WINTER IN ARIZONA

We did it! We became puppy parents to an adorable Dalmatian lab mix named, Winter. And everything about her story was #meanttobe. 

I have always been an cat person. Growing up in Cali and moving to AZ I loved in cat households. Jose, the opposite. He has had dogs and when we met he was “allergic to cats.” We always talked about adopting a dog, but could never agree on a breed. I signed up for a pet adoption newsletter at Adopt A Pet.com and one Wednesday morning I got the best email in my inbox. 

After visiting with her dog mom, competing against other applicants and meeting our biggest critics, the cats, she was adopted the day after Christmas as the best, and last present from Santa!   

Winter was born on July 13 on a reservation in Arizona. She was starved, tied up and everything any dog should not be. She was rescued by Sunshine Dog Rescue and spent time locally in a home with an amazing dog mom who trained her and more importantly showed her that love is available for her. She is an angel and everything we could have hoped for. She keeps us on our toes even more now and we actively involved in walking in our neighborhood daily. We even went to our first dog park! Who are we?  

As new parents we are still learning and seeking any advice on introducing her into the house with senior cats and any or all products you love and swear by for dogs! Let us know and let’s schedule a puppy play date ASAP!  

I’ll leave you with these adorable photos of her!  

XoXo

Britt       

CHRISTMAS FAMILY VACATION

We spent Christmas in San Diego with the Griswolds. First, we made snow angels for two hours, then we went ice skating and then we ate a whole roll of Tollhouse Cookie dough as fast as we we could, and then we snuggled. No, that was the movie Elf, which we did watch for Christmas Eve. And Clark, my dad, Griswold did give us an amazing tour of his light displays. But this post is all about traditions. Something about making traditions new and old that makes this time of year so special. Here are a few traditions we’re upholding.  

 Christmas Eve is when our family gets together. Homemade lasagna from a sauce that cooked the entire day before and all the deserts you can think of fills our belly as we toast to each other. No turkey, no stuffing. Instead- Italian goodness. 

My favorite are the games. Of course the  white elephant game is played. See photos below for some of the treasures. But this year we added a Saran Wrap present challenge to our oven mit crazy wrapped present games. It’s 3 minutes of pure laughter and fun even if you’re just spectating. 

Traditions for a Christmas in San Diego mean spending mornings on the beach. Whether it’s a good sweat or a casual stroll the salty air in the morning is the best way to start the day in California. In the evening we hit Christmas Tree Circle in Chula Vista. Anxious to see what new displays are added this year we had family visiting from North Dakota who has never been before so it was great to see their reaction. 

I was honored this year to receive many amazing, and thoughtful presents, but one that stands out is a tradition I now carry. I was gifted from a like a mother to me a set of her grandmother and great grandmothers wedding rings. Through the tears, I promised to uphold these family traditions with honor. 

Another family tradition we have kept for I want to say 4 years now are making tamales. Mind you the only hispanic we have In The kitchen with us is my best friend Evelina, but between my mom and my 88 year old grandpa, this year we made 175 tamales. Laughing over the craft, and sharing stories from life passed and present it’s moments and traditions like this I will remember forever. 

When we returned to Phoenix we celebrated with the Acevedo Family and welcomed in a new friend, post to come, but being with family and sharing a warm meal and exchanging love and laughs are the best times of the holiday no matter where you spend it or what day you celebrate it as long as you are honoring traditions the spirit of the holidays with always be there.  

Can’t forget to mention the tradition of the matching pajamas. I know its #trending this year, but we’ve been doing it a while! Gotta love the photos from it!

XoXo

Britt

WEDDING COOKIES

I know what you’re thinking- Britt is finally planning and posting about the wedding. Not quite! I am, however, practicing my wifey skills in kitchen and whipping up some Christmas cookies to fill our fun new cookie jar and share containers with friends and families in the area. 

Honored to be invited to my first Christmas Cookie Party, I wanted to bring my favorite: Italian Wedding Cookies. Second requirement was the recipe to share. I practiced my Adobe design skills and created a personalized recipe. Please print and share and let me know your thoughts. 

Third requirement was an ornament for an exchange and by the end of the evening I traded my tree decor for a Santa Cookie Jar! Who got the sweeter deal? 

I knead to keep this blog short so you can go get baked. Happy Holidays!

XoXo

Britt

THE TWELVE QUESTIONS OF CHRISTMAS

The twelve days of Christmas begins on the 25th and showers gifts until the 5th of January, but with 12 days leading up to the big day, I wanted to share a little BTS 12 Q&A about our holiday traditions new and old.

1.What was Christmas like when you were growing up?

J. Christmas time for our family was typical, we woke up super early in the morning to open presents because I woke everyone else up. We had a nice dinner and my parent's friends and families came by throughout the day. 

B. I remember opening up 1 gift, my christmas jammies and tracking santa on his sleigh the night before.  I would wake  up to a big beautiful toy filled tree the next morning. As I got older Black Fridays were our Christmas traditions- waking up early and standing in line for hours with my dad at Fry’s Electronics still brings a smile to my face.

2. Share one vivid Christmas memory, good or bad.

J. My favorite Christmas memory is one with my younger brother and me in the snow, we always enjoyed playing outside. We were very lucky to have an occasional white Christmas. 

B. One Christmas was spent in Northern California with my grandparents. I was single digits in age and took my first limo ride around the trees of mystery and through festive  holiday light neighborhoods.

3. What’s your favorite – or least favorite – Christmas song?

J. My favorite song is "Baby, its cold outside" and my least fav is "Little drummer boy" 

B. I love “Merry Christmas, Darling,” and least favorite are the ones in latin because I don’t have the voice of an angel like Dale from Stepbrothers.

4. What’s the best gift you’ve ever given someone?

J. Best gift I ever gave someone is an engagement ring. Best surprise too. 

B. My homemade gifts stand out to me the most. One year I photoshopped my dad and uncle so it looked like they were at the same baseball game in the same photo with their favorite team. Now my home is the gift that stand out to me the most because I gifted it to myself and I can now create all these wonderful gifts and memories inside.

5. What’s the best gift you've ever received?

J. Best gift I have ever received is the home I live in today. 

B. My engagement ring because it means I get the best gift of all- someone to love unconditionally for the rest of my life.

6. When you hate a present, are you honest or do you pretend to love it?

J. I try my best to always look and see the silver lining of a present because gifts sometimes surprise you on their usefulness.

B. Pretend to love it for sure, but find another use for it. I am pro Regifting.

7. Which family tradition do you want to pass down to our children?

J. It's funny because my family doesn't really have one but I have adopted one from Britt. I would like to give each year a pair of matching pjs to my family.

B. We started decorating for Christmas after Thanksgiving DInner and I love the thought of carrying this into our third year. Christmas pajamas for the family and of course photos for those cheesy Christmas Cards (check your mail for ours this year).

8. Real tree or artificial?

J. I have only ever owned a handful of "real" trees, they don't work well in Phoenix either so fake tree for me. 

B. I love the smell but hate the mess so artificial and all the candles!

9. What is your all-time favorite holiday food/sweet treat?

J. My favorite holiday food is probably mac & cheese. My favorite holiday treat is peanut butter cookies. 

B. I love all the home cooked meals from my mom, but recently we started making tamales and they last in my freezer the entire year! This time of year I try and stick to the 4 main food groups: candy, candy cane, candy corn, and syrup. 

10. Favorite holiday movie? 

J. An all-time holiday favorite is Home Alone 2: Lost in New York! 

B. All of the Christmas Claymation movies are amazing for their time, but Rudolf and the Island of Misfit Toys is my favorite to watch.

11. White Christmas memory? 

J. White Christmas memory is being at home, warm, with a blanket and hot chocolate.

B. One Christmas we were in North Dakota visiting family and it was 40 degrees below so we had to stay inside.

12. The true meaning of Christmas is _________

J. providing joyful memories to friends and families. 

B. showing and sharing all the love everyone deserves.

These amazing photo sneak peaks are of a night shoot we did with Jasmine Lea Photography, more to come!

FINDING AZ ONLINE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

There is no other way to say it: I love the holidays! My love language is gifts so I like to shop for them, give them and receive them. I love the houses that light up the neighborhoods and visions of a “White Christmas” in the Southwest. It can create a stressful time for hearts and wallets, so we wanted to create a Finding Arizona Online Gift Guide and if you order today, like we did you have plenty of time to wrap it and address it from “Santa.”

Although this isn’t a local gift buying guide (blog post to follow) we linked our Amazon Page where you can not only shop our current favorite products, but also our gift guide. Not just for the other Jose and Britts in your lives; but the moms, dads and kids too!

SHOP HERE

1. Know before you go

Sometimes we just go in to a store or on a site expecting things to find us, but the key to a perfect gift is planning it out. This year I made a bullet journal mapping out who were are seeing for the holidays and who we cant forget to celebrate with. Throughout the year I have saved and bought ahead presents or wrote down ideas to gift so when it is game time, I am ready.

2. Set a budget

Our gift guide this year doesn’t feature a product over $100! It is important not only to be conscious of your wallet, but also understand the best presents don’t always have to cost the most. Shop smart, use coupons, don’t put anything on a credit card and bulk your gifts. For example, we’re getting families and couples presents instead of each individual person.

Jose and I share hats all the time (hint hint).

3. Want vs Need

During the month of November I participated in “No Spend November.” It was a personal challenge where I only purchased things I needed i.e. groceries, gas, bills. We are using this same mindset when making christmas gift purchases and creating our holiday gift guide. Do you need a rose quartz face roller? Yes! Do you need 20 cardboard scenes for a backdrop for you insta famous pet? Of Course! When considering your recipients, do they need it?

Do you need a waterproof speaker? (duh)!

Not sure where to start this holday? Check out our Gift Guide on Amazon and gain some inspiration through our Pinterest page.

Happy Holidays

XoXo

Britt

BABY, IT'S COLD OUTSIDE

Baby, It’s Cold Outside is Jose’s favorite christmas song and in the spirit of the holidays I wanted to share how we manage to stay warm and cozy when the weather starts to chill down in Arizona. I am not complaining, after all, I bought a home here knowing I wouldn’t have to shovel snow, or dig my car out to get to work in the morning, but my thin, San Diego blood knows when it’s time to pull out the winter coats!

We have a few tips and tricks to warming our hearts the 3 months out of the year it is less than 90 degrees here. Hopefully you can discover a new gift for a chilly friend or a warm treat for some self love!

Obviously there are a few products we made smart purchases for to keep energy costs down and also our body temperatures up. The first is a portable space heater and second an electric blanket! Instead of turning on the heater to waste electricity in rooms you are not in, why not grab a heating blanket for cuddles or just heat up the space you are currently occupying.

Second thing we suggest is warming your tummy! Heat up a kettle of water for some fresh brewed tea. Chamomile has been a favorite of ours for bed time and a London Fog for the early morning. (Check out my pinterest for great recipes). I love making ahead and meal prepping casseroles and enchiladas to reheat on chilly nights. Its a chance to turn the oven on, heat up the house and our bellies.

Create your own at home spa to really heat things up! Start with a warm bath filled with epsom salt and your favorite essential oils. Add a humidifier and some meditation music and you will feel totally zenned out. (Check out Kim Kardashian’s Crystal Mediation Playlist on Spotify, yes you read that right.) Save water and make it extra steamy by showering together! Try a shower mist or a shower bomb for added relaxation.

Get active and get your blood flowing. I get cold way too easy. My circulation doesn’t reach my hands and feet like I want it to so instead of sticking my cold feet on Jose (actually on top of doing that) we like to get active. Bike rides are great this time of year because you don’t have to worry about heat exhaustion. Also acclimating to the chillier air makes adjusting to the temperature change easier. Layer up and go outside to catch up on yard work or even walk to your favorite local restaurant or shop instead of driving to it.

We just created a Personal Amazon Page for you guys to shop all of our favorite products including the products mentioned in this blog post above. Be sure to check it out here and let us know if you have tried any of these warm remedies and also if you have any others to add. Check back as we will constantly adding to it!

Warm Wishes,

XoXo

Britt

2018 GRATITUDES

Thanksgiving is tomorrow! Wow, 2018 you are really flying by. This week we planned out our holiday travels and I started to plan out this blog post and find myself going in a million different directions. I am grateful for so many people, places and things so instead of sharing my list gratitudes I wanted to let you know how I recognize and appreciate the “thank you’s” everyday, not just the third thursday of November.

APPRECIATION VS “THANK YOU”

My first gratitude is for my better half. You know that saying “teach a man to fish…” Surrounding myself with him everyday, I know I will never go hungry. He has taught me so many amazing things over the passed few years but in 2018 I appreciate the technical skill set of learning Adobe design work and the mental skill set of dropping things out of my control. But through conversations, we feel the words: “Thank you” get lost. Instead we replace with “I appreciate you.” Its an extra word but it makes so much more of an impact. Try it!

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

Recently, listening to the Tim Ferriss podcast I picked up a new gratitude practice I have been obsessing over. The episode featured A.J. Jacobs and you can listen here . If you have a hard time falling asleep at night you might find counting sheep helps, but instead try alphabetically counting your gratitudes. For example, last night, as I was laying in bed, in my head, I started with A- “I am grateful for asking my neighbor about her block wall. B- I am grateful for book clubs and finishing the most recent read for ours. C- I am grateful for my cats and their cuteness.” You get the idea. Yeah it’s cheesy, but honestly I have not been able to make it passed the letter G. I dare you!

SOCIAL MEDIA FRIENDSHIPS

Lastly, I have really felt a sense of gratitude for my tribe, community, friends and family. When we bought our first home in April of this year we had no idea where to start or what to do next. With the continued support of friends and family we are learning how to be adults in a world where millenials don’t want to grow up. I am especially grateful for this strong bond we built in our community even if it is from a social media interaction, we have formed great friendships from a simple “like” and our best friends were once podcast guest. So next time you scroll through Insta, dont just “like” it, appreciate it!

Thanks 2018, I appreciate you, and I appreciate you for reading.

XoXo

Britt

A NEW HALLOWEEN TRADITION

This was our third Halloween together, but our first at our forever home so we wanted to make a memory to last a lifetime. From our costumes to our treats we wanted to be the new neighbors everyone was talking about in a good way.

My costumes previously like to hit a similar theme: Historical Women. So it was only fitting that this year I represented the Rowdy Ronda Rousey. Keeping in the couple’s theme Jose wanted to dress up as a WWE Character and live his childhood dreams. After scraping together what turned out to be the greatest costume of all time the 1980’s Fanny Pack, Turtle Neck, Gold Chain wearing the Rock emerged.

After attending a Halloween party and being mistaken for an 80’s rocker side chick I was ready to just start kicking butt if people were mistaken by my costume. I let it slide and by the time it was actual all Hallow’s Eve I was ready to just admire the costumes of our tick or treaters.

As a housewarming gift, Jose and I received a vintage popcorn machine and after using it in the house and watching his family use one on Halloween for their trick or treaters, we . were excited to carry on the family tradition. With our spooky front yard decked out with a giant spider and skeleton flamingos we wheeled out our popcorn machine and popped to the sounds of the Monster Mash.

At first we had nerves. We saw empty blocks, deserted streets and no other houses ready to pass out candy. But, the nerves quickly subsided after the kids started arriving and hearing their excited over popcorn made us realize we are finally welcomed in our neighborhood. Three batches and three hours later we packed up and switched the light off signaling no more treats. That night when the kids dumped their pillow cases full of goodies we knew we would be the talk of the neighborhood about our standout treats.

We hope you had a safe Halloween, next year we will be newlyweds passing out popcorn and I couldn’t be more excited.

XoXo Britt

TWENTY-FOUR HOURS IN TUCSON

Tucson has always been one of my favorite travel destinations in Arizona. It is often overlooked in comparison to Sedona, Flagstaff and obviously Phoenix, but any chance I get to travel south I want to extend the experience. This past weekend we took a twenty-four hour trip to the dirty T, first it was for our Book Club, then we feel in the love with our AirBnB so we maximized the trip as semiprofesional tourists.

Our morning of exploring started with breakfast at the 5 Points Market and Restaurant featuring local and organic products, I mean of course we are going to pay a dollar more for a local cage free egg. Duh! After treating ourselves to brunch and balancing 3 cups of coffee with a ginger beet juice we were off to explore Historic Fourth Avenue: The Heartbeat of Tucson. Featuring vintage clothing and furniture shops, food of all sorts and artwork decorating the streets this neighborhood is a millennials paradise for photos.

One of the place that we historically had to take photos next to was the Tucson Postcard Sign. Painted in February 2017 by Victor Ving and his girlfriend, photographer Lisa Beggs this iconic piece can be found behind the Miller Surplus building and it worth the hunt for the photo shoot.

Before heading back up north, you must head south of Tucson to visit the gorgeous Mission San Xavier del Bac. Founded in 1692 by Padre Eusebio Kino[1] in the center of a centuries-old Indian settlement of the Sobaipuri O'odham this castle in the desert is a must see! We arrived mid Sunday afternoon just before a rainstorm and the contrasting dark clouds surrounding the white building was stunning. You have to walk the grounds and feel the 350 year old spirits. Not sure if it was the energy of the historic site or the fast moving clouds but we could feel it was time to head out.

Last stop on the trip was for snacks! Not road snacks, but grocery shopping at the famous Alejandro’s Tortilla Factory: a Southern Arizona tradition since 1980. We picked up some warm delicious bolillos, fresh marinated carne asada and sweet mexican pastries. This bodegas is off the beaten path and the street signs measure in Kilometers so you know flavors are real.

This is not our first or last trip to Tucson, we just like to prove no matter if you have 2 hours or 2 weeks you can experience the Old Pueblo the FInding Arizona Way! Safe Travels.

XoXo

Britt

THE BEST LITTLE AIRBNB IN TUCSON

Tucson, AZ is just a short drive from Phoenix, but completely another world. For Sun Devil’s it is almost forbidden territory, but for desert dwellers it is a hidden gem. Quick day trips to Tucson was the usual agenda for us, but this time Jose and I wanted to take a mini vacay and extend out trip in the dirty T.

I quickly started looking up AirBnB.com for our trip. I didn’t want us to stay in a hotel with hundreds of other people seeking privacy. Browsing through most of the AirBnBs I avoided any couch crashing opportunities because we wanted a space of our own. Then we found The Desert Studio and I fell in love.

This well designed space was the first thing that caught my eye. Upon our arrival, every expectation was met. This space felt particularly warm and full of love. Maybe it was the blush colored linens and art but it was a photographer’s and instagrammers dream. So of course we spent some time capturing the best elements of the space.

First, the location of the house was prime! Located in the lovely Highland Vista Cinco Via neighborhood in Tucson, it was a 25 drive from our book club meeting near Marana (see previous post on the Book Club we joined), but less than a 10 minute drive to the Uof A campus and Historic Fourth Ave. The space a had a private entrance and everytime we pulled into the driveway it felt like we were coming home.

Second, a space must serve purpose. The studio is well equipped with many amenities. (Mini -refrigerator, microwave, Keurig coffee maker, TV, and Wifi.) But our favorite use of the space was the record player. It was set with classic albums to enhance the experience. There is no better sound than a needle hitting the record and hearing that crackling spin.

Lastly, bring on the accessories! Need a good selfie mirror?. Want to relive eighth grade English class browsing J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye? Dreamed of taking a photo in a Peacock wicker chair? Continuing the idea of functionality and purpose, each decoration enhanced the everyday experiences of conversation, reading and or sharing a meal at the quaint table for 2.

If you are headed to Tucson, AZ you have to book this place! Looking to get out of town and experience a true AirBnB then reach out to Lauren And Kyle at The Desert Studio.

Safe Travels.

XoXo

Britt