There She Goes: Phoenix

The fickle Minneapolis winter is devouring my soul. On any day, it could be 15 degrees and snowing, or 60 and sunny. My hopes for relief from the frigid morning commute, raised by signs of warming and melt, are dashed with every lazy snow flurry. “I just want to be warm,” is steadily becoming my catchphrase.

Bleak though my current situation may be, there was a beacon of hope. The upcoming wedding of two friends in Phoenix, Arizona. Let me just repeat those glorious words  for you; Phoenix, Arizona.. land of warm. Much like the mythical phoenix, I would leave my old, cold self in Minneapolis, and be reborn in the blazing sun of Phoenix. Too much? Little heavy handed there? Sorry… not sorry. This is what consecutive months of below freezing temps does to my brain. Deal with it, but please keep reading. It’s picture time.

 

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It’s good to get away…

Absorb a some culture…

Navigate outside of your comfort zone…

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Sink into the city vibe…

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Soak up the sunshine…

And get real cozy with the locals…

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Sites of my joyous thawcation:

Phoenix Art Museum: You Who are Getting Obliterated in the Dancing Swarm of Fireflies 2005 by Yayoi Kusama

-Superstition Mountains in the Tonto National Forest

Boyce Thompson Arboretum

The Chuckbox in Tempe

The Clarendon Hotel and Spa

…and an exceedingly creepy The Last Supper staged with disturbing dolls in the basement of Hanny’s pub, I feel the most was made of my brief adventure to prevent my heart from freezing into a solid ice block.

I would highly suggest all of these locales for someone looking to get away from Minneapolis, or anywhere really…but my experience is limited to escaping Minneapolis, which I hope to do soon… permanently.

There She Goes… to Minneapolis?

Okay… Alright… I’m moving again.

I just got back to Seattle, writing love letters to the city that birthed (gross word choice, I  know) my  adulthood… and in a flash, off to a new city.

I love Seattle, I really do. It will always be the home that I built for myself over the last ten years. I’ve lived in a multitude of neighborhoods and grown-up as the city became a tech empire. Yes Seattle, I remember when rent was cheap, and South Lake Union was an industrial heap.

Now the city hums with an Amazonian buzz and Microsoft murmur. Kids with too much money to blow have tripled rent and killed some of the punk rock, industrial undercurrent that fueled the Seattle grunge. I suppose they have done a lot of good as well, but gentrification seems swallows culture… and Seattle is feeling the squeeze.

Is this why I’m leaving? Pfft…of course not. I will happily live in a fancy loft and peruse gastro pub menus galore. I’m leaving because I can. I’m young, lustful for life, and lack any true anchor to any single place. I am free to travel as I please… so I will.

But Why Minneapolis? Seriously? WHY??….W H Y?!

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I’ll admit, it’s really not my first choice (New Zealand) but I’ve never lived in the mid-west. Perhaps it’s a worthwhile pursuit to see what middle America has to offer. People have to live there for a reason, right?

There is a perfect opportunity for me to pack my bags and just go. So I am.

I promise to write often and build some lovely photo sets for my loyal following, all 3 of you.

Bye for now Seattle, I’ll be back soon. ❤