Vessel's Official Launch

As you hopefully know, I have been working on a new company, Vessel, since early 2011.  (For my post on Vessel's beginnings, go to http://susanharward.blogspot.com/2012/05/vessel-scented-jewelry.html)  It's been a long road, and at times we have not been sure we would make it.  But, as of now, we are very much still alive ... and I am still loving what I am doing.  There is something so exhilarating about not only making all the decisions, but being responsible for the decisions in a very ultimate way. 

Recently we decided that it was time for us to have our official Launch Event.  We had wanted to wait until we had some more of the "bells and whistles" but decided that it was time to get out of Pre-Launch.  We had our Launch Event on June 22, 2013, at LaCaille.

Though we did not have a large group of Stylists attend, what we were excited about is that most of the Stylists who did attend came from all over the U.S.  And except for some hotel nights that they earned, they came on their own dime.  We had people from Utah, of course, but we also had Stylists come in from California, Ohio, Florida, Georgia ... and even Puerto Rico!

If you have ever been to LaCaille, you know just how magical and special it is.  The positive thing about having a smaller group is that we were able to afford this amazing setting.

 We had a training session in the afternoon, and our National Sales Manager, Dioni Morales, did an amazing job with this!

Here's the whole group:

This guy is Cort, who has designed all of our lockets.  This was a new thing for him, too, but we think he has done an amazing job.  Apparently all of our Stylists think that as well, because they gave him quite an ovation and generally treated him like a rock star.

And of course, that day would not have been complete for me without having my family and friends there with me, all of who have been SO supportive of this endeavor.  I am so lucky!







I Hate Water Sometimes

Most of my posts are about fun stuff, but definitely not this one.

This is what an undetected leak in the evaporative cooler water line that runs through the attic can do.  I first noticed a leaking crack on Thursday night.  I turned off the water supply to the cooler, and it seemed that the leaking slowed way down, so I thought I would be ok to have a repairman come the next day.  That night I slept fitfully, waking up for good at around 2:30 am.  Sure enough, the crack was much worse.  I tried to call the plumber but didn't get through until later that morning.  Unfortunately, I had an important meeting that day that I really couldn't miss.  Luckily, Steph was able to help me out by meeting the plumber.  The actual cave in happened while they were discussing it ... they almost got beaned!  More than a few dollars later, the leak is fixed, but now I need to deal with the aftermath. 

I really hate water issues in a house. 

Pioneer Day Float Preview

My new favorite way to view the Pioneer Day Parade is to go to the Float Preview and then watch the parade itself on TV (maybe).  The Float Preview is held within the air-conditioned comfort of the South Towne Expo Center, it's free, they have a bunch of fun activities and games for kids, you get to vote for your favorite, and you get up close to the floats. 

This float was done by people in our old ward in Holladay, and it was fun to see many of them again after so many years.  One of the workers, Bob Davis (whose daughter Marni was one of Steph's best friends growing up), had a bad accident working on the float, and nearly cut his arm off!  So he was bandaged up pretty well.  We were glad that everything turned out ok.

 This one was Teague's vote.

 Face painting - a unicorn for Kaiya and a dragon for Teague.  Very mythical choices!

Celebrating the 4th at the Bees Game

This year I went with the Sharp family (and Dennis and Jaime) to the SL Bees game on July 4.  It's a great way to spend an evening, and comes with the fireworks ... so it's kinda a "twofer." 

I'm not a huge fan of baseball games in and of themselves, mostly because I think they move too slowly to be interesting, and probably also because I don't understand everything about the game.  But I actually do think it's a fun way to spend some time, as long as you're going with people that you like.  Which I do.  Like the Sharps and Dennis and Jaime, I mean.

The game went on quite long, with the teams tied for most of the innings.  I was saved from becoming too bored by taking Kaiya and Teague for a potty/treat break, and finding a "balloon lady" (someone who makes balloon animals/characters for tips - it's a pretty cheap entertainment for kids).  But, even after we finally got back (Steph sent me a text while we were gone ... "Is everything ok with you guys?"), the game continued to go on and on.  Finally, it's the 9th inning and Tacoma is up to bat first.  They don't do anything.  At this point, it's getting late, kids are starting to get cranky and so are adults - they're just slightly better at hiding it.  I don't know if everyone felt this way, but WE began to almost wish for Tacoma to do something so that we didn't end up going into extra innings.  It was late, all the rest of the fireworks in the rest of the valley were long since over. So SL is up at the bottom of the 9th.  Tacoma very deliberately walks the first three hitters, so the bases are loaded.  And then - a Grand Slam!  The crowd went wild, of course, both with happiness for a Grand Slam (because who isn't happy when your team does that?), but also because it is obviously the end of the game, we won, and now can we have our dang fireworks please?  I'm not saying that this was all done deliberately - after all, who could possibly count on a Grand Slam, although even one run would have done the job - but it was a heck of a way to end the game.  I can't help but wonder if the crowd's antsy-ness was a factor.  PLUS, apparently Denny's has this deal where every person at a game gets a free Denny's Grand Slam breakfast if the team does a Grand Slam in the bottom of the 9th inning.  That's kind of random, but fun for the crowd to hear. 

The fireworks were awesome (though my pic of it is not - gotta learn the secret of taking pictures of fireworks).  It was a great way to spend the Fourth.

Piano and Violin

Kaiya and Teague both take piano lessons, and Kaiya does violin as well.  They recently had a recital, and both did a fantastic job!  They also spoke their names and what they would play with good volume, and did a very nice bow at the end.  Great showmanship!  AND they were very stylish to boot.  Can you tell that I love these kids? 
The other interesting thing about the recital was that it was held at the corporate offices of Stampin' Up, which is a direct sales company that deals with scrapbooking.  Because it is a competitor of sorts (same selling model, different product), it was fun to be able to see their corporate offices, especially the warehouse area (which could be seen through a window for that purpose).  It was huge!  It was fun to dream of Vessel one day having a corporate office like theirs. 



Another Sleepover

Steph and Mickel recently participated in a triathlon, so I had the kids for the weekend.  We had a TON of fun, mostly because the triple digit heat meant we needed to get out of my house, since a swamp cooler just doesn't cut it in high heat.  We went to the Planetarium, a couple of movies, spent some time at the Gateway splash pad, had true shaved ice (i.e., the Hawaii version, as opposed to snow cones), made a couple of visits to the library (I cannot keep up with these two voracious readers!), and just generally had fun almost every minute.  It's so awesome to be the "Disneyland Grandma"!  These pictures are from Hollywood Connection, since we got free ride tickets with our movie. 

Swim Team

Kaiya loves to swim, and she recently became a member of a swim team.  She is one of the youngest kids participating, but she doesn't let that fact bother her in the least!  Because she's one of the youngest, if not the youngest (and almost always the smallest), in any given race, she has been coming in last in her races ... until a recent meet where she came in second to last (or fourth out of five, which is how I prefer to look at it).  Progress!!  We were very proud of her, especially for her tenacity in hanging in there. 

Birthdays

Wow! I have a lot of catching up to do.  June was a very busy month for me, with birthdays (Teague's, mine, and Atti's), along with associated Grammie Dates.  We also had the official Launch Event for my company, Vessel (more on that later). 

First up in the June birthday line-up is Teague, on the 11th.  He had a great birthday party at Steph and Mickel's house, with a LOT of family attending.

Here's Kristen and her little sister Hannah.













Next up was mine, and what I got to do for my birthday was to take Teague on his birthday Grammie Date.  He chose the Alpine Slide, which I haven't done in a very long time.  And I definitely haven't been up there since they put in the Mountain Coaster and the Zip Line (T's too young for that one, dang).  It was so much fun!  And we topped it off with a treat of Dippin Dots ... always a favorite.  But I think my favorite part of the day was on our drive home.  Somehow we got to singing "Joy to the World" at the top of our lungs.  Teague had to teach me a few replacement lyrics!

 

Next up: Atti's 3rd birthday Grammie Date.  He's not quite to the point of being able to choose something, so I decided to take him to the Zoo. 

Our treat that day was a swirl ice cream cone.  However, Atti actually didn't really want to eat his, so he "forced" (ha ha) Grammie to finish his as well. 

What do you suppose my two Grammie Dates had in common?  I wore them both out by the end of the day!

Atti also had a family birthday party, which was a fun swim party at a neighborhood pool in Sterling's brother's neighborhood.  Again, lots of fun, family and great food.  And some great water gun fights, which Atti absolutely loved (as long as he was on the giving end!). 

 

Atti's birth mom, Kassie, and her family came too!