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The Great American BBQ and Beer Festival

March 26, 2012 · by Ari ·

Saturday evening after the race, Jason, Nacho and I met up with Bethany to head over to The Great American BBQ and Beer Festival in downtown Chandler. It was a beautiful day to be spending outside! I love this time of year in Phoenix.

This place was packed with BBQ stands, and local beers. Perfection. Nacho thought we were at the Renaissance Festival and bought a turkey leg.

Umm, good choice Nacho! This thing was delicious! We all picked at his food while waiting in the bbq line.

After we got food and drinks (I had some super yummy bbq sandwich, which is totally something I would never order, but I was glad I did!), we went to the lawn by where the bands were playing.

Nacho & Me. We match.

We were waiting for Bethany and Jason to get more beer, so we played Scrabble on his iphone and took a ridiculous amount of pictures.

We still match. In case you forgot.

Fiiiinnnaaalllllyyy, our friends returned!

I have a confession to make that may surprise you. Back in the day, I used to think I was “punk rock”. I had piercings (eyebrow, labret AKA below the lip, and nose), I hated bands that were “sell outs” like Blink 182–I loved them, then they got popular and I talked a lot of crap about how they sold out and now I only liked their old music. I was special. Anyway, Bethany and I used to actually go to punk shows together–like in the mosh pit! My fav bands were Greenday (even though they sold out–my aol email was ARiLuVsGrEeNDaY….oy!!) and Less Than Jake, and Bethany’s favorite band was Face to Face. I still have some of that old music on my ipod, and honestly, I do still enjoy a lot of it, but definitely don’t get into the punk rock culture these days, unless being punk rock means being ready for bed by 9pm, and sipping a beer off to the side lines of a concert. Let me tell you folks, I am one exciting lady.

Anyway, the entire reason we decided to go to this event was because Face to Face was playing.

One time Bethany and I had even driven to Northern California (about 14 hours straight) to go to a Face to Face show. Well, I don’t know how long we sat around in the stupid grassy area listening to crappy bands before we realized we were in the wrong place and had missed most of their concert thinking we were waiting for them to come on! Total bummer. We set out to the other side of the festival, and Bethany started full on running to make it there. It’s funny, she’s generally so reserved, but every once in a while she gets super excited about things, and this was one of those times.

We didn’t get over there until near the end of their set, but we still got to hear a few songs, and it was really fun! I enjoyed seeing them more than I expected, and Bethany really had a blast!

That, ladies and gentlemen, is my best friend. I love her. We couldn’t be more opposite, but she cracks me up and we get each other. Like Meredith and Christina (yes, I LOVE Grey’s Anatomy and you can judge me all you want).

This was one of the funnest evenings I’ve had in a long time. It was really great to spend some time with some of my favorite people, and get out to do something fun and different! The event was a little pricey ($10 to just get in, then $5 drink tickets, and approx $8-$10 a plate for food–doesn’t seem like much, but adds up quickly), but it was well worth it, in my opinion. I would definitely go back next year!

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged: bbq, beer, face to face, food, friends, great american bbq & beer festival

Weekend Recap

March 5, 2012 · by Ari ·

Happy Monday, friends! I’m flying high on about 4 hours of sleep. WHEEEEEEEE!!!!! To be honest, I haven’t gotten a decent night’s sleep since Steve left for LA and I am simultaneously slap happy, grouchy, bitchy, and delirious. I also have a week filled with long days, and my extra grouchy time may or may not be quickly approaching (you’re welcome), so Jason and I basically decided this morning, that I should do the world a favor and just hide out in a cave for a while to avoid offending the masses. Unfortunately, that is entirely impossible, so I’m going to try to focus on the moments of slap happy ridiculousness, because those are the best part of exhaustion!

To be honest, aside from feeling like I want to take a week long nap, the past few days have been pretty fantastic. Saturday I had a super full work day, then Deann came over and we worked on some stuff for her wedding. I am pretty much the least crafty person on earth, but when it’s not super complicated, and I know exactly what to do, I actually find simple craft activities strangely therapeutic. I made us a delicious dinner of cornbread crusted chicken tenders with a creamy maple mustard dipping sauce and kale chips. You better believe that when the fancy camera is back, I will be recreating this because it was AMAZING and I can’t wait to share the recipe! I also made some more donuts for dessert. Let’s just say it’s a good thing Deann took most of the rest home because I probably would have eaten them all that night! Yum!!

Here is a crappy picture from my android. And now I want to eat more donuts.

Yesterday, I met Christina and Diana for my fav spin class! Linda kicked my butt, like usual, but I was especially excited to drip pools of sweat yesterday for some reason. Must be the week off from running ( 🙁 )!

It was so awesome to finally meet Diana too! She is just as hilarious and awesome in person as on her blog, and it totally felt like working out with an old friend! I seriously can’t get over the awesome friendships I have made through blogging!

After spin, Christina came over for brunch. I made my own southwest version of Caitlin’s Spinach and Goat Cheese Cornbread Quiche.

I miss the fancy camera. Waaaahhhh.

It was probably the most delicious non dessert item I have made in a long time. Again, can’t wait to get some actually good pictures of it so I can post the recipe for my version!

This morning, even though I was super exhausted, when my alarm went off at 6 to go run, I was still pretty excited. I have been in quite a bit of pain lately–enough that I actually took KT’s advice to take a week off from running, so I was very anxious to get out there this morning! I got there early and did just under 2 miles on my own at a 9:20 average pace, then Jason arrived and mentioned that he was ready to move up to longer intervals! We had started using the Galloway method, running 3 min, walking 1 min. We were up to a 5:1 ratio, but today he wanted to move up to 1 mile intervals! You don’t have to ask me twice!!

Not only did Jason totally bump up his running time, but his overall pace improved and this was the first run where he had all negative splits!!! I am so proud!!! I never imagined I would be helping anyone with their running! I remember feeling shocked when people started to ask me for food and weight loss advice, but I just never in a million years expected to be pushing others to run and helping them train. I mean I’ve always been one to drag someone to a group fitness class, or suggest a gym date, but I just really can’t believe how much has changed in such a short amount of time!

There is honesty no better feeling than helping someone else achieve their goals. I mean, that’s the entire reason I blog in the first place, because I want to inspire others, and I hope that someday something I write makes a difference in even one person’s life, and that they are better because of me. That would honestly be the greatest gift. Sorry for being so cheesy! I’d like to say it’s temporary, but I was absolutely born this way and intend to stay cheesy and sentimental forever and ever. 😉

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged: baking, cooking, donuts, food, friends, phoenix bloggers, quiche, running, spin

Barrio Cafe

February 14, 2012 · by Ari ·

When I told people that I was having a birthday dinner with my Starbucks friends, I definitely got some odd looks. I mean, everyone knows I have a coffee problem, but maybe they didn’t know they extent 😉 The truth is, I’m just a chatty person and I like to meet new people, so after 3 years of seeing the same baristas almost every day, having one of them officiate my wedding, and running a half marathon with an other, this group has become pretty important in my life.

I gave Kara a list of a few restaurants I’ve been wanting to try, and left the rest up to her. We ended up going to Barrio Cafe. As soon as we arrived, it was like love at first sight! It has a tiny, hole in the wall feel. There was live music, and the whole atmosphere seemed really authentic! There was a pretty significant wait, but we all sat outside and chatted, and the food definitely was worth the wait!

In addition to the Starbucks group, Nicole, Lance and Carolyn were also able to join us. It ended up being the perfect group! When we first sat down, we immediately ordered margaritas and took lots of pictures.

This is my super awesome friend Amelia who married us. She makes good faces, 🙂

Carolyn

Mona

Kara

Nicole & Lance

Charlie

I was a little surprised when the salsa came out with a bread basket instead of chips, but it was delicious!

The margaritas were also pretty amazing. Nice and tequila-y, and not super sweet. I hate a marg that tastes like sour mix!

We ordered the guacamole–they make it table side, and oh my gosh, it was absolutely incredible!!

I was totally skeptical of the pomegranite seeds because I usually don't like pomegranites, but it was such a perfect flavor combination! I must try putting fruit in my guac!

And look, we did end up getting chips also! But bread and salsa is a surprisingly delicious combination.

Then the food came and everything looked incredible.

Enchiliadas

Tacos--I had a little bit of food envy when these babies came out!

Steve and I split this steak dish that came in a sweet and spicy sauce with bleu cheese on top. It was ridiculously good. The steak was crunchy and slightly charred on the outside, while perfectly tender on the inside! YUM!

Every single item I tasted was absolutely delicious. I must admit, I was a little surprised at the prices when I first opened the menu, but the flavors were all unique and well worth the price.

After our dinner, we had cookie bar cake made by yours truly 🙂

Carolyn, I'm sorry I suck and never bake anything gluten free 🙁 Glad you enjoyed your plate anyhow.

And we resumed our photo session…

They even have a super awesome graffiti wall that we had fun in front of!

Me + Starbucks group

Oh no! Someone killed Carolyn! And apparently, rolled her over afterwards...

At least she looks happy about it.

Oh good! She came back to life! Hey Steve, I don't appreciate this whole from below angle that makes me look like I'm expecting. Let's work on that.

Okay, you picked me up, we're good again 😉

And then Nicole suggested we practice our jumping pictures….

Clearly, I don't need any practice.

We regularly pose for White Girls Can't Jump Weekly.

This was just one of those nights where everything is pretty much perfect. Perfect company, food and atmosphere. I was also super in love with our waitress who was hilarious and even tried a piece of the cookie bar cake! Ohhhh, and the band even sang me happy birthday! Pretty much, if you live in Phoenix and haven’t been to Barrio Cafe, that needs to change immediately. And if you’re ever visiting from out of town (like if your name is Mac and you will be here in a month), you cannot leave Phoenix without eating at the best Mexican restaurant I have ever been to.

Special thanks to Kara for organizing such an incredible night, and everyone who made the last couple of weeks super special for me 🙂

 

 

Barrio Cafe on Urbanspoon

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged: barrio cafe, birthdays, food, friends, mexican, restaurants, starbucks, steve

10 Years Later

February 11, 2012 · by Ari ·

10 years ago, I had my first surprise birthday party. Up until that year, I had always been very involved in planning my birthday and making it exactly the way I wanted. A month or two before I turned 17, my friends and family began asking what I wanted to do, and to every one of them, I replied “nothing”.

Sixteen was a very hard year. Maybe the hardest of my entire life. I haven’t really talked about it on here, but shortly after I turned 16, my best friend took her own life. It was not something my 16 year old self was at all prepared to deal with or knew how to handle. Less than a year later, and exactly one month before I turned 17, an other close friend took his life as well. The last thing I was in the mood to do was celebrate. I agreed to a small dinner with my family and my two closest friends (Bethany and Jason–the two that are still my best friends ten years later) at my favorite restaurant–Avanti.

That evening I arrived at dinner, and my jaw almost hit the floor. An entire long table in our own private area filled with friends and family. I had never let the control of my special day go long enough to let anyone surprise me (just pretend to be surprised by that, okay? 😉 ), but here when I least expected it and thought I didn’t want it, was everyone I loved in one place here to surprise me–and they did! I had absolutely no idea. I was overwhelmed. I realized in that moment, that even in sorrow and life’s most challenging times, there can be joy, and it is okay to let yourself feel happy, even when your current situation is, well, not.

I looked around the table and saw the effort that my dad had gone to make me feel happy again, and I looked at all of the support and people there who loved me. My friend Charity hadn’t been able to find a ride, so she called a cab to take her 20 miles to be there to celebrate my birthday. Where do friends like that even come from?!

When my dad started to ask about my birthday this year, I was honestly hesitant to go back to Avanti (where I have been every single birthday since then, with the exception of while I was at UI), because to be 100% honest, Italian food kind of stresses me out. Then he said “But it’s the 10 year anniversary of your special surprise party!” And I remembered that incredible night–I couldn’t resist.

This year, in the theme of keeping things small and being able to spend time with more individual, smaller groups, my Avanti dinner consisted of my dad, Hermano, Janie, my grandma, Steve and me. Steve, Hermano and I showed up to a table with balloons on top (including Tigger, and purple and green–my dad definitely remembers details of what people like). We sat down and ordered some drinks while waiting for my dad, grandma and Janie to arrive.

One of my favorite things about Avanti is that they always encourage Hermano to play their piano!

They have a professional that they hire to play on the weekends, but both him and the manager are always asking Hermano to play and making comments about his improvements! Sometimes, I can even be convinced to sing with him. Today, after the rest of the family arrived, we decided to do Coldplay’s Fix You together. By the time we got near the end, all of the memories of my birthday 10 years ago, as well as the friends I was missing flooded back and I started to feel a little emotional–not necessarily in a bad way, I was just caught a little off guard.

I will never forget what my friends and family did for me that year, but it doesn’t always feel quite so fresh, and it was a wonderful reminder of how lucky I am, and how much I have to be thankful for.

This year started out a little bit stressful, but it got better really quickly. Of course, Hermano making fun of our dad helped get me out of the cranky mood I started in.

If you don't know my dad, this will make absolutely no sense. Sorry. If you, do...it's funny, yes?

After hours and hours of waiting pretty soon, my dad, grandma and Janie arrived.

I had no idea what I wanted to order. I wanted pasta, but I figured I needed protein and blah blah blah. I don’t even remember the last time I ordered pasta at a restaurant, but I did. Avanti has the BEST gnocchi. Seriously, they melt in your mouth! I ended up ordering a half order of gnocchi in rosa sauce and a side of roasted veggies in spicy red sauce topped with gorgonzola cheese. Everything was amazing,

I have two plates. I like to have more than one of things 🙂

I couldn’t finish my pasta because I knew I had to save room for dessert!

For as long as I can remember, my dad has given me the same birthday cake. He asked me years ago what kind of cake I wanted and I replied “Marble cheesecake with an oreo crust.” I am a girl who knows what I like. It is out of this world and it’s been my annual cake ever since.

"I wish...."

You wanna know what’s in that delicious martini glass? White chocolate mint martini. Yes, it is as amazing as it sounds.

After we ate, I opened presents–can you believe I am still getting presents?!

Thanks dad!

YAY!! Compression socks! Thanks Janie!

After presents, we had some fun were completely ridiculous with the balloon clip. We’re really mature in my family.

Yup, that's what I get forever and ever. Excellent choice, self.

Balloon clips are dangerous. They should come with a warning.

Example 2.

My favorite.

It definitely would not have felt right this year without our annual dinner, and I am so grateful for the many opportunities I’ve had this year to spend time with people close to me. Thanks dad for always making me feel super special this time of year! I am a lucky girl!

 

 

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged: Avanti, birthdays, family, food, hermano, restaurants, steve

Birthday Celebration Part 2

February 8, 2012 · by Ari ·

Sunday morning, I had a very exciting date with my friend Christina for a special 90 minute spin class with Linda AKA the best spin teacher ever. I recently found out that the first Sunday of every month, Linda generally does a special 90 minute class and I was super excited! Poor Christina–it was her very first spin class! But she did so AWESOME! She was a champ and made it the entire 90 minutes, after several people had gotten up to leave–get it girl!! I ended up going 34.5 miles that class! I was soooo excited when I saw the screen pass the 30 mile point! Why oh why can’t every spin class be 90 miniutes??

After class I had a few minutes to squeeze in a cup of coffee with Christina (this girl and I have been friends since preschool!) before having to run home. Steve told me I needed to be ready to go by noon and class ended at 10:30. I like to cut things close 😉 At around noon, Hermano, Jason and Nacho arrived and I was told the plan was to ride our bikes to Dilly’s Deli. About 14 miles round trip. Well, okay then! I am not one to say no to outdoor exercise with people I like!

So we were off!

We arrived about 40 minutes later at Dilly’s for lunch. I was starving and couldn’t wait to get my hands on one of their yummy sandwiches!

And here, I am eating the sandwich. Cute, right?

After lunch, we rode home. Oh my gosh, by the end my butt was soooo sore! Sorry for the TMI, but those seats are rough! Steve and I had a little down time, so we went to Goodwill to get some props to improve our food photos, then went to Lululemon because I have gift cards and there is a skirt I’ve had my eye on! Unfortunately, they only had the skirt I wanted in one size and it was not the right one 🙁 We came home, made pb&j cookies, and then we were off to meet up with Jason, Nacho and Bethany for dinner!

Steve wouldn’t tell me where we were going to dinner. I had an idea that it would be somewhere from my list of restaurants I want to try, so I was excited when we pulled up to Gallo Blanco. Unfortunately, they decided to close for the day and not put it on their website or answering service. Jerk faces. We ended up heading to Delux Burger which has also been on my list.

I was very happy with the beer selection 🙂

In case you've never read the blog before, I like my beer dark and sweet! This was half hazlenut brown and half double chocolate stout. Like nutella. Yummmm.

I'm Ari, and this is my beer. We'll be here all night long.

 

Steve got some nasty frilly beer. Obviously, I am the man of this relationship.;)

The food was good, but not amazing. The fries were reallllllyyyy good. We shared a basket that came in a mini shopping cart and they were sweet potato fries with this super yummy mustard sauce. The burger however, was just good. Not bad, but if I were to go back, it’d probably be for just beer and french fries, which is super nutritious in case you didn’t know.

At the end, the waitress surprised by bringing out a sundae with a candle!

Nope, I'm not excited at all.

Luckily, everyone helped me out with this thing! I knew there was still cake at home (oy vey), and this thing was huge! Also, I almost never eat real ice cream. It’s one of those things I just can’t justify, but this was delicious and even with 5 of us, we couldn’t finish it, so I don’t feel so bad 🙂

Birthdays make me happy!

This guy also makes me happy.

Besties!

After dinner, we headed back to Jason’s house to break out the birthday cake! I had requested my dream cake months ago, and Steve remembered!! A fro yo cake from my very favorite fro yo spot Yogurtology!!! I requested their oatmeal cookie flavor with nutella–my favorite!!!

Amaaaaazzzzing!

This cake had a cookie crust, a layer of nutella on the bottom, and then the oatmeal cookie fro yo on top. It was even more delicious than I had imagined!! And you know what? It cost about $11. Friends, if you’re not going to make the cake yourself, get it from Yogurtology! I still have a couple pieces left, and I do not plan on sharing 😉

Thanks to Steve, Bethy, Jason and Nacho for an amazing friend-day!!! Love you guys!

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged: birthdays, cycling, delux burger, dilly's deli, food, friends, hermano, steve, yogurtology

Disneyland Road Trip Day 2, Part 2

February 1, 2012 · by Ari ·

After a full morning and afternoon at Disney, we were happy to get a little time to refresh and get some non touristy food before heading back for the evening. I had read a few of Monica’s suggestions of good local places to eat in the Anaheim area, and after she posted about eating at Slater’s 50/50, I couldn’t get it out of my mind. Once Steve looked at the menu, it was clear that it absolutely needed to happen.

They are most famous for their 50/50 burger which is half ground beef, half ground bacon. That sounds intense. What I loved most was how open the menu was. There were tons of options that included some healthier options like chicken and wheat buns. I am the pickiest person on Earth, so obviously I went with the create your own option.

Grilled chicken, goat cheese, cranberry sauce, greens, tomato and cucumber on rye bread. Basically if goat cheese is ever an option, it ends up on my plate.

Steve created his own too.

Fire beef with every spicy option the menu had pretty much. His spice tolerance is insane!

I started off with more beer, because obviously I didn’t get enough the night before.

I promise, I do not have an alcohol problem.

Before we knew it, our food was delivered.

My sandwich

Steve's burger

And we couldn’t not get the sweet potato fries with pumpkin dipping sauce–oh my gosh, must recreate!

Maybe this could be my last meal?

The food was amazing. I got sad when I was full because it all tasted so good! Maybe I should be embarrassed by that? If you tasted it, you’d understand! Definitely the best meal of the trip.

With full bellies, we headed back to the park, anxious to get there for the fireworks!

Then we got the super sad news–the fireworks had been canceled! 🙁 Major bummer. We ended up going into the Disney museum which I had never been in either. It just never interested me as a kid, but I really enjoyed looking at everything this time.

Then we rode Thunder Mountain again, and got to see the castle at night which was beautiful.

After a while, we felt like we’d done everything we really wanted to, so we decided to meet up with Nicole, Lance and Chelle in downtown Disney for some drinks to celebrate Nicole and Chelle’s successful half marathon! Nicole shaved 15 minutes off her previous time and Chelle completed her first half! We spent the remainder of the evening drinking and chatting about everything. Well Nicole and I talked a lot. The rest of the group had a hard time getting a word in edge wise with both of us around. Sorry guys.

It got late before we knew it and we parted ways and headed back to our respective hotels. It was definitely the perfect way to spend a day at Disneyland!

 

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged: disneyland, food, friends, restaurants, slater's 50/50, steve, travel

Disneyland Road Trip Day 1

January 31, 2012 · by Ari ·

I remember going through all of our wedding gifts the day after the ceremony (the only thing that could ease my sadness about my house suddenly being so empty!) and seeing a stuffed Minnie and Mickey bride and groom. I turned to Steve and I was like “What kind of present is this?!” like a spoiled brat, then we looked into the box and realized that several of my CGST friends had all chipped in and gotten us DISNEY PASSES!!!! I felt like a big jerk for about 3 seconds, then forgot because I was so excited! Well, almost a year later they were getting ready to expire because I am the world’s worst person at scheduling vacations and taking time off work, so Steve and I quickly found a weekend where we could squeeze in a trip before my Spring schedule got into full force.

Saturday afternoon Steve picked me up from rehearsal so that we could immediately be on our way to California. It’s about a 6-7 hour drive from here depending on traffic (which is always bad once you get anywhere near LA), and we I have no patience so we wanted to get there as quickly as possible. Most of you have never been on a road trip with me. You are the lucky ones. As we all know, I have the maturity and attention span of a 1st grader with ADHD, so the entire 6 hours consisted of me singing along to almost every song and asking if we were there yet about 100 times. I’m not really sure why Steve married me.

Finally, we arrived at our hotel and we were both super hungry. I asked the front desk lady where she would recommend for a good local restaurant. She gave me a Disney tourist brochure with everything at downtown Disney. I was like “Oh no, we have a car so we can drive somewhere. Where can we get some local food.” She flipped over the brochure and said “Oh there’s better places on this side” to which I responded “Del Taco?” Seriously. That was the first restaurant I saw on this “better side”. Her best suggestion was Red Robin, so we got on yelp instead and ended up at a German restaurant called The Jagerhouse. We’d never really eaten German food and I liked it because their photo on yelp was a picture of beer.

I started to order a glass of their dark draft, but when Steve said he was going to get one too, I suggested a pitcher. I thought it would be equivalent to about 3 glasses. I was pretty surprised to see our waiter turn the corner carrying this

Apprently, a pitcher is a crap ton of beer for two people. Who knew, huh?

Look at that, we each have a glass and there is still so much left! It's like it's refilling itself--how awesome would that be!

"There is a problem, I have too much beer."

"I know! I will drink some!" For this photo, Steve insisted that we did all sorts of embarrassing manuvering and posing in the middle of the restaurant while everyone stared and thought we were nuts. I guess that's what it means to be a food blogger.

And then, all of the sudden, this happened

"How on Earth did that happen? Good news! Crisis averted--I no longer have too much beer." Okay, don't judge. We shared, and it was vacation! 😉

Obviously I hated the beer. The food unfortunately wasn’t as awesome in my opinion. Not bad, just okay–nothing I would go back for, but maybe that’s because I ordered a boring old salad.

This is my salad that I could have made at home and probably better. I was really excited that it came with garlic bread, but the garlic bread did not end up being super exciting.

Steve’s food is much more interesting, but actually I feel like it looks pretty gross…

I feel like it's possible that German food may just not be my thing.

To be honest, by the time the food came, I didn’t really care much anyway. I was just enjoying being away with my favorite person 🙂 I really enjoyed myself, then enjoyed myself more by more belting at the top of my lungs all the way back to the hotel, and continued to enjoy my evening all the way up the stairs to our room. Clearly.

"Stairs are fun! I like vacation!"

Honestly, I just don't know why I decided that should happen. Stretching obnoxiously in the stairway is actually really cool. Anyone whose anyone stretches on the hotel stairs.

Stay tuned for day 2…! And no, I did not wake up with a hangover 🙂

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged: anaheim, beer, california, food, steve, travel, vacation

Bethany’s House & Vintage 95

January 27, 2012 · by Ari ·

Guess what, guess what., guess what!! My very best friend Bethany is buying a house! What? You’re not jumping out of your seat with excitement like me? Okay, well that’s probably because you don’t know Bethany. If you could imagine the person you know that is ridiculously patient, kind to everyone, always knows the right thing to say, listens to everything you say like it’s their job, and deserves the very best things always…that’s Bethany!

The whole process has been moving super fast for her. She started looking, fell in house love, made an offer, got it accepted and all of the sudden our group met up to take a look last night! I can’t even tell you how amazing this is for her. Bethany works so hard for everything in her life and buying this house on her own is such a big accomplishment! Look how pretty it is!

Cute, cute, cute and NOT cookie cutter! YAY!

There are a list things I’m jealous of

1. The fireplace

I hope that super cute chest comes with the house!

We don’t have a fireplace 🙁 Fireplace and pool were on our list of It Would Be Really Awesome If…., but not 100% necessary. We got the pool.

2. Big grassy back yard

Winston and Clementime would LOVE this!!!!

I love that our backyard came with a pool, and I thought I would love the low maintenance of desert landscape, but with the puppies, I really wish I had a space to go out and run around with them. It’s okay, I’m sure aunt Bethany will let the puppies come visit and play 😉

3. Huge master bathroom. Our master bathroom sucks. I can’t wait to remodel it!

After seeing the house, Steve, Bethany, Jason, Nacho and I headed down to Vintage 95 for dinner.

We weren’t quite sure where to eat dinner in the area, so Steve got on yelp to find us a restaurant. Funny story…when I was looking for a day job, I applied to work here before it was even finished being built. They never called me. I have zero restaurant experience, and I hope that continues for the rest of my life. Anyway, I remember telling Steve that I wanted to try it once it opened, but completely forgot until he reminded me it was the place. Now that it’s finished, it is sooo cute!

Two fireplaces in one night. Steve, can we make a fireplace to make my lie complete? And by we, I mean you 😉

I had absolutely no idea what to order. Everything on the menu looked delicious. I asked the waitress what she would get between like 6 different things (I’m a really annoying orderer) and she definitely did not steer me wrong! I ended up with Thanksgiving. And by Thanksgiving, I mean a sandwich with turkey, cranberry sauce and brie with sweet potato fries.

I am so thankful for carbs and the fact that running gives me a little more sanity about eating massive amount of them like this.

And I also ordered this baby

When there is a sweet dark beer on draught, I can hardly ever turn it down!

I tasted everyone else’s food just to make sure it was okay for them, and everything was fantastic! Also, the prices were super reasonable. I would definitely go back…again, and again, and again!

In addition to the restaurant being fantastic, it was really awesome company. It’s been a while since the 5 of us were all together, and I loved getting the chance to celebrate this milestone that Bethany has worked so hard for. Bethy–you’ve come a long way since our days in Desert Mirage! 😉
Vintage 95 on Urbanspoon

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged: beer, celebrations, food, friends, restaurants, vintage 95

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Brownies

January 18, 2012 · by Ari ·

Well, you know I just haaaaddd to make myself a special dessert to celebrate my half marathon 🙂 Recently, I stumbled across this recipe for Reese’s Cheesecake Brownies–ummm, yes please! Naturally, I couldn’t wait to make my own skinnified version! Let me tell you, these babies do not taste one bit skinny! Luckily, I gave half the pan to Kara, otherwise things would be dangerous in my house right now!

Take gooey, fudgey, rich brownie and top it with creamy, peanut buttery cheesecake goodness and you get one of the most delicious desserts that’s ever come out of this kitchen! I wish I could share some of them with you right now. The only thing I love more than making delicious food is sharing it! And did I mention that the prep time took me about 10 minutes? So unbelievably easy, and guaranteed to be a huge hit.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Brownies

yield approx 30

For the brownie layer:

  • 1 box No Pudge brownie mix or TJ’s Reduced Guilt brownie mix
  • 1 6oz container Yoplait Light fat free red velvet yogurt

For the cheesecake layer:

  • 8oz fat free cream cheese
  • 1/4 cup fat free plain Greek yogurt
  • 1 box fat free, sugar free cheesecake pudding mix
  • 2/3 cup raw cane sugar
  • 1/2 cup PB & Co White Chocolate Wonderful
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cups Sunspire chips (I used 1/4 cup chocolate, 1/2 cup white chocolate, but any combo would be good and they even have ones that are like m&m’s now!)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9×13 baking pan well with nonstick spray. Set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, combine brownie mix and yogurt. Spread in a thin layer to coat the bottom of your baking pan.
  3. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, Greek yogurt, pudding mix, sugar, sugar, and peanut butter together. Add almond milk, and vanilla. Beat until smooth and creamy.
  4. Fold in chocolate chips.
  5. Spread cheesecake mixture evenly over brownie mixture.
  6. Bake for 50-60 minutes until cheesecake layer is set in the center.
  7. Cool on wire rack for 30 minutes, then transfer to refrigerator to cool completely.

Hellloooo, lover.

Is there any better nut butter for baking than White Chocolate Wonderful? If you find one, please send it this way.

Come closer, closer, like inside my stomach close.

Filed Under: Brownies & Bars, Cheesecake, Dessert · Tagged: baking, brownies, cheesecake, chocolate, food, pb&co, peanut butter, recipe, white chocolate wonderful

Celebrations and Such

January 16, 2012 · by Ari ·

How do you celebrate running your first half marathon? Well, with lots and lots of food and beer, obviously. 😉 After the race, we headed over to Chompies for brunch. I figured I should celebrate with my people, you know. Actually, it was just one of the few breakfast places close to home with a full bar, and I LOVE their food! I enjoyed a fantastic celebratory brunch with my dad, Hermano, Hank, Charlie, my mom, Steve, Kara, Mona, Nicole, Carolyn and Lance. It was after noon by the time we got seated and breakfast had been at 5:30, so most of us were ready for some food! Although, my stomach never felt quite right yesterday and while I usually feel ravenous the day after a long run, I just felt kind of blech and not even that into food all day long which was a total bummer! Regardless, the company was fab and I was just happy to be out celebrating!

Team lava--these ladies totally rocked their relay! I am so proud of them and their awesome times and PRs!!!

Kara didn't even know she got a medal when she signed up--she was totally stoked about this added bonus!

I totally planned on ordering a celebratory glass of champagne, but ended up sticking with water, eating a whole wheat blueberry pancake with an egg and turkey sausage. No pictures of the food, but it was delicious as always. After we ate, Steve took some awesome post race photos for us!

Singles of everyone

Nicole

Carolyn

Kara

Obviously, I take my post race photos very seriously.

And lots of pictures of people together. I’m so descriptive.

Team lava!

Not very fast (except, you were), but pretty damn hot

Blog friends, turned super amazing real life friends!

Running buddies!!!

Hermano e Hermana

+ el padre

We went home after breakfast for some much needed relaxation, but before we knew it, it was time for food celebration part 2 at The Yard House! There must have been about 20 of us that got together to celebrate the run and drink delicious beer!

A yard of delicious dark, sweet beer!

Don't worry, I didn't drink both of those myself. Kara and I split them, although the second one was more like 80% her, 20% me. I was just ready for bed haha.

The runners, oh and me 😉 I still feel so weird calling myself a runner!

There is no doubt that January 15 2012 will go down as one of the happiest days in my life! It doesn’t get much better than big accomplishments and big celebration!

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged: beer, chompies, family, food, friends, restaurants, RnR AZ, the yard house

Carbo Loading Cooking Fail

January 15, 2012 · by Ari ·

After a long afternoon at the race expo, I invited Kara, Nicole and Carolyn over for a pre race carbolicious dinner. Or so I thought. You see, I’m not actually a real cook. I make simple food. I can make delicious healthier versions of most staple dishes. I can get creative and even create recipes with desserts, but there are some things I should not cook. Apparently, gnocchi is one of them. First of all, delicate foods that require a soft touch and attention to detail are not my thing, but the recipe looked easy enough to I told them I would make sweet potato gnocchi.

"Welcome to my house. I will obviously cook you delicious food. I write a blog about food and recipes so I promise I know how to cook!"

Confession, I was super nervous to cook for Nicole anyway. Have you checked out her blog?! She is AMAZING! Her food is ridiculous and beautiful and she could seriously have her own bakery if she wanted! Me? I just got into cooking because I wanted to eat cheese burgers, but not be fat 🙂 Obviously, it wasn’t long before I got down on my knees and begged asked her nicely for a hand.

"Oh good job Nicole, you just cook dinner and I will pose for pictures and pretend like I made it."

I should have known the recipe was fishy when I got the 3 lbs of sweet potatoes it called for, but then had to measure out 3.5 cups and was left with more than twice as much leftover sweet potato puree! Good thing sweet potatoes are pretty much tied with cilantro for my favorite food!

We did have fun with the whole process of getting the gnocchis in the water.

First, transfered the dough to a bag without spilling it all on the floor. This was my biggest success of the night.

This was the fun part. Minus the 3rd degree burns from the splashing boiling water. Sorry about that Nicole. You are welcome to be my guest any time.

Obviously I couldn't leave all the dangerous gnocchi dropping to her. That's just rude. Don't worry mom, I wore long sleeves!

At one point it even appeared that dinner might be awesome.

Not too bad yet, right?

But then it turned into something more like sweet potato mush. Nicole tried to save the dish, but it was a goner.

"Can I PLEASE just mush it all together?!?!?!"

Nicole was very anti mush, but finally when I proved that the dish was beyond real salvation, she caved.

Mush.

Luckily, Steve grilled some seriously amazing chicken, and I didn’t have a total evening of failure.

Asparugus sprayed with olive oil + s&p baked at 400 for 20 minutes. A winner every time. Thanks for that, Heath!

And then there was this baby that I can’t wait to break into today!

Double chocolate peanut butter cheesecake brownies. I had to make Kara and myself a congratulations treat!

Luckily, the company was top notch and they all ate my weird sweet potato mush without complaint. Good friends, I tell ya. After dinner, we all called it a night pretty early because we all had early morning (4:40 for me!) wake up calls. I spent the next few minutes laying out everything I would need for the next morning.

Clothes, new sparkly green headband made by Nicole (LOVE IT!!!), spibelt, Gu, head phones, chapstick. Garmin and ipod were charging, and bib was in the car. Whoot.

Ready to not sleep 🙂

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged: cooking, food, friends, RnR AZ, sweet potatoes

What If…?

January 10, 2012 · by Ari ·

Well, life didn’t seem to waste any time getting busy again. I thought this week was going to be super mellow, but already I feel slightly behind–whoops. Yesterday I did get to spend some time on my to do lists at Starbucks.

Look at all of those tasks checked off! I love checking things off. It's one of the best feelings ever. So now that I said that, I kind of wonder how I have any friends when my greatest happiness is making check marks...

I actually got quite a few of this new list checked off too. Yesssss!

And I still found time to cook a seriously awesome dinner.

Today was filled with spinning, working (including an AWESOME rehearsal that I am feeling fab about!) and family. Busy busy busy, but all good stuff.

So here’s what I’ve been feeling confused by: Eating healthy and eating carbs. I mean, I eat carbs. I love carbs. I know that whole grains are healthy. However, this week I’ve been trying to clean up my diet a little for several reasons (PF Chang’s, post holiday blah feeling, post vacation blah feeling, etc.), but when I begin to think of healthy meals–especially dinner–my mind focuses immediately on lean protein and veggies. Then I have to remind myself to eat carbs so I choose sweet potatoes instead of green veggies and call it good. I wish there was just a clear cut plan: The Entire Week Leading Up To Your First Half Marathon, If You Are 26 Years Old, Slow, Mildly Funny, and Jewish You Should Eat _______. Can someone create that for me please?

Also, I realized one more reason why I am so freaking nervous. My 3 previous races, I was running a distance I had already conquered. 3.1, 6.2. I knew I could complete those distance. I know can’t is not an option, but I can’t help that nagging piece in the back of my mind that wonders what if…?

Okay, but for real, it’s going to be fine. It’s going to be better than fine. It’s going to be amazing. I just wouldn’t be me if I didn’t have a little anxiety about it 😉

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged: food, half marathon training, spin, work

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