Hope those who could, did make it to First Friday in downtown Phoenix last night. I almost missed it but things worked out.
My night started at Alta, the Mark-Taylor loft apartments on 4th. Jane Fendelman was doing a CD signing for her hypno-therapy CD's. She is always fun to hang out with... never dull for sure. Catherine Dermody, the GM at Alta, made sure everyone had pizza enough to make the belly happy. (Check back for a full post on Alta, it is a happy place.)
Got to meet Emily Jackson Bates, a massage therapist and yoga instructor at YogaDenPhx next door to Alta. She was offering free chair massages and was very sweet. I'm sure YogaDen will be the topic of a future post when I visit and find my inner downward dog.
My friend Claudia B. joined in the fun and we took off for a view of Roosevelt Row. It was crazy busy. Lots of art, food and PEOPLE. Great to see downtown with so many happy bodies having fun.
The crowds were pretty thick so we headed off to Grand Ave. I think Roosevelt Row was holding most of the people as Grand was pretty quite. We hit Sapna Cafe, Fractal and ended up hanging out with Kate from Modern Cat. I've heard of Kate from her blog and had never met her. We had a great talk about Blogs, SEO, page views and all those bloggy topics people who blog like. Kate's friend Bogi Lateiner of 180 Auto fame was there too. Did you know she is a certified master mechanic... I was impressed. Before we left a friend of Kate's brought her a birthday cake adorned with kitties of course.
The night ended at Paisley Violin. Got a table on the back patio and listened to Anjonette sing and play guitar. Tried to get a coffee and snack but gave up after 20 minutes or so of waiting. I love the place but getting service on the patio when it's busy and I'm tired is a bad combination.
Hope to see you downtown next month when First Friday happens once more.
Gene Urban
The Urban Team at Realty Executives
602-234-5777
