Livin' Easy in Palm Springs

For our first anniversary we decided to take a little getaway trip to Palm Springs. Why? We still have no idea. It was a combination of a good deal on Groupon, the fact that it's only 4 hours away, it's a change of pace and scenery, and... why not?? I'm so glad Palm Springs is where we ended up going. Who knew this little desert oasis would be so fun? When we first arrived we were stunned, STUNNED, by the absolute gorgeous view of the mountain and how everything is just planted right at the base of that thing. No matter where you are it feels so close like you could reach out and touch it. And watching the clouds move around that thing, shading some spots and spotlighting others, don't even get me started. We were beyond thrilled with our stay at Hotel Zoso, the property and staff were great (complimentary room upgrade!), architecture and design was interesting (very Palm Springsy) and the location was unbeatable! We could literally walk off the hotel property and be in the heart of downtown Palm Springs. Loved it.

We basically spent our few days there completely and totally relaxing and bumming around. We slept in, hit up some amazing restaurants, shopped around, napped, I got a pedicure, hit up the hot tub, snuggled and chatted by the fire, hit up MORE amazing restaurants... you get the idea. We loved having no plans and nothing to do but relax and enjoy spending quality time together in a new place.

One of the places I really wanted to go while there was the Parker Palm Springs. Click the link now and look around, you'll die. I am absolutely obsessed with the design and style of this place, but seeing as how we could never afford to stay there I at least wanted to go check it out. But then we felt weird about that so we nixed the idea and settled on the next stop of must-see's on my list which was the Ace Hotel that I've heard and seen so much about. It's known for it's completely quirky and unique design and it's also got an edge element I knew Joel would love, so we decided to enjoy a meal there. We had breakfast on our anniversary morning in their little roadside cafe/diner that used to be an old Denny's that they converted into an awesome restaurant. Not only was the design and personality of this place AMAZING as well, the food was to die for and we enjoyed a delicious and perfect breakfast together.

Like literally the mountain is in your face, all the time. Our hotel had such a great view and every time we walked outside we ended up talking about the mountain.

We enjoyed a great anniversary dinner at LuLu California Bistro on our actual anniversary night. Joel had called ahead to make reservations AND asked them to "surprise me" with a special anniversary dessert, they told him they had "just the thing". He had no idea what we were in for because next thing we know the waiter is walking toward our table behind my back with a "sshhhhh" finger signaling to Joel and pointing at me with the biggest grin on his face. The waiter placed this giant Margherita looking thing in front of me and said "Happy Anniversary" while (what felt like) the entire restaurant stopped and stared and wondered what the H that thing is. If you know us you know how completely hilarious this is and how we laughed our heads off at this giant alcoholic beverage look-alike in front of us. Oh the memories. We still have no idea what it ACTUALLY was, all we know was some sort of cream puff pastry floating in a pool of sweet vanilla-y cream sauce...? This WOULD happen to us.

We spent both nights we were there in a completely empty pool area sittin' by the fire pit, hot tubbin', and laying in the cabanas, just me & my man. Doesn't get much better than that.

All in all our little getaway to Palm Springs was absolutely amazing. It ended up being the perfect place to just get off the grid for a bit, take a breather, see the sights, and do nothing while still doing something. I hope we get to continue going on little trips like this for years and years and years to come!