I moved to Arizona in the heat of summer (from Oregon) in 2004 and never looked back. I loved the hot beautiful sun on my body and the palm tress. I lived there 7 years and then met my husband who was active duty Air Force at the time and moved away from Phoenix but did return to live twice after. Needless to say I love it and most recently returned from a couple weeks in the beautiful December there. If you are ever in the Phoenix valley during December here are some of my favorites places to go.

Scottsdale is the more tourist area. However if you are going for Spring break baseball you may end up on the West side too which is Glendale/Surprise area. Most of the areas I share in this post are in the heart of Phoenix/Scottsdale area.

During the holidays there is an event called Christmas at The Princess. It’s at The Fairmont Princess Resort and Spa in Scottsdale.

A very fun and festive event to attend with the family to get in the holiday spirit. If you’re looking for a place to stay on the fancier side this would be a resort like that or you can stay next door at the Holiday Inn Vacation Club on Princess Drive for a similar experience and location for a prettier price tag. The Christmas event is for everyone though not just people staying at the resort.

Another festive thing to do during Christmas is go to Dream City Church in North Phoenix and see their celebration of Christmas show they have been putting on for 43 years. Think real camels, donkeys and horses. I don’t have any great photos of that. We were pretty high up on in the room.

As far as fitness, Phoenix is a fitness mecca. There is some sort of fitness solution for you on every corner. I always hit up my favorite hot yoga studio True Hot Yoga. There’s one in Scottsdale and one in Glendale. It’s a very hot room around 100 degrees and the format is mixed with traditional poses, sun A flow, sun B flow, with 4 original flows to the practice. A great format mixed to music.

I also went to the local Life Time for my favorite classes Warrior Sculpt, Barbell, AMP Cycle and Xtreme.

There are a couple cycle boutiques I recommend. The Madison if you want a cycle boutique and has 3 locations you can check out. Another one I highly recommend in Scottsdale is Power and Flow. Power and Flow has group training classes and yoga as well as cycle studio.

True Hot Yoga : You will need to bring your own mat and towel. If you are traveling and visiting you can rent a mat but make sure to bring towels since they don’t have them and lots of fluids!

Eats

I am a foodie and love eating my way around Phoenix. Some of my favorite go to restaurants in Phoenix area are True Foods, Flower Child, Breakfast Kitchen Bar and Snooze for breakfast/brunch, Tokyo Lobby for sushi or Sushi on Tatum (above) for a revolving sushi belt, or Coconuts for more of a Hawaiian style poke or fish tacos. Coconuts makes their own taro chips that are fresh and delicious!

Postino’s is a great wine bar with tappas and bruchetta. For something fancier try Chelsea’s Kitchen and or even more fancier, Elements at The Sanctuary Resort in Paradise Valley. It overlooks Camelback mountain and the valley. Simply fabulous just like below.

The Yardhouse is a great option for a brewery and American Food. For Poke bowls my favorite is Koi Poke. I also love Protein House. All their food is delicious!

I love going over to True Foods at the Scottsdale Quarter shopping area this time of year. It’s so beautifully decorated and Santa is available for photos. This area you will find Kierland Commons across the street and these two are outside shopping areas for stores such as Banana Republic, Lu Lu Lemon, Peleton, Vuori, Alo, Crate and Barrel, and Pottery Barn. Just google Kierland Commons or Scottsdale Quarter to see all the stores. In the warmer months April-November they have the splash pads on in area like in picture below.

If you like to be outdoors a great place to see the beautiful cool winter desert is hiking up Camelback Mountain. There are many hiking places in the Phoenix valley but the reason this one is so cool is it is located in the heart of the city and overlooks the whole valley. It is a harder climb so keep that in mind. I do see some people climb with kids but not super young.

Lastly one of the things I did on this trip was teach Charleston how to get around the airport: check bags, check into fight, find a gate and how to retrieve her luggage. Such a great skill to learn. She was a trooper on the way home as we got stuck in the cancellation of many flights and didn’t get on flights. Flying stand by takes is great mindset training. LOL I grew up flying stand by because my father was a pilot and funny how I married one. God sure does prepare you for everything ahead in your life.

Until next time friends! Make sure to subscribe to my news updates via email below.