Hello from Sedona, AZ

Day 1 of my trip to Sedona, Arizona is now complete and I can give you all (and the future me looking back on my travels) a recap! First off, I’m typing this up on Sunday night and I’m beyond exhausted. I’ve been up since 3:45 AM eastern standard time and it’s been a long day of traveling and there is a 3 hour time difference, so if there are any errors in this post you know why.

First off, I got up and decided to wear a loose fitting tee and stretchy pants to be comfortable for the 5 hour plane ride. I packed flip flops and shorts into my knapsack because while I’m always cold on airplanes, I knew that long pants and sneakers were most likely going to make me miserable once I landed in the 100+ degree weather. This was great planning ahead on my part since I changed at the airport before heading to baggage claim.

Pants: Uniqlo
Shorts: LookBook Store

I can’t remember where the tee is from, but it’s a loose fitting burnout tee and I also have it in blue. I know it’s wrinkled, but it was 3:45 in the morning, what do you want from me? Once I got to Phoenix, I put on my flip flops and tropical pompom shorts, tucked in the tee and was ready to go! And yes that’s the same tee – lighting really does make a difference!

So after landing in Phoenix and waiting for what seemed like an eternity for a rental car, we headed over to a restaurant about 10 minutes away from the airport called First Watch, which is apparently a chain now that I look at the website. The food was so delicious and not just because I was starving! They are a daytime cafe and are only open for breakfast/brunch/lunch and then they close for the day. I highly recommend checking them out, especially if you come to the Phoenix area because the service was super friendly as well.

I got the best sandwich of life, the Chicken Palermo. It’s grilled all-natural white meat chicken, sliced tomato, onion, pepperoncini, mozzarella with basil pesto and mayo on artisan ciabatta and a side of mixed greens. SO good.

Then, it was about a 90 minute drive from Phoenix to Sedona filled with scenic views.

After checking into the hotel, I admired the view from my balcony and headed to the pool for a bit of relaxing, which didn’t last long because just over the rocks there was a thunderstorm. It was mostly blue skies above us and it didn’t rain but because there was visible lightning in the distance they cleared out the pools.

Bathing Suit: California Waves via Macy’s
Shorts: SO via Kohl’s

By late afternoon, I was starting to fade, but we had dinner reservations at Cucina Rustica, which did not disappoint.

Dress: Princess Vera Wang via Kohls

The restaurant is just down the road from where I’m staying and the food was incredible. Not a scrap was left on the plates. I didn’t take pictures of the appetizers or desserts, but I did take a picture of my main course.

I had the Tortelloni Con Funghi Tartufo, which was cheese filled tortelloni sauteed with button mushrooms finished in a delicate truffle cream sauce (yes, I copied down the menu description onto my phone). Anyone who knows me, knows that I could eat anytime of the day, but that I get full fast. So you may be surprised to hear that I ate this entire dish, but it was seriously that good.