Butcher Jones With Cindy

After my brother and his sweet family left, Cindy and I found a day to go for a hike!  I was planning to take her to the hike with all the waterfalls, but it was raining up north and we didn't want to risk perishing in a nightmarish flash flood death!

We instead did the Butcher Jones trail around part of Saguaro Lake.

The drive there through the mountains was gorgeous.

We found out when we arrived, however, that we needed a Tonto Pass to be able to park in the lot.  Last time Greg and I did this hike, we drove all the way back to a gas station and delayed our hike by quite a bit.  This time, however, I decided to pop into the marina to see if they had an automated machine to give us a pass, and they DID!  It was only about a mile away from our trailhead.

We were happy.

There's the lake!

Look!  A little cave!

This was the end of our trail for the day, and we sat down and had our lunch overlooking the lake.

I had a stuffed pepper with veggies and some garbanzo bean chocolate chip cookies.

It wasn't as chilly as we had expected it to be and I was hot and sweaty by this time.  I was excited to head back and check out a river we'd passed by getting to the trail head.

But it was a lovely view with lots of water birds to watch.

The clouds made interesting patterns in the water.

We saw a tiger pillow in the bushes!

There is Four Peaks!

On the way out, we realized that there was no cell service.  This emergency call box was set up by the sheriff's office.  Thankfully, we didn't need it!

We found the place with the river!  I had read about this site and wanted to check it out.

It was officially closed, but I appreciated all the picnic areas.

Clearly, this is an area the wild horses like to congregate.

I quickly walked toward the river.  The whole area was covered in a thick blanket of pebbles.

And I was surprised to find shells!

This will be a nice place to come back even when the weather gets hotter!

We floated some shells down the river.

It looked like rain was coming . . . 

We enjoyed our National Forest!

Ooo!  A little teensy bit of rain!

It was a lovely wonderful day!

Spring Purchases

When my Mom is in town, we do quite a bit of shopping together for the upcoming seasons.  I usually create a list of things I'd like so that we can be purposeful, but sometimes we buy things even if they're not on the list because we like them, they fit well, and we know we'll use them a lot!

Here are some of the things I purchased this winter.

 The Everlane Chore Jacket

I love jackets, denim jackets particularly.  I live in the Arizona desert, and it's usually hot.  Even when it's not hot, it's normally not chilly enough to need a jacket, but there are a couple of precious months in December through February where I get to wear LAYERS!  I have a lot of denim jackets and I love them all for different reasons.  I didn't have a chore jacket, however, and I only recently learned what they are!  They're longer slim-fitting jackets with patch pockets.  This one went on sale for what I considered to be a good price, so I snapped it up.

I am planning a California trip with my sweet dear friend Cindy in June and I wanted a second swim suit that I like.  I prefer to be more covered up so I don't need so much sunscreen, and rash guards have proven very helpful!  My favorite suit right now is this one (photo from 2019).

Rash guard from La Blanca

swim shorts from Go Gossip

both from Macy's

I wore it most of the time with a wet suit 'cause I get chilly (and scuffed by the boogie board).  This one is secondhand from Play It Again Sports. 

I decided to try this rash guard with these cute little board shorts.

I'm looking forward to trying them!

I also wanted a summery crochet bag, but I didn't want it to be brown, as most crochet bags are.  I wanted it to be black.  I wear a lot of black and white, and if I add a third color, I don't want it to be straw brown.  My favorite summertime bag is a round straw bag with black and white stripes, but I wanted to find something equally summery, but a crossbody style.  This was the one (found at Macy's and Amazon, purchased from Amazon).

Le Sac Sayulita Bag

I have a number of sweaters I didn't really wear this past winter, so I paid attention to why I didn't wear them.  A few were just too big in the shoulders, some were too short, some were too boxy.  I am getting rid of them.  Some went to a friend, some are getting donated.  

While at Macy's looking for jeans for my Mom, I ran across this sweater and it's perfect (as long as I sized up to an XXL! - what is it with women's clothing?!?!  How are we even supposed to know what size we are when sizing is that wacky?!)

It has the cutest little star print in blue and mustard and pink (the best colors!)

I went online and found this one at a low price, as well.  Heart prints are another favorite of mine.

Style & Co (Macy's) Heart Sweater

One of the items on my "to find" list was straight-leg cropped jeans.  I didn't wear jeans all winter because I just didn't want to put on skinny jeans.

These are the first ones I found that I like.

Style & Co (Macy's) Straight-Leg Capri Jeans

Here they are on me - they don't look as wide-legged on me for some reason.

 (and this is my favorite yellow dot-print blouse!)

These are the second pair I found (I bought two of these!)  They are perfect, though I did need to size up one size.  They are slim-fitting in the waist, hips, and upper thighs, but a bit looser in the legs.  LOVE THEM.

Style & Co Straight-Leg Cropped Jeans
(so far only available in stores):

I also found this pink sweater, which is very soft and nicely sized (once again, I sized waaaay up).

Style & Co Sweater:

I love the color mustard, and I love polka dots (the modern kind and NOT on navy, which can veer too far towards granny for me).  One of my very favorite tops is a mustard color with white dots, and it's starting to wear out because I've worn it so much over the past year.  This one doesn't have the bell sleeves, but it's the same beautiful color and nice drapey material.

Adrianna Papell Yellow Dot Top (TJ Maxx):

These jeans were a surprise to me.  I didn't expect them to fit as great as they do, and I didn't expect them to be as comfortable as they are!  I love patch pockets on jeans and I love the slim yet loose fit on the legs.  

INC International Concepts Tie-Waist Jogger Jeans:

And look how cute the tie-waist is!

I think they look much cuter in person than on the model online, even, which is quite rare.

My favorite pink bucket hat washed away into the ocean almost 2 summers ago now.   I have a small head and it's difficult to find hats (or glasses!) that fit me well enough not to blow away in a light breeze.  I found some great ones at TJ Maxx.

Steve Madden Bucket Hat in Denim:

They're slightly loose, but now much, and they are a good weight, so they won't blow away as easily.  I always feel about 10% cuter when I'm wearing a hat.  I don't know why.  Most of my favorite photos of myself include a hat.

Steve Madden Hat in Pink:

I was browsing on Etsy to find a gift for a special person who was having a rough time, and I found some pieces I wanted to add to my jewelry collection.

I like earrings that have a round theme because they feel happy and bubbly to me.  These are adorable and vintage and I think they'll be really fun to wear!

Vintage 9K Gold Bubble Earrings (Etsy):

I wanted a round pendant to wear that would show up a little better on top of shirts and sweaters, and after a lot of rest-day browsing, I decided on this one.  It's beautiful and shimmery.  

Gold Round Mandala Pendant (Etsy): 

We have a wonderful time together and we get much better deals when we're together!  We also give each other good advice and help each other dig through racks where necessary.  What a good shopping team we are!  I love you, Mom!