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  • Tag: Phoenix

    • guide to phoenix area: restaurants

      Posted at 8:23 am by jasminedesirees, on February 23, 2016

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      It’s kind of crazy to think that we’ve been living in AZ for a year now. It really doesn’t feel like it, especially since I travelled so much last year it kind of seemed like I was never here.

      I’ve had company for the last 3 weeks in a row in PHX, and since the best part about having visitors is showing them around and taking them to all your favourite places, I’ve had to do some thinking about what those places are.

      What I’ve realized is that I have tons of favourite places, and also places I still really want to try. So I decided to share my list with you all, in case you are ever in the PHX area, and are looking for a good place to hang out, or some really good drinks.

      So here they are, not really in any particular order:

      Culinary Dropout at The Yard– Culinary Dropout in Tempe is one of my favourite places to go, the food is good, the drinks are amazing (I like the Room Service or the Me Before You) and they have yoga (sometimes) and Party on a Bike (spin class) in the upstairs room all week. It’s just a cool spot. The vibe definitely changes depending on when you go. I’ve been there on a Wednesday night when my sister in town; we snagged a table with a built in fireplace, ordered some delicious appetizers (get the pretzels!) and played lawn games, and I took my mom there for a quiet lunch after the Andy Warhol exhibit at the Phoenix Art Museum. I’ve also been on a Friday or Saturday night when all three bars are open, and it is complete madness and there is no hope of finding a place to sit.

      The Duce– Our very first week living in Phoenix we were driving downtown to go skating, and we passed a bar called The Duce. It looked really fun, and I made a mental note to go there, but we didn’t end up going until a couple of weeks ago when my sister was in town. It’s the coolest place I’ve been in awhile. There is an outdoor patio, which is where we sat, but the inside is a pretty big space and it’s divided up into different “themed” sections. There are a couple different bars, and a “Sweet Spot” (pictured above) to get dessert. We went on a Saturday morning for brunch, and it was really chill and relaxing, but I’ve heard it gets pretty crazy at night. They have a boxing ring where you can pay $5 to go 5 minutes against the owner (who is a boxer) and they also do fitness classes on Sunday morning. It is a little bit pricey, the drinks are around $12 each, but they are big, with lots of booze in them, plus they are delicious. We ordered a Bloody Mary, a Berry Side Car and a Margarita, and they were all on the list of the best drinks I’ve ever had. The food was good too, I ordered the smashed potatoes in a jar, and it was basically just butter, sour cream and cheese with some potato, and it was so frigging delicious. D and my sister both got sliders, which are actually huge, and neither of them could finish. Definitely shareable. This is really long, but I have a lot to say. Love this place.

      Chanpen Thai– This is a relatively new discovery. We bought a house and moved to a new area of Phoenix in December and we didn’t have a washer and dryer for a long time. Our weekly ritual became Thai takeout and laundromat night, so we were able to try all the new Thai places around our new place. Chanpen was by far the best, it’s a little further away than some others, but worth the drive. It doesn’t look like much from the outside, and there are only about four tables, so it’s best to order pick up, but it smells like heaven as soon as you walk in. I had yellow veggie curry (my fave) and it was the best I’ve had in a long time.

      Four Peaks Tempe– Four Peaks is basically a Tempe institution. It’s a popular brewery and restaurant, a good place to watch a game or go with a group of friends. I had the veggie burger here, and it was really good, and the spinach artichoke dip is so good (it has jalapeno) that I actually gasped when I took a bite, and everyone thought I was choking. I’ve mostly been here for brunch for people’s birthdays, they mimosa buckets, it’s around $18 for a bottle of champagne and a carafe of orange juice. Also, the brew master at our favourite restaurant in Montana, The Tamarack, went to ASU and used to be a brewer at Four Peaks. Small world.

      Pizzeria Bianco– This place was voted Best Pizza in America. It’s SO GOOD. It’s definitely more of a date spot, it’s pretty intimate inside with only a handful of tables. We ended up each ordering our own pizza, mine was margherita with braised mushrooms and I am not embarrassed to tell you that I ate the whole thing. It is kind of expensive, it was around $20/pizza, and they really only feed 1 person, but it was worth it. They also own the little house next to the restaurant and they’ve turned it into a wine bar/waiting area where you can sit inside or out on the front porch and play board games while you wait. My birthday is coming up in a few weeks, and I’m fairly certain I’ll be celebrating it here.

      Pier 54– This little restaurant is a perfect hangout on a sunny, lazy weekend day. It’s all outdoors, on a little patio on The Lakes at Tempe, and they have a great deal on mimosas (buy 1 for $8, each refill is $1 after that), and they have the best hummus I’ve ever had. We go almost every weekend, and we always take people there for a chill happy hour. We’ve never been for supper, but they do have a deal where you spend $25 on food, and get a free bottle of wine, so we definitely need to try that one night.

      The Watershed– The Watershed is right next door to Pier 54, but it has a different vibe. It has a huge indoor area with a bar and restaurant, and then an outdoor patio with a view of the lakes and also a game area with darts and corn hole (I hate that name). Some of their outdoor tables have fire pits, but you need to get there early at night to grab one of these. When my sister was here we tried almost every drink on the menu, and I would definitely recommend the Basil Smash.

      The Farm at South Mountain– I’ve only been to The Farm once, on a hung-over Sunday morning after a friends’ wedding, about a year before we moved to AZ, but it was lovely. We actually moved to the South Mountain area recently so it’s pretty close, but we haven’t been back yet. The Farm is a picturesque acreage with areas carved out for different things. There are a few different restaurants on the property; we ate at the more casual one, I had a strawberry and goat cheese salad and fresh squeezed lemonade. They grow all their own fruits and vegetables, there are little goats to look at, and people were sprawled out on picnic blankets all over the lawn, eating and watching their kids play. They were also setting up for a wedding when I was there, and it was pretty stunning.

      San Tan Flat– We went to SanTan Flats for my dad’s birthday last year. It’s quite a drive from downtown Phoenix, but it’s a fun place to go with a big group. Each table has it’s own fire pit, and you can buy s’more kits for dessert. They have live bands on the weekends and a big dance floor. I didn’t love the food, it’s not very vegetarian friendly, they mostly just serve grilled meat, but I still had fun.

      Salut– I went to Salut with a group of girlfriends’ for dinner, and it was delicious. It’s a romantic little wine bar in Tempe, we sat at an outside table on the patio, which was all lit up with string lights. They had a great wine selection, but the best thing about Salut was their entire page dedicated to different types and combinations of bruschetta. Only one person out of our group ordered something different, and I think she regretted it once the food came. The rest of the menu looked delicious as well, but I don’t know if I could bring myself to order anything else.

      The Perch– The Perch is in downtown Chandler, it’s an open, outdoor space decorated with cages of brightly coloured birds. The food was good (I loved the hummus) but the best part about this place is the rooftop bar. It has lot of comfortable seating, and misters for those miserably hot AZ summer days, plus it has a great beer selection, including a grapefruit one that tastes like Orange Crush.

      Places I haven’t been but really want to try:

      Ocotillo– I haven’t been to Ocotillo yet, but I’ve heard from a few people that it’s the best new spot in the valley. Their menus look so delicious, and they also have a little coffee shop that’s open every day. I’ve been thinking of going there on a weekend afternoon to get a coffee to check it out before we head into the restaurant, but we haven’t been home at all lately.

      Top of the Rock– Another place I haven’t been to yet but hope to go one day. This is one of the fanciest/most expensive restaurants in Phoenix from what I’ve heard, but the view looks so incredible that it’s probably worth it.

      Sweet Tooth Fairy– I only realized recently that this bakery was in AZ, I thought it was only in Utah. I found out a few weeks ago, and then was creeping on their website, and discovered that they make Nanaimo Bars, which are my absolute favourite, and not something I’ve ever seen in America before. I bugged D incessantly to take me there, but when I finally wore him down and he agreed, I called to double confirm that they had Nanaimo Bars, and they were out. They only have them every few weeks. I asked the baker to send me a schedule so I would know when to come in, which is a totally normal and reasonable thing to do.

      Mystery Room at the Arizona Biltmore– There is an actual 1920’s speakeasy in the Arizona Biltmore. It’s only open Sundays from 8-11 p.m. and you need a password to get in,  but it’s cool that they have something like that in Phoenix.

      This post was a lot longer than I anticipated, I’ve been working on it for weeks since I kept remembering other good places and adding them in. Let me know if you have any suggestions for good places to eat or drink in the area, I’m always on the lookout for new favourites!

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      Posted in Arizona, food, travel, USA | 2 Comments | Tagged bars, culinary dropout, food, Four Peaks, Phoenix, restaurant guide, Scottsdale, tempe, The Duce, travel
    • twenty eight

      Posted at 10:12 am by jasminedesirees, on March 16, 2015

      Yesterday was my birthday, I spent a great weekend exploring the San Diego area, sleeping on the beach, and eating cupcakes. I was thinking back over the past year, and how amazing it’s been, so I wanted to take a little time to reminisce, and share some of my favourite experiences.

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      March 2014- On my birthday last year, we were on a trip to visit New York City for the first time, and it was everything I’d been dreaming of. It was kind of one of those spontaneous trips where you’re not sure if it’s really necessary, but you could do it, so we did, and I’m so, so glad. We also visited Niagara Falls, and got one of my friends married off in Toronto.

      April 2014- Last April, my sister came out to visit me in San Francisco for the first time, and we had the best weekend ever. We took a last minute road trip down to L.A. to spend a few days with my family. I don’t get to see them as often as I’d like, so driving down to meet up with them was kind of a no-brainer, even though we had to change a flight we already had booked, and rent a car in order to get there. We also went out to Phoenix for the weekend for the first time, not realizing then that we’d be moving out there in less than a year.

      May 2014- In May, we were well on our way to finalizing plans for our trip. We were spending as much time with family and friends as possible, and really enjoying our last few weeks of living in California, including a lovely day in Capitola.

      June 2014- In June, we spent a few days visiting my family in Montana, and then took off for Thailand, mid-month. I loved visiting Bangkok, the Floating Market and the White Temple.

      July 2014- In July, we moved down to the islands of Thailand, including Phi Phi and Railay, and then spent a couple of weeks in Cambodia, visiting Angkor. Ta Prohm was my favourite place in the world. We also spent a few days in Singapore, and visited the Cloud Forest, and the Supertrees.

      August 2014- In early August we finished up our last few days in Indonesia, including the most amazing time diving in Flores and trekking with Komodo dragons. Then we finally landed in Australia, hung out in Sydney for a few days, then started our road trip up to Cairns, and also, this happened.

      September 2014- In September we were still creeping around Australia. We visited Whitehaven, spent a few weeks working on a farm, and then a few more weeks hanging out in Byron Bay, and hiking to the lighthouse every day. This is still the most amazing graffiti I’ve ever seen.

      October 2014- In October, we made the decision that as much as we loved Australia, it was too expensive for us, so we headed back to Indonesia, to relax on the Gili’s, hike Batur, trek Rinjani, visit the beach of my dreams, and creep around in Kuta Lombok, and South Kuta.

      November 2014- In November we took a spontaneous trip to the Philippines (posts coming this week!) and eventually, made our way back to California.

      December 2014- In December, we spent as much time as we could with our friends and family in California, then packed up our stuff and moved to Phoenix.

      January 2015- In January, we spent a blissful week in Montana, made a quick trip up to Canada to experience the -40 weather and load up on ketchup chips, and then headed back to start life in Arizona.

      February 2015- In February, we finally got our furniture and got actually moved in to our new place, and then got to start exploring our new state with trips to Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, and the Grand Canyon.

      Posted in exploring, life, travel | 2 Comments | Tagged Australia, birthday, Cambodia, exploring, Indonesia, life, nyc, Phoenix, Singapore, Thailand, travel
    • moving day

      Posted at 8:24 am by jasminedesirees, on December 22, 2014

      As I already mentioned in this post, we are moving to Arizona! Today actually, errrr.

      D will be finishing his degree at ASU, and is starting in January, so he flew out last week and found us a place to live near the university. Also, it has a pool, which is amazing. I was so spoiled to be able to go swimming almost every day when we were in Indonesia and I loved it, plus I’m starting to train for the Honolulu Triathlon again, so it’ll be super handy.

      I’m applying for jobs in Phoenix, and I’m also applying to ASU for the fall to finish my Master’s degree. I started in Hawaii a few years ago, and was accepted to SFSU to continue when we got to California, but apparently San Francisco is a pretty crowded city and it can take a really long time to get to the other side, even if Google maps says it’s only 5 miles. Who knew? (Anyone who has ever spent 10 minute here, probably).

      So I’m pretty excited for that, but mostly I’m excited to move to a new city and have a whole new place to explore. Arizona is so beautiful and sunny, and there are so many outdoor activities and hikes within driving distance, so that’s what I’m most looking forward to, especially the Grand Canyon, the Kartchner Caverns and the Supersition Mountains.

      I’m also excited to be away from the crazy traffic of the Bay. I love San Francisco, and will definitely be coming back to visit often, but working in the city and living in the East Bay means spending a lot of hours commuting, and I can absolutely think of better ways to spend my time.

      So now I just need to find some friends in Phoenix (if you know anyone who is looking). So far my plan has been to creep around for the first few weeks wearing only my Canada shirt/ other GWN paraphernalia, I always meet other expats that way, without fail, whether I’m in a grocery store in the tiniest town in California or riding a mid-island bus to Wahiawa.

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      Posted in Arizona, USA | 1 Comment | Tagged Arizona, ASU, Canada, grand canyon, moving, Phoenix
    • camelback

      Posted at 8:43 pm by jasminedesirees, on May 21, 2014

      Just a few shots of the time we climbed Camelback in a rainstorm.

      Since we weren’t planning on spending a lot of time in Phoenix, I really didn’t have anything planned, and had no idea what we were going to do with our three full days in Arizona.

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      I asked friends for suggestions, and one of them told me to hike Camelback, so we decided to try it out, bright and early on Saturday morning. It was kind of cold out, and a little grey, but I figured that was just because it was so early, and we set off.

      The hike itself was fun, a bit steep in parts, but the view was beautiful.

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      Unfortunately, the higher we climbed, the worse the weather got. It was super windy at the top, and as we were shinnying across a very narrow bit of rock with sharp drops on either side I was pretty sure we weren’t going to make it. Right when we got to the top it started pouring and made the rocks slippery and even more treacherous.

      Also, nobody was going down the way we came up, and we knew there was more than one way to climb the mountain so we decided to follow another group down.

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      We didn’t realize until we were half way down that it was taking us to the opposite side, and we didn’t feel like climbing back up and over again, so we ended up continuing down that way, and then walking three more miles around the base to get back to our car.

      We did get to see some diamond back rattle snakes on our slog back to the car though, so it wasn’t all bad.

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      Posted in Arizona, exploring, travel | 1 Comment | Tagged Arizona, camelback, hiking, Phoenix, travel
    • the farm

      Posted at 5:47 pm by jasminedesirees, on May 9, 2014

      When we woke up the morning after the wedding in Phoenix, we were definitely in the mood to keep it low key and have a relaxing day, but we also didn’t want to waste our last day in Arizona by laying around inside.

      Brunch is always a happy medium between liveliness and sloth, so I laid in bed creeping around on my phone for awhile to find a good place to go.

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      I kept seeing great recommendations for a place called “The Farm at South Mountain”, and it looked like it had a pretty decent outdoor area, so we rallied ourselves and set off.

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      We arrived to find the exact kind of place you’d want to spend a hot, sunny Sunday. It was a huge farm, with flower and vegetable gardens, a beautiful green picnic area where people snacked, lounged on blankets and played frisbee, and three cute eclectic restaurants serving delicious food, all ingredients for which had been grown on site.

      They even had a baby goat.

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      They were setting up for a wedding there later in the day, and I was pretty tempted to crash it, just so I could hang out there in the evening.

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      We had lunch there, my strawberry and feta salad that was totally scrumptious, and just enjoyed the sunshine. It was the perfect activity because we felt like we got to see a really cool piece of Phoenix, when really all we did was eat yummy things and sit in the sun.

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      Posted in Arizona, exploring, travel | 0 Comments | Tagged gardening, outdoors, Phoenix, the farm, travel
    • hole in the rock

      Posted at 8:56 pm by jasminedesirees, on May 6, 2014

      We made a quick trip to Phoenix last weekend for a wedding. We planned to just fly in and out, but the way the flights worked out, we ended up having almost three full days there.

      We didn’t have anything planned, so everything we did was pretty spontaneous. When we picked up our rental car, there was a pamphlet in it with a picture of the Hole in the Rock. It looked pretty neat, and it was way too hot and sunny to do anything inside so we decided to check it out.

      It’s a very short hike, really just a walk up the hill, but it’s gorgeous, and the rock formations are amazing. I kept looking around for diamond backs because I was certain I was going to stumble into a pit of rattlesnakes, but I didn’t see any, and there weren’t any signs or anything.

      There were lots of signs about bees though, which I thought would be a less serious threat, but what do I know?

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      Posted in Arizona, exploring, travel, USA | 0 Comments | Tagged Arizona, hiking, hole in the rock, Phoenix
    • we could run away

      Posted at 9:20 pm by jasminedesirees, on April 30, 2014

      Last Wednesday, my parents called me from L.A., they were in Phoenix and decided to take a spur of the moment trip out to SoCal to watch the Sharks play the Kings.

      We immediately decided we were going, but we were supposed to go to Phoenix for a wedding the next day, so it took a bit of finagling. We managed to switch our flights to leave from Long Beach, hopped in a rental car, and drove down.

      We were only in L.A. for 24 hours, but we had a great time creeping around Venice and watching the game from a suite at the Staples Center.

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      Venice is one of my favourite beaches in southern California, I love the vibe, the people, and the graffiti. People there are so unique and unapologetic, and I love seeing all of the colourful art for sale on the boardwalk. We were there last year and I found an artist doing these really simple, almost comic book-like drawings, but they were so beautiful.

      We stood and looked at all his paintings for almost an hour, because I wanted all of them and I literally could not pick a favourite, but eventually I got dragged away. I asked if he had a website where I could order some of his paintings, but he didn’t, and told me to come back because he was always there. He wasn’t there when we went back this time, so I shall spend the rest of my life fruitlessly searching.

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      I hadn’t noticed it the last few times we were there, but they have a really cool half pipe for skateboarding set up right on the beach. We stood and watched them for awhile, some of them were really good. I was pretty jealous of their skills, I tried to get the boy to teach me how to long board last year, but he pointed out that I would almost certainly be irreparably damaged due to my lack of coordination. He was not wrong.

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      Posted in art, beach, California, family, Los Angeles, travel, USA | 3 Comments | Tagged art, beach, California, graffiti, Phoenix, road trip, sharks, skateboarding, spur of the moment, travel, Venice
    • phoenix

      Posted at 8:29 pm by jasminedesirees, on April 25, 2014

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      After a whirlwind visit to LA yesterday, including the best hockey game I’ve seen in years, we hopped a flight for Phoenix this morning.

      We’re hiking Camelback first thing in the morning, and then we have a wedding tomorrow night.

      Weddings are always fun, I just hope I don’t get bit by a rattlesnake on the hike, because I feel like that would put a real damper on my dance moves.

      Posted in Arizona, exploring, travel, USA | 0 Comments | Tagged camelback, hike, Phoenix, travel
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