Every year, usually the week leading up to Independence Day in July, we support a state-wide effort called Indie Week which highlights and encourages Arizonans to support small, locally owned businesses in every way that they can.  

This year, of course, nothing is normal.  Indie Week kinda got squashed.  And so it was brought back a bit late for the whole month of September to make up for it.  We are proud members of Local First Arizona who sponsors this event and hope that you will support this effort, now more than ever.

It's fun, it's the right thing to do, and... you stand to win some cool prizes.
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• Indie Week XXL brings you a whole month to discover and support Arizona’s small, independent businesses — like us — and when we need it most!

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• ​Join in on the fun by visiting localfirstaz.com/indie-week to download your #IndieWeekAZ Action Card, shop and live locally (which you may already safely be doing), and get rewarded for it!

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• Cross just 5 calls-to-action off your card and get entered to win locally-curated prizes.

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• Small businesses need your help this summer. Shop with purpose, shop for your community, and let’s come out of this stronger together.

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Thank you for your support.

Peace and contentment,
~Miriam

This week, we are thinking about some ways to incorporate artfulness in our lives.

I think it's vital to carve out time in your schedule, whether it be weekly or just monthly, to open yourself up to creativity.  It may seem frivolous if you aren't an artist, but the truth is that doing something creative is beneficial in countless physical and emotional ways.  It's good for you!

And it brings you together with other people in a positive and open way.  Nothing bad about that.

There are two general ways to incorporate more creativity and artfulness into your life:

1. Do it yourself - as in, create something 
2. Explore and support the arts in your community

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This week we are thinking about and celebrating local places, local-ness, dogs, and picnics.  Let me explain!

Today is Dog Appreciation Day, which is just tremendous for so many reasons.  Dogs are all about living in the moment, and being entirely content exactly where they are in body, mind, and spirit. 

And since Saturday is National Eat Outside Day, I think we should all spend the day outside  with our pooches enjoying a picnic.  There's nothing that sounds bad about that, right?  Consider that aside from some well-earned downtime, there are health benefits too!!  

I'm actually not all that much of a beer drinker, too rich for me, but my husband is and has traveled the world enjoying the wonderful local-ness of this beverage.  I enjoy wine and whiskey, and we'll have lots more scoop on that later this year. 

Since I'm all about local makers and creators, we are going to share a few local spots that craft adult beverages here in the Prescott area.  

I have not had the pleasure to visit them all personally just yet, but we've got them on a list  to check out soon.  Hopefully you will do the same and share your thoughts. 

We are lucky here in Prescott to have a nice variety of crafters specializing in everything from beer to cider to mead and even whiskey.  We'll get to local wineries in another post...

So, let's get to the list:
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