Arizona + An Exciting Announcement!

Happy weekend everyone! 

I meant to post this yesterday but for some reason our internet was out all day. Super frustrating. And being that it was rainy/snowy/cold out, I didn’t feel like venturing out to Starbucks…but it’s back on now, so a Saturday post it is!

I’ve got lots of photos to share from my little vaca to Arizona, but first I need to tell y’all about my day Thursday. First I had a fabulous lunch with the lovely Natasha from the blog, Schue Love, which you need to check out if you’re not already following! Last week, I somehow randomly stumbled upon her fantastic blog and when I noticed on her profile that she lived in South Lake Tahoe, I immediately sent her an email, seeing as I don’t know a single person here. She graciously offered to meet me for lunch and fill me in on the area, and it was so great to get her perspective on everything. She’s as sweet and genuine in person as she seems on her blog, and I’m so glad I finally met someone in the area! 

After our lunch, I treated myself to a pedicure to celebrate some good news that I received earlier this week…a job offer! I’ve been interviewing for this position over the past few months, so it was great to finally get the news that I got the job. I am going to be working in the field of corporate recruiting (similar to what I did in South Carolina, but a little bit different) with my official title being talent acquisition specialist. The best part of the job? I get to work from home! I’m so excited that I found a position that doesn’t involve braving these crazy roads in snowy weather, plus it will be nice to have the opportunity to have a job that I can stay at even if we move again. I’ll have more details to share in the weeks to come, but I’m very excited that I finally have something to do besides play with Lola.

Not that that’s not utterly thrilling. 

Anyway, on to Arizona!

I flew in last Thursday night, along with some of my good friends from high school, Mike (who still lives in Michigan) and Katie (who now lives in Tennessee), and we stayed with our other friends from high school, Ryanne, who goes to grad school at Arizona State University. I guess I didn’t really picture what it was going to be like, but I was pleasantly suprised by all the palm trees, cacti, and blue skies.

Friday, we explored Tempe (where ASU is located) and had a great breakfast at this cute place called NCounter on Mill Ave., a fun student downtown area only  a short walk from Ryanne’s apartment.

The RnR marathon happened to be going on this weekend, and it finished in Tempe so we got to see a lot of the runners walking around on Sunday morning!

In the afternoon, we explored Scottsdale and had a lot of fun walking around. We visited the old town area along with doing some shopping at an awesome mall that I don’t remember the name of. Being that the shopping in Lake Tahoe is fairly scarce, travel is my chance to hit up all my favorite stores! We also had a great authentic Mexican dinner, so good!

Saturday morning, we woke up early and made the 4 hour trek to the Grand Canyon! Even though it was a long drive to do in just one day, it was so worth it. I don’t know when I’ll be back to Arizona and I had never seen the Grand Canyon before, so I’m really glad I finally got to go. We didn’t really do any hiking in the park, but we drove all over, stopped at a bunch of different overlook points, and took a TON of pictures. Here are few of my favorites…

We tried to do falling off a cliff pictures…because we are that cool.

BFFs

 

Mike & I

Outside Hermit’s Rest, a neat structure built into the rock

So we tried to do jumping pictures and I’m terrible at them…this was the best one of the bunch, the others were much worse…my face always just looks crazy when I try to jump, awesome.

After many failed jumping attempts, I decided to do one of these instead…ha.

So we decided to take more falling off the cliff pics, and this one was my favorite photo of the whole trip…Ryanne literally looks like she’s in agony falling off the edge, whereas Katie and I apparently think falling to our death is hilarious.

I loved how the light kept changing as the day went on…also it was neat to see some snow on the canyon walls!

Beautiful 🙂

Sunday, we took the lightrail to the Phoenix Art Museum, and we got to check out a great Frank Lloyd Wright exhibition they had going on. We also had dinner at a great Irish pub in Tempe called Rula Bula.

Monday, Ryanne had an audition so in the morning we got to hike up “A” mountain which was right near her apartment, and then went for a little run through ASU’s campus which is SO pretty!

Anytime I can wear a tank top in January, I’ll take it!

We spent the afternoon with our other friend from high school, Lindsay, who lives in nearby Glendale, AZ. We had a great lunch, and got to see the school where Linds teaches 4th grade which was really cool because it’s right at the foot of the mountains.

How adorable is the chevron pattern on this soup?!

Finally, Monday night we had dinner and drinks at a very Mad Men-esque place in Phoenix called Hanny’s, and Ryanne’s friend Sam was able to join us as well. It was a great way to end our visit!

(I love this dress, but when I have my arms out like that it gaps…awkward)

I feel so fortunate that my group of friends from high school is still so close, and even though many of us have moved out of Michigan, it’s so much fun when we’re all able to get together. Hopefully we can plan another trip soon!

(Definitely need to wear a different bra with this dress in the future!)

Later today we’re going to a little potluck type get-together with Cam’s team from work, and so I’m bringing a healthy salad…and a batch of not-so-healthy cupcakes that still need frosting! I’ve gotta get my butt in the kitchen before the day gets away from me, but look forward to yummy some recipes very soon!

Hope your weekend is lovely! Xoxo