Why I Love Arizona (even when it's 110+ degrees)

This is the time of the year I hate...I've given up leaving the house much, my air conditioner chugs away to keep the house at 82 degrees, the kids are bored, and we've all watched more Jungle Book than I'd care to admit.


Crafty, cake decorating friends have been telling me about the ABC Baking Cake Decorating store for a while now. But, I'm not crafty or good at baking, so I figured it wasn't for me.


However, in a moment of desperation last week, I had a moment of inspiration--I could bribe Asher and Luke to be good with the treat of going to this store to pick out their very own sprinkles for decorating sugar cookies. I thought, "It'll probably be about $10, but I don't care. We'll slip this into the budget somehow."


The boys were good, and we went with my mom to pick out the sprinkles. They had car sprinkles, alphabet sprinkles, little Micky Mouse sprinkles. Our family's only complaint would be that they had no train sprinkles. Sigh...


But, each boy picked their sprinkles: Asher got some plain primary colored dots, and Luke is loving his butterfly sprinkles. Then, I got some cute muffin papers (you probably can't tell from the picture, but they're safari themed). And, our grand total? $4!


If I bought the same things at a grocery store (and mind you, they don't have butterfly sprinkles), I would have paid at least $10.


ABC Cake Decorating
2853 E Indian School Rd
Phoenix, AZ 85016-6857

Why I Love Arizona (even when it's 110+ degrees)

I guess this series can officially begin now. (Who thought we'd be so lucky to have had the coolest June since 1913?)


I love Arizona right now because it has Tempe Splash Park, which in and of itself is super fun for the boys. They run around--though Luke actually prefers to run around OUT of the water on the hot rocks and pavement-- and get good and tired. So, they take lovely, long naps, which makes Tempe Splash Park super fun for me.

Unforunately, it's often very crowded. I'm thinking of buying my kids some neon-colored shirts so I can spot them more easily.



In our extensive trips to Tempe Splash Park, we have learned that Monday mornings are the least crowded, but if you can wait for an overcast day, the splash park is darn near deserted (even though it's still 103+ degrees).

We compound our fun by stopping by Sonic for some $.99 drinks (Diet Coke with lemon for me, Blue Water for Luke, and Sprite for Asher) and driving along with the Light Rail.

If Asher and Luke wrote this series, they would include one about the Light Rail. I would except for the tantrums that get throw when it's time for us to turn away from the Light Rail's path.

Why I Love Arizona (even when it's 110+ degrees)

I've been waiting for the weather to get really hot to start my series that reminds me why I like living in Arizona during these months when I hate living in Arizona. But, really, I can't complain because June 2009 had the nicest weather since 1913. 1913!

And, I've been meaning to write this post since I first moved back to AZ a few years ago.

I love Arizona and the Middle Eastern Bakery and Deli. They make the BEST baklava (how great is it to have a place that makes great baklava? I like to tackle culinary challenges and this is one that I know I'd never have the patience for), their own pita bread fresh every day, their tahini is always fresh (have you ever had rancid tahini? It tastes like oily dust), and their spices cheap (and fresh). They make an effort to know me and my kids, and they walk me and the kids to my car to help me carry my one bag and the two year old who would love to run out onto 16th Street.

Someday when my kids are in school, I'm going to have lunch there.

Why I Love Arizona (even when it's 110+ degrees)

Ok, so I've totally stopped doing this series because frankly, I haven't loved Arizona for about a month and a half. I'm tired of sweating all. the. time. I'm tired of hearing the air conditioner chugging away all day to keep it below 80 degrees. (Sometimes it succeeds)

Like the Bostonian in March (or April--yikes!) who can't imagine a time when they won't need their scarves tied around their head, a Phoenician in September can't imagine a time when they will ever want any sort of bed covering over them at night.

But, my sister, Rachel has inspired me with her post about Carolina's, a family favorite. It's in downtown Phoenix, Mojave and 12th Street, in a pretty rough neighborhood. Their tortillas are SO good and huge! But, I'm with Rachel, the bean and potato burrito is to die for!

Why I Love Arizona (even when it's 110+degrees)

My mom took me to this cute little French pastry shop last week. Luke and I split a delightful goat cheese and spinach omelette, but I was very tempted by the grilled brie sandwich. All the entrees come with a tasty spring mix side salad and delicious house dressing, like a sweet (but not too sweet) balsamic vinegrette.

It also has the prettiest desserts I've ever seen. The fruit desserts looked so good, I almost went for one (lemon tart, rasberry/lychee glass, perhaps?). But, then, I came to my senses and ordered a lovely dark chocolate tart.

That trip made me want to be a pastry chef.

Oh wait, I forgot--I'm a horrible baker.

Why I Love Arizona (even when it's 110+degrees)

The heat and I are not friends, so I thought it would be good to do some posts during the summer to remind me about the good things here.

I love that our local NPR station fundraises two times a year for 4 days each! In Boston, I swear they had a fundraiser once a month. Drove. Me. Crazy.