adventures I love // palm desert (desert x).

hello, friends! 

anyone still out there? ??? 

life got a little bonkers for a while, but for soldiarity's sake, I'm sharing some adventures from the last few months. 

in January I sent out the bat signal with ZERO notice and recruited two spontaneous pals to pack a bag and head out the next morning for a quick adventure in the name of weird art. 

desert x. 

a recurring event that brings artists from all over the world to create beautiful, strange art instillations to the palm desert. spread out across miles and miles, we spent two days exploring as many as we could, and barely scratched the surface. 

I love knowing humans who will leave on a whim to see something cool in real life. 

we stayed at the rainbow explosion that is the saguaro (the rooms could use a little love but it was reasonable and we booked it last minute). we stopped for drinks at the amigo room and let's be honest, to overuse the photo booth (love you Ace!). had wine and snacks at the adorable dead or alive and fancy brunch at norma's.  

less than 24 hours after we started, we were back across state lines in phoenix. did we dream it? maybe. was it perfect? definitely. 

places I love (palm springs).

one of my favorite things about living in phoenix is just how quickly you can be somewhere totally different. head north? you can ski! head south? you're in mexico. cross a dam, it's vegas. but wander four-ish hours into the california desert and you'll find yourself in palm springs. 


man, I love it there. 

a few weeks ago, in serious need of some pool time and a road trip, my friend kristin and I headed west. palm springs is a place I never get sick of. saturated with beautiful hotels, amazing food, epic people watching and mid-century shopping, I'd be there every weekend if I could. this time around, here were some of our favorites. 

we stayed at the iconic ace hotel + swim club. it didn't disappoint. my curse of the broken photo booth was finally lifted, the dj played gems from a different era, and the pools were the perfect way to escape the heat. 

we indulged in breakfast at norma's (and were in awe of jonathan adler's parker wonderland), had a perfect dinner at workshop, and at the recommendation of a local shop owner, discovered some of the best vietnamese I've ever had at rooster and the pig. sunday meant grabbing an amazing brunch at reservoir (a bloody mary bar. churros. that's all you need to know). seriously palm springs. your food game is STRONG.

after dinner (or before!), pop into the TINY, dark, bootlegger tiki for a drink served up with kitschy flair. swing by the amigo room at the Ace for some live music and moody vibes. 

before you leave, grab a perfect iced coffee at the beautiful customs coffee and stop by that pink door for one last photo. the only cure for your post-ps funk is to spend the entire ride home planning your next visit. 

places I love (joshua tree pt. 1 - palm springs).

If you know me at all, you shouldn't be surprised that I take advantage of every visit from my sister. We pick somewhere a little weird, pack up the car, and enjoy a weekend adventure whenever we can. 

Over the Thanksgiving holiday we decided to venture west to Joshua Tree, CA. We found a quirky airbnb rental, threw our stuff in the trunk and hit the road. 

Since we took about 9,000,000 photos, I thought I'd break this up into a couple posts. 

On our way across the desert we had to stop in Palm Springs. We stopped at one of my favorite hotels, ate delicious lunch, and made some stops at Party*Lab and Dazzles (one of the craziest vintage shops I've ever been in). Check it out! 

love.lauren 

^^the ace has little quotes hidden all over the place. in this case, "things come around" in the ladies room.^^