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October 3rd, 2008
Just when you think there's smooth sailing on your horizon, the bottom of the boat falls out and suddenly you're making a mad dash to save the last semblance of the old good old days. This is the week we're having. Big life-changes have come our way, which also brings a bit of shell-shock and fear; but we're trying to maintain some dignity and grace as we stand on our shaky gazelle legs with our best heels forward. Are we being cryptic? Why yes, it's our forte! Luckily, experience has taught us that change always delivers a beautiful lesson or two. Until then, don't mind us if you happen to stumble across us hiding under grandma's handmade quilt with a box of kleenex (wallowing in despair) and living on coffee, cigarettes and chocolate cookies. Sure, we'll be back to our snarky selves soon enough, but for the time being, if you want to swap some Lifetime-movie stories of your own, we've got plenty of cookies to share at this happenin' pity party. Want some love? If you live in the Downtown/Central Phoenix area, forward this issue of Phoenix Picks to 5 friends and CC picks@phoenixpicks.com; two winners will receive a free cookie delivery from Urban Cookies! They're taking their sweet goodness to downtown residents (they're expanding their delivery zones, so be sure to check here for updates on when they'll be delivering to your area). Free cookies delivered to your door? Trust us, it's genius (and they're used to seeing our swollen, tear-stained eyeballs, too)! |
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| Phoenix Picks: | |||
| 1 | Dungeons & Dragonfly We’ve concluded that we are living a lie. Behind the designer jeans and daily attempts at fashion, there lies a giant geek. The mass amounts of NPR consumed daily, the crushes on hobbits, the standard-issue coke-bottle glasses; it all amounts to someone who would rather take you down on the Scrabble board than on any sort of athletic field (it’s not for nothing that we subscribe to “word of the day” emails!) Now the question remains: how long can we keep up our cool-kid front? With hidden gems like Dragonfly.Funky.Fabulous.Boutique in our hood, the answer is probably forever! Open since August, this downtown boutique aims for a fun, urban vibe and delivers with fresh threads and accessories for guys and gals. Owner Gabriel Diaz prides himself on his international palette of clothing lines, particularly his exclusives. CenPho fashionistas will totally fall for lines like Chilli Pepper Couture from London, Apartment from Colombia, and the fabulous Rockabilly line Stop Staring! from the good old U.S.A. With so many fabulous finds, Dragonfly will help us keep up our façade for a little bit longer! |
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| 2 | Out with the Old, In with the Odd Cohabitation is difficult: We love Tiffany blues and warm browns; he wants to drape his Iron Maiden banner across the living-room wall. We prefer golden, rich woods; he loves the spare, antiseptic look of steel and glass fixtures. We long for glorious orchids and lush greenery covering every surface; he buys economical and hard-to-kill bamboo shoots. And don't even get us started on pictures! We love to hang bright, cheerful photos and art pieces, not to mention the sweet picture of us kissing at Watson Lake. He would rather die than have pictures of him anywhere out in the open where, Gasp! Other people could see them! Compromise is clearly needed. Thanks to The Town Dump in Cave Creek, we've found a delightful mishmash of the truly wonderful and truly bizarre that both of us can agree on. Need a flying unicorn statue? Done. Kooky pottery pieces? How many? Fabulous furniture that won't match a damn thing in your house but you must have? It's yours! Yes, the Town Dump may be the answer to our decorating prayers. The Town Dump |
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| 3 | Baby I’m A-Maized By You We’re not sure whether the moon was dawning in the Age of Aquarius or whether we broke a mirror somewhere along the way, but clearly something out in the universe had it out for us this week. (Remember the intro?) For all we don’t know about astrology, we do know this: if it weren’t for our best ladyfriends, weeks like this would surely find us cloistered in our room. Our girls always seem to know when some quality vino-therapy is in order, and the best spot to find it. The cure for this week’s drama: Maizie’s Café and Bistro. Serving “creative American Cuisine,” Maizie’s has no shortage of things to love. Any place that is open til midnight (Mon.-Sat.) with a daily happy hour, boasts menu items like “Crabby Cakes” and “Inside Out Burgers” and has a dog-friendly patio is A-ok in our book. It might have been the Tempranillo talking, but we realized that Maizie’s is kind of like another best friend: laid back, stylish, and comforting, or in their case, they provide a comforting menu full of deliciousness. This is clearly the beginning of a beautiful friendship! |
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| Chick Picks: | |||
| 1 | The Season of Extremes |
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| 2 | Knit One, Dissect Two One of our proudest moments was finally learning how to knit; our grandmother spent hours with us, patiently helping as we destroyed skein after skein of yarn. Finally skilled, we feverishly began a warm scarf to wear in the winter, only to remember we live in Arizona, land of non-scarf weather. Desperate to knit something, we scoured the Internet, and discovered this lovely little pattern. We only have the tail left to do, and then we're moving on to knit it a froggy friend! |
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| 3 | Absolute Essentials |
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Hip Happenings: |
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| 1 | Shine on, Silver Girl After the life-shattering week we've had, we need something to chase our blues away. Shining a light on our blackened, broken psyche is the grand opening of Art of Light Gallery. This luminous venue will feature the art of local artists (yay, Phoenix artists!), as well as a lighting store and a lighting-design business. What: Art of Light Gallery Opening |
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| 2 | Oh, Carrie Hey look! It's an event that totally embodies how we're feeling lately! Grab your scary, goth-girl rave gear (do they even make black pacifiers?) and dance the night away. Oh, did we forget to mention that the sprinkler system at the event will be raining fake blood all night? Who knows… maybe the poetry/all-black-attired ex-boyfriend we haven't seen in 10 years will be there! What: Bloodfest 2008 |
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| 3 | Mmm, That’s Some Smooth Jazz Maybe wine and jazz is up your alley? Join Dennis Rowland as his silky-smooth voice strokes your inner soul and makes all those tough times disappear (even if it's temporary). Plus a little wine, food and shopping from El Pedregal vendors is the perfect way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon! What: Wine and Jazz Festival with Dennis Rowland |
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| 4 | Think Pink at lucy! |
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| 5 | A Foodie's Quest Sometimes take-out just isn't going to cut it, and when the foodie side of you screams, "Give me gourmet or give me death!" you better heed the call and do something charitable at the same time. Get your tickets now for “Cuisine for the Cure” and savor a gourmet four-course dinner at L’Ecole. What: Cuisine for a Cure |
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Whew! Now this is what we call some serious therapy! Who needs a journal to transcribe our aches and pains into poetry when we have you, dearest readers, to share in our woes? Thanks for reading, for all the kind words and support, and to our friends for trashing our Carpenters' Rainy Days and Mondays record before we could get our hands on it. |
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