Adventures in Mesa

Yes, this is travel log. However, I will be endlessly entertained as I relive the memories from my recent vacation. I hope this translates into something enjoyable for you all as well...

My dear friend Michelle B. and I went to Mesa, AZ to visit our friend Jill who is in the Mesa Temple pagent. We're hoping she moves back here shortly, but we were happy to experience the sunshine and see where Jill's been living the entire winter!

This is the snowman I made on my balcony three days before flying to sunny Mesa, Arizona. I'd wanted to make a snowman all winter, but never got around to it. I was pretty excited to do it, since it seems the snow season is over. I'll miss my sweaters and beautiful boots, but looking forward to sandals and skirts!


As you can see, Mesa lived up to its desert-y reputation, complete with cacti, sand landscape art instead of grass, and... palm trees? Okay, those were a little weird. I did not remember palm trees in Arizona when I served my mission there. But seeing as it was 78 degrees when we landed and there wasn't a cloud in sight I chose not to quibble about it.


We happened to arrive for the pagent's opening night! Since we had to drop Jill off to get ready for the show, Michelle and I were early enough to find phenomenal seats -- about 20th row center. We sat by some really kind and chatty elderly couples who were more than willing to share their life stories with us.

The pagent was amazing! I'd never been to one before. This one outlined the Savior's life and mission. I was really impressed with the cast, and totally blown away by the finale. It was so cool! Jill played one of the angels, and looked so at peace as she sang and danced. I video taped one of the scenes for her; sadly, none of the photos I took during the show turned out. Shoot!

After the play, Jill, Michelle and I joined the rest of the angels at Bahama Bucks for shaved ice with cream at Bahama Bucks. We're coming up on snow cone weather! Anyone else up for Snowasis on Memorial Day?

Michelle and I did almost nothing on Thursday while Jill was at work, and we were pretty content with that. We did meet Jill and Joel (a friend we met on the cruise last year) for dinner before Jill had to dash off to the pagent. Michelle, Joel and I went to Tempe and walked along the Tempe Lake/resevoir dealie, and then explored the Tempe Arts Centre. Turns out Kareoke night had been the night before. Rats! We also looked in some of the shops, where Michelle tried on hats, and I bought a cute top I'm excited to wear when the weather at home finally becomes warm!


Friday was a bit more productive. Michelle and I had lunch at In-N-Out Burger (yum!) before heading to Quality Nails for a pedicure. Thanks again for the recommendation, Jill! They had so many designs I had trouble choosing, but I settled for a pearly pink they painted PLAID ON EACH TOE! (Of course, this is useless at home since it's too cold for sandals, but I know how pretty my nails are!) The massage chairs were heaven, too. I'd really needed one, and we never had the chance for a massage from a masseuse (ma-sewer? no idea what they're really called. Sorry masseuse friends!).

Then Michelle and I went shopping! Now, those of you who know me know I don't love shopping under normal circumstances. But I was on vacation, and Michelle was so excited to shop! She's a single mom, so normally she has to hurry in order to get her 5 year old out of the store before she gets too bored. We went to a nearby mall and spent a few minutes in Papaya, the store where I surmise some costume designer purchased all of the clothes for High School Musicals 2 and 3.

Then we went to Charlotte Russe.

This is one of my favorite stores, and as it turns out it's one of Michelle's favorites too! As we walked in, a really tiny, young, British woman greeted us with "Welcome to Charlotte. What are you looking for today?" I said I was interested in new jeans, she introduced herself as Ann Marie, and I started looking around. A few minutes later, Ann Marie came back with a few pair of jeans for me to look at! She grabbed her favorites, and had guessed my size: "You're a 3 right?" Uh, no, I'm not, especially since Charlotte Russe runs smaller than most stores, but I pretty much loved her from that moment on! Michelle and I spent 2 hours there, bought a ton of stuff I'm really excited about, discovered the 80s are back (the horror!), and had a lot of fun. I even asked to get a photo with Ann Marie, which her manager said was okay. I got the feeling Michelle and I had become a little notorious, because we'd been there so long and so many of the associates had helped us out. Good times!


Jill joined us for a late showing of Bride Wars, the only time we saw her that day! We were pretty glad she had Saturday and Sunday off so we could actually spend some time with her!

Saturday morning we ate crepes and watched General Conference with the pagent angels (sounds exclusive, don't it?), and during the afternoon we watched at Jill's house with her darling and hilarious roommates, Dawn and Erin.

That night we joined the pagent angels to support one of boys from the group as he performed in the Jester's improv troup. Dude, it was SO FUNNY, and it was an LDS group, so I didn't have to worry about naughty language or inuendo! I am always amazed at people who are good at improv, but each person in each skit cracked me up. My favorite may have been one where one guy picked up a hitchhiker who was actually ALL of the Muppet Babies (my idea). The driver was so confused as he tried to guess who the hitchhiker was, and the clues the hitchhiker gave him were brilliant! I haven't laughed that much in a long time. It was a great cap on the trip.

The next morning, we listened to the morning session of Conference as Michelle and I packed. We didn't get much sleep, but we had a lot of fun! Why are vacations never long enough?

So, I'm home again, happy and healthy and glad that I went. Sorry if this post was boring; the vacation was great!