Camelback Mountain, Phoenix, AZ The Gist Trip Type: Day Hike to panoramic views of Phoenix, Scottsdale and Paradise Valley, AZ Location: in Phoenix where the Town of Paradise Valley, Arcadia neighborhood and Old Town Scottsdale meet. Cholla Trailhead: 5150 N Invergordon Rd, Paradise Valley, AZ 85253 Echo Canyon Trailhead: 4925 E McDonald Dr, Phoenix, AZ 85018 What To Do: Hike one of two trails or both combined Parking: Unless you’re a local or have a local to bring you, don’t bother trying to figure it out. Just Uber. Skill Level: “Extremely Difficult” (however… read below ..read more

The Gist What: Hike in Cottonwood, AZ and near Sedona, AZ Location: Off of the 260 on Ogden Ranch Road in Cottonwood, AZ, Google “Black Canyon Trailhead, Cottonwood, AZ” and it will come up Permit: No Difficulty: Intermediate Distance: 6 miles one way, but turn around and go back when you like Vehicle: Down a dirt road which isn’t bad. No special vehicle needed. Just 13 minutes from our Duck Pond A-Frame is the Black Canyon Trailhead #114, located in the Prescott National Forest. The hike to the top is 6-ish miles. I say “ish” bc we got to 6 miles and our friend was done so we t ..read more

Largest Waterfall at Fossil Creek in Arizona The Gist Trip Type: Day Trip from Phoenix, Scottsdale or Cottonwood/Sedona. Location: They say Strawberry, AZ but that is deceiving. Directions are from Camp Verde, AZ as the Strawberry access is closed indefinitely. Permit: Required April 1–October 1, not the rest of the year What To Do: Swim in turquoise waters + waterfalls when it’s hot AF. Just look at it the rest of the time, I guess. Special Requirements: SUV or Truck to get there A can’t miss destination just 2 hours from Phoenix is Fossil Creek, located in the Coconino National ..read more

When Joe from Constructed Matter and I launched our Room Makeover offering, I never thought our first client would be my mother-in-law. She reached out to me a couple weeks ago asking if we could do it pronto. Planning and coordinating these things with clients take time which is why we haven't had any to show yet. But, we were excited to jump in and do our first one with someone I know. Our Room Makeover deal is meant to be a small-ish in scale project lasting a week or less. And by a week or less I mean the actual work, aka labor. Two weeks ago I began the designing and planning. We hav ..read more

I still love subway tile. Sue me. I know there are people out there that are so over it but I'm not one of them. It's neutral. It's inexpensive. It's timeless. What's not to love? I know it is all the rage to use cement tile, mosaic tiles and colored tiles and I'm down with that, too. But, there comes a time and place that you might want to use subway, whether it's to tone down a room a bit to balance out busy tile or you might simply like to have that classic subway look. Maybe you want to use subway tile for its nice price tag. That doesn't mean it has to be boring. Let's look at s ..read more

This is one of my favorite bathrooms I've ever done. So, it's shocking I haven't written a Before & After post for it yet. It wasn't even a bathroom to start. It was a bedroom. This home desperately needed an upstairs bathroom, preferably a kick ass master bath. I've talked about this puzzle of a layout change before so if you want to dig into that, go here. But the gist of it is that this was a walk through bedroom to another bedroom which is lame AF. So, I chopped said lame bedroom up into a hallway, laundry closet, spiral stairway to the rooftop deck, master closet and master bath ..read more

Let me tell you a tail of when I got sick to death of tile. I already had a white subway tile bathroom on the first floor of this renovation and I didn't want to repeat again in the master. After all, I was trying to get top dollar with this home. The sale price of this home would change the neighborhood. No pressure.  So, I became obsessed with finding a way to pull off shiplap. Maybe it would work if I could find the longest tile known to man. Nope. Six foot tiles do not exist. So, I did what I do best, I Googled shiplap showers. Unfortunately, my best Googling found mostly examples of ..read more

Most visitors head to the big dog hiking mountains, Camelback and Piestewa Peak, but they can be crowded and parking can be difficult! You can still get fantastic views on some of the smaller mountains nearby. Shadow Mountain is a great option in North Phoenix. Shadow Mountain is a hiking destination that flies under the radar, so you won't run into a ton of other people there. The circumference trail around the mountain is approximately 3 miles long and is considered a moderate level hike with an elevation gain of around 420 feet. The trail is well-marked and maintained, making it a great op ..read more

Bachelorette parties happen year round here in Scottsdale, Arizona! That said, there may be some reasons to choose one season over another depending on your budget and weather preference. I’ll break it down by season so you can decide when is best for your Scottsdale before the veil bash.     Winter Months: December -February Weather High: 60s to 70s Weather Low: 40s to 50s December: Shoulder Season $$ January: Shoulder Season $$ February: High Season $$$ Good to know: Pool Temps: Must be heated Fire Pit: You’ll want one Pros: Decent weather, shoulder season prici ..read more

When we visit our Duck Pond A-Frame home, we have a list of favorite places to hit before we leave. It’s really hard to try anywhere else because these places are so stellar! 1. Pizzeria Bocce View this post on Instagram A post shared by Pizzeria Bocce | STRADA@Bocce (@pizzeriabocce) Located at the end of Old Town, this wood-fired pizza joint has a huge patio with fire pits, a pizza bar (like a sushi bar) where you can watch the food be prepared and some yummy wine and cocktails. Location: Old Town Cottonwood Favorite Seat: at the pizza bar watching all the things get made OR at a fire p ..read more