sunday pizza in the neighborhood.

there's no denying it: we eat pizza 3 out of 4 sunday nights a month. it's kinda a thing. (more about sunday traditions here) 

judge us all you want. 

last night, we decided to shake things up and walk to the local pizza shop to actually dine in verses take out on our couch. big deal for us. seriously, ooohhhhh big changes around here. it was the first time we'd eaten there. 

i'm a little obsessed with our neighborhood. 

these streets. 

landmark willo sign & the one of a kind easley's costume shop

arizona's NYPD pizza shop

the cheesy tv commercial pull of the slice with the cheese still stuck... perfection. 

hawaiian. a very polarizing pizza flavor. a personal fave of mine. 

i'd already finished the chelsea chopped salad. my fave. 

our dusky walk home on a warm summer night.

note: if you're looking for other good pizza in downtown phoenix, pino's pizza al centro is fantastic. 

however, they're closed on sundays. bummer for both of us. 

the greatest show on grass.

we were among the 175,000+ people who ventured to the Waste Management Phoenix Open last saturday. locals have a love/hate with the open. it's such a fun party, but can be such a pain. getting there, parking / shuttling, finding a way to get home, the crowds, the no cell phone service "where are you?" game. lucky for us, this year everything aligned just right and i had my favorite phoenix open experience to-date. 

the day started with brunch at rachel & mikis' house before we all loaded up and headed north to scottsdale. we were offered sky box tickets on the 16th hole, the "fun" hole, which meant an awesome view and food + drink por gratis. this was followed by camping out on "party hill" in the grass soaking up the 75° and sunny weather where we ran into bunches of friends. as the sun started to set, we headed to the Bird's Nest with all access wristbands where we danced to a vegas DJ and then MetalHead, a local 80's/90's cover band that played all the best sing-a-long hits. we were right up front and i couldn't stop smiling or dancing. it was a giant party and one i was excited to be a part of. 

absolutely gorgeous day in scottsdale

grass & greyhouds

party people.

#partyhill, duh

what you do when you get to the front of the bar line at the open... double fist. 

we scored some sky box seats on the famous 16th hole. known for being super rowdy, it didn't disappoint.

(photo via azcentral.com)

(photo via azcentral.com)

people watching in arizona doesn't get much better than the open. it's a legit scene. in addition to the silly golf attire - this year lots of neon - the scottsdale ladies bring out their highest high heels, lycra dresses and wedges to walk. and walk. and walk some more. it's pretty ridiculous and very entertaining. 

sweet pants.

and then nightfall comes at the Bird's Nest

inside the tent

(photo via phoenix new times) 

DJ Roonie G put on an awesome dance party + visual effects show

 after the DJ, the whole stage immediately turned and the MetalHead started rocking with Journey!

still rockin' on our way out.

our very merry california christmas.

we had such a nice christmas. 

lots of quality time with the whole family that was the perfect combination of mellow and fun. 

we lounged around and watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

ate all the traditional fare - deviled eggs, eggs benedict, homemade salsa & chocolate mousse 

laughed our asses off playing hours of "the game of things" on christmas night. 

there was no shortage of activities: golf, darts, ping pong, walks to the park, piano sing-a-longs and playing jayden's new memory game featuring family photos (pssst.. this was a huge hit for everyone. make yours here.)

each of the packages were beautiful and filled with goodies.

and then on the 26th, almost 30 of us got together for a big family christmas fiesta.

just how being home for the holidays should be. 

decided to make a the photos into a festive slideshow, enjoy!

photos from our last christmas in california (2010) in this post.

the every december 23rd christmas party.

for 20+ years, tiffany's parents have hosted a christmas party on december 23rd. i've been lucky enough to partake in the tradition a couple of times, and finally introduced danny to the annual event while we were in southern california for the holiday break.

it was so good to see so many people.... troy, tiff & her growing belly. the wilburs. donna, chris & their precious paige. lauren, miranda, julie, katie and the rest of the huntington girls. the party really put us in the holiday spirit. there was food, cocktails, mocktails, gifts exchanged and a game of charades. there was even a special chocolate fondue dessert table and tribute for tone. it was a merry way to spend december 23rd. xo

tiff looks fantastic. nixon, too. she's due in early april.

yup, that's about right.

i'm afraid little nixon is going to have a hard time sharing his mama with baby. #ultimatemamaspooch

ting saying hello to chris & donna's perfect little paige monroe

christmas tree success in suburbia!

a totally failed attempt at getting a big christmas tree.

it was saturday night. december 1st. we were totally pumped to get our first christmas tree for the new house. our new little tudor has super high ceilings so we decided we'd go big this year... like 10-feet big. much to danny's dismay we can't find any "chop your own tree" farms anywhere near phoenix (anyone else not surprised?), so we're relegated to the super awesome parking lot farms that pop-up around town this time of year. 

the problem with the ones in our area? there were no big trees. everything stopped around 7-feet. except this one tree.

it wasn't perfect. or even close. so we kept moved on to the next lot... and the next one... and after a few failed attempts at finding a tree we gave up. totally over it. so to salvage the night, we took advantage of being in our old hood and hit up our favorite 'lil thai restaurant, thai lahana...

 and then during dinner a lightbulb went off - they must have big trees in the 'burbs, right? yup. 

and so the great hunt continued....

our first christmas at home.

our "every other holiday family swap schedule" landed us in phoenix for christmas this year... our home to be exact. after a great christmas eve at tricia & earl's we woke up on christmas morning in our bed. it was a little strange at first but ended up being a wonderful new twist on the holiday. after sleeping in, we lit a bunch of candles, got the fire going, all the christmas tree & garland lights turned on and danny made the coffee while i set the table for christmas brunch with vicky and joe. being away from home, it was important to me to bring my family's traditional holiday breakfast to the desert, so we made our first batch of eggs benedict and orange frappe (danny did most of the work and they both turned out perfectly). after brunch, we popped some champagne for mimosas, opened gifts and played a round of apples to apples before heading to the dine-in theater for sherlock homes (having the option to reserve seats is perfect for the holiday movie-goers). the night ended with  take-out chinese and an hour-long skype session with my family in san diego watching our 4.5 year old niece jayden open our gifts, my brothers playing christmas carols on the piano and messing around with their toys, primarily a remote controlled helicopter. 

it was a beautiful christmas and reminded us that home is where the heart is.  i believe christmas tends to make us feel like kids again and we imagine the holidays a certain way... the way things have always been. but as we get older things will inevitably change, so all we can do is stay positive, enjoy the friends and family we are blessed to have nearby and blend our favorite family traditions into new ones.

{vicky & joe delivered our christmas tamales from grandma peggy}

{we splurged on La Grande Orange english muffins for our eggs benedict}

{huntie opening his presents from mimz}

{showing off his dumbbell squeaker toy}

{the bocktings with the orange frappe drink}

{breakfast morning table for four}

{the cooks in the kitchen}

{ting opened up a couple gifts early so he could use them. new griddle and silicone egg rings}

{b-joe stepping in to give some pointers on the eggs}

{the finished product. homemade eggs benedict. a delicious christmas tradition}

{post-breakfast mimosas}

{gift opening in the sitting room}

{vicky is officially a hot chick}

{d showcasing his totally awesome onion chopping goggles}

{annual bockting family calendar}

{checking out my new "parking mat" for the garage. complete with a hump to stop me}

{an awesome tag ting picked out for my gift}

{quite excited about his new garment bag - the patagonia burrito}

{my new rainbow camera strap handpicked by ting}

{my man loves him some herdez salsa. which we've only seen in little cans. this. was. exciting.}

{post-gift game time. apples to apples}

{good times during game time}

{so, these are the 8 cards i won... notice anything funny about them?}

{pajama rama on christmas morning. and yes, i actually found lace pj pants. yup.}

{skyping with the schramm family in san diego. miss jayden opening her guitar from us}

{miss jayden showing off her pembo penguin}

we hope you had a very merry christmas with your loved ones