az bloggers Archives

Cheuvront

September 24, 2012 · by Ari · 4 Comments

Friday night I went out with some of my favorite AZ Blogge r ladies to Cheuvront for restaurant week.

Arizona restaurant week is one of my very favorite things! When I was growing up, we didn’t have a huge restaurant scene, but ever since I moved back after college, it seems like new, indie restaurants are popping up like crazy! Or maybe I’m just finally starting to get into the scene? Either way, there are lots of amazing options for people who love food in this city, and I (obviously) really, really love food. Each restaurant has a special restaurant week menu with a set price and a few options for each course–you can choose to order off this menu, or stick to the regular menu.

This was my first time at Cheuvront, but I was super excited as soon as I looked at the menu. I had a really tough time making up my mind because everything looked amazing, but the one thing that was easy to decide was the first course. Goat cheese is one of those items I always immediately scan a menu for, and then I usually choose what I order by which options come with it. Obviously, I started with the goat cheese salad.

It was delicious! Fresh greens, the perfect amount of slightly sweet champagne vinaigrette, and of course the star of the plate–the fried goat cheese! For the second course, everything looked good and I had a hard time deciding, but ultimately went with the half roasted chicken because it came with cranberry apple stuffing.

That stuffing!!! I just kept digging underneath the chicken to try to get more of it out. It was probably my favorite thing I ate all night. The chicken was great too–perfectly cooked and tender. I asked the waiter what his favorite dessert option was and he pointed me towards the chocolate bouchon which is a small, lava-like chocolate cake that was served with dulce de leche ice cream.

Okay, maybe this was my favorite thing I ate all night. The chocolate bouchon had a slightly crisp outside, but the entire inside was gooey, like a half baked brownie, and it paired perfectly with the ice cream which was aaaaaamazing.

I absolutely loved Cheuvront, and will definitely be returning! It was also so great to spend time with some of my favorite ladies, and meet a couple of new ones!

Remy, Emily, me, Megan, Robin, Nicole & Jenn

Thanks for an awesome evening ladies!! Can’t wait to do it again soon!

Firefly Run 5K Race Recap

April 18, 2012 · by Ari · 6 Comments

Saturday evening I had the opportunity to participate in my first night race!

Heather, Emily, Nicole, Me, Bethany & Jason

Decked out in glow gear. We take night racing very seriously.

Steve, Jason, Bethany and I arrived pretty early so that Jason could register. We quickly met up with Nicole, Emily and Stacey, and hung out for a bit before lining up for the race.

Jason, Bethany and I started towards the back. It was Bethany’s first race, and we had all three planned to run it together. Usually, I’m a big jerk and I ditch my friends at races (or if I race with Nicole, I tell her to just leave me because I will never make it at her pace haha), but I really wanted to run Bethany’s first race with her, and I was excited about the idea of running with my two best friends.

When we started running, I was amazed at how nice it was to be able to look around and enjoy my surroundings. The only thing I usually see during the race is the face of little Garmi. And she’s cute, but Phoenix at night kind of is too. The weather was perfect, and it just felt amazing to be running through the city at night!

The race was an out and back route, so shortly after mile 1, we saw Nicole and Stacey racing back. We all shouted and waved at each other. I was ridiculously energetic, and I kept trying to talk to Jason and Bethany, but they were not feeling as chatty as me haha. Emily and Heather were pretty close to us for the majority of the race as well.

At mile 2, I could tell Bethany was getting tired, but she turned it up a little bit and surprised Jason and me. I started thinking at that point

10 years ago, who would have thought that we would be here?

10 years ago I was near the end of my “first round” of weight loss. I was ridiculously unhealthy, and in a very bad place in my life. We had all been through an impossibly tough and life changing situation together, and the three of us were doing the best we could to get by. Sometimes I can’t believe we’ve made it to this point in our lives–not running a 5k, but maintained our friendship through thick and thin, grown and changed so much as human beings, and found even deeper love and appreciation of our friendships.

I began to get a little ~~lot~~ sentimental, and started to wish that our whole group could be together, but mostly, I was just happy to have these 2 amazing friends in my life, and to be accomplishing goals together. We’ve always been really different. Neither of them are into theatre, and we’re all just really different, so it was awesome to be going after something together.

Bethany kicked some serious ass, didn’t stop once, and ran the fastest she’s run in this stage of her life. I couldn’t be more proud of her!

Before we finished, Steve caught Stacey busting through the finish line with a rockin’ PR!!

You PR that shit, Stacey!!

Then at the very end, Jason picked it up a little and finished a few seconds before Bethany and me.

So serious!

Shortly after, Bethany rocked it out and pulled out a sub 9 pace for the last stretch. I finished with the biggest grin on my face.

Running is fun!!

WHEEEEE!!! I love running!!!! Usually at the end of a race I hate running. This was a pleasant change 😉

After the race, we headed over to Papago Brewing Company for food and drinks, where we met up with Nacho.

And Miriam and Scott who were visiting from Indiana.

Jason and Nacho had been to Papago Brewing Company before, finding it after we had all been huge fans of their brews at various other restaurants. The beer selection was ridiculous, and the food was incredible! Almost everyone ordered pizza.

Everything I tasted was delicious, and I absolutely loved the atmosphere of this place! I was worried it was going to be a little stuffy since it’s in Scottsdale, but it was definitely beer people atmosphere if that makes sense. I absolutely loved it and will definitely be back in the future!

Final funny note: I mentioned to Steve that he didn’t get a single picture of Nicole after the race began and he commented “She ran by so fast at the end, the camera couldn’t focus on her!” Nice job, Speedy Gonzales. 😉

Nicole’s Birthday @ Pizzeria Bianco

April 12, 2012 · by Ari · 3 Comments

If you live in Arizona, and maybe even if you don’t, you’ve probably heard of Pizzeria Bianco. Several reviews call it the best pizza in the United States. It is a tiny little restaurant in downtown Phoenix, and they are known for their delicious, wood oven baked pizzas, and their outrageous wait times. I’ve heard up to 4-5 hours!! And people wait. There’s a bar next door that I’m sure gets a ton of business as people go through multiple bottles of wine waiting for their chance at some pizza.

I had tried to get a reservation there for my birthday, but was told you need to make them about 1-2 months out (YIKES!!). Also, they only make them for parties of 6 or more. For Nicole’s birthday, we made a plan pretty far out in advance, that we would brave the wait times and finally get to try this place.

I want one of these in my house. I'm counting on Lance to make that happen. Nicole's husband has magical powers. Like building ovens, fixing electricity, and changing light bulbs. Yes, I do find changing a light bulb magical. I would be too lazy to even consider it until I had to get out the flashlight app on my phone.

Oh look, my favorite food! Maybe they should create a race special to end right out front and at the end, instead of a medal, they just give you a loaf of bread. A girl can dream...

To our surprise, we were seated immediately! Apparently 6pm on a Tuesday night is the time to get your pizza fix, friends! I was pretty impressed with their fancy glass coke bottles.

It was really nice to get to know some of Nicole’s friends! They were super awesome and fun (obviously, because awesome people keep awesome company 😉 )

The Birthday Girl aka my BBFF. Nicole, that means Blog BFF. I created that title just for you. I hope you like it and don't think I'm a freak. 😉

Sheena...I hope I spelled that right!

Kevin

Camille

I have no idea who that crazy is with the cute husband.

We all ended up ordering a different pizza, and I have to say, none of them disappointed!

Steve and I shared this one. It's called the Rosa and has rosemary, pistaccios, and red onions. It was soooo flavorful!! It was like my tastebuds were having a party like that little rat in Rattatouie!

Nicole's pizza. I know it had ricotta cheese and arugala. It was also super delicious, but I liked mine better 🙂

Lance's pizza....it had....meat. So descriptive, I know. I didn't taste it, but he liked it!

I don't remember who ordered this or what it was, but it looks good!

And the winner issss....! Oh yes, that is my pizza again.

Everything was delicious. I seriously could not get over how bold the flavors were. I don’t think I would wait 4 hours, but I would absolutely go back again!

After dinner we took some pictures. I know, you’re shocked.

BBFFs. This could get awkward real quick if Nicole tells me this term is totally unacceptable and ridiculous.

Then we went back to Nicole’s house for dessert, which of course means I have an other recipe to share with you soon.

This birthday girl knows how to cut some brownies!

I had so much fun celebrating with Nicole and her friends! I feel so honored to be a part of her real life friends group, and to have such an amazing friend in my life!! Happy birthday Niole!!!

Spin & Speed (the legal running kind)

April 4, 2012 · by Ari · 3 Comments

It’s Wednesday, which means tomorrow is Thursday and then Friday Friday gotta get down on Friday! Oh Rebecka Black. I wish you’d come out with an other song for me to make fun of. I so enjoyed the first one. Now that you’re super impressed by my knowledge of the days of the week, let’s talk about something slightly more exciting. Like how yesterday was the BEST SPIN CLASS EVER!!!! Why?? Well, they accidentally over filled the class and so Linda chose not to ride so someone could have her bike. This meant she had the entire hour to walk around checking our gears and our pace. Some people may not prefer this, but in case you didn’t notice, I have teacher’s pet syndrome. I want nothing more than the approval from my teacher and since usually I am the teacher, I have to get this in my work out classes. ~~And also I make Steve constantly give me praise.~~ Seriously, even in college I hung my papers up on the refrigerator. Remember that Heather? Our fridge was covered in theatre history exams.

Anyway, Linda came over to me a few times and didn’t tell me to pedal faster and didn’t adjust my gear like she did to some people which I took as a sign that I was at the right place. Then we were on the biggest hill of the class and I was dripping sweat and pedaling along at gear 20 when she came over, looked at my display and told me “GOOD JOB!!!!!” Actually I believe her exact words were “Good girl” kind of like I’m a dog, but I’m totally fine with that. In fact my ballet teacher used to say that all the time, and I always found it cute and not patronizing like she found me to be a puppy. This dubbed Tuesday April 3rd 2012 as best spin class ever.

You know what’s weird? Writing about my training these days. I felt like when I was training for PF Chang’s everything was so new and every long run was worthy of a recap and I had so many thoughts and so much to say. Now that I’ve run 2 half marathons, talking about how I ran 10 miles doesn’t seem all that exciting. You know what I am super pumped about though? Speed work!!

This will be me by the time RnR Seattle rolls around!

Without a doubt, my favorite part of this new training plan. Maybe I’m not breaking any PDRs right now, but speed training is super new to me and I am absolutely loving following a real training plan. I mean I know that Smart Coach doesn’t actually care if I do his/her/it’s work outs, but it makes me feel accountable, and I am really appreciating having the speed goals set out for me ahead of time. The question I kept asking all my smart runner friends (or smart runners that I think are really cool and want them to be my friend) is

“But how fast do I goooo????”

I honestly had no idea. Well Smart Coach is…smart. He knows. Actually, I think she’s a woman. Because she’s so smart. She knows 😉 Today she told me to run 5 miles including 1 mile warm up, 3 miles @ 9:13, and a 1 mile cool down. I woke up, avoided going outside because I was not excited about going for this run, and sure I was going to suck. Way to stay positive, Ari. Then I started and felt AWESOME. My warm up felt light and I was really enjoying being outside and running. I started my first tempo mile, looked down at my garmin to see an 8:37 pace flash up. COOL! But definitely not sustainable, so I chilled out a little and backed off and my tempo miles ended up looking like this

9:11

9:01

8:47!!

So I’m so serious about this no cheating/pausing business that I even ran around a parking lot during my first tempo mile so I wouldn’t have to stop. But then I got pissed in the last one because I had to stop and use the bathroom, and I know that little breather made my last mile faster, so while I was super excited about it, I don’t feel like that last one is completely legit, and I’m annoyed because I didn’t want to stop. Whatev, I still killed my tempo goal and ended on total runners high!

It’s different to feel that kind of excitement and not have it be after a long run. It’s weird to say “I had the most awesome 5 mile run today!!!” But with the slow and steady approach to long runs (that I probably should have followed more closely all along), I find then nice, but less exciting and fulfilling if that makes sense. I mean, I know they need to get done, but running faster? Now that is something that makes me excited! Meeting and exceeding goals? Sign me up!

I seriously can’t wait to run an other race and see what I can do! Pat’s Run is coming up which is 4.2 miles. I *think* if I really push and run with Speedy Gonzales, I can run with a sub 9 min/mi average. That’s the goal.

Ohhh, and lastly, last night I had dinner with some fabulous AZ Blogger ladies, and somehow ended the night with only a lame picture of my salad. Sad. It was really nice to see Emily and Estela again, and to finally meet Ali! As usual, I carpooled with Nicole, and made her late. I suck. After dinner, Nicole and I grabbed fro yo (Umm, I think if neither of us felt embarrassed about it, we would end up meeting for fro yo about twice a day) and sat and chatted for a while (naturally). Man you get the two of us Chatty Kathys together and we could probably talk for a week straight! By the waaaayyyy, Monday is Nicole’s birthday in case you wanted to head over to her blog and wish her a happy birthday, ~~or by her a BMW~~.

I’m off to work. Have a fabulous day everyone!!

What motivates you when it comes to work outs/training plans?? What part makes you the most excited?

Blogger Meet Up @ Piestewa Peak & La Grande Orange

March 12, 2012 · by Ari · 5 Comments

Saturday after our bike ride of near death, Nicole, Carolyn and I met up with Diana, Marisa and Estela for a hike at Piestewa Peak. After the bike ride, I honestly was not really in the mood to hike anymore, but once we got going, I stopped being lame and started to enjoy myself. I’m no expert on hiking, but this one seemed…nice? You know, like a nice uphill walk with cacti 🙂 Haha, if you want to actually hear anything legit about hiking, you should just go to Diana’s blog because she’s basically an expert. In fact, she even knows all of these weird hiking rules–did you know there were rules??? Like she knew what to say to all the people we passed, and talked about things like right of way that I didn’t even know existed on a mountain!

Look! Nicole and I are hiking! And there's a mountain.

Marisa, Carolyn, Estela, Diana, Nicole & Me

**Hike photos courtesy of Marisa**

After the hike, we hopped back on our bikes and headed to La Grande Orange where we met up with Emily, Megan and Stacey. You better believe after a 30 mile bike ride I was ready for some wine! Emily and I split a bottle of pinot.

I have way too many pictures that look just like this...

As soon as we sat down, the manager sent out an appetizer for us to sample. Whooohooo, I think it was my first special foodie blogger treatment! And all thanks to Nicole for slipping that into an email to the manager 🙂

Guac, salsa, and pimento dip. All super delish!

Emily and I also split a salad with oranges, goat cheese and avocado (that I inhaled before it even occurred to me to snap a photo) and a pizza with goat cheese, tomatoes, roasted corn and avocado. Ummmm, yum.

OMG!!!! It's real pizza!!!! Probably my favorite food, but I very rarely eat it, unless it's at home and all skinnified. This was ahhhhmazing.

They even had gluten free crust!

Carolyn got the same pizza on the gf crust. I almost wished I would have ordered mine that way because I love a thin and crispy crust!

Then I insisted we take funny pictures. Naturally.

YAY!!! I got Emily to agree to a silly picture!!!

I also have a lot of pictures that look like this one.

I had such a great time with these girls! We have such an amazing group of AZ Bloggers!

Emly, Carolyn & Megan

Stacey & Nicole

Marisa & Me

Carolyn, Megan, Marisa, Stacey, Nicole, Emily & Me

**Photo courtesy of Marisa**

During dinner, Nicole and Emily announced that they have been hard at work at a super awesome new project!!!

The AZ Bloggers Network!!!

The Arizona Bloggers Network will be a place to organize, promote, and connect with other female Arizona bloggers. You don’t have to be a food/fitness blogger to join–just a woman who lives in Arizona and has a passion for blogging. You can head over and register your blog for free! So all you bloggers out there, come and join us! We like people!

After an amazing evening, Nicole’s husband Lance was kind enough to pick us (and our bikes) up @ LGO, and then we convinced him to that a Yogurtology stop was a necessity.

Husband of the year award--picking up his wife and her 2 crazy friends that were silly enough to bike from Mesa to PV.

Oatmeal cookie, salted caramel and butterfinger with graham cracker, butterfinger and nutella on top. I usually stay away from the candy toppings, but after the riding and the drinking I totally caved, haha.

fro yo shirt.”]fro yo shirt.”]Then we tried really hard to take jumping pictures…for a change.

SUCCESS!!!! Except, apparently Lance was zoned out during my lecture about how snapping a photo at any moment in time where it looks like I may have a double chin is unacceptable and grounds to end our friendship forever. Buuuuttt, we were all in the air, so I am posting my second and third chins for the world to see.

And my chins make an appearance here too, but this picture cracked me up. I don't know what I'm doing or why Nicole is a Charlie's Angel, but I find this picture to be pretty awesome.

I can’t say enough what an awesome time I had!! I’m so excited for the new AZ Bloggers Network, and thanks so much to Emily & Nicole for setting it up, and to Nicole especially for putting this whole meet up together!

Girls Night & Biking Through Death Hills

March 11, 2012 · by Ari · Leave a Comment

Hello little blog! Long time, no see. I missed you. Unfortunately, up until this weekend, my week was pretty boring, so I decided to wait until I had cool things to talk about, and now I do. 🙂

I had a pretty fantastic weekend. Friday morning I got off to a rough start, but with the help of some amazing friends being super kind and thoughtful, and giving me some time to get my act together, by mid afternoon I was feeling more like myself. Nicole joined me as my date to see my show, and then we met up with Carolyn for our long awaited girls night. We walked to Macayo’s for dinner and margaritas–they had skinny margs which always makes my heart happy! We had a delicious dinner outside by the lake, then walked back to my house. We were all exhausted, but proceeded to stay up talking until 1am when we finally all started falling asleep mid conversation.

The next morning, we got up, I made them my weird breakfast that I eat pretty much every morning (Greek yogurt + canned pumpkin + chia seeds + fruit + cinnamon + cereal) and we made gluten free blueberry donuts. They came out delicious, but you know what did not? The glaze I tried to make. I read that you could make your own powdered sugar in a blender with sugar and corn starch. Ummm, the glaze tasted like dirt. Carolyn and Nicole called it “earthy”, but that is a nice word for dirt. That’s okay, because I only glazed 3, so we had lots of good ones left over and glaze free!

So for the past week or 2, I’d been trying to convince Nicole and Carolyn that we could ride from my house in Mesa to our blogger meet up at Piestewa Peak. Nicole was pretty doubtful, but I twisted her arm and refused to let go until she said yes. I thought this was going to be the best thing ever, and at first it was! We had this awesome game plan and the first few miles of the ride felt great, and I was feeling so proud of myself for my cross city biking, until we realized it was 3pm–the time we were supposed to be meeting all our fellow Phoenix bloggers–and we were still 10 miles away. Whoops.

Then we finally got close to Piestewa Peak and the hills took a turn for the RIDICULOUS! I kept telling Nicole that we would be totally fine, because I had never felt so tired from biking that I thought I would need to stop. Okay, so maybe if I’m on a flat road and there’s no wind, and I can go 12 miles an hour that might be the case, but these hills were KILLING me! I think I even used the words “AHHHHH!!! This is harder than a half marathon!” Nicole and I were dying while Carolyn just kept going like it was nothing. At this point I was sure my friendship with Nicole was over and she would never forgive me for making us almost an hour late to our blogger meet up and then almost killing her on the death hills.

The good news is we arrived, not dead at all!!! And Diana, Marisa and Estella seemed to not hate us too much for being super lame and late. Either that or they are just really great actors, and they should be in my next play, because I am totally buying that although I was totally lame and made us all late, they still maybe want to be friends with me 🙂

I am so so sad that we didn’t get any pictures of us on our biking adventure, because in the end, I would still say it was a pretty awesome experience, and I felt like we were pretty awesome for doing it! Lots more to say about the blogger meet up….coming soon!