Championing the makers, artists, and wanderers in all of us.
“I can’t believe this is actually a place to review, but alas, here it is!”
—J.B.
There are reviews online for just about any space you can be in. Not only for the ones you’d expect, like restaurants or hotels, but also for places like parking garages — and parks. Sometimes they’re helpful, sometimes the reviewer just needs to vent, and sometimes they get a bit absurd.
The weird ones are the best.
Case in point: Amberwood Park in Chandler.
Continue reading “People’s Peculiar Park Opinions”
I love a good grilled cheese sandwich.
The first time I went to Graz Kitchen Fresh for a breakfast meetup and saw they had a whole menu of them, I was like “oh, I’m coming back!”
And I’ve definitely been back. So I felt like a post devoted to the goodness of Graz was long overdue.
Open for breakfast and lunch, Graz is a juice bar and sandwich shop focused on fresh ingredients.
It’s located just south of Downtown Chandler and Gangplank, where I sometimes work. I can easily pick up lunch on the way in or pastries for our Monthly Momentum meetup.
I’m kinda hooked on their green goddess sandwich. It is goat cheese, mozzarella, pesto, arugula, and avocado on this whole grain bread toasted on a sandwich press. I mean, seriously.
They serve Peixoto coffee and occasionally do a breakfast sandwich pop-up there. They also provided the food and coffee for Craft Camp. If you order ahead, they make crazy good cinnamon rolls.
I love the feel of free community events where anyone can be in the audience, like outdoor concerts or Ballet Under the Stars.
Outdoor movies are particularly interesting because they turn the whole movie viewing experience on its head. In the theater, it’s all about blocking out the surrounding environment – controlling light and sound so that nothing distracts from what’s on screen. Outdoors, the environment becomes part of the experience.
As a teenager, I saw the movie Twister at a drive-in while a monsoon storm was moving in, the wind gusting hard and the sky turning a surreal shade of orange. I’m pretty sure I thought it was a better movie than it actually was because of the natural drama around me. On the other hand, sometimes the sound isn’t good or something blocks your view or the people from the Portlandia sketch show up.
Do you ever go to free or outdoor movie events?
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Some places for free movies (inside or outside) here in Arizona…
May 2016:
Summer:
Ongoing:
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I finally made it in to The Living Room, a cozy wine bar in Chandler, one summer day when my friend Katie was in town. A monsoon storm had just blown through, cooling the temperature down from unbearable to pleasant, and they opened up the patio for us.
The bruschetta was awesome. One kind had ripe cherry tomatoes. The other had prosciutto that reminded me of Spain.
My sangria was ok. Turns out I’m very picky about sangria. After that, I ordered the same red as Katie, and that was really good. That’s probably what I should’ve done in the first place. Katie has great taste and is kind of a Living Room expert from her Chandler days.
The servers came around just often enough, not so much they kept us from catching up, but enough to get our orders and bring us more bread, so we could finish off our delicous artichoke dip.
The awesomeness of our monthly CraftHack meetups could not be contained. One of the organizers, Anne Watson Barber, has planned an entire day for the same kind of learning, crafting, and connecting that happens there. And you’re definitely invited!
Craft Camp is happening Saturday, August 8 at TechShop Chandler. The morning will be filled with talks and workshops to help artists, makers, and crafters learn how to turn their craft into a passion project or business.
I will be part of a blogging panel at 11:15, along with Kitty Carlisle of the Grammatical Activist and Kelli Donley of AfricanKelli. We’ll be sharing strategies and tools to help you get the word out about your craft blog and build your community.
There will also be panels on photographing your creations, crafting for charity, and how to sell via ecommerce and retail.
The afternoon will be a time to craft and meet other crafters.
Registration is $20. Proceeds go to Refugee Focus, an organization that helps refugees in Arizona. Several of our CraftHack-ers volunteer with them, teaching refugee women sewing and other job skills.
I think it’s going to be a really great day! Please tell your artsy-crafty friends and register via the CraftHack Facebook page.
