When my husband and I went on our little vacation a couple of weeks ago, I went shopping at several fun stores that we don’t have in Utah. One of the first stops is always Scrapbooks Etc. but now it is Scrapbooks and fabric! Twice the fun! I love to look at all the fun ideas in this shop and it is always at the top of my list of shopping stops! I could spend a couple of hours in this store just drooling over all the fun products and displays that they have! I picked out a few pieces of fabric for a new purse that I want to make.
And I got this “Smash Book” ( When I told my husband that I got a “Smash Book”, he looked at me funny and said, “you bought a book about mammograms?” He thought that he was so funny!)
I LOVE the idea behind this book. It is a journal/scrapbook all in one. You just “smash” any ticket stubs, pictures, memorabilia, notes, thoughts, or drawings etc. into the book. It comes with this pen with a glue stick on the end!
In the very front of the book it says: “It’s OK. Just SMASH it in. There’s always room, just like the junk drawer. Nothing’s right, Nothing’s wrong. It’s all YOUR’S. We say glue in the gladness. Watch this youtube video to show you how easy it is!
Here is my first page entry from when we were on our trip, I could not wait to start writing!
I found these fun notepads and sticky notes at Home Goods to go along with my “Smash” book. I also found some stickers that had fun thoughts and words! 
Another store that I love to go to is Home Goods! ( While searching for the address I found out that there are several stores in Utah! Yippee!)
I love Bia dishes and whenever I find any I have to add them to my collection. They have the scalloped edges and come in so many cute colors! They are microwaveable, can go in the oven, the dishwasher and the freezer! I LOVE them. I also found this cute little pitcher and plate, won’t it be fun to serve buttermilk syrup or gravy out of this? And I am way excited about my new cupcake stand. I have an old plastic one, but this one is so much cuter, don’t you think? Now I am going to have to make some cute cupcakes! So I felt like I really hit the jackpot in this shopping trip.
A couple of the places that we always try to go to while we are in Arizona is this Mexican Restaurant, the food here is always so good, and I could almost just drink their salsa it is so good, 
And of course, the Cheesecake Factory! (We actually have one in Utah now, but we tend to only go here while we are on vacation.) Is there anyone out there that can pass up a piece of one their delightfully, sinful, cheesecakes? I am not one of them :)
Another place that we have to stop is the Superstition Market, which is a big fruit stand! I load up with as much produce as I can without it going bad before we can eat it all! I am always in 7th heaven in this place!
I made one other purchase this year, a dwarf orange tree! I have the perfect place for it in my house during the winter and then in the summer it can go outside on my patio! It had several blossoms on it and when we put it in our vehicle, it smelled so good! And I am happy to report that now I have several little orange buds starting!
What are some of your favorite finds?
If any of you are from Arizona and have some fun places to shop or visit I would love to hear about them for our future trips!
I just stumbled upon your blog from a pinterest post. I find that we have lots of things in common. I love what I see so far and am off to do some more exploring around your blog. It is funny that you mention you shopped at stores you don’t have in Utah while on your trip because my daughters and I just got home from Utah (we live in Washington) and had so much fun shopping in Utah at all the stores we don’t have here.
Isn’t it fun to shop in new places! Thanks for your comment and I hope that you will visit my blog often! :)
I love your blog so much and love all the fun ideas you have. I actually just moved to Tucson and I’m looking ofr good shopping as well. I’m excited to find the scrapbook store and the mexican food restaurant next time I’m in Phoenix, are these in Phoenix?
The scrapbook store is in Mesa on Lindsay and University. The Mexican restaurant is in Surprise on Bell Road just southwest of Highway 60. I hope that you can visit them sometime! If you find any other fun places to visit, please let me know! Thanks for your comment and your support!
Rita, I heard your voice on Good things Utah this morning, and said, That has to be Rita Yates. I miss your scrapbook store so much! It was always such a pleasure to come in there and be greeted by you. Glad to find out you have a blog, and enjoyed running through it already. I have put it on my favorites and looking forward to more fun things. You did great on GTU!!
Claudia, thank you so much! I miss all the people from the store and you were so good to work with! I am glad that you found my blog, come back often. I love to have comments from all my friends and I appreciate you taking the time to write today.