Ari's Menu

Little changes making a big difference.


Pumpkin Beer Cakes

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This recipe brought to you thanks to my amazing friend Polly.

One day she wrote on my facebook requesting “pumpkin beer pumpkin cupcakes”. You, my friend, are brilliant.

Is there anything that screams fall more than pumpkin cupcakes made with pumpkin freaking beer? And oooooomg. These are not only the softest cupcakes I have ever tasted (yes, EVER), but the pumpkin flavor is so bold, and tasted like absolute perfection. The top even got this incredible texture that I don’t even know how to describe–almost like a cookie with the slightest crunch on the edges and a perfectly gooey center? That’s kind of what happened here.

Obviously I had to make a pumpkin beer glaze to go on top. Duh.

Don’t get me wrong, the glaze is awesome, but I found the cupcakes to actually be perfect on their own. It depends on how sweet you like them. The glaze is reaaalllll sweet. I mean, glaze is essentially powdered sugar so, ya know… Steve loved the glaze (he likes his desserts with a side of insulin), but I preferred mine plain.

I’m telling you, before the season is over and you are totally sick of pumpkin (does that really happen to people!?), do yourself a favor and make these cupcakes. Then drink the rest of the beer because, well, it’s the holidays… 😉

 

Pumpkin Beer Cakes

yield 1 dozen

  • 6 tbs pumpkin puree
  • 3/4 cup + 2 tbs turbinado sugar
  • 1 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/2 tbs corn starch
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • dash salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 cup pumpkin beer + more for brushing the tops
  • 1/2 cup + 2 tbs unsweetened vanilla almond milk

For the Pumpkin Beer Glaze

  • ½ cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • dash salt
  • 1-2 tbs pumpkin beer

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375. Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners and spray lightly with nonstick spray.
  2. In a medium bowl combine flour, corn starch, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat together pumpkin and sugar. Combine almond milk, vanilla  and pumpkin beer in a measuring cup or small bowl.  Alternately add flour mixture with beer mixture to the pumpkin and sugar starting and ending with dry ingredients until combined, scraping down sides of the bowl when necessary.
  3. Evenly divide the mixture between the 12 muffin tins and bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean.
  4. Let stand for 1-2 minutes, then use a toothpick or thin fork to poke several holes in each cupcakes. Brush each cupcake 2-3 times with extra pumpkin beer and let stand for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
  5. If you would like to add the glaze, combine powdered sugar, pumpkin pie spice and salt in a medium bowl. Very slowly, add in pumpkin beer whisking constantly until it reaches your desired thickness. Careful, a small amount of liquid goes a long way with powdered sugar. Glaze cupcakes and serve.

 

 

Skull Valley Challenge

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Last weekend was a super special weekend! It was the first time Steve and I got to switch places, as I went to cheer him on for his first “race”. I call it a race, but it was untimed and they called it a “ride”. Well, he goes for a “ride” like, umm, every day so that doesn’t sound quite fancy enough for me. There was a starting line, and a finish line, so in my mind it was a race. Steve left for Prescott to get acclimated with the elevation on Wednesday. Remember how us Phoenix folk do with mile high elevation? I had to work, so I left with Jason on Saturday afternoon. On the way up, we decided to get married.

Sorry Steve. I know I’m supposed to be coming to see you, but Jason and I are in ring pop love.

We arrived just in time to head over to the bib pick up with the boys.

HE HAS A BIB!!!

Cycling besties. They’re in like, straight man friend love.

After bib pick up, we headed to The Raven Cafe for dinner.

Raven Cafe  is a super cute restaurant in downtown Prescott with a unique menu, coffee bar, and big beer and wine selection. Jason and I ordered a couple of beers to start.

Mine: Nut brown mmmmmm

Jason got this super intense Black Butte with a bunch of roman numerals after. It was DARK, and definitely a sipping beer, but we were both fans.

Look! It also comes in a fancy glass. Sorry bar tender lady, you’re on the blog, but it’s just your hand. Apparently I couldn’t wait until we sat down to start photographing. I’m a little impatient 😉

They have a really cool outdoor upstairs patio, and the weather was perfect, so we enjoyed dinner up there.

I’m a proud wife. And that lady in the background is apparently REAL freaked out by us taking a picture. CALM DOWN WOMAN!!!

I ordered a turkey sandwich that came with cranberry sauce, cream cheese, avocado and tomato–ohhhhh my gosh, it was so delicious! I got tortilla soup for my side which was also good, but the sandwich was definitely my favorite part!

After dinner, we went back to Dan’s and turned in early so the boys could get some sleep before the race ride. The next morning, Steve and Dan rode their bikes down to the start while Jason and I ran down to meet them.

Before we knew it, they were off, and I was pretty much the only person yelling and cheering like a crazy fool. Once they were out of site, Jason and I finished our run and ended out 3.5 miles at breakfast at The Sweet Potato Cafe. After breakfast we walked around, got coffee, and went back to work on a big obnoxious sign to hold at the finish.

Unfortunately, Steve didn’t end up having the best ride. The course was ridiculously tough and had about 4,000 ft of elevation gain over 54 miles. Around mile 37, the constant uphill just got to be too much, and he had to drop out. Bike races are serious business, man. If I get tired during a race, I just walk, but what do you do on your bike? You can’t walk it up the hill. I mean, I guess you can, but if you don’t do it all on the bike, does it really count? Anyway, he did the best he could at this point in his training, and I was still a proud lady! It just means next year he’s going to kill it!

Steve actually had a really great attitude about the whole thing. Of course he was disappointed, but he truly knew that he had done the best he could on that day. I really admire that about him. I spend a lot of time beating myself up and crying in the car after not performing the way I had hoped, and he just understood where he was that day, made some goals moving forward, and moved on. I absolutely feel like he still succeeded, and I feel beyond proud that he set out for such a challenging course on his first race ride!

How do you handle not living up to your expectations on race day? Ever done a bike race? What do you do if you can’t pedal up the stupid hill anymore?!?!?!

Beer Floats

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I have a few favorite things in life. Puppies, my husband, Seinfeld reruns, fro yo, beer, peanut butter, cilantro…. The list goes on. I’m not really someone who feels luke warm about things. There’s “OMG I freaking love ____ so much, I would poke my eyeballs out of my head if I could never see/have/eat it again!!!” and “Ew, gross.” Yes, I have the love scale of a teenage girl.

I don’t want to live in a world where my favorite things can’t go together. In my world, which is a little bit like Neverland–all whimsical and idealistic with no real sense of grown-up-ness, all the things I love fall magically into place, so that after a 15 mile run, I can sit down to pour myself a delicious dark, sweet beer.

I can scoop fro yo on top, and enjoy a grown up rootbeer float.

Okay, so you might think I’m a total freak, but listen, my first beer float experience was at The Ale House in Moscow (Idaho, not Russia) with my college bestie and foodspiration, Heather. We were both skeptical, and in true fashion of both of our tastes, she ordered hers with the huckleberry ale, and I ordered mine with the vanilla bourbon stout (oh my gosh, vanilla boubon stour, PLEASE COME BACK INTO MY LIFE!!). They were both absolutely delicious, but I’m guessing you know which one was my favorite…

Celebratory dessert done in about 90 seconds, and gone in about an equal amount of time. You better believe this baby will be reappearing after my very first 17 miler that’s coming up this Friday! What can I say? I’m a girl who likes to celebrate 😉

Beer Float

yield 1

  • 1 bottle ice cold sweet beer of choice; stouts and porters work great (I used oatmeal stout. You can also use a lighter, fruity beer, but for the love, please do NOT use Bud Light, or, worse,  PBR. Just don’t do it.)
  • 2 scoops (approx 1/2 cup) nonfat vanilla frozen yogurt

Directions:

  1. Chill your beer glass in the freezer for 30min-1 hour.
  2. Pour beer until glass is 1/2-2/3 full. Top with 2 scoops frozen yogurt.

In case you needed an example of my interpretation of 1/2-2/3 full 😉

The Great American BBQ and Beer Festival

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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!

Disneyland Road Trip Day 1

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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 🙂

 

Bethany’s House & Vintage 95

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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

Celebrations and Such

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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!

 

 

 

 

Boston Day 2: Salem

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Yesterday morning started with my first legit winter run. I mean, I’ve been running all “winter” in Phoenix, and the lows in Phoenix do get down there sometimes, but I don’t think it really counts. Yesterday I put on long yoga pants, tall socks, leg warmers, 2 long sleeve shirts, a sweat shirt, performance fleece, a hat and gloves. Ummm, I was regretting my top half a little bit. My face was so cold, but my middle body was totally over heated! Also, this neighborhood is super hilly. I don’t think I encountered flat road for more than 10 seconds. I was pretty proud of myself for busting out 2.5 miles with an average pace of 9:03. Not too shabby for winter/hills/vacation 🙂

After I got back, we made breakfast and then headed out to Salem. I have to be honest, I’ve never thought too much about Salem or the witch trials.

Oh, just all of us with our awesome porta potty friends.

I don’t think it was even in my school curriculum (Arizona schools are so awesome), but I found myself fascinated! It’s so hard to believe that at one point you could so easily be hanged just for being different. Our society isn’t perfect by any means, but looking back on things like this, I really do feel like we’ve learned a lot, and although our justice system is by no means perfect, we’ve come a long way.

We started by exploring the graveyard.

Whhheeeeeeee!!!!

Tree huggers

We looked at the “witches” grave stones and I found this one especially interesting. He refused to plead guilty or not guilty so they pressed him to death with stones to make him talk. He still refused, so for two days they stacked more and more stones on top of him until he finally passed.

After the graveyard, we went to the wax museum and explored downtown Salem.

After walking around for a bit, we stopped into Salem Beer Works for some drinks. Jason, Nacho and I each ordered the sampler with 4 oz samples of 4 different beers.

Yummmm. The Rustic Porter was definitely my favorite.

Steve just got the Black Stout which was also delicious and David ordered an Irish coffee. It was disgusting. Here is the evidence.

Steve got a candid of Lisa trying a sip.

There was no cream, no sugar. Just about half coffee and half whiskey. Holy hell. That’s a little too intense for this girl. I mean I like coffee, and I like whiskey, but I need some half and half in there or something! Yikes!

After Beer Works, we headed back to Rockport to make dinner at David and Lisa’s. More on that coming soon 🙂

Steak, Potatoes and Beer, Oh My

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I am a person who loves to be busy. Some may say I’m a workaholic, but I am MORE than happy to keep busy by celebrating and spending time with family and friends. Is there a job where they pay you to do that? I think what I do is actually probably as close as you get. Lucky me 🙂

Let’s catch up, shall we? 2 days before Christmas started out with the 2nd to last long run Kara and I will do before PF Chang’s. We planned for 10, but Kara has been sick for like 2 months straight and after 8 she just wasn’t feeling it, so we ended up walking the last 2 miles home. At this point, we’re ready and the ending walk where we were just able to chat felt really nice actually. We ended up covering just under 10 miles total in about 2 hours. Still not too shabby.

The past few weeks after my long run, I’ve had the craziest cravings for steak. I don’t really eat red meat, but the evening after a run, all I want to eat is a big, juicy fillet! Well, Friday night I finally got what I had been craving! Kara, Charlie and Hermano met us at our house before heading out to Whole Foods to pick out our meat and our drinks. I love the type of dinner party where everyone picks their own meat, Steve grills it all up and I make the side dish. So simple, and much cheaper than trying to buy steak for everyone (ummm Steve’s steak was $30).

Hermano and I each picked out a fillet, although his was 13 oz and mine was 6 haha. Steve and Kara both picked out massive rib eyes. Charlie picked out some chicken, and Hermano also picked up a pound of macaroni and cheese because he was skeptical about the side dish I had planned.

Kara and I also picked out some cherry stout and cappuccino stout. Delicious.

As soon as we were home and we had popped open our beers, Steve fired up the grill and I got to work on the taters.

Hard at work. Obviously. I actually think I was trying to put my hair up, maybe?

Soon enough, dinner was served!

That, my friends, is what a 1.3lb piece of meat looks like.

Hermano's pound of steak and pound of macaroni.

After trying my Maple Bacon Sweet Potatoes (don’t you worry, recipe is coming soon), Hermano regretted his decision not to get some himself, so 2 lbs of food later, he went back to get some.

Yes, that is the pan I cooked them in. Apparently I need to hit my growth spurt so I can polish off pounds of food at a time and still be thin.

Then, 2 beers later (apparently I’m a light weight because that was seriously all I could handle), we were watching The Muppets Christmas Carol and I decided to make dessert. Very tipsy, recipe-less dessert. I didn’t measure a single thing and I thought it was going to be a disaster, but the entire 8×8 pan was gone in about 10 minutes flat. No pictures. No recipe. Sad day. I do remember it included mashed banana, caramel and white chocolate chips. Maybe one day I’ll try to recreate it 🙂

 

Best Friends

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October 30th is one of my favorite days of the year. Why, you ask? My very best friend Bethany was born! I have a few friends that fall under best friend status, but I only have one Bethany. We’ve been friends for about 12 years. She has been there with me through all of my crazy times. She was there when I first experienced true loss. We experienced it together and because of her, I was able to get through it. She understands me in a way no one else in this world (not even Steve) does. We have watched each other grow up, change, evolve and become newer, better versions of ourselves. We have lived across the country, we have lived together, we have had fights ending in tears, and we have laughed harder than I ever knew I could laugh together. She is my rock. My person (for you fellow Grey’s Anatomy lovers). We get each other, and with Bethany I can always just be myself. I never have to pretend or put on a happy face or pretend I’m not excited about something nerdy. I can’t imagine my life without her.

Last night, we went out to celebrate! We started at Valle Luna where apparently the “tall” beer is the size of your head!

Whoops.

There was food. It was okay. Nothing special in my opinion. Well, Jason’s pollo fundido that went in the deep fryer and was then smothered in cheese was pretty delicious, but nothing else that I tasted had me all that impressed. But we sat outside next to the lake with the ducks that Kara and I often run at, which was lovely.

After dinner, we returned to mi casa for present opening, cupcakes and games!

I’m not a good person to share cards with, I took up all the space.

Bethy had been looking for a grey purse, but hadn’t found anything she liked, and she never splurges on nice things for herself, so Steve, Jason, and I pitched in together to get her this super cute grey Coach purse, with just a little color pop!

She loved it!! I was so happy! I LOVE gift giving!!!!

On the way home, we had stopped at Whole Foods for more beer. I definitely did not need more beer and in my tipsiness ended up spending $15 on Larabars and Mojo bars. Whoops. I was done with alcohol for the night 😉 The rest of the group got a few beers to try. Some we knew would be a success

However, some–Le Freak–were an utter failure. Bethany exclaimed “Le Freak sucks!!!” Jason made this face.

The puppies were very excited about all the extra attention company brought them.

“GET AWAY!!!!!! Aunt Bethany is paying attention to ME!!”

“Look, I’m cute, love me.”

“I love you new friend Liz! Please stay here forever. Mom says you might move to AZ. Please make it be true!!!!!!”

We ate NOT Skinnified Tres Leches cupcakes. Not everyone likes their birthday food skinnified, so I try to oblige 😉

And we played board games, laughed, and acted a little like children.

 

Thank you, Bernie for giving birth to the most amazing friend I have ever known and giving us reason to celebrate!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BETHY!!!!! LOVE YOU!!!!

Date Night: The Yard House

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With my crazy schedule, I almost started to forget what Steve looked like there for a while! Saturday my friend John Luke offered me comp tickets to go see a show with him after Aladdin tech, and as much as it would have been a great opportunity (he wanted to introduce me to a producer he works with), the idea of being at the theater all day, and then going and putting on my professional face and talking myself up seemed about as fun as shoving an ice pick in my eye to maybe not be the best choice for my mental health. Steve and I had been kind of talking about having a date, but I wasn’t sure what was going to be happening that night, so mid way through rehearsal I texted him and said “Date night!” He immediately responded asking where to which I replied “Anywhere new with beer.”

Last weekend he had gone to The Yard House with his brothers and told me they had over 100 beers on tap! I was obviously beyond jealous, so that is where he picked 🙂 Aaaaannnd the restaurant was super close to the theater so my amazing step dad ended up giving him a ride so I could meet him and only have one car. The Yard House has an upscale pub feel–you can drink beer and feel classy. Perfection. The second I sat down, I opened right to the beer page. I started with a vanilla porter that was absolutely delicious.

I tried to make it last as long as possible, but I am a fast drinker. I down my iced coffee in about 2 seconds, and when beer is delicious, it is hard for me not to just down it. Bad habit, Ari. Just before dinner arrived I ordered a blend of a chocolate stout and some fruity beer. I had high hopes.

But I did not like it AT ALL. Yuck. Gross. Icky. Boo. Luckily, Steve thought it was good.

“Look at meeee! I have two beers!” What is it with people and needing two of things? I’m not happy at home unless both of the puppies are sitting on my lap and I can pronounce “I have two puppies!” When I was little my dad would give me two desserts. One in each hand. It is seriously the best. I’m in tech week and Steve gets two beers? Boo. In gross beer’s place, I ordered a mix of the original vanilla porter with Sam Adams cherry wheat. This one was better, but honestly, I shouldn’t have messed with a good thing and I should have just stuck with what I was enjoying. I only ended up finishing about half of the second one. Trust me, I did not need any more haha.

For dinner, I ordered a roasted veggie sandwich on wheat bread with sweet potato fries.

I was sooooo hungry and it was beyond delicious. I only ate a few of the sweet potato fries, but they were so freaking good. So crispy on the outside, so soft and mushy on the inside and perfectly seasoned. Sweet potato fries are one of those eat sparingly foods that just make me so happy. I also really really love veggie sandwiches. It may not sound that exciting to you, but it’s something that I get all happy about when I see it on the menu. I’m weird.

Steve got fish. His was delicious. Mine was better 🙂

It was so amazing to get to spend some time just the two of us. I did not speak about work the entire night. After dinner, we walked around Scottsdale Fashion Square for a little bit, before heading home and being old and lame sitting on the couch and going to bed at 10pm. Perfection. I love my life long boyfriend. He makes my heart happy and my life full! Date nights are an important part of marriage or any relationship. Make them happen. You need it! 🙂

The highlight of my weekend

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I have a confession. Working this much definitely makes me want to drink more. Earlier this week after setting one of the biggest numbers in the show, I felt exhausted and came home, went straight to the fridge and grabbed a pumpkin ale. Then Friday night, I called Steve on my way home and asked if he wanted to get out of the house. We ended up at the Santan Brewery, each had a beer and called it a night. Then last night we had dinner plans with Jason after I got out of rehearsal. First we met up at hise house and I got to see my favorite niece Nico!

Nico, look at the camera!

I was tired from rehearsal and wanted iced coffee in a bad way. We stopped at a Starbucks that closed at 6pm. It was 6:01. Honestly, FML. So we popped into this old 50s-esque shop that claimed to serve coffee. All I saw on the menu was burgers and ice cream. Both things I loved, but we already had a dinner spot in mind. On the plus side, it was connected to this super cute vintage shop where Steve got to be artsy with the camera.

Finally, we went to a different Starbucks (I have a Starbucks problem), I got my iced coffee and we were off to dinner. We had decided to go to The Main Ingredient, a super cute restaurant downtown with fun outdoor seating. It used to be a house and is right on the corner of an old neighborhood. There was this super cool water fixture in the side yard area. We thought it was neat 🙂

The second I picked up the menu, I noticed this baby

White chocolate ale? Are you kidding me?! It might be my favorite beer ever. It is sweet, but still bubbly and not super heavy. Steve was supposed to share with me (it was 22 oz!), but then he took like three sips and gave me the rest. Yeah, thanks for that 🙂

Jason ordered one too. We were both pretty impressed. For dinner, I got a roasted veggie and goat cheese sandwich on focaccia bread. They give you a choice between salad or chips. I ALWAYS choose salad. I don’t know what came over me, but I ordered mine with chips!

Then ended up eating a total of about 4 chips haha. I guess I just wanted the option. But honestly, my sandwich and my beer were so delicious that I was set! Then, we migrated over to Four Peaks because I had never been there and they just recently came out with their seasonal Pumpkin Porter!

Jas and I got the pumpkin (duhhh—SOOOO good!, but white chocolate ale was better!) and Steve got some fruity beer. He cracks me up with his drinks. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him order a wine cooler if it was an option 🙂

On the way there, we had a natural disaster experience when we got stuck in a sudden 90 second dust storm. There were winds of what must have been very high mileage and rain and dust, and then in 90 seconds, it was back to being 95 degrees and still. Oh Phoenix. Once we got seated, it was like we were all 16 again or something. We were being totally immature, but cracking ourselves and each other up. I haven’t laughed that hard in such a long time. Jason seriously has one of the best senses of humor of anyone I have ever met. We always find the same things hilarious and laugh when no one else does. We saw Scary Movie 2 together about 7 times and laughed so hard every single time. Plus Steve always knows how to make me laugh. Jason gave us a fascinating demonstraion of how to smell and taste your beer which Steve captured perfectly on camera.

Then I had a surprise run in with my friends Kelsey, Marisa and Liz. I love those ladies and I hadn’t seen them in forever! It was such a nice surprise! We ended the night by meeting Bethany for frozen yogurt at Yo Love after a navigation experience that was so funny I could never fully explain. Seriously, I just spent the entire night laughing my face off. I really really love my friends!

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