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-

a Tucson adventure

Last week my family and I (minus Hank, he was on a business trip in Chicago), headed down to Tucson to celebrate my cousin Ryan's graduation from University of Arizona. It was so nice to head down to their neck of the woods for once. Aunt Pat is my Mom's sister and she and her husband, my Uncle Bob, have four boys. Before we even lived in Arizona we would come out to Tucson to visit them from NJ, and I have so many great memories of when we were all so young- visiting Old Tucson, Mt. Lemmon, desert adventures, and lots of laughs. Whenever we all get together I can't help but think about how neat it would be to have four boys. Originally I wanted a girl at some point, but whenever I'm with my cousins I feel like I could be the mama to a bunch of boys just like my Aunt and be so happy.

So anyway, Ryan (the third oldest) graduated UofA so they had a party at my Aunt and Uncle's. Their home is so beautiful and it's always such a treat to enjoy a cool(er) desert night. The night was full of Mexican food, way too much cake, some badminton on their sports court, lots of longing glances at the crystal clear pool, and some trampoline jumping. It was a great night.

Sarah, Henry and I drove down together, and on the way down we of course made the hours fly by with so much girltalk as Henry snoozed away. On the way home it was no different...until I looked down at my odometer and realized that my gas light was on. And had been on.  We were on the long, desolate stretch between Tucson and Florence, about 35 miles between each point. I checked my "range" and it let me know that I had 5 lovely miles left until we ran out of gas. In the middle of nowhere. With little to no cell reception. In 90+ degree heat. And a baby in the car. My worst nightmare. BUT luckily my parents, sister and Abe were in front of us, so my iPhone managed to grab a signal and let them know what was up. I fully anticipated running out of gas...but guess what? My fabulous, wonderful, super car got us all the way to the gas station. We may have been running on fumes, but we got there!

So lesson learned- check your gas levels before engaging in intense girltalk sessions.

All in all though it was a wonderful day and I'm so happy we got to celebrate with Ryan. Unfortunately (and REALLY regretfully) I only used my phone's camera that evening, but these are still good representations of our night, however embarrassingly bad the photo quality...

I sure love my family.

Thao & Mirah

Mirah's always been a favorite of mine, so when I heard she and Thao were touring it was great news. I knew it would be a very special show, and I also knew it would be an evening I did not want to miss. I wasn't familiar with either of the openers, but Sarah and I ending up falling in love with the second band, Bobby. Throughout their entire set we kept looking at each other with the biggest smiles on our faces. I absolutely loved them, and last night was exactly what I needed.  You know how sometimes, you start to feel a little unlike yourself? Maybe you just feel off, feel uninspired, or just plain weird? So many times when I feel this way, all I need is a night with my girlfriends, enjoying live music.  Music has a way of making me feel so many emotions; when I can sit in a packed room, and listen to beautiful voices and instruments and clapping and cheering, it brings me back to my senses, something that, at that moment, is connecting an entire group of entirely unconnected people. I feel new again. Last night was no exception. The three bands that played brought me back to my reality. I found myself closing my eyes as the music wafted up and over the people, the chairs, through the bar, and as it made it's way over to me and settled gently right into me, it became a part of me. It was perfect.

an afternoon at Joe's Farm Grill

Yesterday was such a fun day!  Henry and I spent the afternoon with my bestie Sarah (I know that term is silly but I just kind of love it), and our friend Natalie and her daughter Scarlet. Little baby S. is only 8 weeks old and the sweetest thing. It was so good to meet her, and so good to spend time with girlfriends. I feel lucky that I have so many positive women in my life, and after lunch I felt just so thankful. Love those girls. We also have a girl's night out in Tempe planned for this Friday night and I can't wait!

But back to yesterday, we had lunch at Joe's Farm Grill, which is one of my favorite restaurants in the valley. Every single time I've been back the food has been consistently great- I highly recommend it!  This visit was no different, and we each got a cheeseburger (delicious) and various sides, from the on-site garden fresh salads to their to-die-for sweet potato fries.  We sat outside at the picnic tables and ate, girl talked about this and that, and just had the best time.  The weather was gorgeous too- warm but not too warm, with just a hint of a spring time breeze.

Here are some photos from our afternoon:










































p.s. I know this is annoying, but if you have a moment, would you mind clicking this link and then clicking the thumbs up? Voting ends in four days and I'm close to the top and would like to stay there. I love all the fun moms I've met via these sites (and the new blogs I've discovered) so I don't feel too bad when I occasionally ask for votes. ;) I will probably bother you once more before the 16th when voting ends, and then again about the Samsung NYC trip. But that's it, I swear! haha.

Happy birthday, Suki Su!

Yesterday was one of my very best friend's birthdays! My darling Sarah turned 29, and we celebrated in style at La Bocca Pizzeria in Tempe. I decided to drive down just for dinner, and it was really fun to surprise her! Her boyfriend Andy got all of her closest friends together for the dinner party and it was just such a fantasic time. Henry came along too of course, and he was such a good baby. I was a bit stressed bringing him, since La Bocca is one of those restaurants with a quieter ambiance at night- candles, low light, and lots of couples on dates...but he was wonderful and only cried for a short time. Other than that he was in heaven being held, and of course seeing his Auntie Suki. There was a ton of good food, and the evening was topped off with a birthday tiramisu! Everyone else went out in Tempe afterward, but my little man and I hopped back on the I-17 and headed up the mountain home to papa. It was such a fabulous night though, and it made me so, so happy to be able to spend Sarah's birthday with her. She's the kindest, most loyal, wonderful friend in the world and I love putting a smile on her face. Happy birthday to you Sar, I love you always!

Here are a few photos from the evening: