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Lazy Local Weekend

I tend to be a planner. I book my weekends up to maximize the time I have free… which sort of takes away from the idea of “free” time, if I think about it.

Just the same, I walked into this weekend with only a tiny bit of plans… and I didn’t even leave the city limits after I got home on Friday. Unheard of!

Friday night after work, I went to my very first Tutu Making Party. Yep, you heard me right… we were TUTU MAKING! We’re just a few weeks away from Jodi’s Race for Awareness, and my team “Team Bev” has opted to wear fabulous teal tutus this year.

We did what any awesome team does… we found a Youtube video, ordered some tulle, and met up to get our tutu on! I have never spent so much time with tulle in my life!

Not everyone could make the event, so we made as many as we could for those who weren’t there. I took home one to finish, but definitely had the technique down by the time I left. SO EASY!

After getting home kind of late, I woke up the next morning to realize I was exhausted. My 11 days away and hectic work week had caught up with me. So, instead of being productive… I laid in my bed reading a book for a long time, getting up only to head to get a manicure and pedicure. Seriously lazy… but at least the book was good!

(Source)

After my mani-pedi, I was hungry for lunch so I headed into Old Town to try a new taco place that a co-worker had been raving about! They told me that it was better than Cafe Rio… which to me seemed impossible.

I ordered the small Chicken Fajita salad, sans cheese with avocado ranch dressing on the side. It was really good, and I’ll definitely be back. I’m not prepared to say I like it better than Cafe Rio though…

Right next door to Fuzzy’s is a little Olive Oil shop I’ve been meaning to stop into forever. After spending 5 minutes in the store, I couldn’t believe that I’d never been to Kristo’s before! I spent close to 30 minutes in the store tasting and getting to know all of their olive oils and vinegars. I never knew there were so many!!

They had little slices of bread and little tiny cups you could use to sample the offerings. There were so many that were my “favorites” that I really had to be conservative when it was time to check out. Here’s what I ended up with though…. all very delicious!

I chose the Sicilian Lemon White Balsamic Vinegar, Black Mountain Fig Balsamic Vinegar, Cranberry Pear White Balsamic Vinegar, and a Cilantro Onion Infused Olive Oil. The citrusy vinegars were SO delicious and will be making their way to a salad in the near future. As for the other two more savory blends, I can’t wait to come up with something to make with them. The folks at Kristo’s also shared that they offer cooking classes… stay tuned for my review of those! I’m going to have to try one of those soon!

I spent the rest of my weekend running local errands, finishing up tutus, and a craft project I’ve been working on for some time. Add in a little treadmill time and some yoga… and that’s all she wrote.

How was your weekend?

A Snow Day with My Crockpot

Consignment Time Again!

A Lotta Newness

#PHXLASMCI: Phoenix

So…. I alluded to it a little bit on here, and if you follow me on Twitter, you definitely have heard the news.

I’ve been on a WHIRLWIND of a VACATION!

I haven’t traveled in about 5 months, since I flew home for Christmas. However, in true NTTC fashion, I went ahead and took THREE trips this week. Go big or go home, right?

First Stop: Phoenix

It’s that time of year again… time to head to Montelucia for my 1st trip of the year. Truly, I couldn’t wait for this trip.

Having spent the past few weeks shopping for new bathing suits and picking up odds and ends, I was ready to get there on Friday morning. When I arrived I was THRILLED to find the weather to be ABSOLUTE PERFECTION. It was in the 80s and breezy… I couldn’t have ordered better weather.

As usual, my friend Donna met me there and we spent our days lounging by the pool, working on our tans, and catching up. We also took advantage of the poolside service… enjoying a lot of the Montelucia’s amazing (and healthy!) dishes!

One of many great things about visiting a spa is that the menus are full of healthy choices, and often have calorie counts included. The challenge with visiting a spa with one of your best friends is that it becomes difficult to count all of the liquid calories that go in. Especially when they are so tasty…

On Friday night, we went to our absolute favorite italian restaurant in Old Town Scottsdale. If you’re ever in Phoenix, you HAVE to try Marcellinos… they have the most exquisitely delicious homemade pasta. We even got to eat on the patio because the weather was so mild.

You might not recognize Donna and I above… we just stepped out of the salon moments before that picture was taken. As for the pictures of the food, we split the most delicious pear, arugula, parmesan salad. I’ll be making this at home soon. It was that good. The dish to the right is the best pasta I’ve ever had in my life: Caco di Pepe – - Homemade parmesan cracked pepper linguini in a tomato ragu with pancetta and caramelized onions. I order it every time I go to Marcellinos, and it never disappoints.

After indulging in extra cocktails and pasta meals, we make sure that we get our sweat on. The spa has the most gorgeous yoga studio, and I took complete advantage of its offerings. I love yoga in the desert. I was a little disappointed that they didn’t have poolside yoga on the schedule for the weekend… maybe next visit! Next visit, I’ll also need to try that beautiful mountain again as well…

Saturday was another pool day… and we did something fun at the spa, too. A little peek at the future, we had our cards read. I love exploring new age and spiritual learnings. Donna and I have both been at unique crossroads… and really enjoyed our readings as a result.

Wait a second… I know what you’re thinking. We didn’t have massages?? Oh, fear not… we scheduled those for Sunday morning after yoga. I always get my massage and body scrub from Angela, and as usual, the service was phenomenal, relaxing, and just what the doctor ordered. Living in a VERY dry climate, a body scrub at the beginning of summer is always amazing to get my skin in shape for sundresses that the warmer season will bring. The pictures below are from outside Joya Spa and from its rooftop pool.

The worst part about visiting Montelucia is that it always comes to an end. Donna and I have our tentative fall plans to return, since that’s the only way I am able to leave the property without tears.