Spring has sprung.

This is what I saw as I stepped out my front door yesterday to let the dog out. I was a little down, feeling a little defeated and a whole lot unsure of everything. But this is what was literally two steps out the front door to greet me. My first tulips, first bloom of anything in my flower bed. And with that, my face overruled my emotions and let out a big, encompassing, whole hearted, & happy smile.

I do this with each change of the season. I forget how much I love it. I'm most familiar with Fall & forgetting how much I love him. (Yeah, Fall & Winter are boys and Spring & Summer are girls. duh). It's always right when that season starts coming around that I remember how much it changes me within. It's when that change of season helps change my life that I'm convinced that I couldn't possibly live somewhere without changes of seasons.

These tulips reminded me what I love about Spring. Everything comes to life in Spring. Things bloom. Brown, dead looking things become green and alive looking things. People come to life! Upon sipping some Summer Shandies (that's right kids, it's Shandy Season!) on a patio this past weekend amidst beautiful weather, my good friend said, this is the kind of weather that makes you want to live. And she's right - you could see people coming out of the woodwork this past weekend. Soaking up the good weather - embracing the coming seasons.

And right now...I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in thinking we could all use a little more living. A little more pick me up. A little more tulips blooming in the front yard.

(p.s. TOTALLY aware the sappy level has risen to extremely high amounts lately - it'll pass, I swear).

Dually Quoted.

When I find good, inspiring, make me stop and think about the application of said quote in my life, I write them down. More often than not, it's on a piece of scratch paper at my desk, on the back of an e-mail or memo. Every so often I decide to go rifling through things on my desk to find quotes from the past few months. Today was one of those days. I didn't stop there. I kept looking for more. Not intentionally seeking quotes - but turning to friends, blogs, profiles, etc., to find where others find their quotes.

Now, instead of writing them down, I'll also dually note them (get it?) on the blog. So hopefully you can love them too.

Here's today's:

"You have brains in your head, you have feet in your shoes, you can steer yourself any direction you choose." -Dr. Seuss

I always am a huge fan of Dr. Seuss' quotes because they're so simplistic and obvious yet quite thought provoking. So today I'm making a little promise to myself (and now to myself in front of you) to start steering more often. I'll use my brain in my head and my fee in my shoes and I'm going to do more steering.

Steer on.

My Life - Mosiac Style

1. What makes you feel most alive? Succeeding
2. What's your favorite food? right now, cupcakes
3. Pet you have/want? have black pug, want boxer
4. Favorite band? Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
5. Favorite color? Blue
6. Dream vacation? Greek Isles
7. Your obsession? Loving & being loved
8. Dream job? mommy
9. Where's your happy place? U of M - Minneapolis

Alright fellow bloggers - courtesy of JT -
a. Type your answer to each of the questions into Flickr Search (http://www.flickr.com/).
b. Using ONLY the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into Mosaic Maker. Change rows to 3 and columns to 3 (http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php).

There it is - your life in a mosaic. (I changed some questions - used some of JT's - added some of my own..play around w/ it :)

Real Love.

I have to give credit for this post to Annie over at her blog Hootenannie. She sent me to this article which was so perfectly what I needed to read today. Like Annie said it serves as a reminder that love isn't how we sometimes picture it. It's messier, quieter and deeper. It's very simple to get caught up in what love is "supposed to be" and what is "supposed to happen" when you're in love. How he acts, what he says, what you wear, where you go. It's so incredibly easy to get wrapped up in the things that really have no place or importance in the realm of real, true, love. It's totally messy. It's complicated. It gets tested on an all too frequent basis.

By no means am I discrediting or wishing the nonexistence of the beginning part. The rainbows & puppy dogs part. The part where there is always a big sunny sky over the two of you and you can't possibly imagine anything ever changing it. That is a damn good part, and definitely one that should happen. It has too. It where you turn to when things become real. When the gritty stuff happens, you need to look back to that sunny blue sky time.

But at the same rate...that gritty, gnarly, rough patch...that has to happen too. It's where you realize it's real. Life will never be all rainbows, butterflies & puppy dogs. Sad things happen and sometimes even bad things happen. And if you've got a love that can make it through that part, it's real enough to last. True enough to stay. And that's what we really need. After all, I'm quite convinced this world wasn't meant to be traveled alone.

Silent Stalkers

Hooray for 2 OFFICIAL followers! Quick shout out to Rebecca & JT for transforming from silent stalkers to Official followers!

2 today...maybe 4 tomorrow?

Top 3...

In honor of seeing Wilco tonight, I've decided to blog about my top 3 in a funk/bad mood/need a pick me up/get me back on my feet songs. Coincidentally, all three were introduced to me by my brother at different points in my life. They are the first three songs I play when I feel like I need a little help to keep on keeping on. Sometimes I listen to them when I'm really happy. Sometimes I listen to them when I'm feeling in a funk. They're really applicable to most situations and just leave me overall feeling content and renewed. I was going to post videos of the songs, but couldn't find a quality video of them all, so I just included the Polyphonic Spree because it's hard to imagine that band. (Sidenote - it's not a quality video and it's not the whole song, but you see the party that is the stage and the soul in which Tim sings with...it's a good taste of them - but you'll want more). In no particular order...


1. "Hold Me Now" - The Polyphonic Spree
Hold me now don't start shaking/ you keep me safe/ don't ever think you're the only one / when times are tough in your new age


If' you're not familiar with the Spree, you should be. Long story short, they're a 16-26 person band (full horn section, strings, choir, etc) that wears robes and sings songs that will change your world. Honestly, seeing this song live was one of those moments I know inspired change within me and I'll never forget it. Incredibly moving. The song itself serves as a good reminder that it's not just happening to you and you're definitely not alone.

2. "Either Way" - Wilco
Maybe the sun will shine today/ the clouds will blow away/ maybe I won't feel so afraid/ I will try to understand/ either way

Love Wilco and will probably post more about them tomorrow after their show tonight. Great song...slow, smooth & Jeff Tweedy's voice just instantly instills comfort within. All about understanding and getting through no matter which way the coin flips.

3. "Hajimemashite" - Umphrey's McGee
I didn't know things were supposed to be this way / I wasn't told of this before / But had I known about this fall for some time / maybe I could have been or I could have known

Umphrey's is by far Tyler's favorite band and so it's no surprise I've been introduced. While I enjoy their music, this is THE song. Reminds me I wouldn't want to know what's coming... half the fun of life is how you react to the things you never saw coming.

So that's my top 3. Any time I'm having a day...I pull up these three gems. Music sets the tone for my mood and makes everything better. These three just happen to take the cake.

Finally figured out JT's magic!

I religiously follow JT's Blog and have always wondered what kind of Interweb magic she uses to complete her blog time travel. Since checking my blogroll is as much a part of my morning routine as my diet coke, I check her blog almost every week day. I can go for days with no update and then all of a sudden, she's blogged every day for the past week. I assumed she had no such time machine (though since she's become a CA resident - I'm beginning to think that could be possible, things really flow in her direction on that coast) and never really looked into it far enough to figure out how she did that.

Until today. HA! Now I will totally be blogging from the past. And as my Lil Bro likes to say "That's the future."

And I thought I had problems then.

You know how you always look back (of course hindsight being 20/20) and think to yourself "Ha! I thought I was stressed/had problems/things to worry about back then!" I'm feeling that very much so right now. However, these days I feel like I'm in a different situation than before in that I thought I had problems then, know I have things to worry about now, and am CERTAIN I'll have things to stress about in the future.

Because of my immediate tie to the world of high school girls (through coaching cheerleading), I'm often reminded of how LIFE ALTERING and STRESSFUL the world is to a 16 year old girl. I mean, seriously, no date for prom and it's only a month away? Can't find the perfect sparkly purple poofy dress? Mom grounded me and I'm going to miss the game on Friday? It's easy to look back and laugh at what I deemed "problems & stressors" back in those days. And even easier for me to hear my girls talk about these and laugh (reminding them that in a few years, no one cares/remembers). But back in the moment of those issues - they were what fueled my life and caused my world to halt.

I know it's a matter of life that you look back and realize that the problems you had prior to this were never really problems at all. And if you knew when you were 16 that not being able to go to that movie would be NOTHING compared to losing your job, life would probably be easier. However, we don't know that and so in the moment those ARE problems, they do cause stress and they're very real.

This seems to be the first time though that I look back, seeing things easier. Look to the present and see some pretty stressful decisions to be made. Look forward and see babies and marriage. Woah. Do you eventually reach a point where life's just full of grownup stuff that really is stressful, problematic and intense? Or do you always look back and think, "ha, to think I thought I had it hard then?"

(P.S. I'm quite aware that when I'm knee deep in vomit, covered in poop to my elbows, deaf in one ear from the screaming and blind from exhaustion (that IS what happens when you have babies) there is a VERY good chance I'll look back and think "HA!").

Happy B-day BF!

Today was the BF's b-day. He's a whopping 26 today. (Which I like to remind him is closer to 30 than I am). I'm pretty excited to be around to celebrate the birth of someone I consider to be one of the most awesome people to walk this Earth.

I also freaking LOVE celebrating/gift giving w/ those I love. I have to admit (tooting of my own horn coming up!) I'm pretty good at gift giving. People often come to me for ideas and I'm a big fan of coming up w/ unique ideas that people TOTALLY weren't expecting. I get it from my mom.

However, the part I do suck at (because there is a part I suck at) is the keeping of a secret. The minute I think of a good gift idea for someone, I want to tell them. To be fair, I'm the same way with wanting to know. I just hate surprises period. Much happier knowing/sharing them.

So while today is officially the BF's b-day. I've already given him all his gifts/celebratory events :)

About a week ago, I treated him to dinner at Sabor. Which is like Fogo de Chao for my MN followers. Delicious. Seriously if you've never been to a Brazilian Steakhouse, put that chicken you set out for tonight's dinner away and GET YOUR ASS THERE. And if you have a problem with unlimited amounts of 14 different cuts of mean being served to you via a sword until you're busting at the seams with red meat deliciousness, well then I'm not sure we can be friends. (With the exception of Emily - because we were friends before I knew this goodness existed and therefore, she's grandfathered in). Rebecca - this is your Mecca.

Then about 3 days after that, his big present came in the mail. He was home when it got there and I freaked. I left work and took my lunch at home so he could open it IMMEDIATELY. He visited Bahia Brazil right before we met w/ his Grandparents and always talks about the view from his hotel room. I found a picture of the same view, blew it up and had it printed on canvas. Looks kind of like this.It turned out damn cool. He was really surprised that I even heard him talk about (which also proves I DO listen). So I was really excited to catch him off guard - that's my favorite part of gift giving.

I got a few other random gifts...but all were given to him well before his actual b-day. On the day of his birth, we went to the Brewers game. They lost but we had fun. And as an added bonus, Wilco was there guest starring as the racing sausages (yes, we do have racing sausages). Pretty excited about that- we'll be seeing them Wednesday night. Stoked.

Research Skills

For those of you who don't know me (which I'm quite sure all 4 - that's right FOUR of my fans do know me - welcome Sukie :) I greatly enjoy what I like to call Internet research. Some also refer to this past time as "stalking" however, I find that has a general negative connotation. I'm not using the information any further than my own knowledge. I'm not stalking, just researching.

So it is with said love for research in my heart that I welcome Sukie to the blog. She's another MN friend, as are all of my followers thus far. She found out about my super secret blog from what I can only assume was some good old fashioned research of her own on the best research site ever, Facebook.

I'm glad to have her though! That was my intent of the blog...I'm not telling people about it, but when they find out, I don't deny and openly accept new fans and followers. Especially the ones who are already my best friends, know pretty much everything about me and probably won't judge anything I say on here because they either already know it, or wouldn't expect any different!

Wow... my followers are growing at exponential rates. (Well according to Blogger I only have one official follower who is in fact anonymous...but according to my count, we're at 4).

Almost finished "planned" blogs...

...I felt too restricted to follow the plan I had for upcoming blogs...plus I felt like it was a little bit too much vacation blogging...none of my fan base lives in Phoenix so it's not like most of you will ever get to go to these places (except maybe JT as it seems CA & AZ both share in the love of all great food things). So I'm moving on...to probably more random and less organize thoughts.

Which brings me to my post for today. My mom has always said for as long as I can remember that she's always wanted to be described as that "sweet little lady"...you know, that white haired quiet, kind librarian...or that sweet lady with the soft & proper voice...yeah, us Nikolas women? Not so much. Rarely (if ever) have we been described as "sweet" (unless it was used in the bad ass super awesome kind of sweet). We're just not that kinda gal. Lucky for us, the men in our lives seem to like it that way.

While Mom has always desired to be the prim & proper "sweet lady"...I've just always wanted to come across as one of those "put together" kind of women. You know the type, their outfit is always well thought out, matches perfectly, they've got the ideal jewelery set for every top, bottom & shoe they own. Their hair always falls just perfectly. They wear lipstick. Their calendar does have scratched out events, doodles, or mistakes. They always have on high heels. They are 15 minutes early to everything. They remember the maiden name of that one woman who helped at that random event 10 years ago. Their desk looks nothing like mine does right now. And most likely (this is just a presumption) when picking out their outfit for the day, at no point are they grabbing something off the ground and smelling to see if it's acceptable for use (for the record, I RARELY do this and it's only when I'm on the last straw of laundered pieces in the closet).

I've made some motions towards becoming more like this woman. I do know that there are some things I just will never be and that's okay...it makes me, me...right? I'm usually not TERRIBLY on the other end of the spectrum..I'm almost NEVER more than 15 minutes late (sometimes on time even)...I did organize my closet so that all things are hanging and off the ground. I even went through and parted ways with some items that are way too old to be incorporated these days. I have had "clean desk" on my list of things to do at work for the past week (and do intend on getting around to it).

And then there's somethings that will probably always remain the same. I will always use the snooze function on any alarm going off. I will probably always prefer sweatpants to a skirt and flats to heels. I will always forget things. I'm only 25 and I forget TONS of stuff, lord help me when my (little bit of) memory starts failing me. Kids will be what stop me from belching out loud and cursing like a sailor...til then, there seems to be little hope.

So, I'll fix what I can and embrace what I can't. You don't have to describe me as a "lady" or "put together" and Mom has decided instead of sweet and kind...we're fun...that's probably better. So there's that.

Our Monthiversary

We had accidentally forgotten how to count during the month of February and thought we had been dating for 6 months on the 26th of that month. Which is even more ridiculous because we had already had discussions about how cool it was going to be that we'd be in AZ to celebrate 6 whole months....so we're a little special.

Anyways...depending on who you are and what you're relationship history book looks like 6 months may or may not be impressive. And that's okay too...prior to me, the BF was in a 6 YEAR relationship...SIX YEARS. I'm trying to think of anything I've done for six years straight and I'm not even sure that exists (besides the same things everyone else has in that list, like breathing, eating & being a live). Needless to say I was more impressed w/ 6 months, though he agreed it's still quite awesome.

The past 6 months have gone by REALLY fast when I think about it but at the same time, feels like it was FOREVER ago that I met him and first started talking to him. But I find that's the case with most good things. Seems like they've always been there, but time flies w/ 'em.

So, to celebrate our big monthiversary we had planned on going out to dinner together and since I've recently both been introduced to and fell in love with Japanese restaurants, we figured we'd do that. During the day we went shopping in Old Scottsdale which was nice. Went and bought cupcakes at Sprinkles for after dinner. It was revealed to me at this point, when I asked where he thought we should go to dinner that the plans had been made and that I needed to be ready by 6:30.

You should know this about me...I don't do well with surprises. I can't stand not knowing and I am pretty obnoxious when there's a surprise/gift/unknown by me secret. I'm the worst gift giver of all time and it's a parade worthy occasion to my family when Christmas day rolls around and even one person doesn't know what they're getting from me. People in my life enjoy messing with me on this character flaw and the BF is no exception.

So all I knew was that I needed to be ready at 6:30. Because of this, I dressed nice but also brought sweats...because you never know. And by that I mean, I prefer being in sweatpants to anything else so if there was even a possibility that for a portion of this date I could be in sweatpants I wanted to be prepared.

Turns out, my wonderful man of mine, planned a gondola ride around the lake/river of the Hyatt Resort near where we were staying. It was absolutely GORGEOUS, right at sunset and the most perfect surprise ever. The gondolier (perhaps that's their title?) had an AMAZING voice and serenaded us through the grounds of the resort. I had never been on a gondola ride before and was very pleasantly surprised. It was very sweet idea..he's just that wonderful! And of course, I cried. (that's what I do...I cry - happy, sad, overwhelmed, excited...I cry).

We then went out for Sushi at a great Japanese Sushi/Steakhouse...he had sushi, I had Hibachi Beef...delicious.

Afterwards, I got to put the sweats to good use, we went to go see a movie at the theater by our "house". Saw I love You, Man. It was cute, funny at some parts. Not as hilarious as I was hoping but we still quote lines from it...Slapping the bass. That's really the only line we quote actually. And it's not that funny.

Which brings me full circle...we both think the same un-funny things are funny. There's not anything I'd rather be doing w/ anyone but him...he's definitely my favorite and I can't wait for more monthiversaries....and am even more excited for a real live anniversary. He makes me happy :)

p.s. I tried to add photos to this - to make the post more fun (and make it seem like there's less words - I don't know how to not be wordy!) but Blogger sometimes just hates me and now would be one of those times.

AZ Trip - Part III - Have you seen my baseball?

As promised...here is the 3rd installment of the AZ trip blog posts.

The reason for the trip was to see the Milwaukee Brewers at Spring Training. Bro & Dad went last year and LOVED it and talked so highly of it that we decided to make it a family trip this year (and by family, I mean, the family, significant others and bro's friend).

I should start by saying this...I consider myself a fan of the Brewers. I'm not a baseball fan, I don't follow other teams or watch games that the Brewers aren't playing in. If I've ever been to a game that didn't include said Brewers, I was probably going for the activities that happen at a baseball game (i.e. hot dog eating, beer drinking, fun times). I wondered how I would fare at Spring Training. It ended up being REALLY cool.

During the morning, the players (ALL of them, all MLB guys and the AA and AAA team players) have practice. Batting practice, pitching practice, catching practice, etc. That part was actually interesting to partake in. You're SO close to them, you can hear everything the coaches are telling them, see all the little intricate details that go into throwing that fastball or catching that throw from 3rd. It was cool to see how much hard work went into becoming a star pitcher/catcher/home run scorer.
And while I decided that I would absolutely HATE this part of the season if I was on the other side of the fence, it was a great experience as a fan. I often thought how difficult it must be for the players though. Some of these guys are only babies (18, 19 years old), they're under SUPER scrutiny to see if they're capable of being a Milwaukee Brewer. Multiple coaches are watching their every move, whispering about that pitch, picking apart their stance, shaking their heads and the missed catch. They've got 4 swings each morning to show what they're made of. Minimal opportunities to actually play baseball in game format. And to top it all off, we learned quickly that everyone at Spring Training is an expert. So they've got fans sitting gawking, watching, critiquing. It had to be a LOT of pressure - but still, in the end, they're amping up to do a "job" that most of the rest of us play for fun when we get the chance.

It was while watching catchers practice that my favorite quote of this vacation was spoken. The catchers coach was working w/ the catchers (obviously), and there were a few who quite clearly didn't speak English. The coach knew some phrases and words, had picked up some Spanish along the way (Dios Mio! was his favorite)...It wasn't until he was trying to explain that if you're not in the correct position the ball will fly away from you and you're in a real "uh-oh" situation. He described this to the American players using the words "uh-oh" and then loudly yelled to one of the catchers (who served as his translator during practice) "Como se dice 'uh-oh' en Espanol?" For some reason it just totally geeked me out.

The games were also pretty sweet - a much more laid back and smaller scale atmosphere than Miller Park. Still same great brats & beer though. My favorite part being that the outfield "seats" are just a grassy berm you can lay out on and watch the game from...super comfortable and very enjoyable. We ended up seeing 3 games and I enjoyed every one of 'em. Got me really pumped up for Spring/Summer and seeing games here.

Here's the gang after our first game...it may have been a little too much sun for the first day...but it was damn enjoyable.

Of COURSE we brought tailgating to AZ...can you really partake fully in a Brewer game without Johnsonville's on the ($9.97 purchased at Walmart minutes before the game) grill before hand? Props to Mom for thinking of UPS-ing a cooler & tailgating chairs out to AZ before we got there...you've never Tailgated til you've tailgated w/ Deb Nikolas.

Away game at the Rangers stadium at night...Game started just after sunset. It was a beautiful night for baseball.
Final thoughts - it's a great vacation for anyone who's got interested people in baseball going. Phoenix was a GREAT place, we absolutely loved the city, the surrounding areas and everything we did there. The baseball was a great added attraction. Practice is free, games are $8 for the grass seats so a family could do a relatively inexpensive vacation here. All the teams in the Cactus League's stadiums are relatively close to each other so even "away" games are doable if you're staying in Phoenix. Great vacation, baseball included.

Coming Soon...

AZ Trip Part III - Have you seen my baseball?

AZ Trip Part IV - Our Monthiversary

AZ Trip Part V - Why returning to WI blows.

AZ Trip - Part II - Places I Loved in AZ

There were many, MANY places we visited, ate at, and frequented when we were in AZ. Most of them are food places (shocking - I do love food).

First meal we had in AZ was at Dos Gringos. This was a small group, just me, mom & the BF. DELICIOUS meal. More of a party/college kid scene. The patio was FULL of young cool kids drinking on a Saturday afternoon - I fit in very well w/ my Diet Coke. (Hey! I'm not as young as I once was and if I start drinking at 11:00 a.m., you can bet your ass I'll be passed out cold and done for the day by dinner time).

Things I loved about Dos Gringos:

• their bouncers wear shirts that say "Adult Babysitter"
• the food - we started with the Mexican Crock Pot - a queso type dip w/ super flavorful pork...absolutely delicious. Mom & I then had these giant deep fried tacos (very healthy) that were so damn good. Christian had 3 different kinds of tacos - the only one I can remember off hand was the crispy fish taco because he couldn't stop about the mango salsa. All in all great meal.
• Their specials - if it rains, margaritas are $2. AND...on Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. they tap a keg and it's 25 cent tappers til the keg runs out - great deals if you ask me!

The following day we had lunch at Hooters...I won't go into details about this one aside from the fried pickles were delish, they've got great wings, love their curly fries, and the boys are occupied w/ all the boobies. That's Hooters in a nutshell.

Other great places we visited:

• Maria, Maria - This restaurant is a collaboration between Carlos Santana (hence the name) and Chef Roberto Santibañez. We visited the location at the Tempe Marketplace but they're all over AZ & CA. (again, along w/ Mojo, CA & AZ win!). The food was delicious. I'm a huge wuss when it comes to spice (Seriously, I can handle very little. The mild salsa at both Qdoba & Chipotle pretty much top out my highest level of tolerable spice. The BF says I have hypersensitive taste buds and my bro has told me on numerous occasions to "get my mouth checked out), and the fajitas I had were a bit much for me. So tasty but so painful. Even the BF (who's got mad tolerance for spice) said they were "a little spicy" so you can imagine that I was dying. This also happened to be the dinner we had our parents meet so my red face was only enhanced when his dad (who's Puerto Rican & Argentinian and therefore immune to spice) asked if I was going to be okay because my face was 20 shades of red by the end of the meal. Great food though & fun atmosphere.

• Kabuki Japanese Grill - went here for our monthiversary dinner. Delicious Japanese Sushi & Steakhouse - also located in the Tempe Marketplace. We had the Yaki Tori & Asparagus Beef for an appetizer. Both delicious. They had some of the most flavorful Miso soup I've ever had. I had the Teryaki Beef which was tender, well seasoned and cooked to perfection. Christian had 6 different kinds of sushi - I can't remember the names of any of them...except I do recall that he also had a Quail Egg Shooter - which made me nearly vom all over the table.

• Old Town Scottsdale - cute strip of street w/ art galleries, boutiques, souvenir shops, and restaurants. Has a very old west feel to it and definitely attracts the tourists.
  

• If you're in Old Town, you definitely need to try Salty Senoritas. They've got a great outdoor patio for consuming one of the margaritas which you can find on their 10 page menu. Seriously their margarita menu has 3x as many pages as their food menu. Food was delicious as well (from what I remember).

• Sprinkles - I almost didn't include this on this post. I'm going to be entirely honest with you here Blogosphere. Not a day has gone by since I sunk my teeth into that delicious red velvet cupcake that I haven't thought about it. I am usually not a HUGE cupcake person, or even a big sweet tooth person for the most part. I don't crave sweets as much as I do salty foods. But these cupcakes were so damn good that I've craved one every day since. It's a Cupcake shop that started in Beverly Hills and (as apparently all good things do) has made it's way to AZ. It's near Old Town, you can hit it up after some shopping like we did. And - as if they hadn't weaseled their way into my heart enough - they have doggy cupcakes...and everyone knows if you want to win me over, appeal to my puppy. I was pretty upset I couldn't bring them back with me. UPDATE!: After doing some Sprinkles investigating I have found that there is soon to be a Sprinkles location in Minneapolis (Of course!) Congrats, Twin Cities - you've found another way to make me swoon.
  

This was already probably too much information about food...but for real, they were some great restaurants that deserved some serious props. If you're ever in Phoenix or the surrounding areas, try 'em out. They won't disappoint.

AZ Trip - Part I - Home for a Week

In part one of the Arizona trip, I'm going to talk about the part my loyal readers probably care the least about. Sorry readers, I figured I'd save the good stuff for last.

First things first - our humble abode. We decided since there would be 7 of us on this vacation and possibly a baby (baby didn't end up coming - but that wasn't decided until Thursday and we left Saturday - I won't get into it but, seriously?) we would need either 3 hotel rooms or something big enough to accommodate us all. We've stayed in rental vacation homes before (only in Europe) but figured we'd try it out here in the states. We rented a 3 bedroom condo in Scottsdale for the week. The condo was beautiful - the grounds were pristine and it had everything we could possibly need - including enough space for us all to have our own rooms.Here's the outside of our condo...very exciting I know.
Here's the outdoor fireplace/lounge area where I thought I would spend a lot of time and coincidentally didn't at all...but the Bro & his entourage did.
The grill/BBQ/picnic area - we did use this quite often, in fact Mom was a Grilling Master machine throughout the whole trip. Bonus of rented home over hotel - full kitchen & massive grill.
Finally, the pool area. It was gorgeous - this is where I spent most of my time while we were "at home." The weather was absolutely WONDERFUL the whole time we were there. Upper 70's lower 80's and sunny. It was a wonderful heat, I now know what people mean when they say "dry heat" and also know that I prefer my heat dry over wet.

The area we were in was also wonderful. Right down the street form a very well kept outdoor mall ("lifestyle center" as my dad refers to it - I guess that's what they call it in the biz). every store you could think of, anything you could want, and the best damn frozen yogurt place ever. If you're ever in the area of AZ or CA (which 1/3 of my loyal fan base is), you must try Mojo Frozen Yogurt. They've got tons of flavors & toppings to choose from (Chocolate w/ strawberries was my favorite), you make your frozen yogurt & put as many kinds and as much as you want of the toppings & then it's charged by it's weight. Delicious - totally refreshing, and good for you too!

Coming soon (very soon, I'm going to post it immediately after publishing this one) Part II Places I loved in AZ.