I have dreamed of this for years! The fantasy began forever ago when I read someone’s post (gosh- how many fantasies have started because of another woman’s post?). Anyway… This particular fantasy was born because of a super cool and chic boss babe mom, posted that she’d checked into a hotel for a planning weekend for her business.

What?! We’re allowed to do that?

It instantly went on my dream of all dreams list (right next to the fantasy where Emily Blunt and John Krasinski become friends with Taylor and I and they keep asking us to go on double dates because we’re so fun and our stories are so inspiring.)

This fantasy  (we’re back to the hotel one) stuck with me through potty training, getting them sleeping through the night, preschool, grade school… I never had the guts to really do it.  Every time I booked a speaking engagement I’d play with the idea of staying a couple of extra days but then allow guilt to click the button for an immediate flight home to get back to my family.

But this time was different. Ella asked if she could audion for Vocal Remix Academy hosted at BYU. She got accepted and it happened to be the same week I would already be going to Park City to speak at one of my coaching client’s Leadership Retreat. So with some flight changes, I ended up coming in on Sunday night instead of 5 days later on Friday. Ella and I had a great time exploring temple square on Sunday evening and then I got her settled at Remix on Monday.

That means from Monday afternoon till Friday – I was solo! My two-night fantasy just turned into a week and it was blessedly guilt-free because I “had to come” for Ella! So yes, I’m feeling real good right now!

So what did I do with this time you ask? I’m going to share the highlights, but then at the end, I’ll share my big takeaway on how to really use this time productively.

Now onto my highlights…

Day 1 was my refresh day! I knew that once I got to work, the chances of pulling me away from it for more than food and bathroom breaks was not great.

So after dropping Ella off, I went straight to get a Mani and Pedi (I did her nails with Color Street in our hotel the night before). I then went shopping to find something to wear for my KUTV interview the next morning. After that, I headed to the Payson temple – a place that is incredibly sacred for me. The temple has this way of melting away all the day-to-day worries and allowing me to focus on what matters most…Family, love, service, God. Inside I serve, pray, ponder, and learn, and this particular temple was extra special. When I was trying to decide which temple I wanted to go to, (There are a lot in Utah), I instantly knew… Payson! After my little guy Paysen. In his mind, this is “his” temple!

After the temple, I went to a friends house for dinner. It was an amazing day doing whatever I wanted! #momsdreamsdocometrue

The next day I was at my hotel and ready to work! I thought about going to the hotel spa for about .5 seconds but that would take to much from my work time that I was so excited about, so I decided to make my own! I bought some Biore strips – I love seeing what’s on those things when you peel them off. And then, I made a DIY hotel facial out of the honey I’d pocketed at breakfast and the coffee grounds from the brewing station in my room that I never use since I don’t drink coffee – and btw, my skin feels amazing!

I had the honor of having The CEO kid featured on KUTV News during their Tuesday morning show! It was terrifying and awesome and I learned so much.

And then I worked…And worked, and I loved it. But before I was really able to jump into the work, I had to sit down and make a plan. I did an exercise where I sat down with a timer and just wrote – I was answering the question, ‘how do I want this week to feel and what would I want to say I’d done at the end of it?’ This really helped me realize where I wanted to focus my time and energy so that I could feel the most productive + rejuvenated.

I had a couple of consulting sessions and a few Zoom meetings scheduled so I was able to plan my projects around my calls, plug it all in and get a good idea of how I wanted my days to go.

So, I worked the day away and then I got all dressed up and went into Park City, walked all over Main Street since I’d basically sat all day and then indulged in a delicious dinner of Lobster Bisque and Bacon Wrapped Scallops. That’s my idea of heaven on a plate!

So the key for me, was to really sit down and make a plan ahead of time. What was the goal of this time? Once I knew that, I could plan out the days, projects, and priorities. My focus was on The CEO Kid so I decided what my big goals would be by asking myself what would I feel really good about at the end of the week if I’d accomplished this…

Some of my answers…

1. Getting a blog scheduled determined and getting a couple of posts drafted so I’m getting ahead again.
2. Finishing some CEO Kid projects I’d been working on for a while
3. Make time to really laugh, eat, and enjoy the R&R part of this week. To do that I read Mindy Kaling’s book Why not me? which I laughed hysterically reading it, so then I signed up for a Hulu account so I could watch The Mindy Project which turned into a binge every night. It was awesome! And I fell asleep with tears, literal tears because I’d been laughing so hard!