that’s old-timey, vintage, or retro, one of the booths at The Brass Armadillo proba- bly has it. We’ve bought vintage Pyrex, old records, classic issues of Arizona High- ways, and so much more. Sometimes we zip through quickly looking for something in particular, but more often, we stroll up and down the aisles, looking for something special that catches our eye. Pro tip: If you sign up for the mailing list, you can find out when the store is having a sale, making the treasures you find at The Brass Armadillo a little more affordable. EEEEE ABC Cake Decorating Supplies 2853 East Indian School Road 602-224-9796 cakearts.com The beauty of ABC Cake Decorating Sup- plies is that it caters to both decent ama- teur bakers like ourselves and true pros with the skills to do it for a living. We shop there for cookie cutters of every shape and size, baking stencils for dusting powdered sugar on our creations, cool cupcake liners, and pretty bakery boxes for when we’re feeling fancy. But if we ever decide to up our baking game, we know we can head to ABC to find pans of every size, an array of flavorings and extracts, gumpaste flowers, and even airbrush machines. The best part is that the staff is equally friendly and help- ful whether you’re a pro or just gearing up to make your first batch of cupcakes. EEEEE Wag N’ Wash 4230 North Seventh Avenue 602-462-9274 7777 East Indian School Road, Scottsdale 480-946-9274 wagnwash.com Giving your pet a bath in the home tub can be a real back-breaker. Stop wrestling with Mr. Wiggles and playing slip-n-slide on your bathroom floor — head to Wag N’ Wash. You can use one of their pet-friendly washbasins to get your dog smelling good and looking fancy. There’s even conditioner, for a silky finish. If you don’t want to complete the task yourself, you can have one of the friendly staff members polish your pcup. This place is a pet lover’s paradise. After you get your four-legged friend beautified in the groom- ing room, walk the aisles shopping for dog and cat food, accessories, and plenty of treats. Feel free to bring your dog in with you — he or she might pick out what they want to snack on from one of the many ac- cessible buckets of bully sticks and cow ears. Tempe Autoplex 7800 South Autoplex Loop, Tempe tempeautoplex.com The act of buying a new vehicle tends to be about as exciting as a root canal. Not so at Tempe Auto- plex, where shopping is like walking around a chrome-plated toy store. There are thousands of vehicles across the 12 individual dealerships, which means a selection to fit most budgets, lifestyles, and color prefer- ences. Don’t think of it as yet an- other car dealership — it’s more of a monument to the grander car cul- ture of the Valley. Tempe Autoplex’s mere existence demonstrates just how vital cars are to the larger cul- tural makeup of the region. Even those among us with an apathetic outlook on cars could find ourselves swept up by the allure of wandering around 80-plus acres of pure vehic- ular power. Community Florist 1616 North Central Avenue, #106 602-266-6648 communityfloristaz.com When it came time to send flowers to our favorite uncle, we were a little shy about our budget, yet we wanted something spe- cial. Enter Community Florist, where friendly staff crowded around with photos and flower samples to help us get the most begonia bang for our buck. We finally set- tled on a houseplant from the pretty, ver- dant jungle that Community stocks, but came back a few weeks later to order one of the floral masterpieces we’d seen one of the shop’s designers building. Corsages and funeral floral arrangements are also on the menu, and Community’s staff will even phone you with a progress report if you’re worried your daisy bouquet won’t reach its destination in time. EEEEE Dig It Gardens 3015 North 16th Street 602-812-7476 digphx.com Dig It Gardens has an all-around good vibe. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable, and the lush plant offerings have some- 113 SEPTEMBER 30, 2021 | WWW.BESTOFPHOENIX2021.C0M | BEST OF PHOENIX 2021 good s & s e ES r v B i c e s T PLA NEW C C E A T RS O B ROWSE B E S T B AKING S UP P LIE S B E S T FL ORI S T B E S T P ET S UP P LIE S B E S T N URS ERY
