Leah LeMoine

Phoenix, Scottsdale

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Articles

Staycation Guide 2025: The Best Packages and Deals in Arizona

3 weeks ago | phgmag.com | Angelina Aragon |Leah LeMoine |Craig Outhier |Madison Rutherford

Pack your bags and drive across town for a budget-friendly stay at one of the Valley’s many celebrated resorts. Bonus: Staycays in Northern and Southern Arizona for adventurous weekenders. by Angelina Aragon, Leah LeMoine, Craig Outhier & Madison Rutherford Price CheckResort rates are for 2025 and subject to changes and blackout dates. Always verify with properties before booking. Offers are not to be used in combination with other deals or discounts.
@tastesofaz Foodie Influencer Jenn Baluch Shares Her Jalisco Faves

1 month ago | phoenixmag.com | Leah LeMoine

When foodie influencer Jenn Baluch visited the southwestern Mexican state of Jalisco in February, her 103,000-plus Instagram followers came along, scrolling through every taco de canasta she ate and every carajillo she drank. Baluch, who manages her @tastesofaz account along with social media for local restaurants including Dahlia Tapas Tequila & Wine and Il Bosco Pizza, was happy to return to one of her favorite locales. “It has some of the best hospitality you will find anywhere,” she says.
3 Valley Italian Restaurants with Happening Happy Hours

1 month ago | phoenixmag.com | Leah LeMoine

Pizza to the RescueWhen: 2-5 p.m. M-SaCome early for Yappy Hour at this neighborhood eatery that benefits Almost There animal rescue. Subs, pizzas and “favorites” (Caesar salad, rigatoni with vodka sauce) are discounted to $10. Draft beers and house wines run $5, and bottles and cans of beer are just $3. 2601 E.
Coveted Arizona Florist Dips Her Talents Into Watercolor Art

1 month ago | phoenixmag.com | Leah LeMoine

“It’s always flowers,” Sarah Watts says. “I’m obsessed with flowers.”Watts has spent the last 14 years immersed in petals and pistils as one of the most luxe and in-demand florists in Arizona, designing bouquets, tablescapes and arches for nuptials at tony resorts. When COVID paused her business in 2020, she found a new medium to explore her obsession: watercolor. “Ever since I was little, I wanted to paint,” she says. “I got out of my head and was like, ‘I’m just going to do it.
Exclusive: Peixoto Coffee and Chacónne Pâtisserie Announce Joint Phoenix Shop

2 months ago | phoenixmag.com | Leah LeMoine

It’s a match made in heaven that Phoenicians will soon revel in on a whole new level thanks to a collaboration between beloved local brands Peixoto Coffee and Chacónne Pâtisserie. “We are excited to share that we are opening a coffee and pâtisserie shop in Downtown Phoenix [in] late summer… alongside chef Mark Chacón,” says Julia Peixoto Peters, who co-owns Peixoto Coffee with husband Jeff Peters, in an exclusive interview.
Great Escapes: Sea Envy

Mar 13, 2025 | phoenixmag.com | Leah LeMoine

A trip to Seattle leaves our writer dreaming of life in the Pacific Northwest. Ilove living in Phoenix. Really, I do. I’ve become an ambassador of sorts for our desert metropolis thanks to this job, which I also love. But when I travel, I often find myself experiencing pangs of what I call “city envy.”It’s invariably stoked by something we don’t have here – or that I don’t have in my little corner of North Phoenix. Pizza places open past midnight. Dumpling spots on every corner.
Just Back From Greece with Eugenia Theodosopoulos

Mar 13, 2025 | phoenixmag.com | Leah LeMoine

For bakery owners, the beginning of the year brings a lull. “Everybody goes on a diet for the first few weeks of January, so we always take that time off,” says Essence Bakery owner Eugenia Theodosopoulos. During that time, she and her husband, Gilles Combes, returned to one of their favorite destinations, her family’s homeland. “All four of my grandparents immigrated here from Greece,” she says.
A New Idea from Mesa's idea Museum

Mar 13, 2025 | phoenixmag.com | Leah LeMoine

In desperate need of screen-free programming for the kids over spring break? Mesa’s idea Museum can help. In December, the museum reopened after a three-month renovation and brand refresh – punctuation nerds will note the jettisoning of the periods in the old i.d.e.a. Museum name. “Our previous logo was created about a decade ago,” director Jarrad Bittner says.
Read It: A Girl Named Monique the Unique

Mar 13, 2025 | phoenixmag.com | Leah LeMoine

Phoenix elementary school counselor Detty Rodriguez was inspired to write her debut children’s book, A Girl Named Monique the Unique (self-published, $14.14), after befriending a young woman named Monique, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. (Full disclosure: Monique is the sister of PHOENIX managing art director Angelina Aragon.) The book chronicles a challenging day in Monique’s life, one of those days where everything that can go wrong does go wrong.
Guides for Letting Go

Mar 7, 2025 | phoenixmag.com | Leah LeMoine

When Jennifer O’Connell helps families plan home funerals, they’re usually for older folks. But last summer, her “client” was a 12-year-old girl. “She had cancer, and it had come back,” she says. “I got to meet her and really talk to her about what things she would like. We picked out this beautiful wicker casket, and she had these fuzzy little pink flannel sheets, and [decided] what she wanted to wear.” Her siblings each picked a stuffed animal to lay in the casket with her.