Arizonahhhh...

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, Hubby and I had the rare opportunity to go on a trip together, sans kids. The last time we did that was in 2007 for my 30th birthday when we went to New Orleans. For a couple that has 3 kids 5 years old and younger, 2 full-time jobs and 2 side companies, we were long overdue for a break! My mom (who flew in from Miami) and sister offered to babysit for 4 days and off we went!

A fun fact about me: I love planning trips. Just give me your vision and a budget, and I'll make it happen. So the challenge for me this time was to find a destination that wouldn't break the bank, that was a reasonable flying distance and that would allow us to relax. Seeing as how we chose the busiest travel season of the year to plan our little getaway, the options were pretty scarce. But! I settled on Arizona fairly quickly (I had always been wanting to go) and thanks to several amazing recommendations from Travel Jonez, we booked a fantastic hotel and even got a free night!

Let me digress for a moment to tell you about how awesome Travel Jonez was: she's one of my sister's best friends and is a travel agent who....happens to live in Phoenix. Were the stars aligned or what? She put together an oh-so-fabulous itinerary for us; complete with weather forecasts, travel directions, restaurant recommendations - she hooked us up! So if you're in need of some help with your next trip, give her a holler. You'll be thrilled.

Ok, back to AZ. It was wonderful. We stayed at the Intercontinental Montelucia Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, right next to Camelback Mountain. OMG. As Hubby said: "this is one of those rare occasions where the hotel looks exactly like the website." And that's saying a whole lot. Take a peek.

Our suite was in the couples only section of the resort and was just perfect. We had a huge balcony that overlooked the pools and the mountains. The staff was great, the amenities were great - I can't say enough. Most of all, the place was just gorgeous. The spa was out of this world - I had a body scrub and mud wrap and Hubby and I met up for a couples' massage. Throw in a sauna, steam room, cold deluge and hot whirpool and this lady was in heaven.

Onto the food. I had heard that AZ's cuisine was on point and boy, was it ever. We started off with Thanksgiving dinner at The Mission. AM.A.ZING. No words. Next.

Each place we went to was a winner: Lon's at the Hermosa; White Chocolate Grill; Prado; La Grande Orange; Kaz Wine Bar; even Lolo's Chicken and Waffles. Seriously - Phoenix does not play.

I have to say the one of the most fun parts of our trip was hiking Camelback Mountain. Of course I didn't think it was so much fun about an hour into it (when we were only halfway to the top!), but making it to the top was totally worth it. The worst part of the 4-hour hike was that I turned both my ankles on the way down. Note to self: don't go hiking in cute sneakers.

We also managed to squeeze in some excellent shopping. The mall there was insane! And we even checked out Old Town Scottsdale which looked like an old western flick. They had the coolest artwork and jewelry made the by local Native Americans.

And that was our trip. Of course we missed The Crew like crazy, but they had a blast wearing out Grandma and Auntie and before we knew it, we were right back in the chaos.

Home sweet home.