SLC staycation: City Creek Center...

We booked at night at the Marriott at City Creek -- which in hindsight was probably not the best thing to do on opening weekend.

The place was PACKED.

So packed, in fact, that it just stressed me out.

I'm turning into my mother.

That being said, the new City Creek Center definitely lives up to the hype.

It's a beautiful, well-planned and much-needed boost to downtown Salt Lake.

It's probably a good thing we moved, because I would definitely be in trouble if we still lived within walking distance.

Lola has always been my timid girl, so we were shocked when she barreled into the fountains without looking back.

We convinced our soaked little lady to join us for lunch at Hagermanns.

She wasn't completely sold on the idea until she saw the plate of complimentary sugar cookies just outside the main entrance.

 The world is a better place with the Turkey Pomodoro in it.

After our Hunger Games extravaganza, we headed back to City Creek to do some more walking.

Unfortunately we arrived just as about 340958690438569034856 young women and their mothers left the Conference Center with the same idea in mind.

 It's a good thing the Segway cops were out patrolling the crosswalks.

That's right -- SLC now has Segway cops.

Legit.

Too bad all I could hear was "The Final Countdown" blaring in my brain.

We ran into the Wheatleys, who were also insane enough to battle the crowds, at H&M.

One of the reasons we love these people -- they're just as crazy as we are.

 The Wildings joined the party as well, and once we were all sick of pushing and being pushed, we headed to the food court for ChickFilA, because there's nothing like a Diet Lemonade and an ice dream cone to get my blood pressure back to a normal level.

We chatted and laughed and basically soaked up the rare chance we got to spend with some of our favorite people before throwing in the towel and heading back to the hotel.

Sam and Reece insisted on stopping to inspect the impressive boat shoe collection at Nordstrom.

That's right -- boat shoes.

There's a reason these guys are friends.

James took the opportunity to flirt with Erica while Sam flirted with the shoes.

Bottom line: I love City Creek.

But I probably won't be returning until the fall when the madness has (hopefully) subsided.