Have Dog, Will Drive

If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen a pretty exciting announcement over the weekend! It's true--Grace and I adopted a new little fur baby and we are very smitten with him. That said, it's been a journey with highs and lows that I am looking forward to thoroughly documenting here in the coming weeks. Little Bean (full name Jellybean Jones Baldridge--if you get the reference, we are friends) has turned our world upside down, and raising a puppy is no easy feat. But seeing Willie become protective of him and groom him is so heart-melting.

I promise that soon I will post ALL about how we came to adopt Bean, similar to my post about adopting Willie. And, I'll write a separate post introducing his personality (similar to my Meet Casper and Meet Willie posts) once we get to know him a little better!

But in the meantime, I wanted to write a post about our trip to Palm Springs a couple of weeks ago. I shared some pictures on Instagram from Palm Springs, and it was funny because I had to be conscious not to share Bean in any of them! He was with us, and many of our friends met him that weekend. But, we decided not to post anything about him online during our adjustment period.

I've been to Palm Springs in the past and written about it here, but this was my first time with dogs! It was so fun. Several of our friends brought their dogs too, so it was one big dog party (the best kind of party). We were there celebrating our friend Sara's birthday. And because we all stayed at the Ace Hotel & Swim Club, dogs were allowed, which was awesome. This post is not a review per se of the Ace, nor is it in any way sponsored (ha), but that said we spent the majority of our time there. I would definitely stay at the Ace next time I go to Palm Springs over anywhere else I've been, with the exception of maybe the Parker.

I think the best dog-friendly thing about the Ace is that dogs are allowed on the pool deck! I think they have restrictions when it's hot (as they should), but it was a balmy 75-80 degrees while we were there. It was so fun to have all the dogs hanging out on the loungers with us and chilling by the pool! The hotel staff even brought us water bowls for our pooches.

Can you spot all 4 dogs in this pic?! There were a total of five over the whole weekend. So fun.

For our room, Grace and I opted for one of the rooms with a patio and outdoor fireplace. It was SO worth the little bit extra per night. It was so lovely to have our breakfast in the morning by the outdoor fire, and it was nice to have the dogs be able to hang out there too.

We ended up getting upgraded to a suite (which also included the fireplace) and it was AMAZING! Our room even came with an acoustic guitar, which Grace loved playing.

Speaking of breakfast, if you stay at the Ace and order room service, GET THE DATE SHAKE! OMG, we loved it and convinced all of our friends to order it, too. I thought the avocado toast was just okay, not my favorite.

Most of our weekend was spent hanging by the pool, which was just what we needed. We ate at King's Highway, which is the restaurant at the Ace, and it was great. We also went out in the evening to a Palm Springs gay bar that was SO FUN--everyone had a great time and danced so much. It was called Hunters.

It was a short, simple weekend, but it was so good for the soul. This fall has kicked Grace's and my butts with work, moving, wedding planning, and more, but this weekend in Palm Springs really reminded and convinced me of how important it is to take time to get out of town and spend time together. Bean did great on the 2 hour car ride to and from Palm Springs, so we want to keep exposing him to road trips so that he gets used to it and loves them like Willie does!

Stay tuned for lots more about Bean soon!

Last weekend I took a trip with two of my law school friends, Nemo and Victoria, to Palm Springs. Victoria invited the two of us to do something for Memorial Day, and together we all settled on Palm Springs! None of us had been before, but it turned out to be so charming and dreamy, we can't wait to go back--after the summer when the weather cools down.

At first, I wasn't going to write about this getaway on my blog, since it didn't involve Grace, Casper, or camping. But then I realized: Palm Springs is an iconic Southern California destination, and I did take a road trip there. So with that in mind, here are a few of my first impressions of Palm Springs!

1. Everyone who goes there seems to agree that it is an incredibly relaxing place, and it's because the pace of life is s l o w.

After having heard so much about Palm Springs, I expected it to be packed for a holiday weekend. The funny thing is, according to our Uber drivers, it WAS packed. But to us LA, San Diego, and San Francisco-living gals, it seemed like a secret that only a handful of people had discovered. We didn't make any reservations ahead of time, and despite that we were able to walk into every restaurant, pool party, bar, and ice cream shop we wanted without a wait (except for Cheeky's, which apparently always has a wait, but was SO worth it).

We sometimes drove my car and sometimes took Uber, and it was never difficult to snag a parking spot or an Uber/Lyft driver. When we went to a pool party at the Saguaro (more on that below), the pool was surrounded by people in artful bathing suits and enthusiastic bachelorette parties . . . but it was nothing like a Vegas pool party where you're touching all of the other people in the pool. We even had room to actually swim and tread water.

I just could not get over how wonderful it was to go to a "destination" locale with every type of trendy restaurant, pool scene, bar, you name it, but where there were no crowds, traffic, or waiting in line. Heavenly.

In addition to the pace being slower, time seems to slow down even further because of all the mid-century architecture and Flintstones/Land Before Time landscape. You almost forget the decade you're in, because everything (both new and old) is made to look super retro in palm springs.

2. The town is built around the heat

It was hot over the weekend, ranging from in the 80s on Friday when we arrived to 107 at the highest on Sunday. Though it's of course cooler in the winter, the whole town is built around the fact that it's in the middle of the desert. There is mist and AC everywhere, pool culture rules everything, and shade is built-in for parking spots.

The Airbnb where we stayed had its own pool, which we used every day, and we spent Saturday lounging at the Saguaro's pool, jumping in and out of the water about every 20 minutes to keep cool. We also checked out the Ace's pool on Sunday evening, which looked awesome (but we didn't swim; we were just there for a drink). I loved the pool culture vibe because again, it was so relaxing.

3. Everyone in Palm Springs seems to be celebrating something or in a vacation state of mind

When the three of us would hop in an Uber or sit down at a bar, we got asked multiple times which one of us were getting married. It is a HUGE bachelorette party town, and at one bar, we counted five separate groups celebrating brides-to-be. Something I didn't expect is that it is also a very gay-friendly town, and there were several groups of guys doing getaways or celebrating with some pre-Pride month festivities. Our group was a mini law school reunion, and I also ran into my friend who lives in LA who was on a romantic getaway weekend with her boyfriend. I also spotted several family vacations, some even from other countries. It was really sweet to see so many different types of people in such a celebratory, vacation-state-of-mind mood.

4. Everything in Palm Springs seems to have a very strong aesthetic, and the town is made for photographers and Instagram

I expected this going in because I had seen so many photos of Palm Springs on Instagram and blogs, but it is a colorful, palm tree-filled, whimsical place and it is really fun to photograph. Some of my favorite photo-worthy places were the Saguaro (all of the rooms in the hotel make up a rainbow of colors), the Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired Mirror House, the Instagram-famous pink door that is a private residence (there was no one else there when we pulled up) and has its own hashtag with thousands of photos, the Moorten Botanical Garden, and the Parker hotel (photos of each of them below).

The rainbow style of the Saguaro is just so happy.

This house in the desert is made completely out of mirrors--it's a really amazing art installation that is worth seeing if you're in Palm Springs! And it's free!

Search #thatpinkdoor on Instagram to see more photos of this house than you could ever want.

Moorten Botanical Garden is so worth the $5 entry fee. I have never seen more types of cacti in one place!

The Parker was the most stunning hotel we visited in Palm Springs. The decor is by Jonathan Adler.

5. Overall, for me, Palm Springs is the opposite type of oasis from Vegas

Though I don't hate Las Vegas, it is just not really my style. I would totally go back for the right event, but it's not my first choice for a getaway. That said, I do love the concept of an oasis in the desert--and Palm Springs is everything that I want out of an oasis. It's not about clubbing, gambling, and excess, but a simple lifestyle, spas, hot days and balmy nights, celebration, and relaxation. I am head over heels for it, and I can't wait to go back after the summer heat fades! Grace and Casper will definitely be in tow next time.