Winning!

Oh, the ridiculous entertainment Charlie Sheen has provided recently!  My parent's came to AZ for a visit last weekend, and if I could describe the trip in one word....WINNING!!!

My dad always has his camera with him, so finally we have a blog post with lots of pictures!  My parents arrived on Thursday night, just in time for dinner and a sampling of our many infused tequilas.  We had quite a fun night eating, drinking, and playing numerous rounds of catch phrase.  Conor even pulled his Hawaiian shirt out of the closet so he could be matching with Scott and his famous Tommy Bahama look.  As you can see it was quite a first night!



The next day Conor had to go to work, while the rest of us relaxed.  The temperatures were supposed to get into the upper 80s, so we took a walk early in the morning to try and avoid some of the heat.  Later, the plan was to drive up to Scottsdale for the day.  However, things didn't quite go that way. Right when we were all ready to leave, we realized Macy (one of our cats) was missing.  So we began a search of the neighborhood, jingling cat toys and all.  Let me tell you how embarrassing it is to walk around outside with a bright purple feather and bells attached to a stick...  Not my finest moment.  She was nowhere to be found, and the three of us were getting hungry so we headed to downtown Chandler for lunch hoping that she would be on the porch when we returned.

We had lunch outside at El Zocalo, a cute mexican grill, and then went to the SanTan Brewery for a drink before heading back to the house.  When we returned Macy was home, scared to death since she's never been lost before, but home.  Crisis averted!  We luckily didn't have to be those crazy people out searching for their cat all weekend. 

When Conor got home, happy hour began!  Margaritas & Blongo are the perfect match.  I decided to give my mom her birthday present early, even though it wasn't for a couple of days. I was just too excited about it.... I made her an apron, which was only my second project on my sewing machine.  I have to admit, Conor helped me figure out some of the directions since I swear patterns are intentionally vague.  It can be quite frustrating.  I wish I had taken pictures of the process, but I only have a shot of my mom wearing the final product.

That night we went out to Latitude Eight, our favorite Thai place, as my mom had been craving it since her last visit.  We are so pleased every time we go there.  I will never eat Thai anywhere else...well at least until we move.  Once back at the house, we watched the Huskies play in the semi-final game of the Pac-10 tournament and played a little more catch phrase.  Late into the night, the rounds got a little crazier and  my mom even got a word no-one had heard of...bri-berry.  You know straw/blue/black.....and now bri-berry.  Unfortunately for her, the word she got me to guess was not the mythical bri-berry, it was bribery!  Ha ha ha; that silly Shari.  Happens to best of us.  Winning!

On Saturday, the boys went for a hike on South Mountain and the girls did some shopping in Scottsdale.  While my mom and I were oogling over dresses and shoes and Nordstrom, the boys were doing this:

After they cleaned up, Conor & Scott met us in Scottsdale for lunch.  One thing I like about AZ: being able to eat outside in March!  I love sitting on a patio, in the sun, with a cold beverage in hand.  We all relaxed at a place called Culinary Dropout while deciding where to watch the Pac-10 championship game. 

After asking the locals where a good sports bar was, we headed to Blue 32 to watch the Huskies take on Arizona.  The place was packed, with many U of A fans, making for a great environment to watch the game.  Things started getting tense when the game went into overtime, but alas the Huskies won!   After cheering quite loudly to the dissapointment of the other bar patrons,  we paraded out the door to take our celebration party elsewhere....Winning!

That night we celebrated my mom's birthday at Cafe Boa in Tempe.  This was Conor and my second trip to this restaurant, and it was just as good as the first.  The only thing we've been disappointed with is the wine selection.  But that's probably due to the fact that we weren't ordering off the "fancy" list.  Nonetheless, it was red, so it was good.

On the agenda for Sunday: Spring Training!  Lucky for us, the Mariners were playing the Angels in Tempe.  It was a gorgeous day with temperatures upwards of 84 degrees.  We were a little sweaty sitting in the sun, but that made the drinks so much more refreshing.  There were many men who took their shirts off (really? i guess at spring training that's okay?) as most of these guys should have kept it on.  Hello beer bellies!  Conor got us great seats right behind the M's dugout and it was a really fun game with the Mariners beating the Angeles 2-0....Winning!  (It's not getting old... yet.)

After the game, we made a pit stop at the ostrich festival on our way home.  This is one of the strangest things I have ever seen... It was like a huge state fair, but the only animals there, were the ostriches. It seemed like most of the people were just there for the food and rides.  However, this was a big moment for Scott Simpson: his very first "senior" ticket!  I'm not sure how proud he was of this moment... But we, of course, captured it for him.

Since we were all anxious to get back to the house to watch Selection Sunday, we only stayed there briefly to see a few of the ostrich races.  If you blinked, you might have missed it 'cause the ostriches were fast and the race track short!  Everybody really enjoyed the event, however I kinda felt bad for the ostriches.  Although I will say they were cool to look at... and,  might I add, absolutely ginormous!

Back at home, we anxiously watched the selection show to see what seed the Huskies and the Zags were got....a #7 and #11 seed respectively, not too bad.  That night we made dinner at our place, assuming our traditional roles: Conor (The Cook), Laura (The Bartender), Shari (The Dishwasher), & Scott (The Photographer, Eater, Drinker, & Dirty Dishes Maker)!



Monday came all too soon...  My mom & I took a nice walk in the morning.  Then my parents packed up while I went to work.  Before we headed to the Phoenix airport, Conor & I took my parents to our favorite wine bar, The Living Room.  I love all the different wine, cheese, & bruschetta this place offers.  Here we shared our last toast and "Winning!" of the trip!

'Til next time...