We last left off on Thursday night, when Birthday Weekend was just beginning. Senior year perks include no classes on Fridays, so after a 6 mile run and Sprout’s detour I drove myself to Oldtown Scottsdale to meet some ASU friends and my parents. Honestly, I’ve been craving the Phoenix sunshine as if it were a pint of mint chocolate chip. Sweet, sweet sunshine! We were down by the pool within 20 minutes of my arrival.

My mom is one of my best friends so I loved getting to sit by the pool and catch up on all the gossip and girl stuff :) The hotel blocked the sun pretty early, so when it became shady we traded in bikinis for boots to head downtown.

Oldtown Scottsdale is SO CUTE. Some of the buildings look like saloons, there are strings of white lights across the streets, the trees are lit up, and the people are so pretty. Probably because they live in this gorgeous sunshine all year long! I’ve been eating extra healthy and working out extra hard for the past month, ready for some birthday treats. First, margaritas at Salty Senorita. We sat on the outdoor patio under colorful umbrellas. I got a cadillac with prickly pear, sans salt.

One of my best friends, Chelsea, lives in the area and met up with us for dinner. I’m becoming more and more jealous of her decision to transfer to ASU after our sophomore year together. I can definitely get used to flip flops and sundresses in February!

We also witnessed “hangry” Kenzie…..we left for dinner around 6:30pm, walked around looking at restaurants for a while before deciding on Hula Modern Tiki Bar in Oldtown. We put our name in around 7:20 and waited until 9pm for dinner. My hunger affected my mood for a bit…..I’m not very chatty when my stomach is growling! :) All was well once this amazing Jawaiian Jerk Chicken plate came out.

(The funny looking brown things in the front are plantains, and the squares in the back are “Jawaiian Johnny Cakes” which are cornmeal, molasses and more plantains.)

By the time we finished dinner and walked back to the hotel around 10pm, we were too full for birthday dessert. Saturday morning began with one heck of a hike up Camelback Mountain (some kind of unplanned Valentine’s-Day-hike-tradition?) but I’ll save that recap for a bit later because this girl is off to the pool.

I hope you felt some love yesterday! But if not…..V-day candy is on clearance today ;)