Farmers Market Breakfast Burritos

Truly the main reason to get out of bed far too early on a Saturday morning, is the anticipation of a hot coffee & breakfast burrito from the farmer's market.

Now that I've visited both the Phoenix & Scottsdale farmer's markets on multiple occasions, it's safe to say I like both immensely. But for different reasons.

Both markets offer beautiful, fresh produce, bleary eyed crowds, cool morning weather and test bites to fill your entire stomach. Scottsdale's market is filled with stands of big name, local restaurants like Tammie Coe & Brauthaüs, while Phoenix's market is made up of rows upon rows of local artisans, jewelers and knick knack crafters.

The two locations are both brimming with fresh pastries, warm muffins and quiche to walk and nibble as you stock your fresh vegetable drawers for the week. They both have chocolate stands and coffee carts, honey bee keepers and gluten free pasta sellers. Between them, finding a breakfast burrito is not difficult.

But the Mi Salsa stand at the downtown Phoenix market wins, hands down, every time. Chorizo & egg with a little fire roasted salsa on top? The best way to start a weekend.

Of course, don't forget to sample a few stinky cheeses on your way out. 

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A weekend in red, black & whites

With the holiday craziness in full force at work, my weekends usually consist of one day of working, and one day squeezing in as many fun nights/errands/market lurks/evenings of not sleeping/coffee chugging friend hangouts as a 24 year old can handle. Which apparently is a lot.

a coffee at lola

I'm not entirely sure what to say about this. 

I love my friends?

Yep, that'll work. 

Starting off the day at work with a little industry research. 

If you insist!

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The Grind

I'm not a frequent burger eater, and rarely even glance over the burger portions of menus when I dine out. But every so often, a craving hits me like a ton of bricks. The I NEED A BURGER NOW feeling is very pursuasive, so it's always good to have a few favorite locations on hand to visit within a 5 hour window. No angering the burger gods on my watch.

The Grind is a popular local restaurant in the Arcadia area, just a few streets up from my apartment. I've been before for happy hour, but never ordered a burger (much to the dismay of all of my tablemates).

You feel a little bit shunned in those types of situations, especially when the menu offers about four alternative non-burger options. Which are actually really good. While my mom was in town the craving hit, and I knew we needed to check this place out. It also happened to be a Monday, a.k.a. all day happy hour. Such a win.

We decided to split the barbecue burger - which is topped with house made barbecue sauce, house made mozzarella, wild arugula and garlic aoli on a brioche bun. Awesome. A side of sweet potato fries to split made this the perfect meal size, I have no idea how people attempt to go at it alone. Coolest thing about these burgers? They're cooked in a coal-fired oven, which cooks the meat at more than 1,000 degrees. What! Crazy talk. So really you can't recreate this at home - I highly suggest you visit and check it out.

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{St. Francisville's Magnolia Cafe}

About 45 minutes away from Baton Rouge, LA, there is a little historic town named St. Francisville. It's pretty much the cutest. Whenever I think of places in the U.S. that are so country, with a quaint small town feel, I've been picturing St. Francisville. Speeds are slower, the cafes are cuter, and the people seem friendlier. Even their lemonade-stand workers are adorable.

The most popular restaurant in town is called the Magnolia Cafe, and after reading the very persuasive Yelp reviews, Dev, Kenzie and I decided to stop by for lunch. The place was packed! A spacious enclosed patio offered a few larger tables, but no air conditioning and a slow rotating fan. The 80% humidity and I were no getting along, so we opted for a mini two person table on the inside. Tight squeeze!

And what do the perfect southern women do upon sitting down at a restaurant? I picture them ordering sweet teas, glowing and dewy from the hot outside temperatures, ready to relax with girlfriends for a few hours. So that's exactly what we did.

Devin & I ordered a famous Muffaletto sandwich (which I pronounced mufahletta, and was quickly corrected), which was basically everything I've ever wanted in a sandwich. Holy olive & cheese overload! To think this was a HALF order of the sandwich. Which we split...and people order the entire thing for one person? How.

We also ordered a salad to split, which came with cheddar cheese. Another heavy helping of cheese? We decided to pass, and asked to hold that topping. The salad they brought us had a heavy topping of jack cheese instead. Haha! Oh southern eating, I'll never be able to keep up with you.

 

Exactly how I felt when we left.

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{A May Weekend}

100+ degree temperatures, bronzing by the pool (mostly in the pool, actually), Avengers, shopping, froyo, vacation planning, sleeping in, a night out on the town, catching up with friends and a little baking. This is what my perfect weekend is made of.

1. Pulling out a few of my summer polishes for an at home manicure - finally settled on OPI's cajun shrimp (my summer go-to) 2. Dani & I at this year's Viva Las Vegas charity event 3. My favorite candle, which has been bringing a smile to my face even more than usual lately 4. Pondering life laying on the floor & staring at the ceiling fan (come on, you've done it too) 5. A pretty new striped sweater 6. Sunday's eclipse 7. Beautiful hazy light I had to capture as it poured into my messy bedroom 8. A brownie urge that just couldn't be fought. Oh how I've missed baking. 

Did you all have nice weekends?

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{Fort Collins Brewery}

In my last brewery tour post, I mentioned our first stop was for lunch and beer tasting. The location was Fort Collins Brewery & its restaurant, Gravity Ten Twenty.

Curious where the name came from? The Gravity website states that "Specific Gravity in brewing is a measure of dissolved sugar in our wort. Typically this number is around 1.020 which also happens to be the address of the restaurant!" Which means absolutely nothing to me. But might make sense to you?

The airplane death offering of peanuts wasn't going to suffice, and I was pretty hungry by the time we got to the restaurant! The restaurant's menu had lots to choose from, and I'm still needing to go back to try the polenta fries (I loooove polenta. Weird, I know.)

Craft beer is not something I consider myself an expert on, or even a novice for that matter. I did, however, get to try a beer that was 'on nitro'. Which again, means nothing to me, but might mean something to you! I did notice that it was much creamier then the rest (can beer be creamy? I'm embarrassing myself.)

Next time I go back to Colorado, I'm making the promise to myself to stop being such a beer noob. I can order an IPA, but that's about the extent of my knowledge. Next time I will be better!

Dev & I split the mushroom sandwich, which was delicious, but in desperate need of some cheese, and a healthy drizzle of mustard. We each got a side of grilled veggies, and the group split the sweet potato fries.

Considering I was expecting the usual bar food (pretzels, brats & wings), this was a pretty healthy meal! More room for beer of course.

{Walk on the Ocean}

Hands down my favorite John Mayer song, ever.

I couldn't help but hum quietly as we strolled a long the beach. 

Coronado Island is crazy beautiful! 

Clear skies, sand in your toes, beach volleyball and happy hour at the hotel del. 

Living here sounds like a dream.

{Cartel Coffee Lab}

Today I'm over at the Phoenix Style Collective blog, talking about design & treats at Tempe's awesome coffee shop, Cartel Coffee Lab! If you haven't checked out this great cafe, carve out a little time in your weekend to taste some expertly crafted coffee & enjoy a good book (I'm currently readying Wicked...obsessed).

Big high-five to Cartel for recently being featured in Food and Wine magazine, as one of the nation's best coffee bars! You can read the write up - here.

What are some of your favorite coffee destinations in arizona? I'm always on the hunt for more!

{Retreat}

I work very well under pressure. I don't necessarily like being extremely busy, but I function so much better in those types of conditions. Unfortunately, this makes me pretty susceptible to reaching burn out levels. With work, blogging, friends and what little time I set aside to just be alone, I'm sensing my bubble of calm is about to burst. So I'm escaping for the weekend.

To a beautiful place with wonderful friends, for girl time, for margaritas, for beach walks, ocean air and late nights. I'm leaving the computer at home, trying to stay off the usual pile of social networks (except instagram of course!) and can only hope to return completely refreshed.

Have a lovely Friday & weekend, friends!

{A Tornado}

That's exactly what my weekend was. A tornado of friends, events, coffee meetups, errands and working during the downtime. Which was basically no time at all. I think I managed to squeeze in a few hours of sleep, although that is anyone's guess. I certainly don't look well rested! Read: holy eye bags.

Friday was our Phoenix Style Collective launch party, and what a hit! Thank you Courtney for letting me steal your picture, and sorry to our other members who didn't make it in. There will be loads more photos from the event coming this week, but I still feel as though I'm recovering from the awe and happiness I felt after receiving so much support from our party guests. It completely reinforces that we're on the right track.

The party food was oh so delicious. Popcorn with caramel, nuts and BACON? Too bad I couldn't have any!

Bright & early Saturday morning I met up with the lovely Jackie of JackieStyles, and had a great idea-filled conversation over coffee at Cartel Coffee Lab in Tempe. It was great! After I somehow persuaded myself to do a little shopping. Squirrel print? Tempted.

I got home in time to pick up my new glasses from GlassesUSA! More details on that later but it's safe to say I'm obsessed. Proof & more proof.

Sunday I journeyed out to visit my friend Ashlyn and she took me to The Coffee Shop for brunch and we shared a few fantastic treats! I took about 100 pictures. Which no doubt will all be posted to the blog, causing immediate drooling. 

Which concludes my ramble for the day! Busy weekend, so fun, so tired. And oh! I started a Facebook page! Just in case you feel like giving me a thumbs up, Like away!

{I've decided to stick with love}

A lovely three day weekend. 

1. Up and surprisingly awake, before my alarm. 2. Remembering how much I like tea. 3. Pretty knitted rows that are almost a cowl scarf. 4. Mug of frosted flakes (no milk) reminds me of weekends when I was little. 5. Lots of time spent at the gym. 6. Carving out moments of each day to read another few chapters. 7. Healthy dinners - yellow curry couscous with veggies.

Three days off of work seems so full of potential. Do you take a trip? Procrastinate all of your duties until Monday? Sleep in every morning? The one extra day feels like such a blessing! It takes the weekend into full vacation mode, which is exactly what I needed.

Even though it's supposedly blue Monday, I can't say I believe it! Two weeks into the new year and 2012 has already surprised me, in a good way. I've learned more about my independence in the last two weeks - finally getting a handle on my budget (and sticking to it!), and spending some much needed quality time by myself. Not only that, I have been so wowed by the wonderful friends & family in my life, who really do care a lot about me! It is a great feeling, and I'm so thankful for each and every one of them.

Finally, I'm thrilled that this particular Monday exists, as we celebrate the birth and achievements of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Someone, among so many others, that I will forever be grateful for speaking out for what was right. The work of Dr. King spurred change that allows us all to live in a better world, a place where kids like me are accepted. As a nation we still have a lot of growing to do, but here's to hoping that each person takes a little time out of their day to listen to that famous speech, and try their hardest to be the change.

Hope you had a nice weekend!

{Kids at Heart}

Chris and I woke up Saturday morning and realized that our free passes to Six Flags were going to expire at the end of the year. So after contemplating what we should do about it for 5 whole minutes, we decided to take a roadtrip to California. We are not ones to waste out on free fun, or rollercoasters for that matter.

Plus there was a big bonus, we got to say goodbye to our good friend Sarah who is leaving on a grand adventure to work in Atlanta for the next six months. We stayed at her house with our other good friend Dani, played a hilarious game of Catch Phrase & got breakfast in Laguna Beach. A short but wonderful visit!

Roadtrips are always an adventure with the two of us. I co-pilot horribly (I can't help but get distracted on my phone...or nintendo.), but someone gets car sick and has to drive. I'm convinced he'd be equally as bad at reading the GPS, I just haven't had the opportunity to prove it.

Word to the wise, visit Six Flags in December - it's empty. There was seriously no one at the park, and we walked right up to almost every single ride! We road every extreme/thriller/maximum fun roller coaster the park had to offer, and did it in 3 hours.

I think X2 was my favorite, with Tatsu and Goliath coming in a close second. No concussions were sustained, although we both left feeling a little queasy. Back again in Phoenix, I can't believe what a fun weekend we had and I'm sad it's already over!