Arizona Pleasure Days: Phoenix and Sedona

I started my visit in Phoenix with my Aunt Robin, Uncle Mike and cousin Dominic. Dom took us to an amazing restaurant called Citizen Public House, where we had the most delightful drinks and delicious foods.

Bacon popcorn.

Fondue.

When we got back to Aunt Robin’s, we looked through old family albums and ate blueberry squares–something my grandma used to make when I was a kid. They were awesome!

Aunt Robin made Uncle Mike and I breakfast the next morning. Eggs, ham and toast–my favorites. Then we had a girl’s day.

We went to the air force base where my uncle was a general. Very cool. Then we hit the Scottsdale mall. What a mall!

I picked up my rental car and said goodbye to my aunt. I headed over to the home of my dearest friend, critique buddy, and editor Kat. We nicknamed the car Bullet. She was good to us. Got us all over Phoenix and to Tucson and back.

Kat and I had dinner at Eastwind. A yummie Japanese place.

We went to Butterfly Wonderland. It was really cool. They had a fantastic 3-d movie. I found myself flinching and reaching out to touch them during the movie.  Then we got to see butterflies hatching out of their cocoons.

The butterflies loved Kat’s hat.

And one stubborn guy stuck to my shirt for a good ten minutes. We nicknamed him my boyfriend since he’d grown so attached to me.

Afterwards, we grabbed lunch at the restaurant by Changing Hands bookstore. And then we browsed. This is a book lover’s paradise. So many signed books. Kat and I stumbled on Neil Gaiman’s signed book. We each bought one–sorta like an author friendship necklace.

(I’m going to save the Tucson Festival of Books for it’s own post. So skip forward a few days and we are back in Phoenix.)

Kat’s grandma Ginny has sent 2 dozen Sprinkles cupcakes to the family. I love cupcakes and this is the best Red Velvet I’ve ever eaten and I’ve cupcaked my way across Manhattan. Most, chocolately and delicious.

Kat was craving Chick Fil A and introduced me to the best chicken nuggets ever made.

Being the consummate writer, Kat has a tea cabinet with recommendations. I had an Applejack apple tea that was a delight. We watched My Little Pony and had tea and cupcakes. What a lovely afternoon!

The next morning, we got up and Kat, her sister Karin and I headed up to Sedona!

We lunched at a cute place in town. Karin takes the cuttest pictures. Weirdly, all three of us came downstairs dressed in plaid that day without ever consulting with each other.

Cathedral Rock. We did a little meditation here–it was very energizing. I definitely believe in the vortexes.

Our tour group at Cathedral Rock.

Sedona at sunset.

We ended the trip with my favorite food–a 3×3 protein style with grilled onions from In N Out.