Phoenix, AZ – Day #2 + Le Petit Prince

Day #2 of my AZ trip last week brought more good eats.

I started my day bright and early around 5:30 am PT and in the fitness center. My doctor said I can work my way back into zumba (yay!) but also that I should do the bike and elliptical to help strengthen my hip and leg muscles. The elliptical was taken, so I got on the bike, but only for a little bit. Then, it was back to my room to get ready for the day.

We headed straight to work and kicked off the first of 2 days of some intense meetings. They were busy, but good and definitely productive.

We broke for lunch around 11:45am PT and headed over to a teammate’s suggested restaurant – Daphne’s Greek Cafe.

The restaurant was located in a cute little shopping center. I thought the misters in the outdoor eating area was fascinating – haven’t seen these since the themeparks in Orlando, FL!

Daphne’s is my kind of “fast food” restaurant. I thought the menu was simple but had some great options. I had a tough time deciding what to get, but ended up ordering the Veggie Plate.

I like to think of the Veggie Plates as “parties on a plate.” I just love all the flavors you get – it’s like a sampling platter! You know me and my love of many flavors.

On the plate: hummus, falafel, spanakopita, dolmas (stuffed grape leaves), grilled pita, rice pilaf, Greek salad, and tzatziki sauce. The plate was HUGE! I knew I wouldn’t finish all this food, but luckily, we had a newbie (to Greek food) at the table, so I shared a few bites of my food with him so he could experience some new tastes.

After lunch, we were back to work for another intense afternoon session. Things were busy, hectic, sometimes crazy, but overall great.

I couldn’t help but snap a few shots of the scenery on the way to the hotel. So pretty! We thought the palm trees were pretty unusual. Guess I always thought of them as a beachy thing…but I suppose they’re more of a warm weather kind of plant?

The sun was still very strong by the time the work day was over, but it set quite quickly.

The sun was so bright, right in our eyes, on the drive to the restaurant, but we literally watched the sun set behind the mountains in the distance. Luckily, we both had our sunglasses (bring those if you go to AZ!!).

After the afternoon session, we headed over to Abuelo’s for a team dinner.

The inside of the restaurant was super cute. The middle area looked sunlit, but totally wasn’t.

The germiphobe in me loved how we each got our own mini bowl of salsa – no need to worry about double-dipping!!

For drinks, I was torn between the sangria and the mojito, but ended up going with the sangria. Nice and fruity! This version had a bit of a fizzy-buzz to it.

I got the fajitas for my dinner. I was slightly sad that the chicken was cooked into the veggies on the hot plate – it was grilled, sliced, and put on top of the hot plate, but it still tasted good.

Toppings plate: cheese, guacamole, pico de gallo, sour cream, slice of lime.

The fajitas came with a lovely side of beans. I thought the bean dish was quite tasty.

I managed to scarf down about 1 1/2 fajitas some about 1/2 the beans, but boy was there a lot of food there!

Dinner wouldn’t be complete without dessert, of course. I ordered the sopapillas.

Little pillows of fried dough with a cinnamon-sugar topping…

…and a side of a honey sauce.

Dinner mint.

After dinner, I headed to the hotel room and got out my trip reading material to wind down: body + soul (sent my card in for this months ago and haven’t gotten 1 magazine yet…wth? Will send a new card in once we’re homeowners.) and Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Le Petit Prince

Le Petit Prince is a book I once studied in a high school French class. The book is fascinating and has a much deeper meaning than the surface stories tell. Stories that sound like simple children’s tales speak more to life than to kings, snakes, and roses. Some of the lines in the book are downright beautiful and some can bring you to tears. I once told my college French professor about my love of this book and how I wanted to buy it and would you know…one day, she just handed the book to me in class. It was one of the most thoughtful teacher-student moments I’ve had. The book pictured is the one she gave me. I don’t know what happened to the copy I once studied in high school. I read the book throughout my AZ trip sans dictionary and it was an interesting experience. Normally, I have a dictionary on hand to look up the words I don’t know (since I’m not fluent), but without the dictionary, I had to use common sense to figure out some words. I was surprised at how well I was able to read the book without the dictionary, though I’m sure it helped to be so familiar with the story.

Big thanks to both the teacher to intro’ed me to the book and my college professor who helped encourage my French studies.

I leave you with my favorite quote from the book and what I consider to be one of my all-time favorite quotes: “On ne voit bien qu’avec le coeur; l’essential est invisible pour les yeux.” Translated: “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; the essential is invisible to the eyes.” So beautiful!