Montelucia Resort & Spa

Diamond spa treatments. Blue cheese ice cream.
A renovated historic warehouse. They’re all in Phoenix, they’re all cool and they’re just the beginning.

1. Montelucia Resort & Spa
Inspired by Andalusia in southern Spain, the new Montelucia Resort & Spa in Paradise Valley helps transport you to another time and place with a special attention to details. More than 170 antiques grace the property, including 16th century hand-carved antique doors imported from Andalusia. A replica of a starry night in Granada, Spain, welcomes you at the arrival dome of Joya Spa, where the Moroccan-inspired décor is topped only by an authentic Hammam  treatment – complete with a scrub using traditional herbal black soap applied with a Kassa cloth, followed by an herbal steam, whirlpool, sauna and 47-degree, cold-water deluge. Not feelin’ it? The Diamond Magnetic Body Experience uses micronized iron, wild lavender and genuine diamond powder to magnify positive energy.

Info: 4949 E. Lincoln Drive, Paradise Valley, 480-627-3200, icmontelucia.com
 

2. Coronado Home Tour & Spring Fest
On March 7, the 22nd-annual Coronado Neighborhood Home Tour and Spring Festival gives architecture-philes a closer look at one of Phoenix’s most colorful historic ’hoods. Heard Museum founder Dwight Heard designated the district in 1908, intending it as a “streetcar suburb” for trolley commuters. Today, resident décor divas and handymen have blended antique with modern in the 1920s- to 1940s-era houses. This year’s event has gone eco-friendly, so you can pedicab between Arts and Crafts bungalows, Tudor-style revivals and remodeled ranches as you enjoy music from local bands, a Kids’ Carnival and eats from neighborhood faves Lisa G Café Wine Bar, Drip and Trente Cinq.

Info: gcna.info

Bellinis at The Phoenician

3. Bellinis at The Phoenician
The mixologists at The Phoenician pay homage to the original Bellini (“little pretty”) from Harry’s Bar in Venice, Italy, with their Bellini program. Served resort-wide, the Bellinis vary from the traditional peach to kiwi to seasonal flavors that change about every three to four months.

The drinks are made only with Santa Margherita Prosecco, and through a partnership with the winery, the resort is the only place pouring Santa Margherita Prosecco in the state. With 10 different Bellinis on the menu at a time, Food and Beverage Director Mac Gregory says the resort goes through 75 to 100 cases of Prosecco per month – all from Bellini sales.

Info: 6000 E. Camelback Road, Scottsdale, 480-941-8200, thephoenician.com

Chicks with Picks

4. Chicks with Picks
It doesn’t get much cooler than two chicks investing in the future of female musicians in Arizona. Rhonda Hitchcock (left) and Pandy Raye (right, both photographed on the rooftop of the Clarendon Hotel in Phoenix) launched Chicks with Picks in November 2007, and within about a year, they were boasting more than 100 showcases. Showcases feature three female artists (mostly local) – each with about a one-hour set. Meanwhile, Lil’ Chicks with Picks helps develop female musicians ages 8 to 13.

Join Chicks with Picks at Tempe Town Lake on March 21 for the Chicks with Picks Music Fest 2009, an all-day event that will feature national and local artists on the main stage, 40 Chicks with Picks on the side stage and about a dozen Lil’ Chicks performing live on their own stage. You can also catch Chicks with Picks every Tuesday at the Buffalo Chip Saloon in Cave Creek and almost every Wednesday at Aunt Chilada’s at Morten Avenue and Dreamy Draw Drive, and at other special events around the state.

“We’re our own special breed – women in music,” says Raye, who was American Idol Jordin Sparks’ guitar teacher. “We’ve all found each other, and if nothing else comes of this, we have accomplished something by bringing these women together. It’s very cool.”

Info: 480-510-3127, azchickswithpicks.com