July 4th

July 2, 2015July 5, 2022

Honey Bear’s BBQ

[UPDATE March 2022: Since writing this, Honey Bear’s has remodeled their original restaurant on Van Buren, and (I believe) closed their additional locations. I don’t get to Phoenix as often these days, but, from what I hear, their food remains delicious!]

In Phoenix, summer barbecue season means feeling like you’re on the grill whenever you step outside.

When I was looking through photos for pre-Independence Day post ideas, I came across some from Honey Bear’s BBQ, and I thought, “well, that beats standing in the sun in triple-digit temps!”

Inside a building with a charmingly ramshackle facade on Van Buren in Phoenix, two families have been serving slow-cooked Tenessee-style barbecue since 1986. They regularly win New Times Best of Phoenix awards.

If you can’t decide between a barbecue pork, beef, or chicken sandwich, you can get sliders and try them all. They also have really good sides – classics like cole slaw and mac + cheese.

The original Van Buren location is not far from Papago Park. In fact, the last time we visited was right after a trip to the Phoenix Zoo. They also have a restaurant on Central. And you’ll be able to find them at several events around the Valley of the Sun 4th of July weekend.

June 29, 2015June 25, 2019

Indypendence Day

I’ve got a family reunion coming up in Indiana over the 4th of July weekend.

I tend to spend a fair amount of time while I’m there sitting on porches, catching up with great aunts and uncles and cousins, sipping sweet tea and eating really delicious pie.

This time, we’ll also be checking out some local sights and craft – and keeping an eye out for sweet corn stands.

If I don’t drown in the humidity, it should be a nice time.

I have posts scheduled to go up here while I’m gone, and you can follow our Indiana fun on Instagram (#heartlandiana).

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July 8, 2013May 23, 2023

Craft Hack and mini envelopes

We stayed in town for the Fourth of July, which was a good thing for us, because our friends Bryan and Joanna made us a wonderful brunch. And it’s a good thing for you, because this blog has been a little heavy on the travel and light on the craft, and it’s time to balance things out a bit more.

So the first craft-related thing I wanted to tell you about is Craft Hack. I mentioned going to Craft Hack when I had my journal fail (I do want to follow up on that, since I ended up finding a journal-making solution that I think turned out pretty well.) Basically, Craft Hack is a time for people to get together, work on and show off their art and craft projects. If you aren’t working on anything currently, every month there’s a demonstration, and you can try that out.

It will be this Wednesday (and the second Wednesday of every month) at Gangplank Chandler at 6pm. You can get more details on the Craft Hack East Valley Facebook page.

I also created a flyer, using this envelope template and modifying it a little. You can print off the flyer, get the info, and then fold it into a little envelope for your business cards or to tuck into a scrapbook for small mementos of your summer travels (a presssed blossom? coins? ticket stubs?).

We handed these out last month when Craft Hack had a booth at the Chandler Art Walk (which has moved to different indoor locations to avoid the summer heat). I wish I could have stuck around longer and explored the other booths a bit more. It looks like there was some great stuff there! I’ll have to go another time, when I’m not getting ready for a camping trip the next day.

If you want to make your own envelopes, here is the envelope template I used for the flyer. I scaled it down quite a bit from the original 3″ x 6″ size, so that we could fit 2 on a standard 8.5″ x 11″ sheet of paper. And also because the mini-envelopes are so stinkin’ cute!

I also came across this page with a ton of other envelope templates and tutorials. That could keep us all busy for awhile!