Archives for April 2016

a morning in palm springs.

Palm-Springs!

Palm Springs! What a perfectly colorful, wonderful place.

A little back story: The original idea for this trip came when Zan had a work assignment in Las Vegas for the same week as my April Vacation. He works in clinical research for anyone wondering and his company does clinical trials all over the county. He knew about his site visit a few months before my vacation so he thought it would be fun for me to come too and we would make a trip of it. I was sold instantly ! Travel! Wahooo! It is one of my love languages.

We decided to make a detour on our route to Las Vegas and head to Palm Springs for breakfast and then Joshua Tree for an afternoon jaunt through the desert. Because of some last minute stuff Zan had to do for work, and rotten timing (I think I may have (gasp) tried to pack too much sightseeing into one day), we never ended up making it to Joshua Tree, which was certainly a disappointment. I had eagerly booked tickets to a show in Vegas for later that night and because of that we just ultimately ran out of time! The sadness! I have been wanting to see that desert for many years but our luck was just not there for that adventure on this particular day. I guess it just means we will have to come back to this area again anther time, which in the end isn’t such an unlucky thing at all.

Anyway. Onward!

We did happily get to spend a good amount of time in Palm Springs and man do I LOVE that town. We were visiting between Coachella weekends — on Monday morning, so it was actually pretty sleepy when we were there, but I imagine it was a pretty hopping place the day before we arrived. A blast, I’m sure!

Here are some photos from our time exploring…

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Right before your come to Palm Springs on the highway from L.A. you pass by a massive number of windmills. It was an amazing sight!

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Then, suddenly– you are in a in a wonderland of Palm trees. Those mountains in the backdrop are something to write home about too. And skies so blue!

We first try to stop at Cheeky’s because it had amazing reviews and I’d read several “guides to Palm Springs” that raved about it– but the wait time was super long and at this point we wanted to move through the sites rather quickly. We decided to try to Ace Hotel instead and were very happy we did! Lots of space and not too many people. Plus, it’s the Ace! You’ve got to love it, right?

I definitely did…

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This weaving is HUGE AND PERFECT!

It was while we were at the Ace that Zan found out he needed to do some work, so he went back to the car to get his computer and we camped out at King’s Highway for awhile– Zan typing away and me wandering the grounds of the hotel. The whole place is magnificent! I would really love to stay overnight some day.

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When Zan was done we decided to do a bit of the Palm Springs Modern Mid-Century Architecture Tour — I was able to purchase the app so we could do a self guided tour. It was fun, but I kept wanted to go inside the houses! If I decided to do it again, or had more time I would definitely try to look up if there are any tours that bring you through the inside of homes. (Fun fact: my favorite thing to do as a child was to go inside model homes in new neighborhood developments and also to visit the RV exhibits at the State Fair and the local mall. HA! I remember just LOVING touring the inside of houses! And I still do!)

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I loved this street and the flowers and the succulents and the palm trees! So pretty.

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Our last stop was a walk through the colorful Saguaro Hotel. How fun does this place look?? It’s supposedly a hot spot for Coachella weekenders and I can totally see why.

And that’s it! Our bright visit to the most rainbow magical land. So colorful. So fun.

STAY FABULOUS, PALM SPRINGS. xo

 

viva sweet love

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sweet spring is your
time is my time is our
time for springtime is lovetime
and viva sweet love

(all the merry little birds are
flying in the floating in the
very spirits singing in
are winging in the blossoming)

lovers go and lovers come
awandering awondering
but any two are perfectly
alone there’s nobody else alive

(such a sky and such a sun
i never knew and neither did you
and everybody never breathed
quite so many kinds of yes)

not a tree can count his leaves
each herself by opening
but shining who by thousands mean
only one amazing thing

(secretly adoring shyly
tiny winging darting floating
merry in the blossoming
always joyful selves are singing)

sweet spring is your
time is my time is our
time for springtime is lovetime
and viva sweet love

// e.e. cummings

family style, orange county

California-Dreaming

April Vacation! You dream, you. We had the absolute best time last week enjoying California and Las Vegas. And now I will attempt to blog about it all! For the memories of the people and the places and also to give these photos a chance to live somewhere other than my hard drive. After all, they deserve to be seen!

The first few days of our trip to Cali we spent with Zan’s older sister Stephanie and her family in Irvine — Orange County, USA. We drove in from the airport and went straight down the coast — the fish tacos were calling to us! As was the salt air and sea breeze. And 85 degrees! Sigh. I love it so.

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Here we are at Bear Flag Fish Company in Crystal Cove. We got some poke, fish tacos, and coconut water straight from the source. So so good and the perfect way to start our adventure.

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This place is an AMAZING home decor store I discovered right next to Bear Flag Fish Co, Juxtaposition Home. I was full on love eyes while I was in there and I know you would be too.

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The first night we had lots of Zan’s California family over for a big awesome dinner. We were lucky to spend time with three of Zan’s aunts, his uncle and two of his cousins — plus a lot of Stephanie’s husband’s family too. The meal was delicious and it was so nice to be in a faraway place with faraway family. It’s also nice to know we have so many people to visit out west! Definitely makes the return appealing. :)

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Here they are L to R: Henry, Peter, Ian, Stephanie and Nash. They took is out on a duffy boat ride around Balboa on Sunday morning. Such a nice way to get a look at the awesome houses on the water!

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After our boat excursion we walked around Newport Beach a little bit — mostly on the search for candy per Ian and Henry’s request. We stopped into the arcade to play a little Skee Ball, too. How could we pass an opportunity like that up?

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Found the candy shop! ^^

And more tacos!

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In the afternoon we ate our second round of fish tacos, this time from Wahoos in Laguna Beach and then walked the streets for a bit before heading to the beach…

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While walking out of Wahoos I stumbled upon another store I had heart eyes for called LaLa by Kerry Cassill.

(Fun fact: After doing a bit of research just now to find a link I discovered they sell her designs at Anthropologie. No wonder I was in love!)

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This awesome place is called Urth. All organic coffee and teas in a cafe on a mission for sustainability and quality. We got smoothies there before our drive back to Stephanie’s house. It was hot out and they were delicious!

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You’re singing the Laguna Beach theme song in your head now, right?

I sure hope so.

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And last, but never least, we went to the Anaheim Ducks playoff game on Sunday night — California’s favorite hockey team — THE MIGHTY DUCKS! It was no Boston, but we knew some major fans who were kind enough to share some tickets with us — so we cheered those Ducks on and had some fun while we did it. :)

A really great end to a really great weekend. And a really perfect start to vacation. ♥

a visit to Studio Carta.

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The weekend before we left for our vacation I was lucky enough to spend the afternoon visiting Studio CartaAngela Liguori’s amazing ribbon and stationary studio in Brookline. My friend Rachael introduced me to her work a few years ago and I have been a huge fan ever since. Once or twice a year she opens up her studio doors and hosts a day long pop-up shop of sorts, inviting other makers from in and around Boston to showcase their work as well. This was my second time going to one of her open studio days and I absolutely love them. Angela’s husband is always there serving espresso and it’s a perfect delight to talk to Angela and meet the other small business owners sharing her space for the day. I always pick up a letterpress card or two {this time from Of Note Stationers which I LOVE} and also always some ribbons. The ribbons I purchased this visit I hope to incorporate into one of my next weavings. I think they’ll add such a unique touch!

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Follow Angela Liguori on instagram for more special events like this one. You can also contact her to visit her store by appointment. Her posts on social media are the best way to stay alert to when she’ll open her doors next!

xo!