Fab 5: Falon and Emily

Hello and happy Friday!  I don't know about you, but I am really glad it's the weekend.  I've been dealing with sick kids for the last week and a half and now it seems I've developed a sore throat.  I swear, moms should not be allowed to get sick!

However, I do have another amazing post as part of my Fab 5 series and I'm pretty excited about it!  As I've done this series over the last four months, I have loved getting to know each one of these ladies.  They are all so talented and just straight up awesome.

Today, I have Falon from Falon Loves Life and Emily from The Crafty Carlson.  I have a lot in common with both of these ladies, but I think you'll find you probably do too!

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Falon  |  Falon Loves Life  

Background:

I grew up in Valencia, CA, which is a suburb of Los Angeles best known as the home of Magic Mountain. I moved to LA proper about six years ago where we lived with the "hipsters". Now that I have a kiddo we are in a more suburban part of the LA area, but still close enough to the city to enjoy all its perks. I have been married to my amazing husband Matt for a little over five years. We share the same sense of humor (though I am definitely funnier than he is) and have a great time together. Our son Canon is two and we are having a blast watching him grow up and develop his (strong) personality. I have been blogging since 2010. I started out as a wedding blogger since I was planning my own wedding at the time, and that has slowly evolved into my now "lifestyle" blog.  

Describe your blog:
Falon Loves Life is a blog about a little bit of everything, really. I write a lot about Disneyland and Disney themed stuff since I have been a lifelong Disney fan and annual passholder for fifteen years. I love to write about books since I am an avid reader. I also write about crafts and DIY projects, travel tips, and different things to do around Southern California. Basically, if it's on my mind or I experience it, I write about it!  

Share an embarrassing moment
I don't embarrass easily (at least not anymore) but I did have a pretty bad moment back when I was teaching. I was 25 and was teaching a class of high school seniors, so kids that were not that much younger than me. We were doing Grammar Mad Libs and for some reason I let them use my name as one of the proper nouns.  When I read the whole thing out loud, it turned out that the story described me as super hot and in a room full of 18 year old boys, it was uncomfortable to say the least (I was also way hotter back then!).  

What are your favorite things to do/eat/see at Disneyland?
It's so hard to pick my favorite things at Disneyland! When it's just me and my little one there, we like to ride Monsters Inc and Jungle Cruise. If I am doing a date day at Disneyland with my husband we love Star Tours and we have some pretty fierce competitions on Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters (I won the last one, for the record). My favorite place to eat at the parks is definitely Carthay Circle, but I also love Trader Sam's, which is a tiki bar at the Disneyland Hotel. But really one of my favorite things to do at Disneyland is find a comfy place to sit and people watch! It's always a fascinating mix of people to observe.  

What are you currently reading?
I am currently reading Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas. It's the fourth book in the Throne of Glass series and I am loving it so far. I am really into young adult literature so that's what I read most of the time. Next on my list is Scarlet from the Lunar Chronicles and then Girl on the Train.

Where would you go if money were no object?
If money were no object, I would 100% be on a plane to Italy right this minute! In addition to the beautiful architecture and scenery, you've got pasta, pizza, and wine, three of my favorite things! Venice, Rome, Florence, and Lake Como are all very high on my travel wish list. Honestly, I am dying to explore all of Europe, and would be happy just living there for a few months and soaking it all in.  

Bonus: Tell us about your wedding coordinator business
Being a wedding coordinator is seriously the best job in the world. I love so many things about it, but the overarching theme is that I get to work with amazing couples on the happiest day of their lives. I don't know if it's being in the LA area or if I'm just lucky, but I rarely have "bridezillas" on my hands. All of my couples are sweet and appreciative and just good people and I love that I get to make their wedding day more enjoyable for them. I also really love the creativity involved in wedding planning, and the fact that every day brings something new and different. And as a work at home mom, it has provided me with a lot of flexibility in scheduling so I am able to be home with my son, which has been amazing.

Social Media Links

Blog: Falon Loves Life

Facebook: Falon Loves Life

Instagram: @falonloveslife

Pinterest: @falonballard

Twitter: @falonloveslife

Wedding Coordinator Website: Falon B Weddings

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Emily  |  The Crafty Carlson

Background:
I was born and raised in the small town of Delta, Utah (Go Rabbits!). After graduating high school, I moved to Orem Utah to do some schooling at Utah Valley University.  That's where I met my husband, but I'll get to that in a bit!  I currently live in Springville Utah with my dream guy, squishy little baby boy, and the cutest little fur baby around. We love it here!  I actually just started blogging this year! It's been a fun project to grow and work on in my spare time.  

Describe your blog: 
My blog is mostly crafting and DIY.  I actually grew up with an extremely crafty mother and took after her in my passion for crafting. She was always working on something (and still enjoys it today!).  I remember she was mostly into card making and scrapbooking. She had every craft supply you could think of. You needed it? She had it.  In fact, I distinctly remember a bottle of some kind of liquid product that made paper look aged for card making.  She had it in a spray bottle in the fridge marked "POISON!! Do NOT drink!!", and that was totally normal to me and my younger sisters. Ha!! Other people would probably think that was so strange.... I also can't get used to the idea of a house without a craft room. My mom has had a 'scrapbook room' every since I can remember.  My blog reminds me a lot of my mom and brings back so many memories of working and learning with her about creativity.  I really want to provide a childhood like that for my kids and look forward to the day when we can do some of those things together and with grandma.  So with those thoughts and desires in mind, I decided to step way out of my comfort zone to start The Crafty Carlson.  

What are you favorite family traditions?
Oh my goodness, I am a sucker for good family traditions. I love um!  Specifically ones we had when I was a kid.  Every winter we would go tubing at Soldier Hollow, ice skating at The Gallivant Center, and all kinds of other fun winter activities.  We also had a really fun time going to a Hampton Inn in Orem that we always called "our hotel".  It was a simple get-away, but always a blast.  So as kids we would always ask mom and dad if we were going to "our hotel" anytime soon!  Man, lots of fun memories at that place!!  I am trying to always work in family traditions of our own for my little family of 3 (plus the fur baby of course).  We always go to a pumpkin patch in the fall and our little guy loves that.  I'll have to try to incorporate more traditions that we can keep going throughout our kids childhoods!

What is your dream vacation?
This is a fun question because I am currently writing this from my hotel room in Kauai Hawaii!!  That's always been a dream vacation of mine and it's actually my second time here.  It's extra special this time around however because I got to bring along my baby boy and husbands, who are both here for their first time!!  But I love traveling.  I would honestly enjoy going almost anywhere.  My husbands mother was born and raised in Bermuda, so I'm really looking forward to visiting there someday!

Where does your crafting inspiration come from?
I talked a lot about my mom being a huge inspiration for me above, but I also have a lot of inspiration from my friends.  I have a really good friend who is currently living over in New York for her husbands job.  We miss them like crazy!  Our husbands were best friends in high school, and we met through them.  We LOVE crafting together.  I actually got out of crafting for awhile after moving out.  So when we met and started getting together a lot, we were able to start crafting again as well!  It started out as little wooden kits we would buy from local stores and paint, ending up with a new home decor piece.  We eventually wanted to branch out from that and started sewing, making signs, and all kinds of other fun stuff.  It's also just fun to create something yourself that you love to have and that you're proud of.   

What is your favorite food?
This is always a hard question for me!! I love a lot of different kinds of food.  One thing my husband and I love to get is sushi.  I will admit though, I'm kind of a lame sushi eater.  I only like the simple California rolls and anything with deep fried shrimp in it.  Ha... We also love Pesto Chicken Pasta around my house. I've been making it for a few years now and it's a favorite for sure!  I also loooove root beer... I know.  Kinda random.  But I've always loved it.   

Bonus: How did you meet your husband?
This is one of my favorite stories to tell because it's super random!! We actually lived in the same apartment building in Orem for about 3 months without even realizing it.  We were in the same ward and I'm sure we crossed paths several times before meeting.  One night the ward was having a talent show.  I don't really have any talents that I could display in a show, and didn't really have an interest in going, but got talked into it by my roommates.  So off to the talent show I went.  It turned out that Joe had some plans fall through, a few guys from the ward ended up knocking on his door inviting him to the activity, and off to the talent show he went.  He told me that he walked in a little late and looked for the prettiest girl he could find to go sit by... he ended up sitting by me.  Two sits over actually!!  But I guess I caught his eye.  I leaned over to my roommate and said "oh my gosh, look how cute the guy is who sat next to me". She said back "you should talk to him after!".  I was super shy and the thought of talking to him scared me about to death.  But I did anyway.  And we hit it off right away!  He asked me out, got my number, and we became best friends.  Eventually after almost 2 years of dating we were married and sealed in the Salt Lake City temple.  It was the best day of my life.  We are so happy together and enjoy life!! I am SO glad I went to that show!!

Social Media Links

Blog: The Crafty Carlson

Facebook: The Crafty Carlson

Instagram: @thecraftycarlson

Pinterest: @craftycarlson

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What did I tell you?  They are pretty awesome, right?  I hope you'll take some time to hop on over and check out their blogs and social media.  I have no doubt you'll find some fun ideas, tips and inspiration.

Have a lovely weekend!