Good morning, Scottsdale. Cooler nights this weekend, which is the right kind of weather for an outdoor patio or a long walk through Old Town before ArtWalk.
🎤 Floetry plays Celebrity Theatre tonight. Neo-soul duo, intimate room. Details.
🤖 A Scottsdale consultant is teaching moms to use AI. Bella Vasta's pivot from pet-sitter trade groups to AI workshops. Details.
🏀 Mercury host Chicago Friday night. Tip-off 7 PM downtown. Details.
🍽️ Dinner spots with a scene, dip trios, karaoke in Old Town. What r/Scottsdale was asking this week. Details.
📋 Budget debate and a Human Services Commission meeting. The week at City Hall. Details.
A Scottsdale consultant is teaching moms to use AI
Bella Vasta spent years consulting in the pet-sitting industry. Now she's running a workshop series teaching mothers how to lean on AI in daily life, and the Scottsdale Progress picked up the story this week.
Key facts:
Vasta is Scottsdale-based, a longtime presence in the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters circuit.
Her workshops focus on practical AI use for parents: scheduling, meal planning, homework help, communication.
The framing in the Progress piece: a phone is no longer just a phone when AI sits on top of it.
The story is a small one, but it's a useful local data point. AI literacy is showing up in Scottsdale's working-mom circles before it's showing up in most of the country's. Read the Progress piece.
What to watch: whether the workshop format scales beyond Vasta's existing professional network.
The Weekend
What's on the calendar around the city through Sunday.
Thursday
- 🎨 Old Town ArtWalk. 100+ galleries open late. 7 PM start. Free.
- 🏛️ Human Services Advisory Commission meets. Noon at City Hall. Agenda.
Friday and through the weekend
- 🐾 Empty The Shelters runs through May 17. Reduced adoption fees at participating Maricopa County shelters. Details.
Around Scottsdale
What residents were asking, debating, and looking for this week.
🍷 Dinner spots with a scene. A Reddit thread asking for the next Toca Madera or Bambino pulled 24 responses. The recurring picks: Hiro Sushi, The Mission, Steak 44, Maple & Ash on the Quarter side. Thread.
🫒 Dip and spread trios beyond Pita Jungle. Another r/Scottsdale request for trios of tzatziki, hummus, and red pepper dip. Top community picks: Persian Room, FnB, Fork & Dagger. Thread.
🎤 Old Town karaoke on weeknights. Recurring question, recurring answers: Bobby-Q's piano bar nights, Coach House, and a few rotating spots along Stetson. Thread.
🏛️ Proposed city budget hits debate. The Scottsdale Progress covered Tuesday's council back-and-forth over the proposed budget. Worth a read before the public comment window closes. Progress story.
🗳️ Council candidates lining up. The official candidate listing is posted at scottsdaleaz.gov/elections. Residents are talking through the field on r/Scottsdale this week. Candidate list.
Around the Valley
A few picks worth leaving Scottsdale for this weekend.
🎤 Floetry at Celebrity Theatre. Thursday, 8 PM. Phoenix. Neo-soul duo Marsha Ambrosius and Natalie Stewart in a room that seats under 3,000. A good room for this act. Tickets.
🤘 Cowboy Mouth at Marquee Theatre. Thursday, 6:30 PM. Tempe. New Orleans rock, the kind of show where the drummer talks more than most singers. Tickets.
🏀 Phoenix Mercury vs. Chicago Sky. Friday, 7 PM. Mortgage Matchup Center, downtown Phoenix. Early-season WNBA, with a Mercury roster that's been a topic of conversation all spring. Tickets.
🎭 Dancemotion at the Orpheum. Friday, 7 PM. Phoenix. Two-act revue, "Let's Go To The Movies" then "The Show Must Go On." Family-friendly, classic Orpheum room. Tickets.
That's the weekend. See the city out there.