Celebrate Palm Springs

Trip date: Feb 2016

Last year's annual Palm Springs getaway happened a bit earlier than usual, so there were no days spent watching tennis at Indian Wells. However we got to celebrate both Steve's and Paul's birthdays; one upon arrival and one right before we left!

We booked our (now) normal house, Contempo Oasis in the Deepwell Estates, blew up the pool toys, and settled in for the week.

Steve's birthday morning started with French 75s made by yours truly, and amazing steak, eggs, and bearnaise sauce made by Paul, Lauren, and Steve. It was a very decadent breakfast!

The entire day was spent in the pool before grilling some sausages, prawns, and lobster tails for dinner that night. Not too shabby.

My typical Palm Springs weekdays involve a morning walk around the cool mid century neighborhood followed by a few hours of work in my room. This time I took a some walks along the Tahquitz Creek Channel which was really nice. I even saw a wild jackrabbit one day.

Another morning my friend Dave and I drove over to the Movie Colony area and had a great walk through the neighborhood famous for the stars and their homes. I absolutely love walking around Palm Springs!

And as in years past, I also got back out to Palm Canyon for a nice hike. Dave and I started on the Palm Canyon trail and then did part of the Victor Trail which took us up a hill for some great views!

That afternoon my uncle and my brother drove in from LA to visit me. We went to lunch in town at Jake's which is really cute and comfortable. Our lunch, complete with a couple bottles of nice French white and a huge southern style slice of cake for dessert, was great!

They came back to the house to join the pool party and stayed for dinner. My brother has ridiculous hostess gift manners and came with a case of champagne. We are soooo related!

Another night we all headed to the infamous Melvyn's for cocktails. This place is crazy old school and is shrouded in movie star lore, but the drinks were bad and the service laughable. I wouldn't return unless I was actually on the arm of a movie star!

Things got much better when we walked the short distance to the Avalon Hotel for dinner at Chi Chi though! The restaurant has outside seating with a view of the pool, great drinks and delicious food! We all loved it!

The night before we left we celebrated Paul's 60th birthday all day! It started with French 75s and Migas for breakfast. Then it was an all day, pool day. That evening Lauren had hired Chef Drew from Catalan Restaurant to come and cater a dinner party complete with appetizers and HUGE paella for 10! It was a super fun and delicious night!!!

And then my 7 days were over. Three of my vacation-mates decided to stay for another week as the house was available. They might be addicted to Palm Springs. Who am I to judge?

As Steve and I waited for our flight with a glass of wine at the airport, we were introduced to Runway the cat who lives outside the Fairway bar there. Not a bad home I'd say!

The countdown is on, just 8 more days before we return!

All Palm Springs Photos here.

P.S. I Love You

I'm just home recently from a relaxing 5 days, spent mainly by the pool, in Palm Springs. I had never been before but Lauren and Paul go every year. This time they rented a cool mid century modern home and seven of us went in on it.

I flew in a few days after the rest and immediately hit the pool. The house had beautiful views of the surrounding hills and some great outdoor living space for chilling out. We mainly kept to the house, grilling and cooking together, mixing up various drinks by the pitcher to enjoy while lounging in the pool.

But one specific reason for the trip was to attend the Indian Wells Tennis Open. Us girls had tickets to Wednesday's quarter final events and we were all very excited, the boys were headed off to golf. I don't know much about tennis but was looking forward to a little lesson from the others. Unfortunately the morning started out with Lauren having to go to the emergency room for what turned out to be a return of DVT she'd had in years past.

Mary, Caroline and I started the morning with a men's double- Huey & Janowicz against Blake & Fish. The action was so fast on the doubles!We were sitting in the GA grandstands as the stadium had filled rather quickly and the views of the match and the mountains was a great way to start the day!

 

Next up was one of Mary's new favorites, Gilles Simon. He was playing Kavin Anderson in the main stadium where we had box seats. I couldn't understand why there weren't more people watching the match, for about 20 minutes. But then when I felt like I was in an oven, roasting at 475F, I figured it out! It was CRAZY hot. Most people were out on the lawn or in one of the bar tents, watching it all on the big screen TVs in the shade.

We took a break from the oven, I mean stadium, and lounged on the lawn for a bit, cooling down in the shade. We were waiting for the matches between Federer and Wawrinka and then Nadal and Gulbis and knew it was going to be scorching. Luckily the women's matches went on extremely long so we didn't have too long before the sun set when we went back in.

 

Our seats were fantastic and the action on both games was just awesome! Mary and Caroline taught me a lot and I may just have caught the tennis bug. I'm ready for next year!

The next night, after a full day by the pool, most of us went to dinner at Tinto at the Saguaro, which was excellent. When we got home I stayed up with Alex and Carolyn to have a few nightcaps before heading to bed. The next morning we learned that the casita (a converted garage next to the main house) they were staying in had been robbed while we were at dinner and they were watching movies in the living room! Cash, clothing and toiletries had been stolen, the credit cards and mobile phones mysteriously being returned to the outside of the house early in the morning. The whole thing was freaky! 

The day before we left, Steve and I drove out to Palm Canyon and did a short hike up onto one of the ridges. This is a gorgeous area, with both short/easy as well as longer/tougher hikes. And of course the warm water springs that nurture the massive Fan Palms, a vision of an oasis. 

 

Even with the few snafus, I've gotta say, I'm a fan of Palm Springs now!

All photos here.

March 2013