The Stay-cation Honeymoon

Ooof, are you ready for this?  Here are highlights from our honeymoon!  We both took a week off of work and although originally we had planned to go up North and spend a week with the doggies in a cabin, we ended up changing our minds.  We decided to save money and relax at home.  Honestly, it was probably the best decision.  It was a huge relief to get the house cleaned up, presents away and then enjoy the gorgeous AZ weather and sites.  :)  We also got to sleep in a lot which we really needed.  I was exhausted!  We're planning on hitting up Costa Rica in the Spring for our real honeymoon - can't wait!!  So are you ready?  Here is the story of our stay-cation honeymoon using pictures. 

First 2 days, we did a lot of lazing around with our dogs Shila...

...and Taz.  We also cleaned up the house quite a bit and put away our wedding presents.

For lunch we ate at one of our favorite restuarants which serves Afghani food - Kabab Palace. The buffet was SO yummy!  It's a mixture of Indian food with Mediterranean.  ps - you'll see that a lot of our vacation was around food.  :)

We were *so* stuffed after that lunch!  But we managed to squeeze out a smile before going home and crashing on the sofa.

That night, we tried out a place in downtown Chandler called the Urban Tea Loft where they offer a very large selection of tea and they brew in front of you using this very cool device.  Want to see how it works?

 

After it has seeped, you place the pot over your glass and set it down.  It somehow releases only the tea (sans the leaves) in to your glass.  We were tickled with how it worked!  Dinner was yummy too.  :)  They serve home-made classics.

The next day we headed out to Saguaro Lake with the doggies for a hike and a picnic.  Taz was eager to be in the front seat, as you can tell.

Shila was eager too, but not so happy when I pulled out the camera.  :)  She gets so shy!

Now isn't this gorgeous?

Yup, we thought so although the sun was kinda in our eyes.  :)

We ended up not finding such a great lunch spot as there was cacti everywhere.  We ended up in a spot that some might describe as marsh-like.

Shila was happy though because we brought treats with us. 

Taz was happy keeping an eye on a nearby flock of birds.  Watch out birdies!

It was a long hike for us, as we hadn't been hiking all season due to the wedding.  Taz was a trooper while Shila...

...well, she had a bit of a harder time.  But she made it!  That's my girl!

That night we ventured out to Pizzeria Bianco - rated by many as the best pizza in the whole country!  I swear, I'm not trying to be snobby but it's true.  Usually the wait is about 2-3 hours...sometimes 4 hours (like the last time I went).  We waited at the nearby bar.

Our wait was only an hour.  Fabulous.  :)

The menu is never very large but it was so hard to pick.  Everything looked so good.

:)  I love him.  And I love looking at his hand and seeing the ring on his finger.  *bliss*

Isn't he so handsome?  Especially with pizza in his mouth!  ps - look at that crust!  The pizza is cooked in a clay oven. 

:)

On Thursday, Rich took me golfing.  I hadn't been since I was a young teenager.  I was so excited to look all cute on the golf course!  Typical female, huh?  :)

Yes, that is a cigar.  Sigh.  :)  It makes him happy, what can I say?  :)

Golfing went by pretty fast!  We played a full 18 holes and I have to say that I wasn't half as bad as I thought I was going to be.  Even Rich was pleasantly surprized.  He had apparently prepared himself for much worse.  :)  Thank you Dad for making me take golf lessons as a teenager.

That night we had dinner with our friends at another fabulous restaurant called the Persian Room.  I was so thrilled about the food that I forgot to take any pictures.  Oops!

Friday morning, we checked out Mesa's Farmer's Market.  It was quaint and a bit small but it had the essentials which I appreciated.  :)

Rich feel in love with home-made salsas and bought three bottles.

I fell in love with the swiss chard.

We came across this lovely Italian gentleman selling fresh bread.  We got to talking and he seriously advised me to cook more at home.  Some may have giggled at his stern advice, but I took it to heart and have actually been trying to cook more!  It's funny the advice that strangers might give you that you take to heart.  Sometimes you hear strangers more than your friends and family!

Rich loved the advice!  He was hoping the Italian gentleman would also advise me to do all the laundry and cleaning.  ;-)

That night we went bowling with our neighborhood friends Edith and Amy with...

...their husbands TJ and Krysztophe.  We played an insane amount of bowling.  I pulled a glute muscle while at it.  Sigh.

Saturday night we watched our friend Dino played in his band The Incognitoes.  They are an instrumental Surfer band.  Remember the theme song from Pulp Fiction?  Yup - their music that is just like that and better.  I LOVE it.  :)  I couldn't grab Dino for a pic but here is us with Dino's wife Charity who is one of my really good friends.

The Incognitoes were playing right next to a BBQ place that we've always wanted to try out so we did!  It's called Joe's Real BBQ. 

They have got some killer sauce!!

Check out Rich's plate!  He got the sampler which had bbq pork, ribs, bbq chicken and I think there were was some steak in there too.  Phew.  I just got a pulled pork sandwich.  It was so yummy!  Of course we watched the movie Food, Inc right after eating at this joint - that's for another blog post.  :)

The next morning we ate at Waffle House.  Rich is making this face because I was so grumpy that morning.  I had an awful knot in my shoulder, was uber hungry and yearning for pancakes...

 ...which apparently Waffle House doesn't serve!  Can you believe that?  They don't serve pancakes - only waffles!  So I settled for a waffle and tried to cheer up...hence the forced smile.  :)

And that's it folks!  I promise - no more gargantuanly long posts any more.  I don't think I can even do it again!  Phew, this is a lot of work!