Thursday and Friday, on a Saturday!

heading out to meet Andrea for breakfast, loving my new Petunia Picklebottom bag. It's the perfect bag for summer.

Hank has been on a business trip all week, so I took advantage of having a few days to myself in a row, and Henry and I came down to Phoenix to see friends and spend time with some girls I haven't been able to see a lot of lately.  Thursday morning I went and met an old and dear friend for breakfast in downtown Phoenix. Andrea has been in my life for a long, long time, and was close friends with Hank years before I even met him!  We have seen each other through a lot of ups and downs and life, and been friends for about ten years now. Over the past couple years as life changed the most, we drifted apart a bit, but over the past month we've been back and touch. Thursday morning was the first time we'd hung out in so long outside of mutual friends' weddings or events, and it was just the best time. It was as if no time had passed and we spent a few hours talking and laughing, and walking around downtown Phoenix. I adore Andrea and all of her positivity; she's truly a burst of sunshine, and I'm beyond ecstatic that we are back to talking, texting and hanging out. I've missed her!  That morning we enjoyed veggie breakfast burritos at the Phoenix Public Market (click the link to read more about their support of local farmers and business), I had a delicious jasmine iced tea and Andrea had coffee, and then we went over and visited the adorable Ashley at the GROWop.  On a side note, have you ever been to the GROWop or checked it out? It's the cutest store, full of handmade and vintage items inside, and a million plants, fruits and vegetable gardens on the outside. Really cool. I had sleeping Henry with us of course, but if I would have had more time I would have loved to try on some of the super rad vintage dresses and tops. Next time, for sure!  So we hung out with Ashley for a bit (be sure to pop by her blog for tons of handmade goodness and crafty creativity), then headed out.

Andrea and Henry

inside the GROW-op

Ashley!

Henry and I headed over to Autumn's house, and Shirley popped over on her lunch break from work so we could all have lunch together. Autumn made us her famous Strawberry Balsamic salad and a tartlette from Trader Joe's, and we caught up for a bit while the babies played. It was so good to spend the afternoon with two of my favorite girls and best friends. Shirley is getting married in the fall, so I'm looking forward to dress shopping and all of the wedding fun to come!

All in all it was the best day. Delicious food, good conversation, reconnecting with an old friend, and spending time with two of my oldest. Happy bellies and happy hearts!  Later that night I worked out with my sister's personal trainer so I got to end the day on a fantastic note too. But let's not talk about how sore I STILL am today, two days later. It's a good kind of sore though, and I feel really inspired to take my workouts up a notch and finally lose these last pounds. Thanks again Lauren!

Friday was another fantastic day.  I hadn't seen my friend Zoe (visit her Tumblr here- seriously one of my faves!) since she came up for my baby shower in the fall, so we were way overdue for a catch-up date, and for her to meet Henry!  She suggested that we go to La Grande Orange in Phoenix, and since I've been wanting to try it forever, I was really excited. We got there and ordered at the counter- I got egg whites and fruit, and Zoe got the most delicious looking pastry, and we sat in the main dining room to eat and chit chat. Henry was in a screaming mood (happy screaming, but screaming none the less), so after awhile we moved back into the market area so H. could look around. We checked out all of the adorable items they had for sale, from toys to cards to candy, and I promised myself I'd be back soon to try one of the delectable looking sweets in the case. Tammie Coe cupcakes anyone?  After breakfast we ended up talking in the car forever. Of course. haha. It was such a fun morning. 

After breakfast I went over to visit my friend Emily and meet her new son Maxon. He's about 3 weeks old, and in the excitement of seeing the Barnas I forgot to snap any photos, but next time for sure. It was so refreshing spending time with Em though- I admire her so much as a mother, and I feel lucky to call her a friend. Shirley is actually marrying her husband's brother, so pretty soon it will be all in the family! Very excited. 

After our fun day Henry and I hightailed it over to the mall so I could find a dress for our girl's night last night and then headed home so we could squeeze in a nap! More on our girl's night tonight.

I hope all of you had the best beginning to your weekend! Today is a family day for us, so my parents' and I are headed over to Green for lunch in a bit. Have a great day!

BURLESQUE: PICTURES; NEWS AND CHANGES

Some time ago Vera De Vil I had the pleasure of doing an oriental inspired shoot with Kaylin Idora while she was here from New Orelans!You can view the whole set here.And, speaking of New Orelans, as some of you know I will be going there this summer! Trahsy Diva live shopping, yey!I will also visit Austin and Miami, at least. But most of all; Las Vegas! As many of you also know already that is

Thank goodness it was Friday!

 

What a great day! I spent the afternoon with some lovely ladies and it was so much fun. It was a little mama/baby meet up, and we enjoyed lunch, lots of girltalk, and topped our day off with sweets and cupcakes. Perfect.  My friend Natalie is due so soon, so it was great to be able to see her adorable and pregnant. We did lunch at Joe's Farm Grill out in Gilbert and I can't say enough good things about this place. It's a really interesting restaurant. It's surrounded by farmland, and they use local, fresh food that's in season whenever possible. You can learn more about the Agritopia project and the Grill by clicking here, and I definitely recommend doing so- I was fascinated to find out the concept of this whole area. Super neat. And back to the food, last time I was there I had the grilled chicken sandwich and sweet potato fries, and today I had the hamburger and salad- it was delicious! I really, really need to remember to bring my Nikon when I go places and actually take a few minutes to snap some good photos- I'm starting to get annoyed with myself so I am not going to make that mistake again! But anyway, after lunch we walked over to The Coffee Shop to enjoy some sweet treats (my pal Chelsea actually blogged about it yesterday if you'd like to hear more about it). Natalie and I split a birthday cake cupcake (so good). It was really just the best day- it's refreshing to be around a group of mothers who are super like-minded. I'm not religious by any means and most of the Mom's groups I've encountered are more religion-based, meeting via church, etc...which is absolutely not for me. I have a few friends who are in Moms groups like that, and like I always say- to each their own, but that kind of thing just isn't up my alley whatsoever. With that said, I'm looking forward to hanging out again soon with these wonderful gals!

After lunch I hurried home to Prescott so I could get ready for our date night, and was greeted by a mysterious package at the front door. Upon further investigation I saw it was from one of our dearest friends Alex, and it then hit me why he asked me the other night while we were texting, "do you like presents?" haha. Oh, Alex. When Hank got home we opened it, and inside was an amazing amount of sweets from his bakery in San Francisco, Miette! OH LORD was everything good. And yes, don't worry, I sampled one of everything.

So, after getting super full on sweets, we dropped Henry off at Hank's Mom's and went over to Wild Iris for tea and (more) sweets. I indulged a bit too much (okay a lot too much) today and let's just say I'm already looking forward to a long walk tomorrow with Henry. Yikes. But anyway, it was so much fun. We spent two hours just drinking our coconut tea, splitting a slice of citrus cheesecake, and talking about everything and anything. I feel so lucky to be married to my best friend, and I love that we can sit and talk for hours and hours. While there I also ran into two old students which is always wonderful too- they were pretty much the cutest things ever and it warmed my heart to see them doing well. All in all it's been a really great night.

Tomorrow morning Henry and I are heading downtown to enjoy breakfast with my sister-in-law before she moves to Portland for a month for floral school. How neat is that?! I'm excited for her and I know she is going to have the best time. So tomorrow is a bit of a farewell breakfast before she heads to the airport. Afterward you can find Henry and I walking around town, trying to work off some of the sugar I consumed today. ;)

Here are some photos, taken with my point and shoot Canon and my phone.

present from Alex, thank you again sweet friend! Love you tons.

sunset from our front yard this evening

coconut tea, seriously AMAZING! Adie introduced it to Hank, who introduced it to me...and I can't wait to drink it a lot more often. Love it.

the citrus cheesecake. Yup.

I hope you all have a fantastic Saturday! Until next time, xoxo!

Wednesday/Thursday

 

I feel like I'm finishing up a great weekend, but no! It's only Thursday, and I'm loving it. One thing I am really, really grateful for is the freedom being a stay at home mama gives me. I'm able to kind of do as a please, and come down to Phoenix to see friends and family whenever I want. It's the best. And speaking of, this week something incredibly exciting happened for my darling Sarah...she got engaged! I am just beyond happy for her and Andy. Sarah has been one of my closest friends for a long, long time now, and we have one of those relationships that has grown and changed so much over time, and luckily, through all of it we are still here, together. It's amazing to see her so happy, and their wedding is going to be one for the books! So of course I had to come down and celebrate, and that's exactly what we did! We ended up going to Pita Jungle for dinner and spent a couple of hours talking and talking as usual. We talked wedding plans, engagement stories, future hopes and dreams...there were happy tears and it was just an all around amazing night. We got so wrapped up in conversation (and the good food!) that I forgot to snap photos of us, but I did manage one of our delicious dinner. Sar got the Macro platter (one of my all-time favorite dishes) and I got the Mediterranean salad. Now comes all the fun wedding planning, and I am so excited to be a part of it. Between my sister, Shirley, and now Sarah, my bridesmaid's card is full for 2011! So no one else go and get hitched! ;)

and here's a photo of the future Mr. and Mrs. Leubner just because I love them! Aren't they a gorgeous couple? Their babies are going to be beautiful.

Then this morning Henry and I woke up and headed over to the Phoenix Children's Museum to meet our sweet friends Anita and Natalie and their little ones, Lola Birdie and Victor. I'd driven by the museum before and had always been curious about what was inside...and now I know!  I absolutely loved it and can't wait to go again, hopefully when Hank can make it because I know he'd love it too. There were so many different rooms, things to climb on, interactive tools, art everywhere, both to admire and create...in one word: awesome! It's a total kid's paradise and I can only imagine how much Henry will love it when he's a bit bigger. Even now though, at 3 months he was perfectly content to walk around and take it all in with wide, wide eyes. It was adorable. It was also great to have some good chats with Natalie and Anita, and I foresee more fun playdates in our future. Love it.

Here are some photos from our morning: