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.
That In n Out burger looks scrumptious.
Kathi,it’s my favorite burger in the world. I had it 3 times before I left AZ. 🙂
It looks very tempting.
The food or the scenery? Or both? 🙂
The food! 🙂
Yes, indeed. Phoenix has some delightful cuisine. Their salads are really cool. I’ve never seen so many ingredients in a salad before. 😉
I always feel like I’m with you on one of your trips Kourtney, seeing the sights, eating the food. Cathedral rock looks amazing, I’d like to spend some time meditating there. And the butterfly house – lovely, brings back memories. We visited one at the natural history museum in New York and I had a lovely blue butterfly become attached to my hand, ended up getting one tattooed on my chest when I got home.
Aw, I’m glad the posts make you feel like you are right there with me. 🙂 It really is. I definitely want to go back to Sedona. It’s a really beautiful energizing place. It was funny, I’ve done the one at the Natural History Museum in New York, but never had them flock to me like they did here. Aw, that’s so cool.
Looks like a fab trip, great photos!
Thanks! It was awesome to have so much pleasure added onto a business trip. 😉
Wow! Looks like you are having one Fabulous time Kourtney, and love the Cathedral Rock photo, Looks like you are having a Gourmand Tour too with all that wonderful Food .. Enjoy and its lovely to see that you are having such a marvellous time catching up with family too ..
Take care and thank you for sharing your journey with us.. Love Sue xxx
Arizona was fabulous. LOL. I love discovering new foods on my travels. It was lovely to catch up with my aunt and to get so much time with my crit partner/close friend.
Hugs,
K
That bookstore sounds wonderful. And so do those cupcakes. 😉
It’s a really really cool bookstore Carrie. OMG, those cupcakes have earned their reputation. Even the vanilla one was like the best vanilla cupcake ever. 🙂
That’s exactly the one I would choose. Slurp.
The vanilla was delightful. My first pic was the red velvet, then Kat and I split the black and white and the vanilla so we could get two tastes for the calories of 1. 😉
You’ve made me miss home!
Aw sorry about that. Hope you get back for a visit soon!
SO happpppy for U xxxx all i gotta say is LOVE XO
Thanks. 🙂 It was a really great trip. I saw and did so much and got to connect more with people I love. 🙂
Hello Kourt… What a beautiful trip… I loved the landscapes particularly the Cathedral Rock photo and obviously the yummy treats & food :P… Arizona looks outstanding . Best wishes, Aquileana 😉
Hi Aquileana!
Arizona is really lovely. The landscape, the food, the activities, and ofc the people. 🙂
Thanks,
Kourtney
What fun! I love when you share your travels with us, Kourtney. Bacon Popcorn! I’ve never heard of such a thing and I love my popcorn. I’ll bet it was good. 🙂
I would have loved Butterfly Wonderland. What a cool place!
There is nothing more beautiful than Sedona at sunset. Thanks for sharing your trip with us. I’m glad you had a nice trip.
Thanks Jill! It was a great great trip. Two of my fav foods combined. I loved it! My uncle wasn’t into it though. 🙂 It was really cool–especially because the butterflies kinda divebombed you at times–they were very interactive. 🙂
Agreed. I loved how the rocks changed in different lighting. I would put Sedona on my list of places to revisit.
It looks like you had a great trip, and I hope you feel re-energized after this endless winter we’ve had! Those cupcakes look heavenly, and the bookstore would be such a treat, too. I’m looking forward to hearing about the book festival!
It was awesome. I had a minor glitch with my sleep. We did daylight savings two days before I flew out and which meant I had a weird double time shift going on. So I never got used to AZ time and was sleeping 5-6 hours a night. So I came back happy but exhausted. And I picked up a sinus infection. But man, those 10 days were pretty great. Sprinkles–get them whenever you can. Beyond anything I’ve ever had in Manhattan. It was one of the best bookstores I’ve ever been to. There was so much happening at the festival, I can’t wait to share on Thursday.
Now, I’m hungry, Kourtney! (Was that chicken katsu-don? Yummy!)
I love seeing these adventure posts. Does it make you feel like a kid again, gallivanting all over the country, seeking out brave new worlds? It sure looks that way from all those smiles!
LOL. Yes it was. So delicious too!
I love going on these adventures. Been a while. 🙂 Discovering places and foods is so fun. Also just hanging out with people I hardly see in person really rocks. 🙂
Love the shots of food! Yum! Hope the vacation did you well. Please bring back the sun and warm weather with you!
Thanks. I love trying new things to eat. I landed to rain and 40 degree weather. It was unpleasant. I think I swayed the next storm to leave CT with only a few inches but the Cape is getting slammed. 🙂
How fun.
It was a wonderful trip!
What an awesome trip. I love Arizona and would move in a heartbeat (if it weren’t for kids and job, etc.) 😉 Looking forward to the Tucson post.
Gwen it was the perfect getaway/work trip. I got to spend time with lots of amazing people and to sell books and meet new writers. It was such a cool trip. AZ is so beautiful. Being in Phoenix reminded me of how much I miss city living. Trader Joe’s, restaurants, museums all at your fingertips. Sigh. Tucson was really really cool. I was a total fan girl. I am like Rob Pat whatever but RL Stine makes me swoon. 🙂
I love how your girls’ day out involves fighter jets — that definitely defies the stereotypes. You guys do some adorable mugging for the camera as well. It looks like a good time was had by all.
LOL. We combined it with the mall and a nice lunch. Very well rounded girls’ day out. 😉 Aw we try. Arizona definitely but the A in Adventure for me.
I’ve been busy at my desk but been vicariously travelling via FB with you… so much fun, great scenery, peole, places and food…
Kat has inspired me to create a tea cabinet 🙂
Aw it’s been great to have you along EllaDee! What a trip! OMG, I couldn’t believe it. And all the recommendations. I made her promise we could do one afternoon just drinking tea and watching My Little Pony. It was awesome.