I arrived in AZ on Tuesday afternoon and immediately went back to the Unit to prepare for the BBQ. Immediately the first thing I noticed is that it was FREEZING not only outside but also inside (which will be a re-occurring theme, through out the week). Back back to the BBQ, we had a ton of food, chicken, hot dogs, salad, spinach dish (which Sarah thought she could trick me by not telling me there was onions in it, Needless to say I didn't eat it) chippers and red velvet cake. Everything was a hit except for one item which I will talk about coming up. After the BBQ I passed out from too much food.
On Wednesday I woke up to the sound of Howard on the phone (which for those of you who haven't ever had the pleasure of witnessing 15 phone calls in 5 minutes its a sight to see) From there we watched Parenthood, which was incredible, and at about noon Sarah and I loaded up the car and went to my all time favorite place in AZ...... OREGANOS!!!!!!
I got the standard sausage deep dish and Sarah got the Mediterranean pizza which surprisingly was also really good. I said before that it was only noon or so when we got there but that did not stop me from getting my all time favorite beer, Kiltlifter.
I wish I could tell you I ended the meal with a pizookie but sadly I made a mistake and did not end up getting one. (But looking back at everything I ended up eating maybe I made the right call). From Oregano's we went back to pick up Howard and set off to pick up Bret from the airport, with 2 hours to kill before Carly came in we went to Scottsdale Fashion Square and walked around until we had to go back. Well it turns out Carly's plane was delayed and unfortunately for us Howard decided that he liked driving around in circles instead of parking because it was "Enjoyable" and "Relaxing" after several nauseous circles we finally saw the mouse waiting for us on the corner. Now the thing about Carly is she ultimately decides where everyone eats for a few different reasons, 1. No-one wants to hear the complaining 2. The wrath that comes from a bad meal is indescribable. From the airport we went straight to Lucille's where I watched Carly rip off top after top of the biscuits, after dinner we went back to the house to get ready for Thanksgiving!Earlier in the post I mentioned that it was freezing in the house and while I love sleeping in cold weather I woke up to it being 60 degrees in the house and because I'm an idiot and
didn't bring a sweatshirt I sat
shivering drinking coffee all morning. Now here's a rule at the Unit, if someone brings over food (doesn't matter what kind) and its not eaten in a short time period, that food is loaded up and then thrown not in the trash but instead outside over the rail. On this particular day I had the honor of throwing several different things out. In the picture (right) I threw out an entire red velvet cake, which no one ate, I then threw out all of the french toast that Sarah made (sorry it wasn't a hit) and for the finale I threw out the rest of the food from the BBQ. But back to the day, for breakfast we had the famous Monkey Bread which lasted all of about an hour. After breakfast Carly Sarah and Bret decided to take a 3 hour walk (they assured me that it would take only 15 to 20 minutes to walk where they were going, 40 minutes to walk up the mountain, and 20 minutes back) Howard and I sat around and watched the Patriots game and waited for the mice to come back. At about 3 we loaded back up and went over to Billy's for the big day. When we got to Billy's Carly and I entered our self into the pumpkin carving contest and after a hard fought battle (and Carly giving up several times) we were voted the winners with this beauty!
After the contest we sat down to another incredible meal made my Billy and Leah and after stuffing my face we all relaxed to a nice game of Apples to Apples. I don't think it needs to be said but I won,. I don't really remember much about Thanksgiving because I was so full at some point I'm pretty sure I blacked out. When I awoke from passing out I was able to watch the Nevada Boise St. game which I can honestly say will be considered one of the best college football games I have ever seen.
(Side note, awoke to it being 59 degrees) Friday rolled around and we had a full day right from the get go. After running several errands which included stopping to get Howard some pants bc his jeans had holes everywhere, we met up with everyone at Pita Jungle and of course I got my usual cilantro hummus w/ chicken.
From Pita Jungle we went to the new Fry's grocery which is huge and has some of the most ridiculous things in it (cupcake bar, wine bar, TV rooms etc) After the grocery we split up and saw different movies, the ladies saw Burlesque and the guys went to see Unstoppable. I personally liked the movie a lot, Denzel is a great actor and didn't disappoint. After the movie we went back to Billy's to have Thanksgiving rd 2 and just relax for the rest of the night. The last full day of the trip was Saturday and once again it revolved around us eating. Carly, Sarah and I went to Olive & Ivy for lunch and then walked around Scottsdale Fashion again. We stayed out of the house until about 3 and then met up with Howard and Bret who had just got done golfing. For dinner we went over to Howard's brothers house where we had pizza and steaks and all of the leftovers again from Thanksgiving. (honestly as I'm writing this I am sick to my stomach to think about how much I ate over such a short time period.)
Sunday came way to quickly and I was off to the airport to come back home, of course my plane was delayed a hour and half but as some of you know this allowed me to sit down and be able to drink a few Kiltlifters. ( I really had a great time in AZ, so many things happened and while I tried to bring some of the Howard moments to light, there are always so many hilarious things happening, I feel that I could just make a post about it.) But Sunday also brought the Bears on national TV, I didn't see one play bc of the delay but it was a huge win for DA BEARS and put them alone in first place. I also came home and started brewing which later on the week I will post all the pictures and everything I did. Also I have several visitors coming this weekend which I'm sure we will have a great time and I will take as many pictures as I can and keep everyone updated.
