A weeekend retreat to Tuscon Arizona!

Well I have been trying to wait for the pictures from my dad's camera so I could do an entire post of my weekend get-away to Tuscon Arizona for an old family friend's wedding however I can't contain it any longer so it will come in two pieces now: 1 about where I stayed and where I ate and 2. The wedding (to come later)

First of all I must say God really had his hand of favor on me to even make it over there since my flight was supposed to leave out of Houston on Friday evening which of course was right when Hurricane Ike had begun to make landfall so the airport was shut down. I was in San Antonio and my wonderful parents heard the determination in my voice LATE Thursday night and hopped on their computer and found me a flight to El Paso instead where they picked me up and we all drove to Tuscon together.

This really was a bonus for me because my dad picked me up about 10:oo AM their time and asked if I was hungry and since I'd only eaten a small thing of oatmeal from the airports Starbucks I was starving by now. So of course my daddy took me to Si Senor Restaurant in Las Cruces, New Mexico which of course is THE restaurant if you grew up in Deming. You see it is THE restaurant in Deming and they put a bigger Si Senor's in Las Cruces years later so I was able to have my delicious Huevos Rancheros - green, over easy, and with no onions! (translation for non Si Senor eaters: I want green chile, not red, I want my eggs over easy, and please leave out the onions!)

Then once we were home I put some laundry in and was supposed to nap while my laundry was being done but I first HAD to go outside and see my parents raspberry bushes and see how much their vine had grown. It was beautiful as always and my dad told me they have to pick their raspberry bushes about every three days they are so plenteous this summer! So I went and grabbed a bowl and started picking! These raspberries were so delicious I kid you not they were 10 times better than any I have ever eaten! Even if you pick one a little early they are still not sour like the ones you buy at the store. It's always sweet it just depends on HOW sweet and juicy and delicious! They were SO good I ate quite a few handfuls and still filled an ENORMOUS bowl full of them.

Okay so on to Tuscon...when we got there we went and picked up my cousin Andrea who is the same age as me and is attending U of A there. We were all going to go out to dinner and started discussing where we should go. Andrea said she heard of a restaurant that has been voted the BEST Italian restaurant in Tuscon for the last three years and she has heard is very good. Well taken we ARE Italian we couldn't pass this up. So we called ahead and got ourselves on the waiting list while we checked into the Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa.

Here are a couple pictures from their website. If you ever get a chance to stay here you truly MUST. It is a retreat like none other! Anyways, like I said we checked in, received our beautiful gift basket from the Shiflett's welcoming us to the wedding and headed out to our restaurant, Gavi Italian Restaurant (the piazza location).

We arrived to the piazza location and walked in to a cozy, inviting scene with laughter and conversations everywhere! It really did seem like a hot spot in Tuscon. My favorite part of the design was the ceiling: they had draped shimmery material starting in one corner and flowed out covering the rest of the roof. The lights were above it so it made for a romantic ambiance!! lol, it was so fun and there were wine bottle EVERYWHERE! Their wine menu was bigger than their regular menu! Everything looked so good and I found out later that everything is prepared fresh and from scratch for every meal served.

I couldn't decide what to order but when the waitress came around she rattled off the specials for the night and one I could not resist. I should have written it down because i don't remember it all but it was a spaghetti like pasta with salmon, mushrooms, spinach, shrimp, umm....a couple other things (sorry I don't remember) all in a creme sauce and either a wine sauce combined or it was cooked in a wine sauce....man sorry I know something had wine in it or cooked in it. Anyways I DO know it was SOOOOOOOO delicious!!!! It was the best pasta I have probably ever eaten and that's saying a LOT for me. The other thing I REALLY liked about the restaurant is they stayed very true to a true Italian meal starting with bread with oil and vinegar to dip in. Second they brought a cold antipasta (which is rarely seen anymore in Italian meals) and then the main course and of course who can leave out dessert when you are at such a good restaurant. My dad ordered Affogato, which is gelato alla crema in a strong freshly brewed espresso. And my mom ordered the Tiramisu so my cousin could try a true Italian dessert. The Tiramisu was good but the Affogato was DELICIOUS!! OOOHH I So want another one right now! I couldn't eat the espresso without the ice-cream because it was so strong but with the ice-cream mixed in it was so good!

So if you ever go to Tuscon please try both places they are both awesome and I could spend another two hours talking about the Westin and everything there but I will put some in my next post about the wedding. However motherhood calls to make my hungry kids some lunch and ooohh change my stinky daughter's diaper. Ciao till next time!