Secret Garden

I am in love with the Royal Palms Resort in Scottsdale! Just when I was feeling depressed about a lack of foliage, my fiancé took me to this place for brunch. Heaven on earth! Literally a stunning place tucked away off Camelback Road.

I can't get over the beautiful landscaping --it looks lush and wild--overgrown but it's obviously very well thought out. Fushcia bouganvilla crawls over honeysuckle, and creeps into jasmin. Beautiful morning glories tumble over balconies. There are fountains and citrus trees. My favorite is this little bench off the beaten path...I imagine this is the perfect way to escape with a good book and a tall glass of iced tea.

Leaving Los Angeles....

I'll admit it --I am depressed at the thought of leaving Los Angeles. Leaving all of the things I love: my darling apartment with its hardwood floors, crown moulding and vintage charm; the amazing group of friends that have shared EVERYTHING with me over the years; the kooky, hole in the wall, ethnic restaurants that I've hand selected (one for each cuisine: Ethiopian, Lebanese, Korean, Indian, Mexican, Greek, Thai etc...); my kick ass job as a celebrity publicist; the perfection in a Spanish Latte at Urth Caffe; the vintage modern stores on Pico; the cupcakes I crave from La Provence; the Farmer's market on Third and Fairfax; Stella, my waxing guru who still only charges $25 for a brazillian. I even had a freakout about green landscaping and grass. How on earth would I survive in the land of desert rocks and cacti?

and then it hit me....

I think I'm depressed because I KNOW Los Angeles like the back of my hand. True, not a day goes by where I don't discover something new, but for the most part, I always know exactly where I'm headed when I leave the house and I always have a perfect solution for everything. I also have this mental image of Phoenix as a shiny, new homogeneous city --where everything is taupe and beige.

That is why I'm starting this blog: as a challenge to myself to Find Phoenix and learn the intricacies of this new city.