My parents are visiting from Michigan, so on Sunday we headed down to Palm Springs to scope out the A-frame, start making plans, and treat my mom and dad to some r&r in the desert. Hopefully I sufficiently buttered them up enough to get some more free labor (like on the Michigan cabin) once the renovations begin.
My current favorite space at the A-frame is the garden. Along with the rest of the place, it’s in need of a lot of love, but filled with cactus, fruit trees, eucalyptus and olive trees! Major oasis potential. My black thumb won’t do anyone any good here, but I am willing to learn, so any landscaping/gardening recommendations are gladly accepted.
Last week I headed out to one of my favorite spots in the desert, Korakia Pensione. Seeing as they don’t allow children, I didn’t think I would be headed back for a while. However, luck of all lucks, I worked on a shoot with Sunset Magazine in Palm Springs which landed me happily in the charming oasis.
Even though you are deep in the desert, there are moments you’ll feel like you’ve been transported somewhere along the Mediterranean. Each room is different, most have small kitchens and some have fireplaces which ups the already high romantic factor. When you check in, you are given an actual key to your named (not numbered) room, breakfast is included in the price and served every morning in the courtyard, bikes are available to use at no charge, and they play movies outside each night under the stars. It’s details like these that make the place like magic.
As I headed out for the 2.5 hour drive after putting Archer down for the night, with only the lights of other cars and the music on the radio to keep me company, I realized I hadn’t been by myself for more than a few moments since before Archer was born (7 months) and I have to say it felt good. Coming from someone that has worked from home for a couple years now, I was extremely used to, and probably took for granted, alone time. From the moment Arch arrived, things have been non-stop and having solo downtime was nowhere near my radar. I have to say I am thankful to have happened upon it, as I could feel my shoulders relax and my head start to de-stress as I drove into the night. Of course I was equally excited to get back to my babe and babe of a husband after the trip, but it was definitely an eye-opening reminder saying hey mama, you need some quiet time too.
So I say… if you find yourself in need of a retreat, grab your lover or yourself (well maybe not grab yourself, but you know what I mean) and head to a peaceful getaway, and if you are near Palm Springs, I highly recommend it be Korakia.
Our first getaway with the little man was a success! We stayed at the Ace and despite the bumping party music, Archer slept like a champ. Rupert and I, however, barely slept at all and couldn’t stop obsessing over his temperature in the night. Was he too hot? was he too cold? is he cooing in his sleep or is he awake? etc. etc. Meanwhile he was clueless and slept through the night with no problems. Rupe and I are still working on the whole relaxing into parenting thing.
It’s probably no surprise that Palm Springs is our favorite destination for a quick weekend getaway and we are heading there soon for our first mini vaca as a new family of 3! EEK. My bag is packed and here is hoping little A likes the desert as much as we do.
Our friends Sarah and Lou are in the process of selling their GORGEOUS house in Palm Springs so we headed out there to celebrate and have one last hurrah in the dreamy space. Pool time, good friends, and lots of laughs made for the best weekend. I even got a little sun on the neon white belly. :)
Hope you had a nice weekend. Fall is still no where to be seen in these parts! x sarah
I recently planned a 5 night road trip for Rupert and my anniversary and it ended up being one of our all time favorite vacations, I can not recommend this route enough. We anchored the journey around a visit to Lake Powell (pictured above) but each leg of the trip had something special to see/do/experience.
The best part about a road trip is the total freedom of just jumping in the car and going! We had the destinations in mind but we were also able to play it by ear. If you are in or around the LA area and looking for an excursion out of the ordinary, this is it!
Get all the details of our route and loads more photos after the jump…