Wine Tasting with the Kappas!

Hey Guys! My name is Shontielle. I wasn’t originally involved in the creation of this blog, but I’m the new BFF in town to Tasha & Erica Nicole so I will be blogging about my weekend excursions as well!

Last night, Thursday, September 10th, I attended a wine tasting party hosted by the Phoenix Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. Being that we just got back from a wild weekend in Vegas, it was a refreshing change of scenery. It was very mellow with nice conversation and extremely polite people. After being invited to this event I didn’t know what to expect, but I am very glad that I went. There were bottles of wine there to taste (for free), as well as great food/wine specials. The restaurant offered half off wine bottles with discounted dinner entrees. What more could a sistah on a budget ask for! Nice men in nice attire were in attendance, and I even met some new female friends.

Towards the end of the night about 6 of us got into a pretty heated discussion about interracial dating! Don’t worry, no one was harmed!!! But this is just another perk to attending this event. You can come out and voice your opinion on whatever topic is at hand without getting either pimp slapped, sucker punched, or threatened (as you would at tha club).

This event is normally held about once a month at the 1130 restaurant in the Arizona Center. If you are looking for good conversation, nice looking men and women, and a relaxed atmosphere, please find your way out to this event. I believe the Kappa’s send out an email for their wine tasting parties, so when we get the info on the logistics for the next one we will post them for you.

The Basics for Wine Tasting:
Days: One Thursday out of the month
Time: 5:45pm – 10:30pm
Cost: FREE
Location: 1130 Restaurant in the Arizona Center Downtown
Crowd: Grown and Sexy, Sophisticated Business Professionals
Dress Code: Casual (most people did not wear jeans, even though I did)
Atmosphere: Laid Back, Stress-Free, Inviting, Cozy

And remember, drinking wine in the club is not PC!! LOL…so stay you azz out tha club!!!

Guess Who's Back?!?!

Forgive us friends. We have been gone but we have the best weekend post to date. VEGAS! For Labor Day we and Shontielle and Muhsinah (Muffy) drove to Las Vegas, Nevada. To start we must be sure to tell you that many of our experiences have been purged into the mysterious depths of the Hoover Dam. But we can offer pics and some captions for your deducing pleasures...

Why you should go:
Vegas is not all about hedonism and gambling. There is so much fun by the pool, at fantastic restuarants and amazing parties. Plus world famous performers are there five nights a week. In our case, we partied with people from all over.
Vegas can be cheap. Thanks to Tasha's parents we paid $100 total for three nights in a bomb suite (kitchen, dining, washer/dryer, two baths, etc). We hustled our way into an exclsuive pool party, for example and took our own car. Also, if you can, try to skip the shopping (sorry Shony)!

Why you should skip it:
If you don't have good friends who are down to make moves and are not party poopers! Or, if you need more than three hours of sleep a night.

The Basics on Vegas!
Days: Any holiday weekend
Time: No such thing in Vegas
Driving Distance: Six hours from Phoenix if you take the regular long-route. Five hours if you take Tasha's homemade death-path and Muhsinah is driving 89 mph
Crowd: The entire 5th season from Jerry Springer, celebrities, newlyweds and best friends
Dress Code: fun, fun, fun
Atmosphere: Off the Wall, Don't Stop till you get Enough, Thriller...Never Can Say Goodbye!

In the midst of this recession remember the cover price to a Phoenix club is not tax deductible. So stay save your money and stay out the club!
T&E

Weekend 3 - Allllll Skate! Rollllll Bounce!

Rating: A good time

Remember when you used to go to the skating rink and the best skater was an old dude with a Jheri Curl who could hit splits on his skates? Well, welcome home because Great Skate offers this and more! In short, it isn’t as wild as rinks in the mid-West or Down South but it comes close. You can still get sexy on the slow, partner skate, there are still orange and brown skates, you still gotta make sure you don't fall, and you will still need 75 cents to put your shoes in a locker. By most accounts the DJ is fair and the crowd is, by and large, over 18 on Sunday nights. Either way this place will definitely take you back – way back.

We suggest that you bring a crowd and just chill. Don’t take yourself too seriously and just have fun. We sure did.

The Basics for Great Skate
Days: Sunday nights
Time: 8-12pm
Cost: $8 (with or without skates)
Location: 43rd avenue and Peoria (about 15 minutes from Downtown)
Crowd: The same people who were at your skating rink back home – no seriously, the same people!
Dress Code: Jeans, velour sweat suits, matching outfits so your people can coordinate, or booty shorts. It’s totally up to you.
Atmosphere: Skating rink-ish

In conclusion, the skating rink hasn’t changed and you will enjoy yourself – especially if you used to go when you were young. Besides, at least when you run into your pastor at the skating rink you don’t feel the need to gag and repent – like you would at the club.

First Fridays Artwalk in Phoenix

Hi all! This Friday we went to the Artwalk in Phoenix. Ummmmm where to begin? Shontielle, Katrice and I (Erica Nicole) got there around 8:30. We were lucky to find parking because it was very crowded.

Once we started walking around on Roosevelt between 7th and 7th we learned that First Fridays have changed drastically. The last time I was there (nearly two years ago) it was filled with 20-30 somethings, great art, cute little restaurants. It was very young, hip-hop, classy-casual, etc.

Now it's wack. The art is still there, the restaurants are still there but the cool people have been replaced with teenagers in white tees, drug dealers pushing empty baby strollers and hippies - no, for real. Some of the night's highlights:
We were hit on by 13 year-olds - twice
Called drunk ho's by 13 year-olds once (wrong on 2 levels, obviously)
Watched a side-show performer stand on broken glass with his bare feet
Met evangelists for Mason Betha's church in a restaurant/bar

Why you should go:
There are cool artisans who make cool stuff. Shontielle and I bought super cute earrings
The art is still there and gorgeous/funky
You can try cool stuff like Hemp ice cream sandwiches
If you go into a restaurant you can avoid the white tees

Why you should skip it
It is hard to stroll when people are rudely rushing into you
It can get expensive if you eat there and buy stuff from vendors
There were about 1000 police officers around
The crowd is slightly depressing

The Basics
Days: Every night but the 1st Friday of the month is the hot night
Time: 7pm until
Cost: Free galleries. Individual prices at restaurants, bars, vendors etc
Location: Roosevelt between 7th and 7th
Crowd: Teenagers in white tees, hippies who yell at you on the sidewalk, police
Dress code: none
Atmosphere: A lingering feeling of having your purse snatched

Make up your own mind but we prolly won't be at First Fridays again. I will take in the art on an off night. Until next week's exploits, if you left the south side of (insert any city here) to get a good job and live in a nice house here, getting shot by some halfway gangsters in Phoenix would be pretty pathetic. So stay away from the club!
T&E!

This weekend!

Okay,
So things are only half as good this week because Natasha is out of town. Meanwhile we have to make her proud anyway. The best suggestion we have is to go to First Fridays Downtown (near ASU Downtown) around 8pm Friday night. From what I know there are cool little museums, nice restaurants to dip into and a pleasant walk.

But I need a dependable crew willing to roll out with me and to report back on this blog. If you're down respond back and we will do it to it! In any case, check back to see how the evening went.

And as always there is nothing sexy about getting hit in the face with someone's locks because they don't know how to 'Go Dumb' in a non-violent way. So stay yo butt out tha club!

Weekend One: Intro/HomeBase

We are two women living in Phoenix, Arizona with great friends and four jobs between us both. However, there is one problem; we have reenacted scenes from Waiting to Exhale one too many times. We complain about the same old men, being bored, and wasting the countless hours of our lives in the club - hours that we will never get back.

Don't get us wrong, the club can be fun sometimes (in another state - or region of the country) but there is only so much ass-grabbing, 'you the F***in' best,' drink-spilling, and parking lot pimpin' you can take before you pack your bags and move back home - unless you're Tasha and home is Tucson.

Recently we have been seeking fun in other places. We thought it would be interesting to share our experiences through the documentation of a year-long experiment on nightlife in Arizona. Here's how it works:
1. We will hit up a random spot that is Anything But Tha Club each weekend.
2. We will record and evaluate our experiences based on the following criteria:
a. Cost
b. Crowd
c. Dress code
d. Atmosphere
e. Rating
3. You participate by responding to our post, offering feedback, and suggesting places that we
should try next

Weekend One - HomeBase at Doc's Place

Rating: Two Thumbs Up!

We LOVE HomeBase! Think of this open-mic night as your favorite scene from Love Jones - only better. There are singers, poets, emcees, old skool favorites from the DJ booth, cocktails, soul food favorites and a witty, charming, oftentimes hilarious host, HB.

Why You Should Go
Most performers are thought provoking artists who showcase their talent with political, romantic and/or comedic spoken word. You will also encounter a few singers on the night's roster.

The crowd is coed and women in Phoenix know that that's always a plus! Most importantly the women do not outnumber the men.

You won't hear any wack, pick-up lines from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air or Drake for that matter.
You get to see a different side of men in Phoenix. At times their revolutionary, neo-soul, super-sensual, poetic swag left us speechless (Erica Nicole definitely left with a crush)!

If HomeBase were a school, the host, HB would definitely be the class clown - you know that one kid who had a permanent spot next to the teacher's desk and wasn't allowed to work in groups because he always had jokes? That's HB.

Besides...where else can you go to get ox tails, catfish, poetry, hip hop and sexy people for five dollars? Especially in Arizona...

Why you Might Leave Early
It's every 1st and 3rd Sunday night meaning you might be sleepy come Monday morning if you decide to stay till the end. As you know, we can't get down like we did in college!

It gets crowded and if you aren't there by 6:30pm you won't have a seat and may not even get in!

Some of the poetry is 'extra-grown' (more than a few F-bombs were dropped tonight). So if you have super conservative sensibilities you might consider staying your a** at home.

Basics:
Days: Every 1st and 3rd Sunday
Time: Doors open at 6pm and the show starts at 7pm (for a guaranteed seat, best be there by 5:15)!
Cost: $5
Location: At Doc's Place in Central Phoenix
Crowd: Coed, diverse, Grown and Sexy
Dress code: Your best revolutionary outfit
Atmosphere: Love Jones-ish - if you don't know what we mean, stop reading this blog immediately!

Until next week...stay yo a** out tha club!