Birthday Celebrations Have Begun!

Back from vacation! Palm Springs was fabulous, as I knew it would be. R and I got back late on Sunday so I didn’t have time to blog yesterday, but I had lots of emails and texts wanting to know how it was, so obviously I knew I needed to do a recap!

We arrived on Friday afternoon and checked into our room at the Parker Palm Springs to find a surprise – a bottle of champagne chilled and waiting for us! The Parker folks knew we were coming to kick-off my birthday celebration and this was the perfect welcome note. (I also cannot tell a lie… when we opened it, it made the LOUDEST pop and Rami screamed. I can’t resist a little teasing.)

Here we are after dinner – after all that talk about bright colors, I ended up wearing a pale grey DKNY dress and this INSANE necklace that I recently bought (and can’t recommend enough – it is FABULOUS and dresses up everything!)

(I must also note that after a delicious dinner at Mister Parkers – oysters, tuna tartare, pork belly, duck, and scallops, YUM – we had just returned to our room when there was a knock at our door… the Parker sent up a tiny birthday cake for me! LOVE!)

Saturday morning we woke up and had brunch at Norma’s, which was fabulous, and then headed out to the pool. I have to admit we did not like the adult pool at all – it smelled like cigarettes and had nowhere near enough lawn chairs – so we headed to the other pool, where I sat my tush down on the pool steps to read my People magazine. Cue approximately 800 children screaming, shrieking, and cannonballing into the ball around me, soaking me and my magazine. I couldn’t help but laugh – even when a small boy swam up to me and said scornfully, “You know this is the KID’S POOL, lady!” and proceeded to shoot me in the face with a water gun. I behaved myself and did not drown the little monster, but only because my boyfriend THE TEACHER AND FAN OF ALL CHILDREN was watching.

Posing before the pool in a tiny doorway just my size!

During the late afternoon, it all of a sudden got cloudy and started thundering – Rami insisted we go inside before it started raining. I wanted to stay and play on the hammocks but I reluctantly followed him back to our room, where I proceeded to PASS THE FUCK OUT FOR FOUR HOURS. Vacation, yall! Apparently, he read his entire book and watched TV while I slept, only waking me so I could eat my room service soup, after which I fell asleep again.

Saturday night we went back to Mister Parkers for dinner – this time I wore a bright red chiffon dress and my beloved turquoise Kendra Scott earrings – and we feasted again, this time on French onion soup, risotto, mussels, and a steak for my man, complete with butterscotch pot de crème for dessert… amazing.

Sunday’s weather was much nicer and sunnier – albeit HOT AS HELL – so after another delicious brunch (where I did a naughty thing and ordered lobster macaroni and cheese… oops), we spent another afternoon by the pool, this time sans screaming children. Poor R wanted to read his book in peace but I forced him to swim with me :) After showering in the Palm Springs Yacht Club (their spa) and making sure to sample ALL their Molton Brown toiletries, it was time to go. I managed not to throw any tantrums but believe me I was sad to go!

You tell me that doesn't look like the best thing on earth.

OBV I need to show yall some pictures of the hotel itself. I thought the décor was so interesting and retro – Jonathan Adler perfectly captured the vibe of Palm Springs throughout the entire proprerty. I loved the little “Adler-esque” touches – brightly colored straws, embroidered napkins, his signature animal-shaped salt & pepper shakers… go check the website out to see more pretty images :)

If you want to splurge on a fun weekend, the Parker is the perfect place to do it! Christine was our concierge (the one who sent us the champagne and dessert!) and she was just lovely. I also definitely recommend the Glutton Package so you can indulge to your heart’s content – we definitely did!

Birthday celebrations so far… fabulous!