This Time Last Year...

I am currently in hibernation mode due to the current heat wave. Let's take a look at what I am accustomed to and what I am experiencing currently at 3:30 pm my time:


The high today was 118. My parents called me earlier this week to tell me they saw the weather forecast for Phoenix this weekend and suggested I investigate getting an automatic car starter as soon as possible.

In the past, when the temperatures exceed 120 here, the airport shuts down. They also sell cars here with cooling seats. I am at the exact polar opposite of where I grew up in Buffalo, NY. We too had automatic car starters but with heated seats and our hibernation took place in the winter, whereas here it takes place in the summer.

You can see that by Thursday, a "cold front" is moving in, and the high will drop to 106. I am still not adjusting very well to the heat. Once we hit 110, I am only leaving the house on the weekends in the very early morning to be back home by 10 am or after sundown.


Growing up (and even still today), my dad loves to reminisce by saying, "this time last year we were..." (he also does it with weeks and months).  I checked the weather for DC and was reminded that it was this weekend last year that was one of the worst weekends I had in a long time. We had my parents and uncle in town to go to the AT&T National at Congressional Country Club but the derecho came through and took down and tree, damaged my house and left us without power for almost a week.

Did I mention that John also got pulled over and ticketed for driving on an expired license that weekend (due to a DMV error that of course required going to court to correct), my parents' credit card was stolen while we were trying to get some relief from the heat at Pentagon City and we spent hours driving around Northern Virginia trying to find my uncle a hotel room since we were without power and it was in the 90s? The frustration and helplessness felt that weekend was stressful.

Remembering this weekend last year has put things in perspective for me today. I am home, relaxing with cold a/c, power, internet and all of our credit cards intact. That is a win in my book.

Now back to the "winter in summer" discussion. I wanted to know what people who live in this climate due when the temperature is this high. So I did some research. My findings are disappointing, at best.  Sure we can all think of the basics: mall, movies, bowling, museums, eat out. But there were very few suggestions I found outside the usual list. The only unique attraction I found was the Diamondbacks' baseball stadium that is covered and air conditioned and visiting Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West home.

I've been hanging out at Yogurtland (the root beer yogurt is amazing) to beat the heat but I am open to suggestions on ways to beat the heat! Let me hear your thoughts!

Where do all the preppy kids hang out?

JD and I began our Escape the Inferno road trip series this past weekend with a trip to Laguna Beach, where the temperature was enjoyable and we were able to lay by the pool, hike and play tennis, none of which is possible in Hellizona right now (shout out to Olivia for introducing me to this term).

We were finishing dinner on Saturday night at a great restaurant in Laguna Beach when the server said to us, "So where are you guys from?" Of course my immediate reaction is, what the hell? So it is THAT obvious that we aren't from around here that you automatically assume we are tourists?

When he walked away, JD and I discussed the possibilities. Maybe we sounded like we had an accent. Maybe he overheard us talking about our hotel. JD suggested that maybe I was too uptight to be from CA (quite the sense of humor he has).

So I asked the server when he came back to the table how he knew we weren't from Laguna Beach. I personally thought my outfit looked like something LC would wear (The Hills reference from those of you out of the loop) and JD was wearing light blue shorts, a polo and you guessed it, brown flip-flops.

His response? That JD's brown flip-flops and light blue shorts gave it away (Remy was right about the brown flip-flops).  He said guys there don't dress like that. Back in AZ, we have definitely noticed that we don't dress like the people here. JD's wardrobe was lacking RVCA, Quicksilver and Billabong.  My wardrobe is doing decent in terms of neon but lacking in Aztec and Native American prints.

Just before I arrived in AZ, JD was called out at a bar for wearing Sperrys and Kroakies. So when I arrived, I wondered, where do all the preppy kids hang out? Now we find ourselves in Pacific Sun and other stores that I have never stepped foot in before because when in Rome... I am slowly acclimating while JD seems to have dove in head first.

Today I am officially an Arizona resident.

Tomorrow I start at J.P. Morgan Chase as VP, Assistant General Counsel for the Collections Litigation Group. I am really excited to go in-house but could have used another week of vacay :)

"Welcome to Arizona, where summer spends the winter...and hell spends the summer"

We made it to Scottsdale Arizona and have spent the past few days acting like we are on vacation! We hiked Camelback mountain, visited the spa, hit up some great pools and checked out some new restaurants. Our apartment is just on the edge of Old Town Scottsdale. Here is a pic taken by Stinker in Old Town.

All great activities except when it is over 105 degrees. Every person who I told I was moving to Arizona in June responded, "don't worry, it's a dry heat." More like a dry-heave.  At least I am getting the worst part of the year over first. But after the temperature passes 100, it doesn't matter if it's dry heat, low humidity, cooler in the shade, etc. These are all excuses west coasters tell themselves in order to grin and bear it. It is hot as hell.

I have quickly learned to drive everywhere, even two blocks (seriously, I don't want to hear about my carbon footprint. I am driving a couple of blocks. Tree huggers should judge those who commute 30 miles each way a day, not my limited vehicle use).  The alternative? Swamp ass. Yup, it lives in dry heat just like it does in the humidity.

I have secured a new job here as in-house counsel in financial services and will be starting later this month, which gives me time to unpack, get settled, get some sun (only if I can make it to the pool between 6-7 AM) and start a new workout routine.  No renters yet in DC but I am still hopeful I will find tenants before the end of the summer.

Today is my first day solo in AZ and everything is going very well. Yesterday I had to send Stinker home to DC and it was very tough to say goodbye. We had a really great and smooth road trip (aside from Erikka's minor panic attack at 10,000 feet on the New Mexico aerial tram) and were fortunate enough to make it through Oklahoma City without encountering any tornadoes. I think that is mostly attributed to the fact that Stinker did all but 3 hours of the driving and I was the DJ.  We had zero fights and only a handful of "disagreements." We have both decided not to be sad that it is over but instead happy that it happened.

JD and I are ready for visitors! So start looking at your calendars...