If you live around Scottsdale or have passed through recently, you may have noticed the giant white tents standing alongside Loop 101 and Hayden Road.  For ten weeks at the beginning of every year as many as 100 of the finest artists from across the country gather in this enormous arena to display their work.  Many of the artists create new work whilst visitors, art lovers and art collectors meander the studios taking in spectacular art in various forms from paintings to sculptures, and can chat with the artists and see how their work is created.

There is always somewhere good to be in Arizona at any time of the year, despite the soaring temperatures in the summer.  It's a state with it's own climate control.  A couple of hours north or a couple of hours south, we've got it all covered, just find your comfort zone.  At this time of year, you want to be right here, Scottsdale and Phoenix, the places to be, weather included.  With so much going on, from music festivals to rodeos, art shows to championship golf tournaments and everything in between.  It's alive with life, the State's own entertainment capital.

Locally, this event has quite a reputation for being the single most popular people watching arena in the west.  Of course, some people do actually go to watch the golf!  Many girls dress up as though they're going to a star studded party on a yacht in the Caribbean.  It was a gloriously warm day which favored the skimpy clothes, and with no concern for the general terrain of such event, the scenery was more than entertaining with high heels and platform shoes tottering about the sloping grassy banks of the vast 18 hole championship TPC golf course. 
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This was my first time to a golf tournament, and the first time to any event that hosted a record breaking almost 205,000 people on a single day.  It was a sight to behold.  I didn't see much golf but that wasn't really why I was there, as I believe was the same for a large number of other folk in attendance!

Every year in January, Scottsdale Arizona hosts the Barrett-Jackson collector car auctions.  This year it takes place from January 14th to January 22nd.  

It's the largest concentration of cars from old classics to modern day prototypes and everything in between here in the beautiful city of Scottsdale.  Rows of gleaming polished chrome like the dinnerware on a banquet table, paintwork in every imaginable color like perfectly lined up bottles of nail polish.  Proud owners dusting off their pride and joy, the crowds milling through the tents, browsing, dreaming!   Celebrity cars for sale, rare cars in impeccable condition, so much to look at, not enough time. Then there are the auctions, the excitement, the big spenders looking to catch their dream toy.  Outside, the tempting smell of barbecue, food trucks, and if you're game, you can tackle the worlds largest turkey leg!

What's in it for us girls?  Men are not the only ones that these cars invoke fond lifetime memories for.  Today, I saw my very first car, a red Mini Cooper.  Forty years on, I can't believe I actually fit inside that car!  The Morris 1000, the very first car my parents owned when I was 10 years old.  The day my daddy brought that car home,  I spent the whole day playing inside it pretending it was my play house!  There's a huge Exhibitor Marketplace to stroll around and shop, plus, there are lots of happy men walking around, all in very good moods, some dashingly handsome!

This is my first time visit to a car show and I liked it!  If you are in the neighborhood and have a chance to go, it is well worth a visit.  A general admission ticket is just $20,  with senior, military and student discounts available.  Auction and VIP packages vary, but all can be purchased from the Barrett-Jackson website here.

This amazing property is referred to as the "Jewel of the Desert" situated in the heart of Phoenix, AZ.  Since 1929, accommodating U.S. presidents and legendary film stars, the luxury resort currently boasts eight swimming pools and two championship golf courses amid 39 acres.  It's stunning architecture was designed by the famous American architect Frank LLoyd Wright.

The Biltmore "Sprites". These original architecture sculptures were designed by Frank LLoyd Wright in 1914 to stand guard over Chicago's Midway Gardens.  These same Sprites, meaning fairy or elf, now grace the grounds of the Arizona Biltmore Resort.

Having spent many years working in the hotel industry, I have a passionate curiosity for interesting properties around the world.  The Arizona Biltmore Resort is no exception.  We enjoyed a lazy afternoon, sipping wine, overlooking the lush gardens of the hotel, watching their guests come and go, and the scenic beauty of the Camelback Mountain Range beyond the golf course.  It was idyllic.

The transition into fall is a slow process in Arizona, so I wore an off the shoulder blouse by Topshop from Nordstrom.  It had the feel of fall with it's autumnal floral colors on a black background, bell sleeves and a light-weight silky feel.  The black coated skinny jeans are by Citizans of Humanity, (similar here) and the clutch bag is Vince Camuto.  (Similar here). I love this bag, because it's big enough to fit a substantial amount of girl stuff, and when you need to be hands free, it has a handy gold link chain shoulder strap, plus it has the leather coated bear claw charm giving it an edgy feel. The booties are Via Spiga and are my favorite new purchase this fall, they just seem to go with everything, plus they're "walk all day" comfy to boot!

Love
Karen xox