Relaxation Palm Springs Style

To get away from one's working environment is, in a sense, to get away from one's self; and this is often the chief advantage of travel and change.  -Charles Horton Cooley

To me, travel is an important part of living a happy and fulfilling life.  I am as happy exploring somewhere new as I am returning to a familiar vacation spot - I'm not picky as long as I am able to get away from home and my normal routine on a regular basis.  Over the past few years my family has rediscovered Palm Springs as a fantastic Spring Break destination.  Years and years ago my Papa and Nana owned a home in Palm Springs where they would go to relax in the warmth of the desert.  I can honestly say that it is one one of the places where I am the most relaxed.  With the sunshine, the pools, the fresh fruits and veggies, what's not to love?

I returned last Friday from a week in Palm Springs with my aunt, cousins, and niece.  We spent our days lounging by the pool, reading, eating grapefruit right off the tree in our backyard, shopping, and exploring.  We had amazing weather for the whole week minus the crazy windstorm/sandstorm that kicked up one afternoon.

My daily view from the lounger

Manicured trees

Palm Trees with the infamous Palm Springs Wind Mills in the background

Sunset

Backyard Sunset

Dusk

Windstorm!!

Windstorm x 2

Full Moon

Windmills

If you are planning a Palm Springs vacation here are my list of the top 5 things to do:

#1 Evening drinks poolside at the Viceroy hotel
#2 Shopping at the Desert Hills Premium Outlets
#3 Visit the Joshua Tree National Park (pics to come)
#4 Explore the Palm Springs Villagefest an evening market that happens every Thursday night on Palm Canyon Drive.  Tip: plan to have dinner at the market - there are a lot of amazing choices!
#5 Feed the giraffes at The Living Desert


Hope everyone had an amazing week!  Cheers to the weekend :)

Making It

I kicked off this weekend with Friday night drinks with the girls at Hotel Georgia.  For the rest of the weekend I laid low and spent my time crafting and cooking.  Quite frankly, it was exactly the kind of weekend I needed.

My first project was a belated birthday present for my friend Bridgette.  Bridgette and I are both super into anything nautical and  I noticed awhile back that in Bridgette's new apartment building everyone had fancy decorations on the outside of their doors except for her.  Inspired by this Winter wreath by P.S.- I made this... I made this nautical themed rope wreath.

Nautical Wreath

Message in a Bottle

The supplies you need for this project are a foam circle, rope, glue gun, and any decorations you want to add.  I went through a LOT of glue for this project and it took quite awhile to wrap the rope around the sphere but I think that the end result was worth it.  I hope she likes it!

For tonight's dinner I whipped up some of my favourite quinoa salad.  I love this salad, it is quite delish!

Ingredients

Peppers, Tomato, and Green Onion

Quinoa, Black Beans, and Corn added in

Final touch: Avocado and Lime Juice

This salad is amazing and healthy - chock full of vitamins :)

Hope everyone had an amazing weekend!!

 

Bright Lights

Last night as I walked home from our annual Superbowl party I was waiting to cross the street and happened to look up at the Hotel Georgia sign and just loved this angle.  Hope you like it!

Strolling Through Ambleside

This afternoon my friend Bridgette and I went for a nice leisurely walk in West Vancouver.  First we stopped for amazing caramel macchiatos at Crema (the best coffee shop in West Van).  Then we set off on the Ambleside seawall with Bridgette's adorable dog Gracie in tow.

Ambleside holds a special place in my heart.  When I was a kid my Grandpa would take us to the beach all the time.  Now I know I may seem biased, but I really do have the most amazing family in the world and the memories I have of our time spent at Ambleside are truly precious to me.

Lions Gate

Sailing

Birds Nest

Beach

Lions Gate

Graffiti Under the Railroad

Reflections

Blue Painted Trees

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!

DC

The final leg of our trip was spent in DC.  I have to say, I really loved DC.  It is such a gorgeous city, so full of history!  We stayed right down the street from the Capitol Building and spent the bulk of our two days in the city exploring the National Mall.

What a great vacation!  I am so excited to go back to New York next year - it will be hard to not let myself go back to all the amazing places I saw this year.

Have a fantastic weekend everyone!

Chesapeake Bay

After visiting Boston we flew to DC, hopped straight into the car, and drove straight to a friend's place in Chesapeake Bay.  Chesapeake is absolutely beautiful - relaxing and picturesque.  We spent two days eating fantastic meals and sightseeing.  We even managed to get out on to the boat for an afternoon sail!

The orange of this sunset reminded me so much of the sunsets we used to see in Indonesia.  I remember thinking when I moved back to Canada that the sunsets were so boring compared to the orange and red of the South East Asian sunsets.  Turns out we get red sunsets like this in North America too!

If you're ever in St Michaels be sure to check out the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum.  It is a fantastic museum!