The One Where You May Be Alarmed at the Amount of Dessert Pictures

Well, well, well. Arizona was good to me this time around. Not that it's ever not good to me, but it was extra good this time. I think I'm still coming down from my sugar high thanks to all the dessert I ate over the weekend. Totally normal. Side note: growing up in the desert, we learned very early on the difference between desert (one s) and dessert (two s's) and I still get irrationally annoyed whenever I see someone misuse either word. What can I say... I'm a grammar snob (thank you for passing along that trait, mother). 

Speaking of mothers, mine picked me up from the airport on Friday evening with her BFF Gail who also came to town to get out of the insane freezing tundra that is Chicago right now. Picture this: I just pulled my suitcase off the roundy thing in the airport and I call my mom to see where she is and she is directly outside the door. So instead of just walking outside, I proceed to gallop just to make sure she sees me and doesn't have to pull around the terminal again. Also totally normal. We then proceeded to get dinner, where were able to eat outside (God bless Arizona!) and were only harassed by Girl Scouts selling their crack cocaine - I mean cookies - once. 

Dining al fresco!

Then it was time for dessert. Godddduhhhhh so many good choices. I went with the mini cupcakes. Good choice. Wish I'd gotten more. 

The next day, my dad and I went to the farmers market and bought a giant piece of fresh-caught salmon that had been flown down from Alaska (sadly, no picture taken of that) and then Mom, Gail, and I went for a hike along with my aunt in Sabino Canyon. It was GLORIOUS.

Franklin's brothers

Oh, ya know, just a giant rock with a spout coming out of it. No big deal.

Posing in my new trail shoes!

:-)

As we were leaving Sabino, I decided I wanted lemonade and then Gail piped up and said "Don't you mean Frost?" WHAT WAS I THINKING. IF YOU HAVE A CHOICE, YOU ALWAYS CHOOSE FROST. 

Good, good. All is right with the world. PS - can't tell if that dude in the background is wearing a cowboy hat or what.

Terrible quality picture of my empty cup. Mmmmm...

That night for dinner my aunt had made pasties (pronounced "past" like "opposite of future" not like "paste, the stuff that weird kid in your 1st grade class ate") which are a traditional Finnish/Northern Michigan food. They're kind of like dough pockets with meat and potatoes and carrots and stuff. Basically, they're amazing. I know they don't sound like much, but... they are GOOD. So we ate those in honor of my aunt's and dad's belated birthdays and then...

There was cake. Ohhhhhhhhh god was there cake. I swear I did more than eat on this trip, but sweet mother of baby Jesus this cake was excellent. My mother was NOT shy about portions, either, which is always a delight. I learned over the course of dinner that my aunt's birthday party in 1988 was apparently the best party of the year across the entire United States. Sad I missed out on that party, but I was busy doing baby stuff. 

I then met up with my friend John for a drink later on Saturday night. Fun fact: in 6th grade, I tried to convince John that Justin Timberlake was my boyfriend. Yeah, that happened. John is an insanely talented singer-songwriter (listen to his music here) (my favorite is It's Alright) and definitely one of the funniest and most positive people I've ever met. We met a nice man named Mark from Australia and talked about such things as hipster mustaches, whiskey, Vanderpump Rules, and Red Lobster's cheddar biscuits. And obvi took a picture to commemorate. 

Finally on Sunday, my dad and I went to breakfast and talked about his business, my interest in education, and making friends as an adult. Which we both agreed can be difficult. We also went to church, where there was a guest speaker named Arvel Bird. He was pretty fascinating. He's a musician and likes to describe his music as Braveheart meets Last of the Mohicans at Woodstock. Clearly, not boring. He talked about personal renewal and healing and at one point it got so personal and intimate, I kind of felt like I was sitting in on his therapy session so of course that made me lean forward in my seat and think, "Ooooh tell me more!" 

Finally, we all TRIED to go to El Charro for lunch but like 18 people were having their quince parties there, so we settled for Carraba's. Again, I SWEAR I did more than eat!

Also during the weekend, I found the picture collage my parents sent for their Christmas cards in December. MOM, WHY did you have to include 2 pictures of me wearing that bonnet!!! Laura got 4 normal pictures!!! I got 1!!! I don't even know if there was an explanatory letter or note included with this, so it's 100% possible that those who received this postcard think I have run off to join some Dickens-era commune. (Can you imagine?) 

I also found this picture of my niece, Cheyenne, and her dad Beau who is currently deployed to Italy in the Air Force (not to be confused with Laura's husband, Ryland, who is a Marine).  I don't think I could love this picture any more than I do!

So, all in all, a very, very good weekend. And dessert-y. And desert-y. Stay tuned for my next post. It'll be brief, but good. 

The One Where We Discuss Chimichangas

First off, if you are not a blogger, you probably don't know that most blog hosts allow the person who writes the blog to see what google search terms have brought random readers to your blog. I just learned this myself a little while ago and I'd like to give a warm welcome to whomever was brought to this corner of the Internet by googling "Jennifer Lawrence ass shaking" and "dog driving a car." Welcome, new friends. Stick around. I'm trying really hard to remember when I ever posted about Jennifer Lawrence in this blog, but maybe if I say Jennifer Lawrence one more time I'll get even more googlers/readers that way. A girl can dream.

Anyway, I'm heading home this weekend just to see my parents and hang out in the good ol' A-Z because I haven't been there in a quite a while since we spent Thanksgiving and Christmas at my sister and brother-in-law's up in Monterey and I got to spend a lot of quality time with this dog beast:

So, I was thinking about what are some of my favorite things about being at home. Here they are, in no particular order (and, no, my family isn't listed on here because that's a given):

1) My mother is NOT joking around when it comes to coffee. It is pretty much guaranteed that I will wake up to a fresh pot of strong coffee every morning when I am home. This means I will be AWAKE and READY TO DO THINGS and most likely SHAKING. As someone's fridge magnet that I recently saw said, "Coffee: Do stupid things faster with more energy." Check and check.

2) Frost! 

Now, granted, I haven't been to Italy, okay? In fact, the only "international travel" I've really partaken in involved a Carnival cruise ship and the port in Ensenada, Mexico (which was a rockin' time) so I can't really say this is the best gelato in the world. But I CAN tell you it is the best frozen treat I've ever had. Ever. No other gelato I've ever had comes close. If Elle Woods went to Frost, she would give it snaps. 

3) The desert. I love the desert. I think it's really beautiful and there are lots of cool animals and plants you only find in the desert. Like Franklin the cactus!

#nofilter

The sunsets are to die for and the air is really clean and you can see lots of stars... lovely. Except in August when it's 115 degrees. No, thanks! But for now, I can revel in this:

View from my parents' backyard. The infinity pool reminds me of The OC which then makes me want to sing CalifOOOORnia here we COOOOME (even though it's iiiiinnnn ArizOOOnnaaaaa)

4) El Charro. I don't think we'll be going this time around, but it is just so good. They also invented the chimichanga (?) and every time I see/hear the word chimichanga I think about that scene in Meet the Fockers and I compulsively think or say, "SO MAKE A CHIMICHANGA!"

Good stuff. What do you love most about being home? 

The One Where You're Not 100% Sure I Didn't Have to Slaughter a Goat in College

Okay, seriously, I think I just achieved the impossible. I ran out of shampoo and conditioner AT THE SAME TIME IN THE SAME SHOWER. WHAT. When has that ever happened before?!!! Answer: never. I think I deserve a prize from the universe. 

Anyway, lemme finish my Arizona story and then we can continue.

After living in Arizona for almost my entire growing-up life (from the age of 5 until I flew the coop and went off to Michigan for college), I can honestly say that there is no other place in the US like it. Given that I haven't been around the world yet, I can't say there's no other place in the world like it, but I'm pretty confident it stands alone in Amurrica.

And not because you can still ride around town on a horse with a pistol and a saloon girl like it's NBD (no big deal). But rather because it is one of the most BEAUTIFUL places I've ever been to. It took until I was about 22 to start to realize how gorgeous Arizona is. And it took until I lived in LA for about 6 months to realize that holy sheet, having clean air and being able to actually see the mountains that are right in front of your face and like a bajillion stars at night is awesome sauce.

Look at that sunset!

Arizona is also unique in its wide variety of nightlife it can offer you, for example the empty bar I posted a picture of last time, called [I kid you not] Denim and Diamonds.

Wuzzup, truck coming out of the wall.

Or a place that has a burger called The Sasquatch, which is a burger with two grilled cheeses for the bun.

My friend, Shawn, eating The Sasquatch. (He is not that creepy in normal life.)

Sasquatch!!

And you never know what you're going to find on the side of the road...

What the heck was in that bag?

Another picture of Franklin, just because.

And lots of opportunities to stay hydrated... At least when you're at my parents' casa...

Note: he is drinking whiskey and it wasn't even noon.

Wine times with my sister!

My Pinterest obsession is paying off!!!!! 

And fruit has a lot of water in it... Isn't this Martha Stewart-level?? Good call, Amanda!

Then I helped my niece put on some tattoos...

And debated buying a lollipop with a scorpion in it... But decided no. 

And Amanda and I went to The Biosphere, which is really hard to explain. But it's cool. Read up if you don't know what it is! Here's my extremely abbreviated version: back in the day, this rich dude named Chuck Bass [click to see Chuck in a onesie... just because]... Oh wait, something Bass. But not Chuck Bass. Anyway, he donated a BOATLOAD of money so this facility could be built where scientists could go in and study all how plants and stuff grow in all different environments around the world, except all in one place and they could control the details. In the 90s, a group of scientists got locked in for 2 years to do mad experimentation and then they had to be let out because they were basically starving. So... it's cool.

Good job stitching your panoramic picture together evenly, Nan.

The creepy tunnel we had to go down to one of The Lungs!

Amanda, inside The Lung!

Science rip-off of Carmen Sandiego.

So, overall, Arizona pretty much rocks. I'm so glad I went home for Easter and I am really looking forward to going back at some point this summer. Even though it's going to be about 1 million degrees outside. That's why God made air conditioning. And mojitos. And swimming pools.

Anyway, this weekend, I was at a mini-conference thing for my sorority. I didn't take very many pictures, except of this ballin key that was set up in the room of the woman who hosted our hotel room wine party/meet-and-greet on Friday night. Which was awesome. 

And my friends Kristen and Mikey. 

This weekend was amazing. It was really inspiring and made me want to go out and be a better Kappa! Even though I'm not an active member, being an alum is just as cool and it was so fun to be around other Kappas and talk to everyone about all the goats we had to slaughter when we were hazed back at school.

...

JOKES!!! 

I will finally be home for the entire week this week, and I have some good posts planned in my head, so look for more soon!