Phoenix Recommendations | 2019

I had a great time in Phoenix, and will be happy to return. I always look for others blogs to find recommendations when traveling to somewhere new, so when I can add my own little recap or recommendation to a city I’ve been I like to. 

So today I want to share my favorites in three categories: coffeeshops, food and hikes in and around the Phoenix area. 

But I was only here for two separate two week periods, so like a month in total. So I couldn’t make it to all the different places there is, and I guarantee I missed quite a few cool places. 

Coffee — Michael and I work a lot from coffeeshops when we’re traveling and we usually find a few that we keep returning to. 

+ Songbird — when we came down to check Phoenix out we went almost every day to get coffee here and work. It’s in an old house, has a great vibe and yummy chia seed pudding. 

+ Schmooze — probably my favorite place overall to work from. It’s in Scottsdale and is literally a workspace cafe, so you’re not going to get any dirty looks for pulling out your laptop to get some work done. 

+ Be coffee + Food + Stuff — only went here for coffee once but it was such a neat space. I would love to host an event there. 

+ Ollie Vaughns — this was the coffeeshop around the block from the first place we stayed during our last trip and we went here quite often to work. They have really reasonably priced avocado toast and for that I’m a fan. 

Food — We tried to cook some meals at the places we were staying but there are so many great veg options here. 

+ Vegan House — if you like Thai food and are veg this is a great place. They’ve got the classics as well as some different combination as well. Plus the people who work here are super sweet. 

+ Simon’s Columbian Hotdogs — this is one of my favorite places we ate. We would go here for lunch after working the morning away at Schmooze. They have vegan hot dogs, coleslaw and all those things you can’t have at grandmas anymore. 

+ Shady Park — I have had a hankering for ramen, and this hits the spot. So often it’s hard to find vegan ramen because of the broth, and I’m not a fan of having a bunch of extras in my ramen. I literally just want the broth and a pile of noodles. And this place delivers!

+ The Coronado — Everyone loves this place. I appreciate it for their vegan biscuits and gravy. I’ve gone there three times and that’s what I got every single time. 

+ Ikes Sandwiches — the Handsome Owl was my favorite. If you want an easy delicious vegan sub this is your place. Plus they give you a sucker with your sandwich, what’s not to love.

+ The Cutting Board — this is a random one we went to twice while we were staying with Michael’s parents out in Mesa. Simple, vegan and delicious. I had their biscuits and gravy and a burrito or something like that another time. 

Hikes — one of the biggest factors that drew me to spending our time in Phoenix. 

+ Flat Iron via Siphon Draw — My favorite hike here by far. It was challenging, but doable. We tried it once but didn’t give ourselves enough time so we came back with friends and tackled it. And it’s one that you feel super accomplished when you make it to the top. 

+ Jacobs Crosscut (and anything at Lost Dutchman) — this one was great for a little trail running, or a leisurely stroll. You’ve got a beautiful mountain backdrop as you wind through a desert wonderland. 

+ Cholla Trail on Camelback — Camelback is a popular hike, but one worth doing. Michael took us up the Cholla trail, which I came to find out was the more difficult path. But it was a fun, rocky challenge. 

+ South Mountain — Michael’s cousin took us on a hike here while we were visiting, and its a nice quiet place to go on a hike. 

And there we have it, a handful of my favorites from our time in Phoenix. 

Intuitive Exercise Throughout Your Cycle

The only time that I’ve ever stuck to a “work out plan” was when I trained for my marathon last year, and these past four weeks of training for a half-marathon at the start of June. 

Other than that I have always just kind of gone through spurts and phases of exercising. 

Things like yoga, weight lifting, biking, but the most of what I’ve done over the years has been running. 

Have you ever noticed that you’re drawn to different types, or amounts of, exercise at different points in your cycle? 

Leading up to and during my period I find myself wanting a much slower form of exercise, whether that be yoga, hiking or simply going for a walk. I’ve still go running during this, but I don’t push myself too hard. Thankfully, our pace this year hasn’t been very intense at all so it works out great. 

I don’t base my exercise on where I am in my cycle so much as just listening to my body as I go along. Because I’ve got a training plan to follow I usually stick to that for the most part. 

But last week around ovulation I found myself wanting to get outside more than once, or go further than originally planned. Three days in a row I ran 6 miles. 

Wednesday I went on a run with my mom, and then Michael asked if I wanted to go with him so I did. The next day I ran around two miles with my mom, and then decided to run the 4 miles back to my apartment. And Friday we had six miles to run. 

I’m more likely to head out on an unplanned run, hike, etc. because I get this urge to blow off some steam or excess energy (or lack of energy). 

One thing that I’ve discovered I enjoy a lot is running on trails. Not bike paths, but dirt trails through the woods, or when we were in Phoenix is was through the desert. 

Once I get into the habit of being active again (when it’s starts getting warm out) I just really try to focus on what my body feels like, combined of course with what I have for a training plan. 

I don’t necessarily switch up the type of exercise I do depending on where I’m at in my cycle, I just change the amount and intensity of running I’m doing that week. 

I do find that when I’m feeling in a slump, tired or things like that, getting out for a run really helps to balance me back out again. 

What is your go to exercise, and do you switch it up at all throughout your cycle?