Dress | Necklaces, similar here & here | Shoes (old), similar here | Purse | Sunglasses, similar here
I’ve been going on quick weekend trips to Arizona with my family for over 10 years now and I still haven’t fully explored Phoenix and all it has to offer. My weekend trips are usually spent with my parents towards the dessert mountains, where there isn’t much to do but relax. This time around, I was determined to visit all the really cool places in Scottsdale I’ve seen on Instagram.
My boyfriend and I flew in on Saturday morning and we basically hit the ground running. We only had 48 hours, so I made a list of all the places I wanted to see so that I could meet up with my parents Sunday night.
Here’s what we did:
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Lipstick | Hair by Brittany (mention me for a discount!)
SATURDAY
Teaspressa (see full review here)
I had a quick meeting with Teaspressa’s owner, Allison DeVane, in the morning so we jumped straight into an Uber and went to the cafe. Like I mentioned in my Teaspressa post, it’s the ultimate girly Instagrammable cafe. It was basically all girls inside with a few boyfriends who were dragged along — like mine, ha!
Diego Pops
By the time we finished our Teaspressa tea, we were starving. I bookmarked Diego Pops on Yelp and luckily, it wasn’t too far away. Allison recommended we get the nachos, so that’s what we got (see pics below) along with a pitcher of margaritas!
We wanted to try more, but it was superrrr filling and we wanted to save room for other places we wanted to try.
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The Scott Resort & Spa
Next up, we checked into our hotel to drop off some things and laid by the pool. We looked at other resorts, but ended up changing it to The Scott very last minute. We initially planned on staying at a hotel with a pool party, but we’re so glad we chose this one at the end. The resort was renovated not too long ago and it has all the tropical vibes that I love. It has a pool, an outdoor lounge area, a bar, and best of all, is peaceful. Now that I’m older, I really appreciate a quiet and relaxing place to sleep — and if we want to go party, at least we have the option to go to a bar and then come back to the quiet.
Two other reasons why I loved The Scott was the location and the shuttle service. It’s about a mile or two away from downtown Scottsdale, so they have an SUV that will take you around within a 3-mile radius. The valet guys/drivers are awesome and gave us so many recommendations. They saved us SO much money!
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Scottsdale Waterfront
That night, we wanted to take it easy so we walked around the Waterfront where there are a lot of shops and restaurants. We watched the playoffs at an outdoor bar and had drinks and apps in the evening. I wish we could have more outdoor bars in the Bay Area! The Waterfront is also really close to the mall and 5th Ave shops, a really touristy old town looking area.
We ended up eating at a Spanish tapas restaurant called Tapas Papa Frita. The food wasn’t amazing but the restaurant has live music and flamenco dancing. It was really beautiful to sit outside at night along the water.
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SUNDAY
5th Ave Shops
We woke up quite early to take advantage of the resort before we left. We knew it was going to get too hot to go on a bike ride, so we went in the early morning using Lime bikes. There are Lime bikes everywhere on street corners so it’s really easy to get around.
Berdenas was closed that day so we decided to go to Cartel, another great coffee shop in the area. There are a few locations in Phoenix, so it’s worth stopping by if you love coffee shops.
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Supergoop Powder Sunscreen, a must for the dessert!
Elements Sanctuary Resort and Spa
After our bike ride, we laid out by the pool one last time and packed our things to check out. We had the entire afternoon before meeting up with my family, so we got a few recommendations from the valet about going to Elements Sanctuary Resort and Spa for the view.
This resort is in the Paradise Valley area towards the mountains and is much more secluded than The Scott. We had a quick lunch at Elements and then went to a Veuve Clicquot event at the Jade Bar. The crowd was a little older, but the view was spectacular.
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Dress (old), similar here, here, or here | Shoes (old), similar here | Earrings, similar here | Purse | Sunglasses, similar here
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Ruze Tea House
There was one more place I wanted to see before we left and it was the Ruze Tea House. Located in the Design District, this cafe is really focused on desserts, so I had to get a few macarons and a Prickly Pear tea. I didn’t want a super sweet tea drink, so this was really refreshing to have in the 90+ degree heat.
On the way back to the resort, we discovered the Entertainment District with all the day clubs, which is totally on our list for our next visit! By the time we got back, it was time to meet up with my parents where we spent the rest of the weekend west of Pheonix.
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It was a super quick trip, but I’m so happy I got to cross a few things off my list of places to visit. If you’re heading to the Phoenix or Scottsdale area soon, here’s my travel guide with food, coffee, beauty, and shopping recs.
Have you ever been to Phoenix or Scottsdale? Do you have any recommendations to add to my travel guide?
