Our Annual Newport Beach Vacation

Every summer for the past 15 years, my mom's family gets together for our annual beachhouse vacation in beautiful Newport Beach, California. This year was no exception. We just got back last weekend from spending 7 fun-filled days there.


After spending 15 summers in Newport, my family and I have found several little places that we just have to eat at while we're there. Here are my top three!

My first stop is usually at Jane's Corndogs. Oddly enough though, I've never had a corn dog there.

I go there for the frozen bananas covered in chocolate and rolled in peanuts! I absolutely love those things.

Next up, Seaside Donuts Bakery which had a line out the door every morning that I stopped in!

But it's well worth the wait for one of these guys.... a Jalapeno Ham and Cheese Croissant (ask for it warmed up and you'll be a happy camper!).

My sister and I always make a 20 minute walk in the morning to get these croissants! We sit outside on near the pier and eat them, they're usually gone in under 3 minutes flat! :)

Finally, a trip to Newport Beach is not complete unless we stop in at Sharkeez!

I wait all year for their fish tacos, they're the best. I have yet to find a fish taco here in Phoenix that's half as good as Sharkeez!

It is such a fun restaurant, the decor definitely gives off that beach vibe!

Two more things I love about Newport. Watching the gorgeous sunsets with my husband...

and dipping my toes in the freezing cold water!

Until next year Newport Beach!

Postino's Bruschetta

One of my favorite restaurants to go to in Phoenix on a warm afternoon is Postino. It's one of the first places my husband took me when we were just beginning to get to know each other. So it's always been a little special to me!

They recently opened up a second location located right in central Phoenix, on Central and Camelback so I just had to go and check it out.

One reason I love this place so much is the decor inside. It's just so cheerful!!

Technically, Postino is a wine bar. But I always have to order the Arnold Palmer... half lemonade, half iced tea. It's so good!!

There are so many delicious salads and sandwiches on the menu to choose from! But my favorite thing to order is the Bruschetta.

You get to choose 4 types of bruschetta from their selection of 11. I always go with the brie and apples with fig spread, roasted red peppers with goat cheese, salami with pesto, warm artichoke spread. I could eat it again and again!

Sedona- Where To Hike, Where To Eat

Sedona is always a fun little day trip to take from Phoenix. The drive is under two hours and the scenery is completely different than Phoenix.

We recently went on a hike at West Fork Trail. The drive to the trail is one of the most beautiful drives that I've been on. You take Hwy 89 A out of Sedona through Oak Creek Canyon. West Fork is a little past Slide Rock. It costs $9 to park your car, but the views are well worth it!

So many photo ops! Beautiful trees and mountains everywhere!My favorite part of the hike was all the little creek crossings. There are some great spots to get your feet in the water and even some spots that would be great for swimming!

After our hike we were starving and in the mood for a big dinner! I had read some great reviews for the Silver Saddle in Uptown Sedona so we decided to give it a try.

So glad that we did! I loved the ambiance of this place... it had an old school steakhouse feel with great country music like The Judds playing softly in the background. Very pretty restaurant.


As soon as we were seated, a server brought us each a complimentary taste of one of their appetizers. The husband and I both ordered the Handcut Ribeye Steaks. Best steak I ever had! Best mashed potatoes I've ever had! And awesome green beans! All topped with great little onion rings.


Along with our check, the server brought complimentary dessert bites. Blondies! We were so full that we could barely eat them. But of course, we managed somehow. Very good!

After dinner, we walked across the street to watch the sun set and to take in some great views of Snoopy Rock!

Las Vegas Road Trip

We had such a fun long weekend, we took a nice little road trip to Las Vegas. I like to go there every couple of years just to walk around, eat, eat, and eat. :) My online business has been doing so well (yay!!) that I wanted to celebrate! So I packed my husband, sister, and mom in the car (my dad had to work, boo!!) and treated them to a weekend in Las Vegas.

They had just finished the bridge over Hoover Dam so we did some sightseeing there and got to walk right over the bride. There were some awesome views there!

This time we stayed at the Mandalay Bay. It's a gorgeous hotel!!

We received four complimentary all day buffet passes with our package, so that made for a very fun day. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner all buffet style. We all got our fill of prime rib, crab legs, and shrimp cocktail.

The weather was just starting to warm up fortunately, so we got to enjoy their beach area. They have a wave pool and a lovely lazy river with fountains. We loved the pool area!!

We showed my mom and sister around some of my favorite spots in Las Vegas along the strip. The Venetian...



And the dancing fountains at the Bellagio! I just love those things!

The fountains were a hit with us... we watched the show 3 different times.

We ended our trip with a visit to Paris and we got our picture taken in front of the Eiffel Tower when it was all lit up! Now if only we could visit the REAL city of Paris sometime soon. :)

Spring Training Game

On the final day of Spring Training games, my sister and I decided last minute to go! The Diamondbacks game was sold out, so we headed over to the Talking Stick field in Scottsdale to see the Colarado Rockies vs. the Seattle Mariners.

Our first stop was for food, of course! I opted for nachos topped with jalepenos and they were delicious... until we found a hair on one of the tortilla chips!! My sister carefully removed the chip with the hair on it and said that we could still eat them. We both had about 2 more chips, but by then they had lost their magic, lol! :) Hairy nachos!! The field at Talking Stick was awesome. We had lawn seat so we just relaxed on the grass and got some major sun during the game.

I wish I would have known how fun the Spring Training games were, I would have gone to several. But now they're over until next Spring. And it's probably a good thing considering it just hit 100 degrees yesterday. :-(

Page Springs Cellars & Vineyards

On our way up to Williams this past weekend, we made a stop in a tiny town named Cornville. My sister-in-law has been telling us about Page Springs Cellars & Vineyards for a long time and we finally scheduled some time to go! I'm so glad we did!

Our first stop was the Tasting Room. We decided on a bottle of red wine and ordered some food to take out on the deck. They packed us up a little picnic basket and we took a short walk to the deck, which ended up being a beautiful spot with picnic tables.... ...with an amazing view right next to the creek. The deck is definitely the way to go! We ordered the Bistro Plate to share which came with an assortment of cheese, salami, nuts, dried fruit, olives, beans, and tomatoes. It went perfectly with our bottle of Chupacabra wine.

I can't wait to go back this summer when the whole area is blooming.

Stingray Sushi And A Evening Stroll Around The Biltmore

Last night was the first of my husband's 4 days off of work. Yay!! So to celebrate we went out for happy hour at one of our favorite places, Stingray Sushi! They have one of the best happy hour menus around. At least that I know about. And it's a beautiful place, huge windows that let in a lot of light! I love how open it is there.

I usually don't order a drink but this time I decided to try out their Raspberry and Roses cocktail because at happy hour all of their signature cocktails are 1/2 off. It was perfectly refreshing since we've been having such warm weather here in Phoenix.
We always sit at the sushi bar because it comes with complementary edamame and miso soup. I never used to like miso soup, but now that I've eaten it a couple of times I really have taken a liking to it. Tasty!!
For sushi we ordered the Shrimp Tempura Roll, Dragon Roll, and Spicy Tuna. Eric and I were fighting each other for the last couple of pieces, it was that good!
Afterwards, we strolled around the Biltmore mall and window shopped.

We looked around Pottery Barn and then I peeked inside the Coach store. I have a 25% off coupon that expires this week and I really would love to use it on a new leather bag. I really shouldn't right now though, I just bought a new purse recently. I'm still tempted though!

The First Movie In The Park Of The Season

Last night the hubby was working, but it was such beautiful weather out that my sister Emily and I decided to go to the first Movie In The Park of the season at Biltmore Fashion Park.

We made a quick stop at Paradise Bakery for some dinner to go! Emily got 1/2 Turkey Sandwich with Tomato Soup...


I got 1/2 Roast Beef Sandwich on a croissant and my favorite... the Southwestern Ceasar Salad!

We took our sandwiches and drinks (and chocolate chip cookies!) and settled in on the lawn for a showing of an old favorite, "The Seven Year Itch" with Marilyn Monroe. Such a funny movie!!

We have a pretty quiet weekend ahead. Eric is still trying to get over this cough/flu that he's been sick with this week, so today I'm sure he will just want to rest since he has to work tomorrow. This afternoon, I will be attending my sister's dance class to shoot some video for her while she's instructing. Have a great weekend!!