Sarah's Bachelorette Party

Well, I've been on a bit of a bachelorette party kick these past couple of weekends, and last night was the last of 'em, at least until my next friend gets married!

We spent the evening in Scottsdale, starting with a little bath and beauty product shower for Sarah (so much Lush!) at our hotel, the Hotel Valley Ho.  I adore the Valley Ho, and it's one of the cutest spots in town for both a little stay-cation or a cocktail. It's a mid-century modern resort so there is eye candy everywhere, and around every corner there's something beautiful.  After we opened presents, ate some candy and toasted with pink champagne, we headed to dinner across the street at Grazie (delicious pizza, salad, and wine - highly recommend it), then spent the evening being silly in Old Town Scottsdale.

Overall it was such a fun night. I got to spend a lot of time with some of my favorite ladies having a super fun girls' night and laughing, laughing, laughing!  We went to sleep around 3:30am, and due to my "awesome" internal clock, I woke up at 6:30. Oh boy. The rest of the day was all about relaxation, and I definitely enjoyed an early bedtime last night.

I am happy we could treat Sarah to such a good time - she's such a great friend to all of us and it was neat to be able to have a fun night in her honor. Next up, the wedding! So excited.

Here are some photos-

Odds & Ends

Hellllooo! I have a bunch of random things to share so I thought I would share a few photos and a some odds and ends as well.

First of all, I've been having such a great time the past couple of days. Last night was extra-great because Hank took over on Daddy duty once Henry went to sleep and I got to enjoy a night out with friends. Amber and I started the evening off at The Raven up on the outdoor patio, then Adie came out and met us and we continued our night downtown. It was a great time (minus that Lone Star beer I tried in honor of Amber's visit from Texas. Yuck!).

Then today Amber, Henry and I headed down to Phoenix for the day so she could get more work done on her thigh piece. The wonderful fellow who tattoos us is a good friend of mine, so it was awesome to spend the day with him and his daughter, laughing and being ridiculous. All in all, awesome. And tomorrow night I'm having a girl's sleepover at my house. Can't wait for yummy food, dancing via Amber's new Michael Jackson game for the Wii, and going out for awhile too. Sleeping bags in the living room? Yes, please! Maybe we'll even play truth or dare. Obviously we're getting crazy.

Here are a couple blog-related things as well:

1) I've been getting tons of questions about the jalapeño mustard I talked about in this post!  Believe it or not, I got it at Walmart! Yes! And although I really don't like Walmart very much, I do like that they carry this mustard, so if you have been looking for it, check there. It's in the condiments aisle, with all of the regular (see also: less delicious) mustards.

2) Yes, Journal Day is continuing. I'm trying to get away from weekly features (I don't like feeling obligated to blog about something specific when I'm not feeling it- and journaling has to really be "felt," in my opinion), but I will be doing it at least 2x a month. The next one will be next week!

3) Recently I've been getting lots of questions about my camera. Lately I've been using my Nikon D60 more than ever, along with my brand new 35mm lens (birthday present from Hank).  I love it, and I've been having fun experimenting and trying out new things.

4) Yes, it's true. "Slice of" posts are coming to an end. I have about 5 or 6 more to share and that's it. It's been fun but to be honest I'm excited to wrap it up. The last few I have to share are awesome though, so yay for going out on a positive note! So to answer a very common question- no, I'm not taking anymore submissions.

5) I wanted to thank each of you for all of your support regarding Hello Giggles! I've been having so much fun being a part of their team and writing for them, and it's so neat to see your comments over there as well. I just wanted all of you to know how much I appreciate it, and you!

Have a great weekend! xoxo

Thursday and Friday, on a Saturday!

heading out to meet Andrea for breakfast, loving my new Petunia Picklebottom bag. It's the perfect bag for summer.

Hank has been on a business trip all week, so I took advantage of having a few days to myself in a row, and Henry and I came down to Phoenix to see friends and spend time with some girls I haven't been able to see a lot of lately.  Thursday morning I went and met an old and dear friend for breakfast in downtown Phoenix. Andrea has been in my life for a long, long time, and was close friends with Hank years before I even met him!  We have seen each other through a lot of ups and downs and life, and been friends for about ten years now. Over the past couple years as life changed the most, we drifted apart a bit, but over the past month we've been back and touch. Thursday morning was the first time we'd hung out in so long outside of mutual friends' weddings or events, and it was just the best time. It was as if no time had passed and we spent a few hours talking and laughing, and walking around downtown Phoenix. I adore Andrea and all of her positivity; she's truly a burst of sunshine, and I'm beyond ecstatic that we are back to talking, texting and hanging out. I've missed her!  That morning we enjoyed veggie breakfast burritos at the Phoenix Public Market (click the link to read more about their support of local farmers and business), I had a delicious jasmine iced tea and Andrea had coffee, and then we went over and visited the adorable Ashley at the GROWop.  On a side note, have you ever been to the GROWop or checked it out? It's the cutest store, full of handmade and vintage items inside, and a million plants, fruits and vegetable gardens on the outside. Really cool. I had sleeping Henry with us of course, but if I would have had more time I would have loved to try on some of the super rad vintage dresses and tops. Next time, for sure!  So we hung out with Ashley for a bit (be sure to pop by her blog for tons of handmade goodness and crafty creativity), then headed out.

Andrea and Henry

inside the GROW-op

Ashley!

Henry and I headed over to Autumn's house, and Shirley popped over on her lunch break from work so we could all have lunch together. Autumn made us her famous Strawberry Balsamic salad and a tartlette from Trader Joe's, and we caught up for a bit while the babies played. It was so good to spend the afternoon with two of my favorite girls and best friends. Shirley is getting married in the fall, so I'm looking forward to dress shopping and all of the wedding fun to come!

All in all it was the best day. Delicious food, good conversation, reconnecting with an old friend, and spending time with two of my oldest. Happy bellies and happy hearts!  Later that night I worked out with my sister's personal trainer so I got to end the day on a fantastic note too. But let's not talk about how sore I STILL am today, two days later. It's a good kind of sore though, and I feel really inspired to take my workouts up a notch and finally lose these last pounds. Thanks again Lauren!

Friday was another fantastic day.  I hadn't seen my friend Zoe (visit her Tumblr here- seriously one of my faves!) since she came up for my baby shower in the fall, so we were way overdue for a catch-up date, and for her to meet Henry!  She suggested that we go to La Grande Orange in Phoenix, and since I've been wanting to try it forever, I was really excited. We got there and ordered at the counter- I got egg whites and fruit, and Zoe got the most delicious looking pastry, and we sat in the main dining room to eat and chit chat. Henry was in a screaming mood (happy screaming, but screaming none the less), so after awhile we moved back into the market area so H. could look around. We checked out all of the adorable items they had for sale, from toys to cards to candy, and I promised myself I'd be back soon to try one of the delectable looking sweets in the case. Tammie Coe cupcakes anyone?  After breakfast we ended up talking in the car forever. Of course. haha. It was such a fun morning. 

After breakfast I went over to visit my friend Emily and meet her new son Maxon. He's about 3 weeks old, and in the excitement of seeing the Barnas I forgot to snap any photos, but next time for sure. It was so refreshing spending time with Em though- I admire her so much as a mother, and I feel lucky to call her a friend. Shirley is actually marrying her husband's brother, so pretty soon it will be all in the family! Very excited. 

After our fun day Henry and I hightailed it over to the mall so I could find a dress for our girl's night last night and then headed home so we could squeeze in a nap! More on our girl's night tonight.

I hope all of you had the best beginning to your weekend! Today is a family day for us, so my parents' and I are headed over to Green for lunch in a bit. Have a great day!

Thank goodness it was Friday!

 

What a great day! I spent the afternoon with some lovely ladies and it was so much fun. It was a little mama/baby meet up, and we enjoyed lunch, lots of girltalk, and topped our day off with sweets and cupcakes. Perfect.  My friend Natalie is due so soon, so it was great to be able to see her adorable and pregnant. We did lunch at Joe's Farm Grill out in Gilbert and I can't say enough good things about this place. It's a really interesting restaurant. It's surrounded by farmland, and they use local, fresh food that's in season whenever possible. You can learn more about the Agritopia project and the Grill by clicking here, and I definitely recommend doing so- I was fascinated to find out the concept of this whole area. Super neat. And back to the food, last time I was there I had the grilled chicken sandwich and sweet potato fries, and today I had the hamburger and salad- it was delicious! I really, really need to remember to bring my Nikon when I go places and actually take a few minutes to snap some good photos- I'm starting to get annoyed with myself so I am not going to make that mistake again! But anyway, after lunch we walked over to The Coffee Shop to enjoy some sweet treats (my pal Chelsea actually blogged about it yesterday if you'd like to hear more about it). Natalie and I split a birthday cake cupcake (so good). It was really just the best day- it's refreshing to be around a group of mothers who are super like-minded. I'm not religious by any means and most of the Mom's groups I've encountered are more religion-based, meeting via church, etc...which is absolutely not for me. I have a few friends who are in Moms groups like that, and like I always say- to each their own, but that kind of thing just isn't up my alley whatsoever. With that said, I'm looking forward to hanging out again soon with these wonderful gals!

After lunch I hurried home to Prescott so I could get ready for our date night, and was greeted by a mysterious package at the front door. Upon further investigation I saw it was from one of our dearest friends Alex, and it then hit me why he asked me the other night while we were texting, "do you like presents?" haha. Oh, Alex. When Hank got home we opened it, and inside was an amazing amount of sweets from his bakery in San Francisco, Miette! OH LORD was everything good. And yes, don't worry, I sampled one of everything.

So, after getting super full on sweets, we dropped Henry off at Hank's Mom's and went over to Wild Iris for tea and (more) sweets. I indulged a bit too much (okay a lot too much) today and let's just say I'm already looking forward to a long walk tomorrow with Henry. Yikes. But anyway, it was so much fun. We spent two hours just drinking our coconut tea, splitting a slice of citrus cheesecake, and talking about everything and anything. I feel so lucky to be married to my best friend, and I love that we can sit and talk for hours and hours. While there I also ran into two old students which is always wonderful too- they were pretty much the cutest things ever and it warmed my heart to see them doing well. All in all it's been a really great night.

Tomorrow morning Henry and I are heading downtown to enjoy breakfast with my sister-in-law before she moves to Portland for a month for floral school. How neat is that?! I'm excited for her and I know she is going to have the best time. So tomorrow is a bit of a farewell breakfast before she heads to the airport. Afterward you can find Henry and I walking around town, trying to work off some of the sugar I consumed today. ;)

Here are some photos, taken with my point and shoot Canon and my phone.

present from Alex, thank you again sweet friend! Love you tons.

sunset from our front yard this evening

coconut tea, seriously AMAZING! Adie introduced it to Hank, who introduced it to me...and I can't wait to drink it a lot more often. Love it.

the citrus cheesecake. Yup.

I hope you all have a fantastic Saturday! Until next time, xoxo!