Nitty Gritty

   I grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, rooted in Rock and Roll and well aware of the South Street art culture. Upon moving to Arizona, I couldn't figure out where the hell all the cool artists were. After doing a fair amount of traveling around the state, I found that there were little pockets all over. I found some interesting stuff in Jerome, Arizona. The town itself is a work of Art, built high and narrow on a mountain, in a way that seems incredibly dangerous and ultimately amazing.

   And one of my favorite places in Arizona, Forth Avenue in Tucson. So crazy about it. They have amazing little shops, food co-ops (which I never really buy food at but like to check out what's going on). I love the people watching there and the liberal attitudes. I also love the food, especially at Delectables (which has an incredible house salad with my favorite creamy Italian dressing and yummy hummus):

and the Chocolate Iguana (amazing candy!):

(I have more of a food tour of Tucson to come, but I'm focusing on the 4th Avenue group right now).
So when I think of these cool, artsy places..... they all have something in common. Interesting people and incredible murals on the outside of buildings. It gets you in the art mood, before you even step foot in a shop or a gallery. Well, we found a place that can hang with the rest of them in downtown Phoenix. It's called Roosevelt Row and it's at 5th Street and Roosevelt:

And guess what we saw:

Yup an amazing mural!
We also went into a few galleries (one of which reeked like weed- which my parents didn't notice). The coolest art, in my opinion was at the Pravus Gallery. It was an exhibit called Indian Ink II. Here's my favorite piece:

Credit to the Artist: Douglas Miles
There were a bunch of others, too, but you get the idea.
They also have cool shops down there... that have mixed merchandise, candles, magazines etc. Like this place, Made:

   Every third Friday, all of the Galleries are open and it's a big event. I'm going to make it down there soon. I'll report back about the happenings.
   We ended the day at Green for tSOYnamis. Obsessed much. Yup! I got the "Pretzel 1." My mom got a "Banana Creme Pie" and my dad got some coffee coco crazy one. They approved.

More Teese Please.

   I'm relatively new to the Blogosphere and I guess I'm not really new to the Phoenix area (7 years living here) but man, I still have a ton of exploring/learning/debating to do. They call it the Wild West for a reason, but that's all political and I'll get deeper into that in due time.

   Anyway, I'll give you a little background about me (a little is the key word because I don't feel like writing an autobiography right now). So I'm just telling you what's important for this post. Part of me is a total crunchy vegetarian flower child (there's another part that is a wannabe Gossip Girl- but we'll discuss that at another time, too). My parents are a couple of Haight/Ashbury, art collecting hippies who are surprisingly traditional about certain things, but not the arts. Two things: I do what I want and I love parentheses.

   My fiancé's younger brother, J, is an awesome, open minded PhD student studying some intense form of Biology, and he loves music/concerts, etc. He wanted me to go with him to a Toad the Wet Sprocket concert on Friday night and I said "Sure, as long as we go somewhere amazing that I've never been before for dinner!" Tall order. I love to eat and I've been feeling more experimental lately. I've been trying to avoid big chain restaurants (except PF Changs, Sweet Tomatoes, and Taco Bell- I'm not giving them up). I usually like to stick with what I know and am irrationally afraid of foodborne illnesses (I guess it's not really irrational but it has held me back from some potentially awesome hole in the wall places). Maybe it's the Food Network's "Diners Drive-ins and Dives" that's making me spread my culinary wings, but whatever I digress... Back to my story.

   So, J suggests a Vegan restaurant in Tempe called, Green. It's a cute little hippie joint in an unassuming strip mall. The inside is cute, but I was too into the food to remember to take a picture of the decor. View of the strip mall:

   It was amazing! Though I'm not a Vegan, I am a Vegetarian who can't tolerate lactose. I didn't realize how much I missed cheese until I had their incredible Artichoke Gratin. OMG! So good. They use Teese Cheese. It says on their packaging that it is stretchy and melty... and Mmmmmm.... it is!

    

    My meal was a Veggie Burger. It was bright red, which threw me off a little bit.... it was good and had Vegan Mayo on it. I liked the Mayo. I will eat regular Mayo (being that I'm not Vegan) but I pretended that this Vegan Mayo was less fattening than regular Mayo. It was a lovely fantasy! I was going to ask for extra, but then I remembered there was dessert to come.

   Behold the tSOYnami!!!

  

   I'm amazed. It's like a Blizzard, but instead of Ice Cream, Green uses Soy Soft Serve and they mix in an array of Vegan organic add-ins. They have suggested flavors, but you can add in whatever you want. I got the "Pretzel 1" which is soft serve, organic chocolate syrup, pretzels, and Vegan chocolate chips. Now, I have an obsession with Salty and Sweet (thanks to my best friend, B) and I was beside myself. I made this amazing combination even better by adding Organic Peanut Butter to the mix. J got some sort of S'more concoction. It had graham crackers, chocolate syrup, and ricemallows. Marshmallows made of rice. Insane! He loved it.

   So my special thank you to J, for opening my eyes and tummy to this yummy establishment. The concert was good, too. Loving Glen Phillips. He said that the people of Arizona need to elect a new House and Senate. He won me over.