Flagstaff

I turned 25 yesterday.

On Friday, after I frantically finished a project, we headed up to Flagstaff for a short little trip. On the way up we stopped at the outlet malls. Now that manufactures create clothes exclusively for outlet malls, I feel like all stores have the exact same things - targeted to almost the exact same customer. I went to Gap, Anne Taylor, Banana Republic, Calvin Klein, J Crew and BCBG. With the exception of BCBG and Anne Taylor there was really a huge lack of design - everything was the same. Anne Taylor was set apart by some really nice dresses. Dresses, that if my stomach were not baloomining (yes, that is a word) I would have probably tried on and then put back on the rack. I am having an increasingly difficult time finding clothes that I like at a price I can afford. The dress I would not have put back was still $200 at an outlet mall. . . well, I would have put it back because of the price.

I think that perhaps the greatest setback to shopping is Jonathan. He is a very well behaved baby. . . but shopping with a baby, I just can't stand it.

We made it to Flagstaff right around sunset. Our hotel was nothing to write home about, but was significantly better than the "Relax Inn" that we had stayed at down the road a few years earlier. When we stayed there our shoes never came off and we slept in our sleeping bags on top of the bed. Even with this room being so much better, we still made Jonathan stay in his pack-n-play the whole time. I dunno, I just like knowing where my floor has been. . .

We slept in Saturday morning and then went hiking around 11:30. The weather was so nice, and was almost cold at times. The hike I picked out was. . . child friendly. It was suppose to end at a lake. However, that lake was dried up, so we ended up hiking further than we were suppose to and down several different "trails" that eventually ended into nothingness. One ended at the top of  some rocky cliffs. I insisted that we climb down them, Kyle insisted that the hike was "child friendly," I said, "Kids climb all over everything." So we climbed down. After about 5 minutes I was convinced that we were not going to find a lake at the bottom. So we climbed back up and had our little picnic.

Cheese, crackers, salami from Trader Joes, almonds, hard boiled eggs and apples. . . all taste so much better when you don't have a baby with you who has watery eyes and a runny nose because the wind is blowing dust into his face in 40 mile an hour gusts. It was so windy! The sound of the wind rushing past my ears was like standing next to a huge waterfall. On the hike going "to the lake" everything was fine because the wind was at the back of Jonathan's head, however on the way back it was blowing right in his face. So I carried him back the rest of the way. . . okay, Kyle helped too.

In retrospect, I think this was the lake. 

All in all it was a very nice hike. I think the only thing I would change in Jonathan's hat . . . he needed one that fastened under his chin, because he kept pulling his ballcap off.

Back in Phoenix, Kyle took me to the the House of Tricks for dinner. Kyle had been keeping this place a secret from me, but, he had also told me that the place we were going to was not very expensive. So the entire way there we kept driving past hole in the wall Mexican and Asian food places and I just kept thinking, "oh, please no."  Apparently what he meant by not expensive, was "not expensive when your work place has given you $$$ to take your employees out for a nice meal and entertainment, and you go during lunch time." House of Tricks is by far the best restaurant that I have been to in the Phoenix area. It was very much like Les Bourgeois in Rocheport, Missouri - with the exception that it was not a winery.

 We had a cheese and fruit plate that was . . . out of this world. With this pregnancy, good food has given me goose bumps and made my toes tickle. The cheese plate had praline pecans that came with it. . . praline pecans are soooooo good with fruit and cheese! I had no idea! By the end of the night Kyle was just rolling his eyes at me because I was trying them with everything. . . turns out they are good with the "Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Bacon-Fig Gastrique, Aged Manchego Cheese Potatoes,
 Watercress and Truffle Oil" too.