. Karthik, Rod, Dave Jones, Mark Barela, and I spent most of our first year of law school hanging out together. We were at Karthik's the first time Rod and I cooked together (spaghetti) and the first time Rod took the knife away from me, scared that I would cut myself. Karthik was also with us the first time Rod and I went boarding together (before Rod converted to tele-skis). It was after a night of hanging out at Karthik's that I first realized I had a mega-crush on Rod. It was so fun to see Karthik's place and reminisce.

Karthik is getting married this summer too, in Sri Lanka to the beautiful Eve. You can really tell how smitten Karthik is when you see how he looks at Eve. I'm so disappointed that I will miss their wedding (it's only two weeks before ours and I don't think that I will be in any position to leave the country) and that they won't be home from their four-month trek around the world in time to make it to ours.

Happy Birthday Karthik!

No going back now

I came home to find a big gaping hole in my bedroom wall.

Was this the work of some strange sheetrock hungry thief? No, my loving fiance Rod had spent the weekend demoing our bathroom so that the contractor can begin updating it (and fixing the troublesome leak into our garage). It is completely gutted right now, but I'm really excited to see how everything turns out. It will be so nice to have two fully functioning bathrooms upstairs. Now to start plans for the basement . . .

Bridal Hair

Photos from theknot.com, brides.com, theweddingchannel.com, and 2 Prom Hairstyles

Our Family

Rod is in San Diego at a water law conference this week. The house seems so empty without him. Coming home to an empty house tonight, reminded me of when I lived alone and the only thing waiting for me was Ani, my kitty. I inherited Ani from Minner when she moved to NYC. Min couldn't find a home for Ani, and I agreed to take care of her until I could find someone to take her. I wasn't really a cat person. Well . . . it has been four years and Ani is now a member of our family. She is a dog trapped in a cat's body. She loves to cuddle and to be pet. She is so completely lovable and couldn't be a better pet.

The Perfect Day

It wasn't actually perfect, several small things went wrong, but when I think about yesterday as a whole, it was absolutely perfect. It started with me sleeping in, which almost never happens. I am so used to getting up at 7:45, I don't even have to set an alarm.

As I was making myself a bowl of oatmeal, I noticed three deer bedded down in our backyard. Now we have seen tracks all over the yard and on more than one occasion have turned onto our street to see several deer leaping down the road, but this was the first time I actually saw the deer in our yard. I spent several minutes just watching them, afraid to move and ruin the moment. Then I couldn't resist the urge to grab my camera. Most of these pics were taken through the glass doors that face our back yard so I apologize for the reflection.





After I finally coaxed Rod out of bed, we headed up to Solitude. It was definitely a social ski day. The snow was crap, but then again, it has been a pretty incredible year. It would be fair to see I'm a little jaded. Rod and I did a few runs by ourselves, then met up with Kim and Lara. We did a few runs with them and then headed to lunch at the lodge with Jeremy and his family. After lunch I switched to skis and practiced on the bunny slope with Lucy, who is 2 1/2.


After skiing, we met up with Kim and Lara for drinks and the Silver Fork lodge, then headed home to quickly change for dinner at Ivan and Monette's. They made us fantastic stroganoff, then I cleaned up at the poker table. It was beginner's luck, but I still doubled my buy in. Yeah.

It was a day that really reminded me how lucky I am to live in Utah and to have such great friends nearby. There aren't many places where you can sleep in and still get in a full day of skiing and spending time with friends. It was also nice to take a break from both work and wedding planning and spend time with Rod doing what we did when we first started seeing each other.

V-day Celebration

To celebrate Valentine's, Rod and I made reservations at one of our favorite restaurants: Francks. Franck, the owner, is an incredible chef, who was recognized as the best chef in Utah 2007. The meal, as always, was incredible and too beautiful not to photograph.

We started with Mussels beurre blanc with pomme frites to sop up the juice, closely followed by a salad for me and an incredible lentil and coconut soup for Rod (it sounds weird, but it was indescibably good).


Next, our entrees. Rod got the Dueling softshell crabs. I went with the Hawaii sea bass and amaretto-glazed carrots and bok choy.

Usually we share a dessert, but there were too many to pick just one. Rod got a chocolate-wrapped rasberry-chocolate mouse. I got the lemon trio: lemon crepes, lemon sorbet, and lemon creme brulee.


Franck sent out two of his handmade chocolates to end our meal.


What we really love about this restaurant is that the experience is always different, but consistently great. Franck changes the menu frequently and there is always something new to try. Also, it is an incredible value. I can't believe how inexpensive it is for how amazing it tastes!