At the November Get Your PHX we get to celebrate a whole list of new beginnings. We will visit the new dog park at Steele Indian School Park, learn about new plans for our largest CenPho public park and hear about how the downtown Margaret T. Hance Park is being re-imagined.

Our fine sponsors for this event will be Wag n’ Wash and Noble Beast. In addition to the food and libations, our sponsors will have goodies for your pooch! Please certain to visit with them when you come. We can’t do it without them!

So, we will have three fun and informative presentations for you.

Tom Byrne, Landscape Architect with the Parks and Recreations Deparment, will tell us about the evolution of CenPho’s first dog park.

Bryan Flanigan, Indian School Park Manager with the Parks and Recreation Department, will tell us about the history, future and planned renovations to the old Indian School buildings at the park.

Our own Kate Kunberger will give us a presentation on the very newsworthy plans for changes to Margaret T. Hance park, downtown.

We are also proud to announce that long-time park advocate Councilman Tom Simplot will join us for this event, too.

Further, this will be an interactive show and your opinions count.

The event will be broken in to two parts. We hope that you will join us with your pooch at 5:30 for some playtime at the park.

At about 6:00, we will begin the program at a ramada directly to the west of the dog park. Feel free to bring your dog over on a leash.

Keep an eye on our Facebook Fan Page for updates. As you know, there are always surprises.

November Get Your PHX
Thursday, November 17th from 5:30 to 7:30.
300 East Indian School Road
Phoenix, AZ 85013 Map here

NOTE: We suggest you enter the park through the 7th St entrance which is immediately north of the VA hospital property.

You probably know about our up-coming second annual open air holiday market, the Phoestivus market.  You know about it, especially if you are a vendor or own a food truck.

Well, this year, it wil be expanded to 2 nights: December 14th and December 21st.

Here is the information for vendors from our planning committee vendor point person, Monika Woolsey.

WHO:  Local creators of arts, crafts, and foods!

 WHAT: Second Annual Phoestivus (New this year!  Pheats of Strength, Airing of Grievances, and a Phoestivus Pole!)

 WHERE:  Downtown Phoenix Public Market

 WHEN:  December 14 and 21, 4 to 8 pm

 WHY:  Because we’re all just super cool and want to celebrate that. 🙂

HOW:  Please visit this link to apply to be a vendor.  If you are not a regular vendor, the annual fee does not apply.http://foodconnect.org/phxmarket/?page_id=7212  Please note, if you are on this email list you’re getting first dibs at available spaces.  Please, if this event is important to you, submit your application ASAP.  I’m sending a general call for vendors this coming weekend.

We’re encouraging all vendors to be phoestive with their booths as well as having wares to sell.  Decorations of all kinds are encouraged!

A special note:  The Clarendon Hotel will be offering a special Phoestivus room rate for all of December.  We hope for those vendors coming in from a distance, this might be a nice evening for you to stay in town and kick back, instead of hurrying home.  More details later!

You will eventually be connecting with myself and Troy Benjamin as the vendor coordinators but until we receive word from the Downtown Market that you’re on the official list, we are officially out of the loop.  So be sure to get  your application in!

Monika Woolsey

Phoestivus Committee

Thanks again to Denny Durbin of Padre’s and Frank Fierro of Sol de Mexico for hosting one of our most popular events. The place was packed, we learned about Tequila, edible cactus and we tried some amazing dishes featuring napolitos. Personally, I suggest you try the creamed soup with chicken and napolitos. I think this truly unique dish will become a signature Padre’s classic.

For October, we are teaming up with the Nina Mason Pullium Rio Salado Audubon Center to bring attention to this crucially important habitat restoration and education center, located on the south side of the Rio Salado and Central.

The fine folks at the Audubon Center are cleverly collaborating with Four Peaks Brewery to entice y’all to come learn about birds. Yep. Free beer. But the learning is as rich as the beer. So rich, that the Center earned a Best of Phoenix award this year.

You may or may not know that 100 years ago the Rio Salado was almost entirely a “winterbourne” river, meaning it flowed primarily after the snows melted up north. Phoenicians would regularly swim in the river through the spring and summer. Once the Salt River Valley User’s Association (now SRP) began damming up the river up stream for electricity and agriculture, the Rio Salado slowed to a trickle.

The Audubon Center is one of several projects (some of which have been put on hold due to the recession), that seek to revitalize the Rio Salado.

In addition to the 16 miles of hiking and biking trails, the Audubon Center boasts sustainable features like photovoltaic panels, a waste water recycling system and rain water capture. If you know me, you know I geek out on that stuff.

This is a free event. But we ask you to come ready to explore. We also believe that by the end of this event you will want to contribute and support this unique project.

Check out the Birds and Beer Flyer here.

Thanks again to Virginia Senior and her crew at Urban Beans.  There were over 60 people at our June event, all enjoying wines and nibbles in a refined wine pairing experience. Special thanks to Lisa Reinhardt of The Wei of Chocolate who provided her exquisite creations for the tasting. I’m still working my wei through an assortment of chocolates.

Get it, “wei!” You, know, like, wei. Oh, I crack me up! No? Alright, never mind.

Back to the business at hand: more epicurean luxuries in July!

I was so intrigued by the idea of our wine pairing last month, that I decided that it was in order to try something really special: a professional tour through the world of Greco/Italian cuisine, with Andy Pappas, of La Piccola Cucina as your personal guide.

If you’ve never met Andy, you know this guy’s the real deal. Andy is a former New Yorker (he owned another La Piccola Cucina in Manhattan). He and his wife, Debbie, have literally travelled the world picking up recipes for you to try and they deliver the real deal when it comes to southern European cuisine. The only thing that is missing is the haute cuisine snobbery.

I was at LPC a couple months ago with a client, celebrating a home purchase, when Andy and I got in to a conversation about how to eat and the logic behind courses. Why are there a certain number of courses? Why antipasta before the meal? Do you know? Don’t ask me!

Andy, of course, knows.

Enter “The Gallantry of the Table.” That was the name of a book written in the 15th century that laid out in great detail the logic behind eating.

Did you know, for instance, that if you eat meat before your first course, you run the risk of “festering” the meet in your stomach, resulting in certain unmentionable social fax pas? Not a pretty picture, I know. But epicureans 500 years ago laid out in clear detail what you need to do to get the most out of a refined dining experience.

Andy is our guide for one night. You will learn more about food at the next Get Your PHX than you’ve learned in the last 10 years combined.

Andy is going to present a mini, 5-course meal with wine; during which you will come to learn about the theories and practice behind greco/roman cuisine. He will help you experience the why’s and how’s of this ancient cooking tradition.

Now, La Piccola Cucina is not a big place and this is a very exclusive engagement. We are going to have to limit this event to the first 30 participants. (However, who knows, if we get enough interest, we might be able to do this in two engagements. Stay tuned.)

This event is going to cost $15 per person and will include the instructional 5-course meal and Andy’s choice of fine wine. In order to reserve your space, you need to call La Piccola Cucina directly at 602-358-7415 by July 20th. You can pay over the phone or at the door. Please also RSVP to me or on the fan page so I have an accurate count.

Keep an eye on our Facebook Fan Page for updates. As you know, there are always surprises.

July Get Your PHX
Thursday, July 21st from 5:30 to 8:30.
2241 N. 7th Street
Phoenix, AZ 85006 Map here

The goal of Get Your PHX is to show up, en masse, to support those who pioneer new restaurants, stores, bars and event spaces. We want to provide them a boost as they put their sweat, tears and wealth on the line to make life great downtown. Plus, we want to provide a chance for you to meet others like you, who want to get the most out of Phoenix.

Thanks again to everybody at the Indie ArtHouse. Joseph and the gang showed us a great time. Thanks also to The Bikini Lounge for offering drink specials and thanks to food truck Hey Joe for providing tasty comestibles. We raised a little money to benefit Free Arts of Arizona, and bought some great local original art.

I’m particularly excited about the June Get Your PHX because I’ve been wanting to do a wine pairing for a looooong time. Thanks to Virginia Senior over at Urban Beans, we will have special presentation from a professional wine sommelier who will guide us in how to pair wines with different types of food. Watch for an announcement soon about who our celebrity sommelier will be.

How better to start the summer than by refining your knowledge of which wine to pair with which meat, cheese, chocolate or desert?

With this knowledge you can impress your friends at the next 4th of July back yard barbeque: “No, really I think these Hebrew National Hot dogs would be best with an Albert Mann, cremant d’Alsace, brut.”

To round out my wine pairing dream team, Lisa Reinhardt of The Wei of Chocolate will provide the chocolate for the wine pairing. Have you ever had their citrus infused dark chocolate? I can’t wait to try this out! This is going to be a real treat.

Virginia at Urban Beans is completing a major expansion. She has a liquor license now, so she is serving all new meals: Sunday brunch with her famous French toast from 9am to 1pm are $15.95 and include an entree, scones, coffee and a cocktail. She is also doing special 5-course dinners, coming soon and she is expanding her desert menu.

Everything she is doing is based on a Eurocafe model of a seamless integration of coffee, food and wine.

Here’s the best part: the wine pairing is regularly a $15 deal and you are going to get it for FREE! So, join us, won’t you?

Keep an eye on our Facebook Fan Page for updates. As you know, there are always surprises.

June Get Your PHX
Thursday, June 23rd from 5:30 to 8:30.
3508 N. 7th StreetPhoenix, AZ 85014  Map here
Please RSVP to me via email or through Facebook so I can get an accurate count.

Thanks again to Leonardo Ramirez with Universal Furnishings & Offerings and Sherman Bush & Joseph Paul with BoomBoom LaRue.

I think everybody tried on a wig but me and the ladies from Carte Blanche Gourmet Tacos also dropped by with some tasty treats.

For the May Get Your PHX, we are diving deep in to new territory and lots of people are getting in the game to build a huge community event supporting Free Arts of Arizona and with a little help fromThe Bikini Lounge.

Indie ArtHouse is a brand new artist collective opening on Grand Avenue and 15th Ave. The idea behind Indie ArtHouse is to bring a new project to Grand Avenue that gives the broadest array of artists possible the opportunity to be seen, while also serving as a source of supplies and inspiration.  The creative co-op and space will be stocked with handmade art, clothing, up-cycle crafts, vintage works and supplies. There will be monthly community featured artists and an array of unique gifts.

“We all got together and decided we wanted to start a new project on Grand Ave,” says director Joseph Cuevas. “We believe in the arts community of Phoenix and we believe in the future of Grand Ave. So we’re excited to be a part of it. Most of all we’re looking forward to growing with this great community.”

Indie Arthouse members include Star DeLuna, Brian Harrison, Sticker Club Girl, Michelle Ponce, Ethan Brown, Tina McReynolds, Joseph Cuevas, Damian Jim, RunzwithScissors, Hristi Stoilcheva, Kristi Kuhl and Alyssa Shevlin.

Come meet the artists in person and buy something because Indie Arthouse is giving a 10% discount for anybody who buys at the May Get Your PHX.

The Bikini Lounge is offering specials for anybody who comes to this Get Your PHX and then drops by afterwards with our special token (because what would artists do if they couldn’t have easy access to drinks?) Special will run from 5:30 to 7:30 and only for those with a special Get Your PHX card.

We are also having a silent auction to benefit Free Arts of Arizona, the organization that we support every time we land in a gallery. So, please bring your auction paddle and be ready to deal!

Keep an eye on our Facebook Fan Page for updates. As you know, there are always surprises.

May Get Your PHX
Thursday, May 19th from 5:30 to 8:30.
1504 Grand AvePhoenix, AZ 85007  Map here

Please RSVP to me via email or through Facebook so I can get an accurate count.

Thanks again to Modified Director Kim Larkin and Associate Director Adam Murray for hosting our March Get Your PHX. Thanks also to David Lindsley from Valley Pizza Downtown for supplying the nosh. It was a pleasure to support this Downtown Anchor establishment as they transitioned to a new direction.

April is about furniture, frills and folic. We are extending our exploration of 16th St. and reaching out a little beyond the traditional downtown.
This month is about diversity, eclecticism and just being absolutely over the top with Universal Furnishings & Offerings and BoomBoom LaRue.
Why two hosts? Why not? They are next door neighbors and they are both an absolute hoot. Oh, and this month is UFO’s 2nd anniversary, or as owner Leonardo Ramirez likes to say, his “3rd Orbit Celebration.”

UFO is not a used furniture store. This is an interactive space, with an art gallery, a classroom and 4,000 square feet of showroom. We have lots of surprises coming (watch Facebook for announcements), but we can tell you that you will get a chance to learn from the artisans who do everything from make accessories to reupholster furniture.

UFO is a place where people and furniture can have a rebirth in purpose, style and attitude. Leonardo calls it “recycle-tude.”

Now, BoomBoom. What can we say? The partnership for this Get Your PHX means you can expect a huge blow-out of fun and surprises.
If you think “drag dresses” when you think of BoomBoom, you will be as keen to learn as I was that they do more than that. Sherman Bush and Joseph Paul of BoomBoom enlightened me as to why they have grown from a little booth in the old antique shop at McDowell and 7th to over 2,500 square feet of dresses, costumes, accessories and men’s clothes.

Sherman tells me that they provide unique items to the drag community, but also men, women, art students, actors and for a whole array of eclectic uses.

What made them more than a costume shop –and allowed them to grow in a recession– is how they guarantee uniqueness.

Case in point, Sherman pointed to a costume jewelry case in the store and told me, “If anybody buys a piece of jewelry from that case (and many clothing items, too), we guarantee not to sell an identical piece for at least 4 year.”

So, no more showing up to cocktail parties only to be embarrassed that I’m wearing the same choker as Sheriff Joe Arpaio!

Keep an eye on our Facebook Fan Page for updates. As you know, there are always surprises.

April Get Your PHX
Thursday, April 21st from 5:30 to 8:30.
3602 and 3606 N 16th St
Phoenix, 85006 Map here

Please RSVP to me via email or through Facebook so I can get an accurate count.

The goal of Get Your PHX is to show up, en masse, to support those who pioneer new restaurants, stores, bars and event spaces. We want to provide them a boost as they put their sweat, tears and wealth on the line to make life great downtown. Plus, we want to provide a chance for you to meet others like you, who want to get the most out of Phoenix.