CALIFORNIA | PALM SPRINGS + ACE HOTEL

Cali recap continues…

When I got to LA I asked Court if she’d be down for a mini getaway in Palm Springs and though last minute, she was up for the adventure! I booked us a one night stay at the Ace Hotel and we drove up on Friday afternoon arriving around 3:00pm and immediately got poolside food.

Super yum fish tacos: CHECK
Organic margarita: CHECK
109 degrees: CHECK
POOL: DUH.

Our room was in the 300’s area so just right across from the pool, where we were the majority of the time. Did a lot swimming and sun bathing for the 1.5 days we were there. Learned a lesson very quickly about the importance of shoes on the concrete after burning both bottoms of my feet pretty badly. But also realized I wasn’t the only fool that had to learn the hard way, so many people running for the cold water once feeling the lava ground!

The mountains around Palm Springs are so interesting.  They don’t have a lot of vegetation on them, it is the desert afterall, so they look like a big ol pile of dirt and rocks. Court and I joked they looked man-made, but for real, they do!  Pretty great backdrop even if someone did create them :P

Cozy lobby with all it’s macrame glory.

First afternoon while chilling poolside I see this chick walk in and grab a sun chair. I immediately freak and tell Courtney “omg omg omg, this girl I follow on IG who’s a wood worker in Oakland just walked in!” I’m fairly certain I got more excited about spotting her than any celeb I’ve ever come across. I mean she’s a self made boss lady who has amazing style, eye for photos, artwork and I’ve been admiring her for a long time!  I decide not to bug her but just simply say “I admire your work” and I do and she’s so nice she ends up hanging with us!

Over margs and snacks (not just any snack, DISCO FRIES!) we got to know more about her and visa versa.  There was this moment I thought and then someone said out loud “this is golden hour, you cool with missing shots during this time?” and without hesitation I knew I wanted to just live in the moment and keep having girly talks about boys and life.  So often do I let photos control my focus and sometimes it’s just more rewarding to live in the real life moments. More on this in next post..

As I’ve tried to search the web for these “disco fries” I’m not sure where they came from, french fry heaven perhaps? All I know is, they are deep fried potatoes with some sort of meat gravy on top! 

So yea, hanging with her was unexpected and awesome! Turns out she was in town for a pop up shop she was having the following day. SCORE!

Morning after our long night I walked down to the connected restaurant, King’s Highway, for some strong coffee and avocado toast.

Of course I was the first customer at the pop up shop! Snagged two of her mini triangles for the new house :)

After one last pool sesh we got cleaned up, checked out and went and found the famous pink door as well as explore the Palm Springs shopping situation.

Courtney was laughing so hard when I brought up the door and she realized someone actually lives there, but yall, it’s on Google maps as “that pink door” ! It’s a real thing, or at least to crazy blogger girls… She snap-chatted me running around with the caption “creeper” which may be true but…

then I snapped this and she realized the power of the pink door!

The house itself was just ok, they had really nice grass (well, the whole neighborhood did since it doesn’t grow naturally they do a lot for the upkeep) but ya, house is just alright. That door though, makes it! Wish we could have jumped out the car and taken a photo of each home on that street, it’s the best combo of mid-century meets Florida. But then again I was sweating through my shirt and afraid my camera was going to overheat!

Definitely need to return for a longer stay at the Ace or one of the other surrounding hotels, or, even get a place off Airbnb.  Have a whole mid-century house to ourselves! A pool is a must tho.

Next up: Joshua Tree National Park!