A Glimpse of Prescott

When my mom & I traveled up to Prescott for the day, we had absolutely no plans set in stone. I had heard Prescott is a cute town that it offered great antiquing, but didn't have any recommendations outside of that.

The drive up was not bad at all. About an hour and a half of crusin along looking at wide open views and beautiful skies. We kept an eye on the thermostat as it continued to drop a few degrees as we went further and further north. A break from the inferno in Phoenix was so nice!

An hour and a half later we arrived. First stop, Cuppers. 

We toured the cute fair, sampled homemade candies, smelled special soaps and lotions, saw the the work proudly displayed by local artists. As the day went on, the ominous clouds begin rolling in and we knew our picturesque sunny summer day was coming to an end. 

 And wow, did it ever! We made it through one antique shop and lunch before the skies opened up and dumped what seemed like GALLONS of rain and hail. It was a beautiful sight from inside, so we continued hopping into different stores to wait it out. Once our chance was clear, we be-lined for the car to trek back to Phoenix. It was a little scary of a drive, but brought me right back to living in Seattle. A bittersweet, frightening moment!

...

Prescott Tour: Cuppers

As a two year Arizona native, I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I haven't taken the time to visit a few of the state's most popular destinations. Namely, Prescott and Tucson. Thankfully, my mama is always game to travel around the state and experience new things on her vacations, so we made the trek up to Prescott on Saturday.

Naturally, our first stop was a coffee shop. After some quick yelp research, we decided that Cuppers was the best place to go and set off on foot in search of the bright red overhang. On the journey, we stumbled on a full fledged weekend fair, some hottie firemen, and what seemed like the entire town bustling around the court house eating picnics and soaking in the beautiful sun. I felt a little like we had teleported to Stars Hallow and no one told me.

It was pretty adorable and homey on the inside. We sat down at a table topped with postcards from someone's world travels, and planned out the rest of our day. Our plans included lunch at a yelp-approved restaurant, antiquing, hottie fireman oogling, and checking out the fair. All in a days work.

I mean, right? Also, I've got to get my hands on those posters. 

A great success. We cheers-ed our mexican chocolate americanos and felt caffeinated enough to take on the day. It was great! I'd definitely stop by again the next time I'm in town. 

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a breakfast date at the coffee shop

It is completely wonderful having my mom in town. Mom visits are the best, I get to show off my favorite restaurants, get spoiled during trips to the mall (but more importantly, Costco!), and have someone who knows me through and through to chat with at the end of each day.

Over the weekend we drove out to The Coffee Shop, for brunch, coffees & treats. I love that having visitors in town gives you an excuse to go to all of the places you don't go regularly, especially when it includes a 30 minute drive in each direction. But yet again, this place is so worth it!

As usual, the restaurant was packed. Thankfully, good food is always worth waiting for in my book, so we patiently waited in the massive line while pondering what deliciousness to order. We barely narrowed it down by the time the cashier was looking at me with a crazy eye for not belting my order the second her previous customer had turned to walk away. Pressure!

The whoopies. My favorite thing The Coffee Shop offers, which I am so determined to uncover the secret on how to bake them. Last visit left me drooling for days thinking about the strawberry whoopie, but this coconut whoopie? This will go down in history as the best coffee shop treat I've ever.ever.tasted.

The San Diegan made a second appearance. After looking over the massive menu, my mom and I both approached each other to split the same item (quite serendipitous). Great name, especially due to my recent frequent trips to SD, and amazing ingredients. Between that, a hot & iced cinnamon coffee and the glorious whoopie, we left with smiles on our faces. Nothing like late, lazy Sunday brunching with your mama.

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{Siblings}

As an only child, I've always had a bit of jealousy for those with brothers & sisters. Growing up, people always insisted I had the best situation, having my parents all to myself, but I dreamt of constant playing companions and built-in best friends. I will admit I have fabulous relationship with them both my mom and dad, and I'm not sure if we'd be as close had any other babies had entered the picture.

With my mom and her brother both in town for Thanksgiving, it was funny to see how similar they are. They both have similar witty jokes, say the same things during conversations, and even have the same mannerisms, despite being almost 10 years apart in age. We spent an afternoon at Queen Creek Olive Mill, for lunch and a tour (which we ended up missing because we talked for too long).

As Arizona's only working olive farm & mill, the place certainly has a cult following. A wonderful trip out for visitors, you can find their products in most specialty shops around the state, as well as public markets.

On location there is a gourmet marketplace, which houses the mill's restaurant, del Piero. Their famous sandwich, The Kalamata, has been featured on the Food Network...so obviously I had to try it. Split with my mama, we also had the greek salad.

Seriously pretty food. 

Back indoors, the marketplace offers an incredible selection of their olive oils, local and imported wines, gifts, an olive bar and beauty section. They'll ship pretty much anything too, in case you're an out of towner!

Photo overload, but I couldn't help it. The grounds are so beautiful, I couldn't help but mentally plan parties around the long tables, with twinkle lights swaying from the olive trees. Dreamy!

If it wasn't so far away, I'd be back more often!

{Brunch at Local Bistro}

When our good friend Sarah came back in town for a weekend visit, we drove up to North Scottsdale to meet up with her, our other good friend Dani & Dani's mom, for brunch at Local Bistro. It was so nice to see both of them, since Sarah had moved back to California after graduation this year, and we've been terrible at making plans with Dani. Thankfully Dani's sister's baby shower brought Sarah back to AZ, so we insisted on squeezing in a hang out!

The Italian restaurant is off the beaten path from the 5 mi. radius Chris & I usually give ourselves to drive and try new places, but it was worth it. The restaurant offers brunch on Saturday and Sunday mornings, but is also rumored to have a fantastic happy hour during the week. Good enough excuse for me to come back!

I ordered the spanish omelette, which was filled with chorizo and manchego cheese. The plate also came with some delicious fresh fruit, and herb roasted potatoes. Almost everyone at our table ordered something different, which was great! It allowed us to sample almost everything on the brunch menu. 

{monkey bread french toast with nutella}

{breakfast calzone}

{egg panini}

Dani's mom had originally ordered the smoked salmon breakfast sandwich, but the restaurant hadn't received its usual morning delivery. The chef felt bad, and at the end of our meal we were surprised with two caramel panna cotta desserts! It was at least noon by the end of our meal, since we had been sitting and chatting for so long. That was all the justification I needed to have dessert after breakfast. And I was not disappointed! The creamy desserts were so so good. My caramel obsession continues.

{Friend Hangover & Mellow Mushroom}

I'm alive! After an amazing weekend with my girlfriends, I have been suffering from quite the friend hangover. My mind is still in a haze, I keep reminiscing about the fun times, deliriously laughing at inside jokes, feeling tired all the time as though I've been depriving myself of sleep & noticing weird things throw about my apartment. The weirdest part is I took them to the airport on Sunday. Longest.hangover.ever. Regardless, I love my friends & accept the friend hangover with open arms! 

Continuing on. When the ladies were here we went to Mellow Mushroom for happy hour, a great spot with a huge assortment of drinks & bites for very cheap prices. The Tempe location is huge! We were seated in a big booth and thankfully had a super knowledgeable waitress (atleast she knew way more than we did), who is originally from Seattle (bonus points), who brought us tons & tons of drink samples (major bonus points) so we would make the right decision when we finally settled on one.

I ordered a local beer, SanTan Brewing Company's Sunspot Golden Ale. The beer was light & refreshing, totally hitting the spot. There must have been upwards of 60 beer choices on the menu, and I cannot even begin to think of what Lauren settled on after our great waitress had her sample at least 10.  Don't twist our arms (they were small!).

Our late lunch happy hour turned into a combined dinner as well, so we went to town on the cheap menu & ordered anything and everything that looked or sounded remotely tasty. It did not disappoint. 

{salad & pita/hummus plate}

{pretzels & the capri, a caprese salad}

{meatballs & stuffed portobello mushroom}

Alex is a non-beer drinker, so we also had the opportunity to sample some delicious cocktails! The Strawberry Mojito was a hit. I think we probably sat at the restaurant for about three hours, laughing at ourselves, at eachother, telling stories & mostly hiding in the air conditioning. These Seattle people hadn't conditioned their bodies yet to function in an oven.

{Static}

Excuse the radio silence around these parts.

Lauren (on the left) is in town for a visit.

Her first morning in PHX, we headed out to the pool for a dip (it's so hot!).

Casually swimming, I hear my name being called out from outside the gate.

Alex (on the right) was standing there. Bag in hand, fresh out of a taxi from the airport.

Friend surprises are the best kind.