Last night I headed to Sheila and Evo’s house to celebrate Debbie’s birthday Hawaiian style. Second Hawaiian themed party I’ve been to this month, and it was as fantastic as I expected.

As it started out that day, I ran errands that afternoon to find something I was in the mood to bring, ingredients for a dish to take along, and Strongbow for Debbie. I was able to pick myself up some Boddington’s but four stores had no Strongbow? Ridiculous.

By the time evening came around I was ready to head out. First stop though? Coffee for me and then Bevmo to pick up Strongbow. I ordered a large mocha from Solo (mmmm), but on the way to Bevmo discovered a flaw in the cup. It was religiously dripping.. not only on my almost white new pair of jeans but my cup holder was holding about 1/8 of my mocha. Ugh. So there was a detour back to my house to change jeans as well as grab a Pipeline Porter to start the night off, as it has Kona coffee in it. I guess I jinxed myself with the slight mention on twitter that I was thinking about turning my awesome off.

When I finally arrived, I thought I had ended up at the wrong house on accident; it was way too quiet! Good thing I was wrong, because I was ready to party. I handed Debbie her Strongbow and opened up the porter. I was then lei-ed twice at once and thus initiated into party mode.

Sheila made the best red velvet cake, despite it not having a red coloration. I’m serious. It was damn good. And I know red velvet cake. It’s one of the only two cakes I really like. I think for my birthday I will have Sheila make me her red velvet cake and CJ make me her cherry cake of awesome.

There were so many awesome people there and it made me so happy to be invited and considered part of the gang. Sometimes I think I am still an outsider to Phoenix so it’s nice to know that I’m really not. You are all amazing friends. Truly.

Dancing happened. Talking happened. Drunk dials happened. Chaos happened. Good times happened. Sea Monkeys happened.

I also realized that I have been a small topic of conversation. I think I came across last night like it was a bad thing, but it really wasn’t. It was kinda cute and flattering really. You guys are awesome. I have such great friends. Now just hook me up with a man that fits my requirements and we are good!

Oy. Now it’s time for Monday to start.

I’ve officially spent 6 months in Phoenix.
Monday will be my 6 month mark at my current job.
Today marks 6 months of this blog.

Once I realized how long it had been, it made me surprised it had been that long already, while other people said it felt like I had been here longer. Whichever way you see it, I can say without a doubt that I am completely satisfied with the decision I made to accept a position here and am happier than I have been in a long time. Of course I miss my friends and family back in the Midwest dearly, but this has been a good move for me. I’m the farthest away from home I’ve ever been, and have really worked even more on my independence, happiness, courage, and life balance.

Today I went back and read my first blog post, and I have to admit, I am tearing up some, especially when I think about how the name for my blog came about, and re-reading the text message from my mother, and thinking about how important that message was.

“Been thinking of you all day. I am so proud of your courage and independence. Go far and be happy. Call when you get home to Arizona. Love, Mom.”

I don’t think I ever focused on the use of the word “home” in that message as I should have. Now that I think about it, I don’t recall another time that my mom has said home in any other manner than to mean my parents’ house.

Home. I truly am home here. I am also comfortable saying that now. I cannot describe how blessed I have been since I’ve been here. All my friends and family have been truly supportive even though we really miss each other. Likewise, I’ve been able to make some new friends, and lots of new acquaintances. Slowly but surely, I have pushed myself into the Phoenix scene.

I am home here because I was able to start a local group in Phoenix for the Interaction Design Association (IxDA). It was challenging, seeing as I didn’t have many connections here. Most of my connections were back in the Eastern Time Zone. It’s been very rewarding. We are already having our second meeting in a few weeks!

I am home here because I am thinking about actually becoming a first time home buyer.

I am home here because I have already had adventures that you truly only have when you are home; especially those embarrassing adventures.

I am home because I truly enjoy my job and look forward to going to work every day (almost).

I am home here because I can easily call it home. I see myself here.

I want to thank everyone for giving me the courage to start a new chapter here, and to everyone that welcomed me into Phoenix.

My weekend was so busy. Even though I was away from my family for the holiday, I didn’t feel alone at all.

Saturday I was invited to a barbecue. I wasn’t terribly hungry, but I don’t like to miss out on chances to see friends and well, who has ever known me to turn down Rock Band? Ended up being a dual birthday party as well and I had some fabulous to die for white cake with cherries in it. I know what my next birthday cake will be!

I met even more new people including Dani’s awesome sister and everyone’s absolutely adorable children! I don’t get a chance to be around kids as much anymore and while I don’t want to have any of my own, I absolutely *love* children. I got to play Rock Band with them and we spent some time coloring too!

Rock Band was a great time. I spent a lot of time drumming but was given the chance to belt out some tunes as well, which is always nice. After the party died down a bit, I was invited by Todd over to Kevin’s house for a birthday party of sorts last minute, so I drug Scott with me too. As with most nights involving multiple parties, it was a late one.

Sunday was a slow morning; your classic lazy Sunday. After mulling around for hours in the morning, I went to run errands. First was Ikea to pick up lamps for work. Yay for the Basisk in solving the stylish floor lamp with a dimmer quest. Next was the grocery store for items for dinner/lunches this week as well as to make salad for Easter dinner at Kerri and Eric’s. By the time I got back, it was almost 3 already. Party was at 4. It was a nice relaxing night at their house. We played a few board games and had a great dinner and some dessert. We chatted for a bit and before I knew it, it was almost 10pm and I was ready to crash.

It wasn’t a typical Easter, but nothing has been “typical” since I moved to Phoenix, and that’s the way I prefer it. Everything’s been an adventure and turned out fantastic in the end. I’d have it no other way.

I never really had a chance to enjoy the relaxation week I had planned the end of March, and I think it finally caught up with me. I spent most of this week falling asleep a few hours earlier than I normally do, but waking up every morning extremely refreshed and ready to start the day. I was able to get a lot accomplished at work, but then crashed and burned at home.

Last night, I was planning on going home and crashing on the couch, possibly having some friends over to chill with some movies and gelato. However, it was not long before I was swayed by my friend Jessica to head to the local East Valley gathering which was at O’Sullivan’s last night. I haven’t been to a gathering in weeks due to other plans with friends and visitors coming into town, and I think everyone thought I was dead. I’m glad I showed up and proved my existence.

I have to admit I was a little loopy and out of it from a long week and the longing for another long night of sleep, ended up walking past Jessica and sitting with some other “regulars” and an out of towner that I had the pleasure of meeting.

After hanging out at O’Sullivans for awhile I headed to Kirk’s for some well needed karaoke with CJ, Dan, Debbie, Scott the out of towner, and two other new people I had never met before! It was a fantastic night. I was thrilled they actually had my Erykah Badu song. Some guy in the bar came up after I finished singing Tyrone (my signature song) and told me I had a very pretty voice and I sang the song well. Awwww.

I had such a blast and it was a shame that I was way too tired to have after karaoke rock band. The drive home was filled with cops as well as rain that prevented me from opening my moonroof. However, it did not prevent the awesome 90s rap that filled my car on the way home

I want to thank Jessica for dragging me out, all my awesome Phoenix friends I have met, and my new friend Scott… oh and another special call out to Debbie for the great commentary on my night last night!

This weekend I had my first visitor here from the Midwest. My former coworker at Ford and friend Megan came in on Thursday evening and stayed until this evening. I was sick at the beginning of the week and was trying to relax and recover as much as I could. I think I did a fairly good job, but have a massive headache now, so I think I will be crashing early as I don’t have time to miss work this week!

I started off by picking her up around 7pm at Sky Harbor. From there we went immediately to operation food, which took us to La Grande Orange. I had the Mushroom Party pizza again. I just love that thing! Plenty left over to have again the next evening as well. I also tried the tropical iced tea for the first time and it was fantastic. Came with a delicious slice of orange. Afterwards, we rushed over to Space 55 in Phoenix to see the finals of the Phoenix Improv March Madness Party (P.I.M.M.P.). I was excited to see my friend Todd show up to the event as well. Also equally exciting was the fact that my friend Bob’s team, Searching for X, ended up winning the entire tournament!! There were festivities afterward as usual, but with Megan being 3 hours ahead due to jet lag, it was time for us to head home and sleep after.

Friday morning we headed out to breakfast at U.S. Egg near my house. Then we made a quick stop at my house before heading out to Scottsdale Stadium to see the Giants host the Indians in a cactus league game. It was the first cactus league game either of us had been to. It was super fun, and I am all over going to a ton of them next year. I saw by some eye candy that was fun to look at but too young to date Sat by some Indians fans but also our share of Giants. The Giants ended up kicking the Indians ass and we left before the 8th inning was over. We spent some time walking around Old Town afterwards. That evening we had an after work social event to go to. It was a bring an interesting beer to share party, and I found a great brew at Bevmo for the event. Kona Brewery’s Pipeline Porter. Kona coffee and a brew? FANTASTIC!!

Saturday we had a full day as well. We got up super early and wandered around the Old Town Farmer’s Market. Megan picked up a few items and then we had breakfast at Metro. It was phenomenal. I had bananas foster french toast and a mimosa. Mmmmmm. Pure heaven. We then picked up a friend and went to the South Mountain lookout and took some absolutely breathtaking pictures. On the way back we found a great little farmer’s market shop. I picked up some mouth watering looking cupcakes, some other produce, homemade bread for lunch and the best tangelos I’ve ever had. I had an hour or so to nap and then it was off to the pool/grill area in my development for a grillin’ spectacular party with some friends followed by some hot tub time! Yes!

Sunday we were up early to go to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum. I had been there once before, but ended up seeing entirely new areas this time that we didn’t have time for or realize were there the last. It was a gorgeous day. At the gift shop I purchased a book that had all the trails with secluded waterfalls and ponds and cliff diving. I cannot wait to check some of them out. Around lunch we headed to Los Hermanos for a great authentic Mexican lunch. Then it was time to get home for some relaxing before the return flight to Michigan. Of course there was some Rock Band before that!

Megan took more pics than I did so I’m sure I’ll have some eventually to show. I don’t feel like uploading mine now. It was a busy but fantastic weekend. I love showing people the beauty of Arizona, and of course get a great tan while I’m at it!

I’ve been way too incredibly busy lately. So busy I have have to miss two volunteering sessions on top of not having time to blog.

However, I did blog about the IxDA Phoenix event this week finally.

It’s available here:
http://ixdaphoenix.ning.com/profiles/blogs/inaugural-meeting-recap

Yep. That should get some attention.

I’ve realized lately that I am beginning to enjoy cooking a bit. I used to despise it and much preferred baking only. Alas, I don’t like going out all the time and have not found a chef to work for free yet, so I have been forced into cooking slavery. Good thing is I don’t really mind it.

What bothers me about it though is cooking for myself. This is not nearly as fun as cooking a dinner to eat with others. For the most part, I am not a roommate person, so there are nights when I tend to eat alone.

This needs to stop, and I know there are others that end up in this situation too.

Therefore, I think we should have dinner parties. At least twice a month have a few people gather and have dinner and some amazing dessert. The host could cook and the others could bring some dessert or wine. The dinner could be rotated every time.

Who’s in for this? I am so game and want to start now!! I have some great recipes up my sleeves! Could even make use of my pool/hot tub area when I cook!!

This edition of Grace :: Balance :: Courage is brought to you by the luscious orange trees gracing roads and parking lots throughout Maricopa County.

If you’ve spent any amount of time in Scottsdale, Tempe, or elsewhere in the Phoenix area, I know you’ve seen the gorgeous orange trees that typically line areas of road and parking lots. There are several of these spots near my house, and my office parking lot has plenty as well.

I’ve seemed to notice lately that no one seems to do anything with the fruit when it’s ready to pick. It just sits there, rots, and falls off the tree useless. Why is this? One thing I love and appreciate about this area is all the green and local initiatives that are everywhere. How does something like this go unnoticed? I would love to find out how something could get started to harvest the fruit when its ready. It could be put to such good use – be sold to benefit the community, or better yet, be given to the homeless and those who desperately could use it.

Does anyone in the area know of any initiatives, past or present, lost or won, that deal with this issue? I’d love to become involved if there is.

I just have to say that while I miss Vancouver and all my IxD friends terribly, this is what I saw on my drive to work this morning:

It was so beautiful and I remembered part of the reason I don’t regret my move here one bit.

While my original plans for tonight and tomorrow included organizing my checkbook, sorting out bills, doing laundry, and writing up my thoughts on Interaction 09, they will have to all be crammed into a mega session tomorrow. I had overlooked the fact that it was my friend Bob’s birthday today so I treated him on our afternoon trip to Starbucks!

Tonight he had his birthday dinner at Cibo, and since it’s on my list of restaurants to eat at, and it was a birthday, there was no way I was missing it. When I was first told of Cibo, I noticed they had a white pizza section, which instantly puts a restaurant on my list as I cannot stand tomatoes unless I’m really hungry or in other rare circumstances.

I ended up having a pizza with sausage, cheese, and potato on it and some of it is still in my fridge for tomorrow mmmmm. I’d also like to mention they had an amazing Moscato d’Asti (reason 2 for me to visit an establishment). It was so delightful I had to capture the name for future reference:

Another thing I was looking forward to was a repeat of the many Crepe-palooza sessions I had in Vancouver. Unfortunately not only was I terribly full after pizza and wine, but I realized nutella and banana crepes (reason 3) wouldn’t be the same without Mario.

As a special treat, our party favors for the birthday dinner were vintage unopened packs of pop star trading cards as well as Yo MTV Raps trading cards. We didn’t feel the least bit odd as we looked through our cards, traded them, and had contests such as the MC Hammer Off, which was a competition for the best MC Hammer card. Dinner was followed by gelato cake (mmmmmmmm)and some Rock Band.

Tomorrow I finally get my dirty furniture looked at by the claims person for the van line that moved me from Detroit to Phoenix. I get to stay home a little longer, so hopefully that means I can sleep a tad bit more and maybe get some random stuff accomplished in the morning.

I am currently in the middle of round 1 of MotivationPalooza at Lux Coffee Bar in Phoenix. I have so much I want to have off my plate before I head to Interaction in Vancouver next week, not to mention stuff that *has* to be off my plate, that I need to spend the next two nights hashing it out without the distraction of my TV and Miss Tequila Rose who just loves to bark any chance she gets to let me know I should be spending the entire night with her.

Lux not only is in a tie for the world’s best mocha with Solo Cafe in Tempe, but it is just a great relaxing place to get stuff done. This is especially true during the week when it’s not as crazy crowded and a little more laid back. Sometimes Solo is a little too close to my house too so it’s easy to get a little more distracted there. I feel when I drive to Lux that I’m actually forcing myself to get something accomplished. What am I going to do if I actually decide to move over here near the Lux / Clarendon next year? I guess I’ll save on gas at the very least.. or I’ll be driving to Solo in Tempe haha.

Tonight I wrote an email for some volunteer work I am doing and am currently finishing up a survey to do during Interaction in regards to the current IxDA site. I was hoping to also write some more lyrics but in two hours, I think I have fared well. There’s always tomorrow for the lyric writing, which leaves Wednesday to create the melody. Thursday and Friday I will be doing social activities.

Okay well that was my break. Back to MotivationPalooza Round 1.