Flagstaff Calling...

  

This Friday found me jumping in my car and speeding North...

Just honey, my iPod and Myself.

(and a whole lot of other things really...like clothes and pillows, but mostly it was just a whole lot of me)

I was on the road to visit Steven.

We can all search our memories here and realize that this is indeed the very same Steven that I was rushing off to visit during his stint at The Magic Kingdom mere months ago...only he's once again relocated back to Flagstaff.  I remember all the moving and packing and unpacking that went on in my life when I was up at NAU...just a few years ago.

Ahem.

Ok.

It was more than a few.  I'll give you that.  And it is by far long enough to feel like Flagstaff has undergone a whole resurgence.  Gone is the fly-by-night Route 66 town replaced by an almost more cosmopolitan version of itself.

(Seriously folks.  Flagstaff is just getting more cool as the years pass)

(which means there are a lot more interesting shops and resteraunts)

(oh.  And the train doesn't whistle anymore when it blows through town, which is kind of sad really.  I know it was really loud and took a lot to get use to when living there, but I worry about the safety issues...)

I got up to Flagstaff in time for First Friday...which is their art walk.  Only instead of just having the art galleries stay open, almost every shop was open...and people were strolling about, and I swear there were twinkly little lights everywhere.  It was magical.

Also?

I have been so sick for so long this year, I may have forgotten what it was like outside after dark in a town where a lot of people go out and stroll around.  NAU lends itself to the young hip crowd...and I'm telling you, it is very cold in Flagstaff...but it didn't seem to stop anyone from coming out.

I was utterly enchanted as Steven led me around.

The second I got there and in-between unloading Honey and spritzing, he casually mentioned that The Green Room was having Electronic Kingdom night...which means it was going to be dropping some seriously good beats for the duration.  Starting at 9pm with no cover charge?

Yeah.

This may be a place you want to check out if you happen to like electronica music, dancing, and are in Northern Arizona.

It was pretty amazing.

Dancing.

There was a great crowd of all ages

(so I didn't feel too old)

(cause it kind of crossed my mind that I have been dancing in clubs for a mighty long time...and did I ever think I would still be doing such a thing at my age?  Which made me shake my head, because I don't know if I could ever come to terms with the time when I couldn't go dancing...that and I didn't really have too many concrete plans for myself after the age of 23)

(oh and after I hung up my coat, a young handsome gentleman grabbed me and said, "You?!  Are Fabulous!"  Which gave me a big nice smile and had me repeating the same thing to him before he hugged me and air kissed my cheek...and made me feel better about what I was wearing, as I didn't know we were going dancing and I really like to dress up when I dance)

(Also?  Steven and my good friend Arthur kind of dance similarly, so it made me miss Arthur....but he knows, I told him on facebook)

We didn't close the place down by any means

(my knee hurt, and Steven admitted to feeling a bit achy)

The rest of the weekend consisted of laughing hysterically, eating fantastic food, seeing Alice in Wonderland (happily not in 3D) meeting up with good friends, being dropped off downtown for a bit by myself while Steven ran to an interview, laying around watching Weeds, waking up to snow...

It was a wonderful weekend indeed...

A much needed break for both Steven and I...and it was very hard to leave come Sunday afternoon.  But, the snow was flying and I had my car loaded down with goodies for Snap Snap...and I needed to get home for The Academy Awards.

But, thanks to such an amazing host, I had a great soundtrack (mixed by Steven himself and put onto CD) in which to head down the mountain to...