Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Soup and Hoops

One wouldn’t think that soup for a good cause would turn into one of the better afternoons since we have moved to the Phoenix area, but that is exactly what Tempe Empty Bowls ended up. 

I had been told that to get the nicer (and more unique) pieces, we needed to go to the library early; so we went to the Tempe library just before 11.  Tempe Empty Bowls is an organization that raises money and awareness for the hungry around the valley.  The money goes to resupply a food bank that among other things supports food programs that feed children over the weekend.  –Some of the kids that go to the school where I work benefit from taking food home on Fridays to help supplement their weekend nutritional needs.—

Tempe Empty Bowls sells a hand made bowl and then gives away some soup, bread, and water to remind you what it is like to be hungry.  The soup and bread is donated by Whole Food Markets (I recommend the potato leek soup…it was simply devine!)

While we were eating our soup, a lady came out of the library and invited us to come see someone hoop dance.  I hadn’t seen anyone hoop dance before, and I was game to see the free show so we went inside. 

Brian Hamill was inside giving a show with his family (Native Spirit Productions) and we were amazed for about an hour.  Brian’s son, Dallas, is the #2 juvenile hoop dancer in the world and once we saw him dance we could easily see why.  He is supposed to be on America’s Got Talent, and I plan to watch this summer and vote for him.  Then Brian danced, and we found out a little something that he had forgotten to mention…he is the number one hoop dancer in the world.  I was so impressed.  I know that if I tried to do it – I would trip on a hoop and would need my leg put in traction. 

This week the husband has been very good to me…we have tickets to the Rodeo in Scottsdale and tickets to the NASCAR race!  I can’t wait to tell you about both of them. 

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

This past President's Day weekend turned out to be one of the most pleasant weekends that we have spend in Phoenix thus far.  It was all in all a very nice weekend from the entertainment, to the food, to the simply amazing weather.

It was Veteran's night at the Coyotes' hockey game Saturday night, and the husband was able to score us two free tickets.  (That's a really good thing because the price on EACH of the tickets was $112...there is no way that we could afford them at the price!).  They were playing the Stars, and it was a hard fought game.  The Coyotes won in over time.  I loved every minute of the exciting game and am hoping that we will be able to get tickets to another game before the end of the season. 

John has been missing Moe's Southwest Grill, and we didn't know that there was one in Glendale.  We thought that it was an Eastern Coast thing.  We were pleasantly surprised when we saw it while we were walking to the rink to watch the game.  It shouldn't come to a shock to anyone that we made dinner plans to eat there at the end of the hockey game.  John always (and I do mean always...it was what he wanted me to bring when he got back from Afghanistan) orders a Joey bag o' doughnuts.  I got their nachos and there was too much food for two people to eat in my one order of nachos, so if you are going to order them (and I suggest you do - they really were delicious) bring a friend.

Monday we decided to go to the Renaissance Festival.  It should be no surprise to anyone who has read any of my posts that pretty much we ate our way from one side of the fair to the other.  It costs and arm and half a leg to get into the fair, but once you are inside they have decided to be nice with their food prices.  That made me very happy.  I am used to fairs that seem to think that once they have you, you'll pay anything...so they charge anything for their food.  Don't leave without eating a roasted ear of corn, a bread bowl (the marinara meatball was delicious, or a royal spud.  I would pass on the Scotch egg - they are better at most Highland Games (and my mommy makes better). 

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Tucson for Rocks and Scones

Last weekend, we traveled South of town to Tucson for what I am told is one of the biggest gem and mineral shows in the United States.  Being a girl and all of that, I was more than excited to go to a show that featured all things sparkly!  I loved learning about how to cut my own opals.  I don't think that I am ever going to take up that particular hobby, but it was very interesting to learn how gets a beautiful opal out of a chunk of unimpressive rock.  I also left fervently wishing that my skills and talents were such that I could make my own jewelry since there were so many stones that needed to be set - I still find myself thinking about these pieces that reminded me of Japanese water color paintings.  (I may look for some already made into jewelry online...thank God for the power of the Internet!)

One can only walk around looking at rocks for so long, even when the rocks are as magnificent as the Hooker emerald.  (74 carats!)  So, John took me over to 6th Street for lunch and shopping.  He lived and and trained at Fort Huachuca for about 18 months when he first joined the Army, so he is very familiar with Tucson.  I loved the little shops that we founds, and I wish that we had enough time (and appetite) to try all the restaurants that lined the street.  We decided to have Italian food for lunch and stopped in to Carusos.  (http://www.carusositalian.com/)  I had the minestrone soup and was very impressed with how deep the flavor was, however; my favorite part of our meal was my lemonade.  I could be wrong, but I am positive that it started the day out as real lemons.  We walked around a little and then decided to have something sweet.  We decided to try out the Chocolate Iguana.  (http://www.chocolateiguanaon4th.com/)  We had a chocolate chip scone with orange icing, and I am here to tell you that it was one of the best things I have ever eaten.  I'm on one of those dreaded after-the-holidays diets, and it is definitely worth the calories. 

I certainly will be after the hubby to take me back to Tucson so I can explore some more.  I specifically will be back to 6th Street to eat at some of those restaurants.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Wack-a-mole Champion of the World!

I am married to the Wack-a-Mole champion of the world.  We had made plans to go see the rerelease of the first Star Wars movie (in 3D), but I had read the movie schedule wrong so we arrived at Tempe Market Place 7 minutes late to see the movie.  We decided to see the movie some other time and just grab a bite to eat and come back at a later time to catch the movie. 

We stopped in to have a bite at Axio's Pizza at Tempe Market Place.  The Hawaiian volcano pizza was really good, I especially liked that the crust wasn't too thick.  I have a hard time believing that it took me thirty years to discover pineapple pizza with jalapenos, but it is simply the best flavor combination I can think of.  The pizza was also really cheap.  A slice and a drink were only 3.50 when you showed them a movie ticket stub...that simply cannot be beat!

We still weren't ready to come home after our pizza so we decided to step into to Dave and Busters after our dinner.  John set the high score on wack-a-mole and ended up winning me a Dave and Busters coffee mug that I can't wait to use tomorrow morning when I make my morning coffee.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Pizza and Opera - Hey they are both from Italy

My birthday just pasted and now I am officially working my way through my 30's.  It is okay since 20 wasn't exactly a shining moment for me. 

The hubby took me to see Madame Butterfly at the Phoenix Symphony (loved it!) and then we enjoyed a stroll downtown as we looked for reasonable food downtown.  The opera was amazing.  I had seen the play Madame Butterfly, but not the opera.  We both enjoyed the opera, and I loved the chance to put on dress up clothes and play girlie-girl for a day.  It was especially fun to drag hubby to an opera about an American military man behaving badly (for those of you who aren't following along, hubby is a military guy - so it was especially fun for us).  After the show, we were both starving so we were both looking for food really close by.

We dropped by a small pizza place near the symphony.  The Bklyn NYC Pizza had exceptional prices ($5 for wings, and around $5 for a pizza/salad combo) we each were pleasantly surprised with the quality and amount of food.  I am hoping that he finds us hockey tickets through the veterns' tickets outlet and we can swing back through for more nummy food. 

144 E Washington St
Phoenix, AZ 85004
(602) 253-7499