Thursday, March 31, 2011

hooray, another bloggin' friend.

I'm so excited to see more and more friends taking the blog plunge. The latest friend is Carlye! Like me (and so many of us), Carlye has friends and family spread throughout the country - and world - and realizes a blog is a great way to keep everyone close. 

Welcome to the blogosphere, Car! I hope you enjoy writing it as much as we'll all enjoy reading and staying up-to-date with your wonderful Dallas life as a Mann (her married name).

Head on over to Carlye's blog "Life as a Mann" at http://www.carlyemann.blogspot.com/.

{carlye and jeremy at our wedding. september 2009 in rancho santa fe, california}


Wednesday, March 30, 2011

happiness.

i love bumping into old photos that instantly take you back to that time and place. 
these three do exactly that for us.
i love how everyone around us is standing.



{april 2010 :: coachella music festival :: indio, california}


p.s. doesn't ting look so young?



scottsdale spring training.

Pretty much everyone in Phoenix loves spring training games. No, we're not all die hard baseball fans (although we happened to sit right in front the only woman there for the game and she was not our biggest fan). Spring training games are synonymous with sunshine and sitting in the grass with daytime beers.


{see the creeper behind alicia actually watching the game? she really didn't like our group}


{shmer, i thought of you. there were huge groups of thetas - all in their matching t-shirts}


{we're in arizona, duh}





Tuesday, March 29, 2011

my favorite time of year.

It's official. I love spring. Everything about this season makes me feel happy and rejuvenated.

Over the weekend, I decided to embrace and enjoy every little bit of spring we get here in Phoenix. Sadly, it won't be here for long. Phoenix temperatures are expected to hit 97 by Friday. It was a wonderful, sunshine filled weekend so I decided to snap photos of the things that mean spring for the Tings!

{new yellow kitchen window curtains and big blooming trees}

{the soothing sound of our wooden elephant windchime on the patio}

{hunter rolling around in the cool grass after a long morning walk}

{my flower bulbs that are actually blooming}

{the french doors open from morning 'till night}

{new shades of pastel nail polish}

{our beach cruisers parked inside and ready to go}

{making summer-inspired accessories in the sun}

{fresh & clean scents}

Monday, March 28, 2011

a man excursion.

Over the weekend, Ting and some guys headed up to Sedona to camp and mountain bike. They biked 10-miles through beautiful Sedona to Bell Rock, Cathedral Rock and made it down to Oak Creek. D loves hiking, camping and biking and I'm so glad he has friends to do these activities with.






{look closely... you can see the "ants" riding their bikes}



Sunday, March 27, 2011

a hula happy hour.

This week we toasted a friend's birthday at Hula's, an urban, mid-century modern blend of the classic tiki bars from the 50's and 60's. It's a great little restaurant/bar in Central Phoenix that Ting especially loves.









Saturday, March 26, 2011

elite eight.

...two words today...
bear down
Go Cats!


Friday, March 25, 2011

love.

happy 29th wedding anniversary
mom & dad 

thank you for being such wonderful examples of unconditional love. 
we love you.


el hefe.

Friends of ours, Rachel & Mikis, are opening a new restaurant in Scottsdale called El Hefe. We were invited to be a part of the sneak peek friends and family event before the officially open to the public next week.

Located right in the heard of Old Town Scottsdale, the restaurant is really cool. I'm super impressed by the use of the space and the indoor/outdoor feel that Arizonans love.

Besides the yummy food, some of the fun features include a Chupiteria - or a shot bar - which totally reminds me of my days in Spain, all kinds of awesomely authentic Mexican decor, glittery gold chairs & awesome floral booths, plus custom hot pink waitress aprons made by my friend Alicia of Hot Chick Aprons (seen here)!
One of the coolest features are the "tableside taps" - they're the first restaurant/bar in town to offer these. Just what it sounds like, the tables have built-in beer taps so you can serve yourself. The waitress swipes a card and you're free to pour - it even keeps track of how many ounces you've consumed of each beer. Totally fun, harder than it looks and a little dangerous.

A big congratulations to Rachel, Mikis and the other partners. El Hefe is going to be a major success!






{An original by Hot Chick Aprons}



{the "owner" and the "apron maker"}


{ting sampling the eats}