Sassy Scottsdale

Bold, green text are links to other fun places.

Bestie Andrea and I determined that Arizona would be a peachy locale to "meet in the middle" for a weekend of unscheduled fun.  Phoenix is a shorter than normal hop for her from the far flung but beautiful riverside city Portland in the NE and I can hop to just about anywhere within a couple of hours, give or take, from DFW.  Beyond Phoenix, Scottsdale is a very short ride by taxi from PHX.  If you only have a couple of days to unwind and are longing for mountains and vistas, it's an ideal destination.  Perk:  year round summer!

Andrea treated us to our kicky Kimpton stay at the incredibly charming and inviting Fire Sky Resort.  We didn't let any minutes escape us before we hopped on two of the resort's complimentary bikes and pedaled a short distance to Old Town Scottsdale.  Signing our kidneys and first six vertebrae away on the resort injury disclaimer forms:

The area is chock full of history and I could easily envision cowboys and their cows ambling about the town, going about their cowboy and cowgirl business.  First stop:  refreshments at Barrio Queen, with a precious patio.  We learned of this location when we braked our bikes next to some gals enjoying their own refreshments on a patio nearby, and asked for a margarita/patio/food recommendation.  Here's a snap of our bikes parked next to the world's most stylish little person bike. The photo doesn't show this particular detail, but the bike seat is etched leather, a la flowers and like:

From there we browsed Old Town's variety of art, historical displays, shops and boutiques.  Charming, very charming.

A stop for the requisite afternoon coffee - iced, for this weekend's temperature.  Note the "Poke In The Eye" option in the cafe menu:

Suitably caffeinated, we pedaled back to the resort for the complimentary wine happy hour.  In simple terms: FREE WINE.  Can you dig it?

The outdoor seating area of the resort lobby and bar included a fire pit.  Another complimentary service included s'mores set ups for guests.  Andrea and I managed to cook up a batch without impaling ourselves on the two pronged pitch forks, nor setting anything other than marshmallows ablaze!  

Day 2 bloomed equally swell with another check out of the resort bikes.  I am almost positive that the bell hops who facilitate the bike check-out process groaned when they saw us darken the lobby exit doors since the day prior we prompted a thorough search (which turned out non-fruitful) of the luggage and bike storage closet for a quintessential bike basket to store our bike carry-on items.  And off we pedal for Camelback Mountain!

We had grand visions of reaching the saddle of Camelback, but time for that was in short supply since we had a couple of other stops on the day's loose itinerary.  We met a number of people on their way down who did, or intended to, reach the saddle as well but they were upfront about how technical the trek becomes with elevation.  I don't think it's officially classified as an incredibly difficult hike, though.  You can see in one of the photos below at which elevation we decided to make our u-turn at and the views alone made the experience incredible.  I shamelessly admit to taking a nosy photo of a mountain resident's home living area windows, where we could see least two shiny motorcycles resting:

Above:  Shucked clothing left by hikers.  Hey, who needs a closet when you have a boulder?

Above:  our u-turn elevation.

Above:  Hey, why so prickly today?

Declining was milder on cardio reserves, but more technical, in my opinion.  First stop once back in Old Town:  fuel for the tummy.  The Chop Shop is doing it right, folks.  Our brunch meal was tasty down to the last morsel and our coffees - though there was a wide selection of juices offered - were slurpalicious. A photo from establishment that I agree with 100%:

Once refueled, we sought out and scored mightily in a pedi/mani destination:  The cutest and sassiest beauty stop west of the Mississippi, Pistols n' Polish Nail Saloon.   Oh my word.  A detour to Scottsdale is made well worth it through a visit to this location alone, guns hands nails down.  The owner and her assistant made our time having our nails and toes prettified 100% delightful.  I present to you, Pistols n' Polish:

Above:  The Swanky Girl, she's the cat's pajamas, bum firming moisturizer. 

Above:  bathroom art.

Above:  temporary tattoo, Nailed in Old Town

Above:  Andrea's purdy nails

Both evenings in Scottsdale provided us with delicious dinners, one at a sidewalk view table in Old Town's Italian Grotto and the second at Stingray Sushi, Old Town location.  Exiting Italian Grotto and awaiting the resort's complimentary shuttle service made us what is - in my experience - the most supremely timed photo bomb victims, this guy was a total ninja:

Above:  we thought the volunteer photographer (an Italian Grotto employee) was just creeping when he suggested we take another photo after this one.  Andrea Peppermint Patty Laughed when scrolling through the photos later that evening.  This photo made me extremely happy.

The weekend also made me extremely happy and we've decide to make a tradition out of visiting Kimpton Hotels.  AKA:  selecting cities we want to meet in that also host a kicky Kimpton location.  

Though not an official birthday celebration trip, Andrea treated me like a birthday gal and we, as usual, had a grand old time!  I felt so grateful to spend super-duper fun time with this treasured and funny friend.  The beatific backdrop was icing on the cupcake! 

Dawg daze of holidaze

Another holiday season has concluded and I'm once again incredibly thankful for the opportunities I have to take time away from "the real world," recharge my mental batteries and spend time with people I love.

Aaaaaand, we're off!

Thanksgiving

I traveled with Mudda, Cheese Bite and 2.0 to Caddo Lake where we graced Gator Lodge once again for three nights over Thanksgiving.  Mom delivered up a meal to remember - traditional side dishes with an oven baked pork dish in lieu of a bird.  Gator Lodge's proprietress made available a homemade chocolate pie and it was a gorgeous sweet ending to Thanksgiving dinner.

Meanwhile, my sister Hilary was "birthing that baby" in Tyler.  Anniston Brielle was born the Friday prior to Thanksgiving and is doing well at home with Mom and family.  I have a few photos of her, albeit from the hospital.  I have yet to meet her!  In the photos, though, I can see that she'll have dark, striking features.  Right now I've dubbed her Annie:  the pretty little Inuit baby.  I'm trying my best to call her Anniston, though.  I know that new parents probably grind their teeth when someone assigns a nickname, before the child has even started sleeping through the night.  Anniston:

While at the lodge, there was a decent amount of sleep accrued, some game playing, construction of a gingerbread homestead and two unintended doggy dips into the lake.  I'm not sure which parties were more astonished and frightened, the human ones or the canine ones.  Both of our permadogs returned home smelling of eau du swamp and wore hidden vegetation for several days, but were none worse for wear.

I took the girls exploring one afternoon and, silly Aunt Hedda, assumed that the weather was too cool for snake movement.  Ooops.   I copped out and told the girls, "Oh, that snake is just confused."  Another afternoon Mudda and I took the girls into Jefferson, where we took in a few sights and participated in a nighttime train tour of Christmas lights in the forest.

Here are photos contained in a Google Drive album:  https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B_O3uoGKcg9qVDRSbXVlOXN4YmM&usp=sharing  You should be able to view the photos based on the settings I adjusted for the share.  Please report back to the teacher if you do not succeed.  Caution:  the photos are likely in no logical order, nor are they labeled.  I find that can be more adventurous, yes?  Read:  lazy.

A few things I learned or was reminded of over Thanksgiving:

1) Adolescent or pre-adolescent girls like to take a LOT of photos of themselves.  Selfies, you know.  There is an 8 minute long (EIGHT) niece-produced video still on my big girl camera of the girls singing, dancing and giving a Thanksgiving speech.  I tried downloading it to my phone via my Eye-Fi wifi camera card/mobile app and my phone, in response, laughed (mockingly), coughed and then shut itself down for the night.  I'll find the camera cord and get that jewel uploaded in time for graduation parties and wedding receptions.
2) Cheese Bite (niece Grace) cheats at the game of concentration.  I fell for the very same "peer under the slotted patio table/ooops, I dropped something" trick she pulled on me at Gator Lodge over spring break - SAME MOVE.  Side note:  one of us accidentally dropped a card from the game (Sponge Bob version of concentration) and we helplessly watched it flutter to the thick vegetation atop the lake, below the pier surface, through the wooden slats.  It was a lost cause, not able to be saved.  So, we debated what to do with the matching card to its pair, talking out the scenarios that would face future game players with the set.  Considering it was made of paper (cardboard) and small in size, we sent the card to meet its match in the lake.
3) Mudda is an excellent chef!  Our pork dish with a beautiful mushroom sauce didn't survive leftovers, though.  The glass crock lid accidentally collided with another surface and flecks of glass too small to be safely removed, 100%, remained in the dish.  In another conversation of possible consequences, we opted to discard the remainder instead of risk eating glass shards.
4) I really, really, REALLY enjoy Caddo Lake and the Jefferson area.

In an attempt to DIY some Christmas gifts, Wende M. and I threw together a large batch of sugar scrubs (aka:  "bath salts," but not the drug sort that makes people turn into zombies).  Oh, don't get me wrong, we had a blast doing this and we were 100% successful, but I realized after the fact that the adorable little jars with semi-liquid-y substances in them would a) not pass muster with TSA security and b) were not guaranteed to travel well in checked luggage.  I did, however, take with me from this event a recipe (stolen from Wende) for a delicious cocktail created from these simple ingredients:

Christmas

Charley Green and I traveled to historic Philadelphia to spend time with the Forans, Greens and Macalusos.  Philadelphia during the holidays is ch-ch-ch-charming.  We even worked in shopping on Christmas Eve, but it wasn't stressful or personal harm inducing because we were in the city proper (Center City), minus big box stores, suburban traffic or parking lots, all of which make me want to crawl into a fetal position and hide until March.

Nora Green Macaluso orchestrated a wondrous Christmas Eve meal at the Green household that was worthy of a Norman Rockwell portrait.  The aforementioned cocktail was seemingly a hit and I played bartender for a bit.  Bond Green even used some of the leftover Limoncello in her own martini of choice after Christmas concluded and she and Koke Green were left with a liberal portion of leftovers.

Christmas Day lunch was enjoyed at The Plough & the Stars, on 2nd St., between Market and Chestnut.  This was year two, consecutively, for my experience at The Plough, but I want to say that the Greens and related clans have taken their holiday meals there before, some years back.  I adore this place.  It's quaint, warm and festive.  One small concession to technology and modern day pub additions is a large screen projection, but you can see in one of the photos in the album below that National Lampoons Christmas Vacation was the viewing option that day.  Ace!  The Foran Grandmother, D., joined for the meal and she is - as we say in Texas and the south, a firecracker.  I greatly enjoy visiting with her each year.  Her stories of her elder family adventures remind me a lot of similar situations in my own wily family.

I finally gained entry into the mysterious and hopefully haunted basement, score! (sorry, Bond, I have a photo in the album below that contains Al's litter box in the laundry room/haunted basement - but it's a very organized litter box!)

Christmas photos, in no sequential order:  https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B_O3uoGKcg9qU1pUb3ZnLXp3T00&usp=sharing

Flash back to Texas and I returned to east Texas to spend time with Mudda, the girls and that ever-growing-more-comical nephew of mine, Brady.  You know, of Batman under-roos and high heels (think:  bridal suite in New Orleans) fame.  The girls and Brady used Mudda's driveway as a canvas and drew the sweetest sidewalk chalk hearts and messages there before my arrival.  Wow - what a reception!  "Please, sir, may I have some more?"  Here are just a few photos from that visit, complete with a portable toilet Christmas tree and its Santa (in a port-a-potty) topper:  https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B_O3uoGKcg9qV1NqOU8xU1RlTk0&usp=sharing  I learned on this visit that Sasha, Mudda's talented Siberian Husky, is truly not a bow type of girl dog.

New Years Eve
This is a night that I normally would not even accept payment for venturing out into and Charley Green is of a similar mindset.  This year, however, our holiday time off aligned with the opportunity to attend a concert of a favorite band of mine, Old 97s.  Gold medal for Charley Green!  Old 97s played in downtown Dallas on NYE and we lucked out with public transit rail being readily accessible from our neighborhood.  Granted, we had to DRIVE to the rail station, but it's not far from the house and significantly worth it considering the automotive dangers on the roads that time of that particular holiday.

From all of the emails, texts, phone calls and social media shares, I know that many people enjoyed similarly busy (or not) and special holidays.  I've been spending quite a bit of non-travel time logging sleep hours, reading and appreciating being a bit removed from routines.

I leave you with a photo of Bentley & Maggie's gifts they received from our neighbor dog, Jaxon: