Palm Springs: The Bachelorette Party

This past weekend was my bachelorette party!

We laid low in the desert and mostly vegged out by the pool.

And I'm sure you'll all be surprised to hear me say, I LOVED IT AND WANT TO DO IT EVERY WEEKEND.

Five of us girls piled into a minivan (hells yeah.) and road tripped it to Palm Springs.

Obviously we packed light.

Little known fact: Palm Springs is in the desert.

We stayed at The Palm Springs Riviera and I can honestly say that it was the perfect hotel for our trip. The decor was a little bit of 1960's modern, with a touch of modern day glamour, and a ton of Liberace gaudiness. Our hotel seemed like the happening spot to be, as we saw lots of guests who looked like they were there to party.

Hotel lobby

Our rooms

Paaaaarty time. Exxxxcellent.

4:00 pm on a Friday, hanging out at the "family" pool

The pool bars at the hotel had an impressive selection of cocktails. Seriously, they were GREAT. I probably tasted about 5-6 different drinks and they were all light and fruity and tasted nothing like alcohol. Just the way I like to get tanked.

This was the Linda Lee

I miss this already...

Friday night, we had dinner at Trio- "...where Palm Springs eats and drinks." 

I cannot say enough good things about this restaurant. From the decor (1960's pop culture with some Andy Warhol-esque flair), to the service (our server was Daniel and he did a fabulous job at accommodating our large group, taking photos for us, and interacting with us like we were long lost friends), to the food (not one complaint in the bunch). If you're in Palm Springs, don't even bother with any of those other flash-in-the-pan restaurants. TRUST ME.

This was either the Palm Springs Punch or the Wil Stiles

We've watched enough of RuPaul's Drag Race to know how to work a room

Good

Better

After dinner, we ended up at some low-budge bar/club/alternate universe called Zelda's. It was located in a strip mall and I remember someone in the van saying "Just drive over his barf and park the car" while we were pulling into the parking lot. 

Our arrival couldn't have been planned any more perfectly because as we walked in, they were starting "The Men of the Hollywood Strip" show. It was a super cheezy show and involved songs like Will Smith's Men in Black. The dancers weren't really my cup of creatine, but I gotta hand it to them, they have a full-on workout with those routines. Also, the women in that place were getting all kinds of X-rated, you'd think they just got released from a life sentence in solitary confinement. Filthy animals.

Meanwhile, back at the hotel... (I love these chairs)

Saturday morning, we all met up at the hotel restaurant. Breakfast buffet - French toast, scrambled eggs, eggs benedict, bacon, sausage, fresh fruit, a yogurt parfait station, and coffee/ OJ - for only $15.

Bacon

Watching footage of the "stripper"

Just about all of Saturday's day time hours were spent poolside with cocktails

MmMmMmMmmm...

For dinner, we went to Kaiser Grille. They have good outdoor seating, with overhead misters, that can accommodate larger groups. The drink menu was solid with a wide variety of cocktails to choose from. The downside: my food was cold and pretty lackluster, and there's an awful sulfur smell that hovers over the entire patio area.

 Good

Better

After dinner, we walked around the downtown area. There was a hat shop that we spent way too much time in and bought absolutely nothing. 

"What did you do for your bachelorette party???"

"We tried on hats."

Sunday morning was check-out (sad...) and we all went out for one last group meal: Breakfast at Lulu's. 

The decor inside of Lulu's was very cool and relaxing- lots of white and plexiglass. The place was fairly packed with patrons, so we saw that as a good sign of things to come. Unfortunately, my food was less than impressive and I don't think I would recommend this place. I got the 3-course Sunday brunch: mixed greens salad, cobb scramble, and strawberry crepe. Everything in my meal was bland and it seemed like they focused more on the presentation, than the flavor or quality. Maybe we just went on a bad day...

And that's pretty much where our vacation ended. 

I had a great time with my friends and I'm glad that each one of them was able to make it. 

Also...

Palm Springs, I'll miss you.

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Pearl's First Trip to Disneyland: Part I

Two weeks ago was Pearl's 6th birthday. To celebrate not only her birthday (and her recent non-fear of grown ass adults in full body costumes), but also her cousin's birthday AND Boyfriend's birthday, we had planned to go Disneyland for over a year.

If you've never been to Disneyland, here's the lay of the land:

Downtown Disney: An outdoor shopping strip filled with overpriced Disney-themed paraphernalia and family dining establishments, located just outside of the park. It's open to the public and you don't need tickets to get in.

Disneyland:  The real deal Holyfield. This is the main attraction where you see giant characters darting in and out of unmarked doors, trying to get from one location to another without getting mauled by a thousand sweaty little kids. The themes within the park include Main Street USA, Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, Adventureland, Frontierland, Toontown, and New Orleans Square.

California Adventure: A more laid-back, less-populated theme park directly across from Disneyland. The themes are comprised of locations throughout California, like the Santa Cruz boardwalk, Cannery Row in San Francisco, Napa Valley, etc.

Since I took approximately 84,000 photos during our visit to all three locations, I can pretty much guarantee this post is going to be 95% photo dump. And because I have so many pictures to post, I'll most likely break it up into three entries.

So, while I realize I may lose some of you with the boring-lovey-dovey-sweet-family stuff, I'm okay with it because this is more like one of those personal "journal" type entries. Hopefully, you can follow along and appreciate what it's like to be at the happiest place on earth.


_____________________________________________________________

SUNDAY

Exiting the freeway, we got turned around and somehow missed the huge signs saying "DOWNTOWN DISNEY - RIGHT TWO LANES". To get us back on track, I pulled up mapquest on my phone. Only stupid mapquest rerouted us to Disney, Oklahoma.

Needless to say, I figured that one out when I saw that according to mapquest, Disneyland was only 1,500 miles.

We got to Anaheim around 1:30pm and met up Boyfriend's sister and her family for lunch at The Rainforest Cafe.

I got a cheeseburger and INHALED it.

The bun was pretty sorry looking, but my mouth didn't care.

From there, we hit up the much-anticipated "Build-A-Bear" store.

The girls typing in their new Build-A-Bear's "birth certificate".

While we were there, we saw a girl who was shopping for hats for her mini pig.

He was my favorite Build-A-Bear.

The hotel we stayed at is called The Anabella. I would HIGHLY recommend it to fellow Disneyland visitors. It's located one block from the park, and there's a nicely landscaped walkway straight to Downtown Disney. Both Boyfriend and I thought the beds were super comfy, the exterior of the hotel was nicely landscaped with lush plants, and the rooms were very affordable (especially compared to the Disney hotels). The only downside I noticed was the couch- it's not very cushy and you can feel every spring. But that's because it's a pull-out couch. And also, it was really just the little girls who were sitting on the couch anyway and they're young enough to tough it out.

The girls slept in the alcove bed around the corner. 

Dressing space separate from the bathroom. 

The garden outside of our rooms. 

The hotel grounds.

Since we didn't have park tickets for Sunday, we all just relaxed at the hotel pool that first evening.

And by "all", I mean Vicki and I relaxed while the dads provided water transportation services all around the pool.

That night, we had dinner at the hotel restaurant, Tangerine. Pearl wore a princess dress and I ordered a vegetable sandwich loaded with goat cheese. Neither is very surprising.

Worth noting: The hotel restaurant has a DELICIOUS, fruity cocktail called The Tangerita (I think...). If you go there, order it.

After dinner, everyone was pooped. So we all headed back to our rooms and called it a night.

Next post: Disneyland!!!

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I Should Have Brought Immodium...

I'm on a family vacation right now with Pearl and Boyfriend and Boyfriend's sister and her family. I was happily enjoying the Disneyland park when all of a sudden my stomach hit the switches and said "OH HELLS NO. You will NOT be having a good time on MY watch." Things went from 0 to 60 in record time and now here I am, laid out in the hotel room while the rest of the group enjoys all the amenities Walt Disney has to offer.

While laying here I decided to look through the camera and pretend I'm not in diarrhea agony, daydream I'm actually back at the park, check out the shots I got. That's when I noticed something that I thought was worth sharing.

Kids have great skin.

I mean, really great, fucking perfect-looking porcelain skin.

In EVERY single shot of Pearl and her cousin, they're both rosy and cherub-cheeked, bright-eyed, happy and natural looking in front of the camera, clear complected, energetic and full of life... I could go on forever.

And the pictures of me? There's a 50/50 chance that I'll look like some kind of Rosie O'Donnell/ Steven Cojocaru/ Crypt Keeper/ grizzly bear hybrid.

My eyelids are all heavy and bloodshot and look like I haven't slept in 3 years. And the dark circles underneath look like I've been hidden away like Flowers in the Attic. My cheeks are puffy and saggy like fucking Droopy Dog on crack. My teeth are turning 28 shades of "shit" and I have no idea why because I don't smoke OR drink coffee, and Yes, I do brush my teeth on a regular basis. My hair looks like I'm wearing a sorry fucking 1994 Selena wig. I could go on, but I can tell I'm about 5 minutes away from another bathroom visit so I better cut it short.

I'm not telling you all this to get sympathetic "Aw, you look great!".

I'm telling you this so you'll be aware. And join me in cursing that bitch, Mother Nature.

Happy Monday.

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