Tempe.

This post is sponsored by Tempe Tourism. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own!*

One of my favorites things about blogging has been being able to experience more of Arizona. I know I have included it in my about me page, but for those of you who don't know, I was born and raised in Surprise, Arizona. Do you know what is in Surprise? A spring training facility and a lot of golf courses - not much else. There are no fun, cute restaurants, (although we did just get an In-N-Out burger!) But places to hang out if you don't have kids or are retired? NOPE, forget it. So, I am super used to driving 30-45 minutes away to do anything and everything. 

Now Tempe on the other hand? My older sister, Colleen, and I spent the weekend at AC Hotel by Marriott Phoenix Tempe/ Downtown, and were able to do so many (close) activities! We were even able to walk pretty much everywhere. AC Hotel is right off of Rio Salado and Mill Ave. It is right on Tempe Town Lake, and a 5 minute drive to both Tempe Marketplace and the Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix Zoo, and Papago Park, etc. The hotel itself is super cute. I actually did a little video tour of our room that I'll post the link to! If it would have had a kitchen, I would have asked what their monthly rate was haha. it would have been like a perfect little apartment! 

I teamed up with Tempe Tourism, and they recommended so many activities + restaurants to try out! BUT we had this scheduled two days after we got home from our two week long road trip up to canada. So i'm going to be honest when I say that after check-in, I took a wonderful THREE hour nap haha. And yes, the bed was actually surprisingly comfortable, and not just for a hotel, like it was actually comparable to my bed at home! I was super refreshed when I woke up, and Colleen and I decided to catch a Matinee movie at the old vintage movie theater on Mill Ave, and then we followed that with a sunset paddleboard ride on Tempe Town Lake- which by the way, you can also rent a kayak, pedal boat, pontoon boat, segway, bikes, surrey bikes, etc at the Tempe Boat Rentals. and they are all affordable. We are old and boring now, but back in the day you would have totally caught me going out dancing at the bars on a Friday night. Everyone looks like babies to me now, even though it feels like yesterday when I was newly 21 and going out dancing all the time! Instead, we bought some colorful nail polish at Urban Outfitters, got some pitas at Pita Pit, and then finished our night off with some Baked Bear ice cream. P.S. Colleen constantly asks if I have anything going on in Tempe so she can go with just to get Baked Bear. 

As for day two, we lucked out because there is a Mountainside Fitness right next to AC hotels! So we slept in, got some avocado toast down in the lobby, then walked next door to do the hardest workout ever! For those of you who don't know, Colleen plays professional basketball over in Australia, so when she is home she trains for her season and makes me do her workouts with her....ughhhh. I do have to say, they are HARD but the best. After that, we headed over to One Stop Nutrition to get protein shakes, then back to the hotel and went to check out the pool. We had initially wanted to just stay a little bit in the pool so we could go paddle boarding again, buttttt that didn't work out, We stayed in the pool for HOURS talking to this sweet family. It is a rooftop pool, with pretty views of the mountains, Mill Ave, and the ASU football stadium. I think one of my favorite things about the AC Hotel is that it wasn't oversized, so it wasn't crowded. For a good while, we were the only ones up there. After basically becoming prunes, we went and showered and got ready to go eat at Postinos Annex. If you are a wine drinker, I highly recommend it. I personally don't drink, but I enjoyed my food! We started with some bruschetta appetizers, and then Colleen and I ordered different things and then split them and half. I don't even like soup but I HIGHLY recommend the green chile soup! Again, we definitely did not go out, but went back to the hotel and watched Tremors haha. 

I am proud of myself because I woke up EARLY on Sunday morning to attend a hot yoga class at ONE TRIBE Yoga & Wellness! I don't think I have ever sweat so much in my entire life. Let me just add that I am the least flexible person in the world, so the entire class was a struggle for me, Everyone around me was doing handstands and all kinds of crazy flexible, strong things. I think the instructor felt bad for me because I was a little lost and he came over and was helping guide me haha. I will say that I felt incredibly welcomed, not just by Jason and his sweet wife, but also by all of the other people in our class. This is a little cliche, but their name is ONE TRIBE Yoga & Wellness and they really do make you feel like that! After that we grabbed some lunch at Tempe Marketplace, went back to the hotel and shower, said goodbye to our awesome room, and then headed to church and back to boring Surprise!

I could only squeeze so much into two and a half days, but there are SO many things to check out in Tempe. They have plenty of museums, an aquarium, tons of restaurants, concerts, shows, different workout classes, hikes, shopping, nightlife etc. If you need more guidance beyond this post head over to Tempe Tourism! They have plenty of recommendations for places to stay and eat, and all the different activities!

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