Justin was able to attend a second work conference this year
(the first was Boston in April). I
was able to arrange, quite easily, to again accompany him. Having older, responsible kids is
pretty sweet. I hired a college
student to come over early in the mornings when the girls needed to leave for
seminary and she helped get Katie and Drew off to school. Abigail and Carly handled everything
else.
DAY ONE:
Our original flight plans left Seattle around 7-8am;
however, when I heard that Becky Higgins was hosting a launch party for her new
podcast (Cultivate a Good Life) in Gilbert that morning we arranged for an even
earlier flight so I could meet Becky in person.
Our first stop was breakfast at a Snooze an A.M.
Eatery. It was delicious!
Next up was meeting Becky Higgins! I’ve followed Becky for over 20 years. She started her career in scrapbooking
and I loved her simple, clean style and mimicked her layout ideas in my own
scrapbooking. She’s since expanded
her reach and influence beyond scrapbooking by encouraging others to “Cultivate
a Good Life and Record It”. When
social media became a thing I followed her on Instagram and appreciated her
openness about her faith and family.
I’ve purchased many of her “BHFavorites”, I love her notebooks and stone
wrap, her podcast is uplifting and inspirational… she’s an amazing woman and I
was looking forward to meeting her and her fabulous team.
I’m not sure I’ve ever met someone “famous” before. After 20+ years I KNEW Becky. The crazy part is that she doesn’t know
a thing about me. That felt
bizarre, but not weird enough to not go through with it. The event was held at a soda shop and
was actually much smaller than I expected. Justin was the only dude there. She was as lovely as expected and her team was so
friendly. We chatted with a few of
them for several minutes. It was
totally natural and I just know that if we lived in the same area we’d be best
of friends (I realize I sound like a total fan girl by saying that). I really, really, really wanted to have
a one-on-one pow-wow with Becky regarding my own scrapbooking dilemmas (and why
I’m 10 years behind when it’s something that is so important to me). We were just about to get into it when
someone was leaving that Becky hadn’t chatted with yet and because she’s so
sweet she couldn’t let that happen.
Drat. Such a fun experience
though!
Molly from Becky’s team recommended a couple hikes for us
that afternoon. Justin had to be
back at the hotel by early evening for a meeting so we only had a few
hours. We decided on Camelback
Mountain via the Cholla Trail.
The landscape is much different
than what we’re used to up here in the PNW.
It was a hot day and the last half of the trail was
bouldering up the mountain. It was
a good workout for sure. We didn’t
have much time at the top before we needed to head back down. Going down was equally difficult.
After Justin’s meeting that night we headed to the Phoenix
Temple. Our temple was closed for
several months (Aug-Nov) so it was great to be back in the temple. Turns out we showed up for a Spanish
session. Ha!
DAY TWO:
Justin was in meetings all day today. I slept in as much as I could and then
hit BoSa Donuts as recommended to me by my donut-loving friend, Andrea. I thought the donut case was beautiful!
I spent the afternoon at the pool. Our hotel had a full on waterpark with lazy river; however,
sadly it was only open on the weekends this time of the year so we weren’t able
to enjoy that perk. Instead I sat
poolside and read, listened to music and simply relaxed in the sun. I took a little poll on Instagram
stories when faced with seemingly opposite reading options. I went with the votes and read Dark Matter,
which I enjoyed.
Justin texted me mid-afternoon thrilled to announce he’d won
tickets to the Suns vs. Lakers basketball game that night. Sweet! And Suite! We
were supposed to be getting together with Justin’s family that night, but
thankfully we were able to shift things around and attend the game.
We were lead onto the court and sat on “the bench” as the
teams were warming up. Very
VIP.
We had seats in a large upper
suite area complete with food, personal TV screens and a waitress.
The food was good and the game was fun. We also attended an NBA game while in
Boston this year and I remember feeling like it would have been much more fun
if we had a team we were cheering for.
This game was pretty similar.
Justin was super excited to see LaBron James play, but we both felt
pretty indifferent regarding who we wanted to win. A fun experience though.
Something that really stood out to me tonight was how much
space there is in Arizona. Parking
near the game was easy and cheap.
There was little to no traffic getting out afterward. It’s funny how little things like that
stand out when visiting places away from Seattle.
DAY THREE:
Another full day of meetings for Justin today. I once again treated myself to
breakfast – T.C. Eggington as recommended by Trip Advisor. It was also good, but nothing unique
about it.
I did some shopping after breakfast and then I’m pretty sure
I was back at the pool in the afternoon.
We met up with the Biddulph’s that evening for dinner at Culinary
Dropout – a fun outdoor/indoor restaurant with games and billiards. It was so great to catch up with
them. I see Tracy at least once or
twice a year when she visits Seattle or on the few occasions we meet up for a
girls trip; however, Justin and I hadn’t seen Bryan for several years.
DAY FOUR:
No pictures today?
How did that happen. I hit
up Kneaders this morning for all you can eat French toast. Can you tell that food is a major part
of any travel experience for me? I
also returned some of the clothing I’d purchased the day before – cause that’s
also how I roll. Justin was done
with meetings around noon and we headed down to Gilbert to see his sister’s new
house. They moved to Arizona this
summer. Justin’s mom was also
there visiting. We had lunch at a
BBQ place and then spent a few hours at Tami’s house visiting before heading to
the airport homebound.
Such a fun trip!
Sunshine, food, friends, family and lots of relaxation!
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