{Public Market Style}

It is safe to say I've become a public market addict. I've visited almost every Saturday morning since I stumbled on the goldmine of delicious and locally sourced goodies in May. When my mama was here, she insisted we go to the market to pick up groceries for the weekend, and I happily obliged.

A glimpse at what we wore:

I love doing activities like this with my mom, where she is completely in her element. She picks out strange veggies that I never would have looked twice at, smells all of the fresh herbs and insists I 'run my hands over the mint' every.single.time. I do, and I always love that my hands smell fresh & minty for hours. 

Weird long skinny worm Chinese green beans that she made me buy. Which of course turned out to be SO good sauteed and mixed with veggies & rice.  Darn mothers. They always know best. 

Purple basil & green garlic...huh? 

Cute mini carrots. They're full grown!

Some pretty flowers for the table.

{Food Truck Fanatic}

Maybe not a full-blown fanatic, but I am certainly getting there. The first day of my mom's visit, she interrupted her day of lounging to drive over to the agency with Chris to pick me up for lunch. Needing a quick stop to eat and hang out, we decided to hit up the food trucks downtown. Thankfully, they now have swamp coolers set up surrounding the seating areas, with the dreaded misters spraying the covered picnic tables as well. This Phoenix heat will be the death of me I swear.

The Jamburrito truck won the attention of my mom & I, having already sampled the wonderfulness of Short Leash Hot Dogs and Torched Goodness. Although I will admit we were temporarily wooed by the idea of salted caramel creme brulee in the place of real lunch! 

Mama went with the grilled catfish and rice jamburrito, and I had the "sweet betsy", a pork/coleslaw/bbq/rice/spicy concoction from heaven.  We definitely could have split one, we were near burst capacity by the time our meal was over. (food coma? so strong and so not ideal).

Chris went for the Riteway Catering truck, and got a sausage links sandwich that smelled fantastic! Even better, the meal came with rosemary tater tots that were unbelievable. In my mind, the rosemary made them classier, and therefore healthier? Not just a typical child school-lunch buffet item. Mmm!

My lace top & thick jeans were not the ideal outfit to sit outside to enjoy my lunch. I can't help if I still like to dress as though I am living in Seattle! Once a cloudy weather outfit expert, always a cloudy weather outfit expert.

{Phoenix Public Market}

Thanks to a relaxing night in on Friday night, I was up extremely early on Saturday morning & ready to start my weekend! I made coffee, poured it in a tumbler, threw on an outfit & was out the door by 8:15 a.m.

I've decided to try and make more of an effort to buy local. From now on I'll be buying more produce sourced from local farmers, spend a portion of my very small clothing fund at local boutiques, and eat at more small/individual restaurants. I've shifted!

The first on my list to check out was the Saturday morning open air market on the Phoenix Public Market's lot. The fresh produce was absolutely beautiful, and at such a great price! 

I strolled from stall to stall, snapping photos, watching parents chase after their young children, women with bursting reusable bags, friends eating breakfast burritos and sipping iced coffees. 

I couldn't believe how busy it was, and so early!

I sampled homemade goat cheese, fresh bread, and had to pick up a few honey sticks. 

It all reminded me so much of Seattle.

As I was getting ready to leave, these beautiful flowers caught my attention. 

Normally I wouldn't spend the extra money to buy flowers, but the colors were just so beautiful! 

Better yet, they were only $1.50!

And with so many, I was able to split them up to make four whole bouquets which are sprinkled throughout my apartment. 

Total, I bought 13 carrots, 2 giant grapefruits, a head of lettuce, a zucchini, broccoli, a bushel of chives, a big sweet potato, bulb of garlic, honey sticks & the flowers. 

FOR $12 DOLLARS!

amazing.