A Weekend in the Arizona Desert & A New Decade
If you follow me on Instagram, you know my heart is torn between being a homebody and jet-setting. Although self-employment has a few drawbacks, the freedom to snag a cheap ticket on a whim to a random spot is by far the greatest aspect of being our own boss ;)
My 30th birthday wish list consisted of Vitamin D + Hiking + Eating all the things. It wasn’t until 2 weeks before my birthday I decided this wasn’t just a want but a need (I may have been called dramatic once or twice in my life HA!). I pulled a quick search of warm destinations and Phoenix, AZ won out with $100 roundtrip tickets with Frontier Airlines. Done. We decided to base out of Phoenix in this sweet little Airbnb and take day trips on our 3 full days in The Grand Canyon State (which we purposefully missed much to my mother’s disappointment).
Day 1: Tucson
We grabbed breakfast at Vovomeena before heading south and it was our first taste of how obvious it was people with a constant supply of sunshine are happy people ;) We sat outside in the sun before 9am in February. In case you were wondering, I commented on this fact too many times over 3 days that some people get to live in a world of sunburns in February! I will always have a thing for mixing new and old designs for the perfect eclectic vibe and they definitely accomplished this!
Driving through cacti and listening to murder podcasts (ready for your recommendations btw) led us to walk around downtown Tucson and grab a drink at Ten55 Brewing and Sausage House. If I were to open an industrial, exposed brick venue, I would absolutely use this place for major inspo with it’s garage door bar, modern tile, and painted logos, it was a great spot for people watching as well!
We strolled around Saguaro National Park and couldn’t believe that I was seeing cacti of that size in real life. None of the places we went to hike on this trip were crowded which was an extra bonus! Ended the day in the cutie little town of Gilbert outside of Phoenix at Joyride Tacos with an outdoor fireplace, a little too trendy tacos and margs.
Day 2: Sedona + Flagstaff
We put in a lot of miles on every trip we’ve taken together over the last 7 years - seeing the landscape, architecture and makeup of a place is more enjoyable for us most of the time than the actual destination. Sedona was gorgeous and I think any hike would bring the same results of beauty! We chose Devil’s Bridge and because of all the record snowfall they saw the week before, it was a slushy mess of red dirt and the end was a solid block of ice climbing - I’m not hardcore (or model-like) by any stretch of the imagination you guys.
We grabbed coffee in Flagstaff and strolled the snowy sidewalks before heading back to Phoenix.
Day 3: The Scott Resort, Scottsdale / Birthday!
We had planned to spend the last day exploring the city but we felt like we had already covered it. With the forecast as full sun and 80 degrees, I found that you can get a day pass to fancy resorts and booked it when I couldn’t sleep around 3am… I guess I do some great thinking then. I could NOT recommend this idea more - $30 for a full day sipping drinks, filling up on design inspiration + sunburn and pool dips. IN. FEBRUARY.
This place was just so dreamy in every way and was one of my favorite days in a long time (made even better by my love of a steal and not spending $400/night to stay. Whoa.)
The food choices for the day were also some of the best. Starting with Luci’s at The Orchard for brunch which is a fun event venue which felt like The Magnolia Silos on a much smaller, low-key scale (who says we’re not working on these trips dreaming up dreams - ha!). We ended the day at Postino’s, a wine + charcuterie/brushetta bar which has a few locations around Phoenix and now I want a place just like this so I can go every day - it was SO great and wish we could have gone more than once! Clint had a local beer and they brought it in a pitcher, later to find out it was only $5! I’m telling you… years of following my dad around garage sales has paid off.
My 20s ended in a hard way so I was eagerly ready to take on a new decade filled with hope and surrounded with the best love. What’s your next adventure?
