Desert Botanical Garden - Free Tuesday

The Desert Botanical Garden has free admission on the 2nd Tuesday of each month. Yesterday, my little family attended. The Monarch Butterfly exhibit is in town, and I really wanted to take Diella there, so we ventured to the Garden after work. The Exhibit closes at 5, and we arrived at 4:55. So we had to sprint from the entrance to the exhibit to make it. Thankfully, the lovely staff was accommodating and let us in even though were were a few minutes late (running with a baby is tough stuff!).

If you plan on going to see the butterflies, I recommend that you go during the day, as they were pretty docile- most just resting on tree branches and not flying much. I think they were settling down for an evening of rest. So go during the day in order to have the full experience.

(there's butterflies in those trees, promise!) Also, why is the picture of Diella and I so grainy, and the picture of Raf & D so clear? Darn.

Because the butterflies weren't flying around much, Diella didn't really pay too much attention to them. She found much more interest in the pond and the orange caution cones (really, Diella?). But every once in a while, when she spotted a butterfly, she would scream at it. So that was fun!

You should check out the exhibit. The butterflies are so gorgeous and friendly. One might even land on you! Plus, the weather is beautiful outside, so you can enjoy some of the desert's most beautiful and unique plants without nearly dying of heat stoke! Fantastic.

Free Sprinkles & Saturday funtime!

As mentioned in my previous post (the first one today, man am I making up for lost time!), I've been going outdoors now that it's not unbearably hot.

Saturday, my little family and I went searching for antiques. We need a new kitchen table, because the one we're using is a friend's and sadly, he needs it back. So the search was on the last two weeks for a nice-looking, non wallet-breaking table. We started at Goodwill in south Scottsdale, and we found a real gem. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture at the moment, so you will just have to take my word. I am loving the table's shape and carvings. The best part about it is that I bought it on half-priced Saturday. It was priced at $19.95, so I got it for $10!!!!! Seriously, guys. I almost bought a semi-cute, mostly-homely table off of craigslist because I THOUGHT it was cheap. Man, am I glad I held out! More on the table re-do (including pictures) later.

Later that day, we had a hankering for some Sprinkles cupcakes. We're sort of obsessed. I remembered that they do freebies sometimes. So I logged-in to Twitter (which I haven't done in AGES) and saw that they posted a freebie offer an HOUR before. We got two free chocolate on chocolate cupcakes adorned with adorable yellow stars! I felt like a super star. Was that cheesy? Score one for us!

Am I excited? Y-E-S I am!

Then we went to h&m (because really, what sort of shop-aholic would I be if I didn't check-in EVERY time I'm in or around Scottsdale). And got some goodies. That place is like mecca. We came out of Disneyland of shopping to find that the person who parked next to us (after we were already in the store) was REALLY good at driving. As exhibited below, they had to CLIMB OUT of the passenger door to get out. Seriously? Seriously?! We had to wait for this jerk to return before we could leave. hahaha People's driving makes me laugh.

See you next time, lovelies!

Also

This week marks two of my favorite bands' shows!

I will be seeing Saves the Day and The Chariot on Wednesday and Saturday. HOW EXCITED AM I?!?!

Also, I'm trying on new blog names. Must find one that fits!

Hello Bloggy landia!

Long time no see. I've been busy with fall crafts and actually going outside now that it's cool! I've missed you so.

My most recent crafting adventure was making a Dollar Store wreath. Mine didn't come out as adorable as Allison's!! It started out so... blah. I was really enjoying the fall leaf colors, but it needed some more harvest love! I've actually added a couple more pumpiekins since taking these pictures. I'll upload those later.


We're all about cheap frugal crafts in our home!

I have several upcoming projects to share in the coming months. Stay tuned! :)

HTC Evo (4G)

This weekend, Rafael and I got new phones. We both got Sprint's HTC Evo (4G) which has been solidly SOLD OUT everywhere since its release in July (?). We've been on call lists, waiting lists, stalker lists, etc. But FINALLY, we own them!

Now, Phoenix is not yet 4G capable, but since the phone itself is 4G capable, it runs faster than any phone I've had. I haven't experienced any problems with freezing, lag, etc. According to the adorable salesman at Sprint, Phoenix is next for the 4G upgrade! Swoon.


The phone took a little getting used to. I'm really not very good with touch screen phones. I previously had the Samsung Instinct, which I had mass amounts of trouble texting with. That phone also froze constantly, where I was forced to remove the battery for a hard restart. But none of those problems (yet and hopefully never) with my Evo.

One of my favorite things about the phone is when I remove it from standby mode, and the forecast is cloudy, partly cloudy, etc; the phone has clouds that hover over the applications for a few seconds. It is so charming!

I also really enjoy the wide array of free "apps" that HTC/Sprint have to offer. So far I have downloaded: a Task killer (which stops applications from going on in the background and draining your battery- which runs out REALLY fast), Barcode Scanner (which was cooler in theory than in real life), Craigslist Notification (which I am IN LOVE with), Foursquare (I WILL become Mayor of Venezias), Friends Trivia Quote Game (♥), Gospel Library (loves it), Kindle (duh), and Ron Burgundy (current notification tone: "Easy, compadre!"). I am an app FIEND.

So far, the only problem I've had with the phone is that the battery dies pretty quickly. Besides that, it's running very well. :) GET ONE!


(via Slashgear)

Twenty Days!

This may be weird, considering the content in the show, but Law & Order: SVU is one of my favorite shows on TV. The 2-HOUR season premiere is in twenty days! I am ecstatic.
Seriously, Ice-T, Mariska Hargitay and Richard Belzer, what's not to love?!

Happy Thoughts

Dear Diella,

You are the funniest little girl I have ever met, you make Mommy and Daddy laugh so, so much. Waking up every morning to see your bright, smiling, laughing face really makes me feel complete. I can't believe how much you are maturing and growing- you're so smart! You are my happy thought today, and every day.