When I was decorating my current space, a friend schooled me on the concept of “Measure twice. Cut once.” I had actually never heard of this saying before. Which clearly explains the seven or so nail holes behind each picture I’ve attempted to hang on my walls. I’m more of a “let’s eyeball it and see what happens” kind of gal. He described me as a “Measure once. Cut twice chick.” And ok, I resemble that remark!
In truth, nobody sees behind the framed pictures anyway so what’s the big deal if I end up moving something a hair to the left after I’ve already hung it? The final resting place should be pleasing to the eye, not just level or centered. “Maybe I’m a little off center,” was my explanation for nailing it until I got it right. Hmmmm.
Sometimes happy mistakes turn into great experiences! Spontaneous trips, interesting conversations, and off menu adventures all begin with a step beyond our comfort zones. I like to have a general plan, but I love to improvise, too. I was on a business trip to Arizona recently and my BF Michael tagged along. We added an extra day to explore Phoenix together– he had never been and it’s one of my favorite places. So my only must do with him was Pizzeria Bianco for the absolute best pizza in the universe. (If you’ve been, you know!) And just as he was commenting that the choices seemed limited and the toppings rather odd, I told him to just trust me. And PB did not disappoint. Michael was blown away by their signature Rosa pie with Parmigiano Reggiano, red onion, pistachios, and rosemary. Yep– I know! Crazy combo. But it just works. He loved it and I did, too. Strange pizza paved the way for a great day.
After lunch when we stopped by a cute local shop I’d frequented before called Phoenix General. I picked out a fitted baseball cap with a fun cow print on it. As I was paying, I happened to ask the cashier if he knew of any new cool new places we should check out. The dude was filled with ideas and suggestions! So we totally scrapped our plans to hang by the pool an instead took his advice. We visited a mod new installation of stores nearby called The Frederick that replaced an outdated office park. They had an ice cream shop, amazing card store, clothing boutique, and a jewelry pop up.
The jewelry lady told us about a delish bakery a few blocks over, so we sped off in that direction to sample the chocolate chip banana bread shaped like a brontosaurus from The Dinersaur. Yum! Then we cruised into another one of my faves, For The People. While I was browsing through the sketch pads, coffee table books, and wrapping papers, Michael lounged with an iced latte from their amazing in-house coffee bar. The day was just great!
After an exceptional dinner back at the hotel at Roy’s, our final stop was a trip to the famous Sugar Bowl– the well-known ice cream parlor in Old Town Scottsdale. Fortunately or unfortunately, our waitress was new and completely misjudged the amount of chocolate sauce needed to top off the Dusty Road Sundae we ordered. When the goblet arrived, copious amounts of chocolate were cascading over the sides of the glass. In this case, we were so glad that she didn’t measure and just eyeballed it. Embarrassed for her obvious mistake, she apologized when she dropped off our dessert. But we assured her that she had totally nailed it.
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