If you're ever in a spelling bee it should go like this:
"Feenicks, P-H-O-E-N-I-X, Feenicks"
But for the time being I'll pronounce it like "phonics" or "pho-en-ix." Because I'm all about clearing up confusion.
And in case you are confused as to why I'm devoting so much time to the central Arizona city in the Valley of the Sun- well- that's the next destination! Ross and I will move in June. :D For a post much more GIF-filled, check out this one here.
Still traumatized from the nightmare of apartment hunting in California, we decided to up our game and get the ball rolling early with a trip to Phoenix. We headed on on a shockingly short road trip Sunday.
Gotta get those Snapchat geo filters.
In case you were interested in wander around in the middle of the Sonoaran Desert be warned:
Anyways, I'm still not sure how we pulled it off with two crazy schedules, but it happened! But not before I went full-blown Sherlock Holmes on any and every apartment complex under $1000/month (and some above) within a 20-minute radius of Ross's new hospital. I feel like I grew up in Phoenix with how familiar I am with all the street names, freeway off/on ramps, and shopping plazas.
But it paid off because whether the ease of the Phoenixhousing apartment market, or my preparations beforehand (or a combo of both?) apartment hunting took significantly less time, and was much less stressful than last time.
In just two days we:
1. Viewed dozens of apartments
2. Narrowed down, revisited, aaand
3. Started the application process for an apartment!!
Yep.
It feels incredible. It didn't come without exhaustion and grief and pulling teeth, but dare I say... I'm kinda getting good at this process. I can't wait to do it all over again in 3 years!
I feel pretty confident about our new place and it seems like a decent neighborhood. I am so excited to move and start this next chapter.
I must say, apartment hunting in this neck of the woods is absolutely .... what's the word... stunning? We got optimistic and toured a couple complexes in Scottsdale, Fancy-dale, Snobsdale, whatever you want to call it. Ross and I were literally choking back chuckles.
Oh what? Concierge service? Professional chef lessons? Swimming pools with fountains? Poker table? Theater room? Game room with Xbox and Wii and Netflix and Hulu? Chandeliers in my kitchen? Bronze lions in the lobby? Keep in mind, these were the ones at the top of our price range. Like- we would consider them if needed. I can't imagine the ammenities at the ones I immediately axed. Heaven help me while I crawl back over to the Phoenix city limits.
Along with intense apartment hunting I figured it was requisite to find some fun things to do in the area to break up the monotony. Thanks to my mom I have a great affinity for Food Network's Guy Fieri and his "Triple D" list. Phoenix is brimming with Triple D restaurants and I managed to eat at 3 of them in just three days.
Here is my quick breakdown of visited eateries:
Chino Bandido
Was incredibly close to the motel we were staying at, and therefore and obvious first choice. The place is small and offers Mexican-Asian fusion food! If that scares you, you can definitely choose just Mexican or just Asian. I went "safe" this time and got the Jen Red Pork bowl. It is deep fried pork with this red sauce that is kind of like sweet and sour, but 100x better. It was very tasty and different from your run of the mill Panda Express.
You also get a fresh baked snickerdoodle cookie for desert! Plus, their logo includes a Fu Manchu meets Pancho Villa panda. Does it get cuter than that?!
Monday was apartment hunting crazy day but I had a eatery in Scottsdale picked out for lunch:
Tom's Thumb "Not Your Average Gas Station"
Is very close to Ross's future hospital, so also a great choice! Completely different from Chino Bandido but kind of unconventional.
As you might have noticed from their tag line... this restaurant is in a gas station. But indeed, not your average gas station. In fact, the fanciest gas station I have ever been in (which, in fairness might not mean much). This gas station has over-stuffed crushed velvet chairs, and Papyrus brand greeting cards.
The food is classic American BBQ, and also amazing. I've had good BBQ, and mediocre BBQ... this is the good stuff. But how can you go wrong with jalapeno and bacon topped smoked and fried pork on a bed of creamy grits?! They have their own BBQ sauces put out in sets on the tables.
Of course I tried all of them, and it was really hard to choose a favorite. Even the spicy mustard BBQ was amazing, and I don't even like spicy mustard. The Coke Freestyle machine was a definite bonus.
Tuesday we had finished up with our second visit to our new apartment complex, and celebrated with a visit to:
DeFalco's Italian Eatery
Was yet another score. It is a deli, store, and restaurant located farther south in Scottsdale than Ross's future stomping grounds.
Since it has so much going on, there is little room for sitting but lots of food on your plate.
I got a calzone which I am pretty sure is actually just a medium sized pizza folded in half. I ate and ate and ate and still couldn't fit the leftovers in the to-go box.
Ross got a bruschetta sandwich, very fresh and delicious. The homemade cannoli and canned Dr. Brown's beverages just sealed the deal.
Are you done listening to me ramble about food? Just one more (but not a Triple D), and I'll change gears to dessert!
That's Amore Gelato
If you're a hipster in the 21st century you're probably hoping on Yelp, Trip Advisor, or Google for your reviews of eateries before you go. Well, if you just so happen to stumble upon an establishment that has about 480 combined reviews with an average of 5 stars, well, you better stumble upon that place "IRL" (in real life). Besides the annoyingly wealthy wealthy people, this place is an absolute gem. They have 40 flavors of homemade gelato! I feel "amazing" doesn't do it justice, but until you come visit me, it will have to suffice. All words fail here.
It's been an absolute pleasure to be here in Phoenix. I have a few more experiences from our trip that I will be blogging about soon. But for now I'll leave you with the story of
FANCY CAR ENCOUNTER #1:
Ross and I are sitting at a light in Scottsdale (duh!) and we see this fancy thing. Now Ross is a car dude, in that he can appreciate a beautiful car and if he plays his cards right he (believes he) will own a Corvette Stingray. So I ask him what the heck kind of car that is and he is stumped for a minute before he delicately declares that it is indeed a McLaren, a British car that is worth some exorbitant amount that I immediately forgot because there's still children starving on planet Earth ya know? Ross sneaks a peak when the guy in the car next to us strikes up a conversation with Ross. From this conversation we gleaned that Mr. McLaren lives up the street from our new friend and this dude has not the one, but TWO FREAKING MCLARENS. What did I say about crawling back to the city limits of Phoenix?
"Feenicks, P-H-O-E-N-I-X, Feenicks"
But for the time being I'll pronounce it like "phonics" or "pho-en-ix." Because I'm all about clearing up confusion.
And in case you are confused as to why I'm devoting so much time to the central Arizona city in the Valley of the Sun- well- that's the next destination! Ross and I will move in June. :D For a post much more GIF-filled, check out this one here.
Still traumatized from the nightmare of apartment hunting in California, we decided to up our game and get the ball rolling early with a trip to Phoenix. We headed on on a shockingly short road trip Sunday.
Gotta get those Snapchat geo filters.
In case you were interested in wander around in the middle of the Sonoaran Desert be warned:
Anyways, I'm still not sure how we pulled it off with two crazy schedules, but it happened! But not before I went full-blown Sherlock Holmes on any and every apartment complex under $1000/month (and some above) within a 20-minute radius of Ross's new hospital. I feel like I grew up in Phoenix with how familiar I am with all the street names, freeway off/on ramps, and shopping plazas.
But it paid off because whether the ease of the Phoenix
In just two days we:
1. Viewed dozens of apartments
2. Narrowed down, revisited, aaand
3. Started the application process for an apartment!!
Yep.
It feels incredible. It didn't come without exhaustion and grief and pulling teeth, but dare I say... I'm kinda getting good at this process. I can't wait to do it all over again in 3 years!
I feel pretty confident about our new place and it seems like a decent neighborhood. I am so excited to move and start this next chapter.
I must say, apartment hunting in this neck of the woods is absolutely .... what's the word... stunning? We got optimistic and toured a couple complexes in Scottsdale, Fancy-dale, Snobsdale, whatever you want to call it. Ross and I were literally choking back chuckles.
Oh what? Concierge service? Professional chef lessons? Swimming pools with fountains? Poker table? Theater room? Game room with Xbox and Wii and Netflix and Hulu? Chandeliers in my kitchen? Bronze lions in the lobby? Keep in mind, these were the ones at the top of our price range. Like- we would consider them if needed. I can't imagine the ammenities at the ones I immediately axed. Heaven help me while I crawl back over to the Phoenix city limits.
Along with intense apartment hunting I figured it was requisite to find some fun things to do in the area to break up the monotony. Thanks to my mom I have a great affinity for Food Network's Guy Fieri and his "Triple D" list. Phoenix is brimming with Triple D restaurants and I managed to eat at 3 of them in just three days.
Here is my quick breakdown of visited eateries:
Chino Bandido
Was incredibly close to the motel we were staying at, and therefore and obvious first choice. The place is small and offers Mexican-Asian fusion food! If that scares you, you can definitely choose just Mexican or just Asian. I went "safe" this time and got the Jen Red Pork bowl. It is deep fried pork with this red sauce that is kind of like sweet and sour, but 100x better. It was very tasty and different from your run of the mill Panda Express.
You also get a fresh baked snickerdoodle cookie for desert! Plus, their logo includes a Fu Manchu meets Pancho Villa panda. Does it get cuter than that?!
Monday was apartment hunting crazy day but I had a eatery in Scottsdale picked out for lunch:
Tom's Thumb "Not Your Average Gas Station"
Is very close to Ross's future hospital, so also a great choice! Completely different from Chino Bandido but kind of unconventional.
As you might have noticed from their tag line... this restaurant is in a gas station. But indeed, not your average gas station. In fact, the fanciest gas station I have ever been in (which, in fairness might not mean much). This gas station has over-stuffed crushed velvet chairs, and Papyrus brand greeting cards.
The food is classic American BBQ, and also amazing. I've had good BBQ, and mediocre BBQ... this is the good stuff. But how can you go wrong with jalapeno and bacon topped smoked and fried pork on a bed of creamy grits?! They have their own BBQ sauces put out in sets on the tables.
Of course I tried all of them, and it was really hard to choose a favorite. Even the spicy mustard BBQ was amazing, and I don't even like spicy mustard. The Coke Freestyle machine was a definite bonus.
Tuesday we had finished up with our second visit to our new apartment complex, and celebrated with a visit to:
DeFalco's Italian Eatery
Was yet another score. It is a deli, store, and restaurant located farther south in Scottsdale than Ross's future stomping grounds.
Since it has so much going on, there is little room for sitting but lots of food on your plate.
I got a calzone which I am pretty sure is actually just a medium sized pizza folded in half. I ate and ate and ate and still couldn't fit the leftovers in the to-go box.
Ross got a bruschetta sandwich, very fresh and delicious. The homemade cannoli and canned Dr. Brown's beverages just sealed the deal.
Are you done listening to me ramble about food? Just one more (but not a Triple D), and I'll change gears to dessert!
That's Amore Gelato
If you're a hipster in the 21st century you're probably hoping on Yelp, Trip Advisor, or Google for your reviews of eateries before you go. Well, if you just so happen to stumble upon an establishment that has about 480 combined reviews with an average of 5 stars, well, you better stumble upon that place "IRL" (in real life). Besides the annoyingly wealthy wealthy people, this place is an absolute gem. They have 40 flavors of homemade gelato! I feel "amazing" doesn't do it justice, but until you come visit me, it will have to suffice. All words fail here.
It's been an absolute pleasure to be here in Phoenix. I have a few more experiences from our trip that I will be blogging about soon. But for now I'll leave you with the story of
FANCY CAR ENCOUNTER #1:
Ross and I are sitting at a light in Scottsdale (duh!) and we see this fancy thing. Now Ross is a car dude, in that he can appreciate a beautiful car and if he plays his cards right he (believes he) will own a Corvette Stingray. So I ask him what the heck kind of car that is and he is stumped for a minute before he delicately declares that it is indeed a McLaren, a British car that is worth some exorbitant amount that I immediately forgot because there's still children starving on planet Earth ya know? Ross sneaks a peak when the guy in the car next to us strikes up a conversation with Ross. From this conversation we gleaned that Mr. McLaren lives up the street from our new friend and this dude has not the one, but TWO FREAKING MCLARENS. What did I say about crawling back to the city limits of Phoenix?
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