My Valentine? Sunny Arizona.

Last week I headed for a marketing conference in Tempe, AZ and much to my surprise and delight, I was welcomed by 70 degree weather. Ah, truly amazing. After dumping my bags in my hotel room I plopped myself down on the lounge chair (next to the putting green) outside my room and just soaked up the sun (and trust me, this pale skin needed it). Seriously, Arizona...once I found you, I never wanted to let you go.

This was in fact my first time ever visiting and it made me all warm and fuzzy inside. Walking around the ASU campus later that week all I could think is how nice it would be to wear shorts in Oregon in February. Unfortunately, we're not that lucky. It's still raining and 30-40 degrees most days in February.

Our scheduled adventure for the week was a trip to Sedona and the pink jeep tours. Tempe=nice. Sedona=amazing. If you haven't been there, go. After two hours of being driven in a charter bus across the desert, we make our way to a beautiful little town surrounded by massive rocky formations formed by wind and water. Next stop: coffee and window shopping, followed by 'Rootin' Tootin' margaritas at the Cowboy Club to get us ready for two hours of bouncing, bumping and laughter. The jeeps were a lot of fun, but a little cold. Some of us packed for warmer weather not realizing Sedona is in the mountains and hence would be freezing. But a few blankets and $4 gloves did the trick. Finally, it was on to dinner at the resort and a long ride home full of drunks singing karaoke to the entire bus.

While Arizona was nice and I seriously contemplated never coming back, I'm happy to be home. Four days of appetizers, main course, dessert and drinks for lunch AND dinner gets a little old after a while. And thanks to the sponsors, I didn't have to pay a dime. Not really looking forward to the barrage of e-mails I skimmed while out of the office that need catching up on tomorrow morning.