It’s been awhile — Arizona Recap!

Wow.  I can’t believe how long it has been since I last posted.  For some reason, I have been putting this off, but I am now finally ready to sit down and write my Arizona recap post.  In case you missed it, I was in Arizona from January 10th to the 14th.  I had SO much fun, and am already planning my trip back for Spring Break.  I was shocked at how nice everyone was there!  Like I mentioned before, I knew the food there was going to be fantastic, but I sadly didn’t take as many foodie pictures as I would have liked.

My first meal out there was for lunch at a cute little place called Crackers.  I didn’t have a tough time deciding what to order since I love sandwiches and soup so much.  I went with homemade chicken tortilla soup and half a ham, swiss cheese and lettuce sandwich on homemade rye bread.  It was SO good.  I can’t stop thinking about that little restaurant.  Why don’t we have places like that in New England?

The weather was perfect the whole time.  Each morning, I woke up to sunny skies and temperatures in the 70’s.  It really makes me wonder how people live anywhere else.  I suppose that their HOT summers make up for their amazing winters.

Since I was in a new location, I didn’t want to go out and run by myself.  The first morning I was there, my friend Brooke and I went out for a lovely 2.5 mile walk.  I wore shorts and a t-shirt!  Amazing!  The walk was beautiful and we walked along a canal.  The next morning, I decided I would do some interval running.  I ran up and down the street for 30 minutes.  In one direction, I ran at a fast-ish pace and in the other direction, I ran at a jog.  I really enjoyed this type of running and don’t know why I don’t do it more often.  I loved having my Garmin with me, too!

The next day, I went on a date that my friend set me up with (ha!) and we went on a hike in Mesa, Arizona.  It was an awesome hike!  It wasn’t too hard and not too easy either.  It was 1.5 miles to the top of the mountain.  The terrain was unlike anything I was used to because it was in the DESERT.  Instead of holding on to a tree branch to make a huge step, I had either a cactus to hold on to (ha) or nothing at all.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous, though!  Check out my awesome pictures.

One night we went to this awesome restaurant that everyone was telling me I HAD to go to.  I twas called Oregano’s.  Check out their HUGE menu!

This place sure did not dissapoint.  We were first given some delicious cheesy bread to start.

The menu was mostly made up of pasta dishes and pizza.  I was told the pizza crust was very thin and knew that would be right up my alley (surprised?)  I ordered a cheese pizza on whole wheat crust with broccoli and eggplant.  This pizza was HUGE, a lot bigger than I expected, and I still managed to eat nearly half of it!!  So yummy!

Here I am with Brooke’s sister, Aubrey.  This girl was a sweetheart.

And to finish the meal, we ordered the notorious Pazookie.  This was a WARM delicious and gooey chocolate chip cookie covered in ice cream.  Seriously right up my alley.

And how could I forget, we went out to frozen yogurt every day, and sometimes even 2 times a day!!! I didn’t take a picture of each dish, but you can get the point with these!  I don’t put fruit on my froyo, and instead opt for candy!

This place was a self serve place.  The dish was HUGE, so although it may look empty, there is surprisingly a lot in there!

I really wish I took more foodie pictures, because I had some great eats!  We also went to a Mexican restaurant where I ordered an AMAZING, Huge burrito and I nearly finished.  I wish I remembered to have taken a picture!  Ooops.

I miss everything about Arizona and cannot wait to go back!  THANK YOU for everything, Brooke!  You were the best host, ever!

Now I am back at school.  My first day of classes was yesterday.  It is good to get back into a scheduled routine, but I am already counting down the days until summer break!  I just keep telling myself only 1.5 years left of classes and then I am finished with school FOREVER!!!  Oh, and then you will be able to call me doctor too!  haha! 🙂