Category Archives: Travel

Soulstice Retreat

March 20, 2015

My good friends over at Albion Fit are teaming up with Stein Erikson Lodge at Deer Valley to bring you one amazing Retreat!  Here’s a little more information about it!
RELAX. RECHARGE. REFOCUS. RETREAT. For 4 days, and 3 nights, immerse yourself in one of the world’s most pristine mountain settings at the exclusive, Forbes 5 star, Stein Eriksen Resort and Spa in Deer Valley, Utah.  Begin your retreat with a welcome basket, brimming with fabulous fitness and beauty gadgets and accessories. Enjoy an Albion Apparel gift card for a weekend’s worth of premium fitness, swims, and loungewear. Exercise your body under the watchful care of Awaken Retreat instructors, industry-leading professionals available around the clock to help you set fitness goals and create a plan to achieve them. Create your own schedule from a broad selection of fitness activities: Start your day with a sunrise Vinyasa atop a mountain overlook at 9,000 feet. Sign up for daily pilates reformer classes with hands on instruction. Experience weightlessness for the first time in aerial yoga, gracefulness in a barre class, or hit the mountainside in an adrenaline-boosting trail run.  Alongside elite fitness classes, Soulstice also offers a wide variety of intellectual and soulful workshops, providing experiences and memories to take with you beyond the retreat. Have fun with new friends learning healthy eating tips from a New York Time’s best selling author, taken an oil-painting workshop and create a landscape portrait to hang on a wall at home, or learn how to use natural light from a professional photographer.  In your free time, take hot air balloon ride over the Wasatch mountains, go horse-back riding on aspen-laden trails, or pamper yourself at the 5 star spa and get a 90 minute, hot stone massage. Enjoy exquisite cuisine with fresh, local ingredients hand crafted by America’s finest artisanal chefs and shop on Park City’s historical Main Street.  At Soulstice, your time is yours, to spend as you please.
How amazing does that sound!  For early bird pricing and more information, head over to www.soulsticeretreat.com
And, for a chance to win a HUGE GIVEAWAY! We are giving away one lucky winner and her BFF a trip to this amazing retreat at the 5 star at Stein Lodge each valued at $3500.  Awaken Retreats will be teaching reformer Pilates  anti-gravity, barre classes, SUP yoga in a crater, and special guests teaching oil painting, photography, and lectures by Melissa Hartwig of Whole 30 and Stephanie Nielsen and much more.  
To enter, head over to my post on INSTAGRAM, follow @albionfit @steinlodge and @awakenretreats and @armelle_blog and tag your BFF. That’s it. 
For a bonus entry, repost the above photo on Instagram, and post and tag @soulsticeretreat.  
Relax, recharge, refocus, retreat. Giveaway ends Sunday, March 29, so be sure to head over to Instagram to enter soon!! GOOD LUCK!  

Travel // Antelope Island + uncommon goods

February 25, 2015

This post is brought to you by Uncommon Goods. A privately owned retailer out of Brooklyn New York that features unique and mostly handcrafted designs created in harmony with the environment and without harm to animals or people. Most of their products are made right here in the USA, and one-third incorporates recycled or up cycled materials. They use their business to impact the world in a positive way, supporting non-profits such as RAINN, American Forests, Women for Woman!   

Thank you for being supportive of the sponsors on this blog so we can continue to bring you good content!
My little family loves an adventure, so we decide to take advantage of no school on President’s Day and head out for some fun.  We are so lucky to live in Utah where there are so many places to see and things to do outdoors.  One weekend we may be skiing in those mountains, then the next exploring Antelope Island at the Great Salt Lake!  I am loving this hand embroidered state pillow from Uncommon goods.  Utah pride! So cute! So many other fun personalized gift ideas here, and here!
Antelope Island is always a favorite with the whole family!  There are real buffalo, and wildlife roaming around right in front of you!  On the island they have buffalo, coyotes, deer, antelope, many types of birds and more!
At this State Park, they usually keep about 500 or so Buffalo on the island.  You can see glimpses of them all over the island, and usually at some point a big herd of them.  
One time we were out on the island and the herd decided to make it’s way down the mountain.  Hundreds of buffalo ran right in front of our car!  It was crazy!  
I snagged this Geode from the gift shop. Isn’t it pretty!  I decided I’m going to collect geodes from all our travels around from now on and display them in our home!
As a family, we love to go hiking together, and we decided to head out and see what we could see.  It was pretty windy and chilly, but we decided to do it anyway.  There were some buffalo not to far off our trail.  You do have to be cautious when out hiking to not disturb them since they are wild animals.  
My youngest Thomas is quite the mini adventurer at only three years old.  He literally ran to the top! I  had to chase him up the mountain!  I swear he must be half mountain goat.  But, I’ll never forget when he got to the top, he looked out and said, “That’s what I’m talking about mom!”  Ha! This kid, while only three can appreciate a good view.  He says that kind of thing to me all the time!
He also assures me that he can climb mountains, and that he is a real rock climber. 
It was real windy! (Outfit: Mus bags, Albion Fit leggings, Columbia Fleece, Smith Sunglasses)
We made it to the top to be able to see the view of the other side with a nice view of White Rock Bay.
I love nothing more that to explore with my little family, and show them all there is out there to see!
My goal is to show my children the world, one place at a time.  I hope they can gain a great appreciation for the beauty of our earth, and the many amazing scenery that is out there that God created for us!
I love this Scratch Map from Uncommon goods!  You can track your travels and scratch off where you’ve been, and when you scratch off the areas you have been it reveals adventurous pops of color that give geography lessons and domestic treasure hunts!  How cool is that!  I want to hang one up on our wall, and slowly uncover the world!
Here’s to many, many more adventures!

Family Travel // pink coral sand dunes

November 21, 2014

Last month we were craving a little adventure.  We looked at our options and decided to head to the Pink Coral Sand Dunes State Park in Southern Utah.  It was our first trip to the dunes, and it won’t be our last.
We packed up our sleds and headed to the top of the dune. 
The sleds didn’t move down the sand as fast as we would have liked (I think the lighter plastic ones would have been better) but, we still enjoyed ourselves.
There’s just something about running full speed down a giant mountain of sand.  I dare you not to smile. 
We stuck around, and watched the most glorious desert sunset with the sand in our toes and warmth of the sun on our faces.  It truly was one of the most memorable, magical days I’ve ever had.
To read and see more photos from our magical afternoon in the dessert, I am guest posting today over on The Salt Project Blog.  A new blog all about things to do with kids in Utah.
Also, speaking of traveling with children, Get Away Today is running a great Disneyland promotion I wanted to share with my readers, from Nov 24- Nov 30th!  They are offering Adults at kids’ prices on all their 3 day and longer park hopper tickets for all of 2015.  You can also save an additional $10 off each ticket with promo code, armelle14 
So, if you are looking for discounts and ways to save on your next Disney vacations, be sure to head over to Get Away Today and book quick!
{all photos by me from my Iphone}