Palm Desert Again? Yes Please!

 After a 24 hour flight delay I was so happy to be sitting on  the plane.  Leaving a cold blizzard behind felt really good.  Two trips to the airport, shoveling the driveway twice, a toddler that tried to cripple me (where were this child's parents?), Belligerent Airlines (enough said), having to get SaSSy in the TSA line.  It was a modern day miracle to finally get to take off from Bellingham Airport.

I got in my seat, no one sat next to me, another modern day miracle, I stretched out and took off.

TA DA... the next morning I began my tour of pools.

 First up, Sheryl took us to the clubhouse pools where we soaked up the sun and enjoyed lunch at the club.  It was at this point, I sighed and knew all of the weather related travel hassles were indeed behind me and worth it. Blue skies and sunshine served with a gin and tonic poolside.  Yes, please!  I love that word,  poolside.  It just never gets old.

 The next day we spent the day at the neighborhood pool.  We had this pool pretty much to ourselves.

This trip was to Sheryl's house in the desert with Shelly and Doreen.  The four of us have known each other since we were babies.  These friends have known me my whole life and still love me.  

Really, that is pretty amazing.

 There was a lot of laughing, talking and playing by the pool and in the pool.

 It's just sooo much pretty in the desert.  I think the pretty is what makes it all so relaxing.  Everywhere my eyes went there was some pretty.  Pretty. Pretty.  Pretty.

 When you've grown up with someone there tends to be a regression to childhood.  We had so much fun in the pool.  Cannonball contests, swimnastics, running laps, hand stands, floating contests and cheer stunts.

I cannot share the cheer stunt photos or I'd lose the friends I've had since I was a baby.

No one was hurt.  Another modern day miracle.  As you can probably guess, Doreen was our cheer coach.

 After our days in the sun we went out for delicious dinners to the Cliffhouse, Pacifica, and Mama Gina's.

Our last day was cloudy so we shopped and then lunched at Mitch's on El Paseo.  Sheryl and I loved the ladies room at Mitch's, so pretty in plum.  Even the ladies rooms are pretty in the desert.  

It's just a whole bucket of pretty in the desert.

 Thank you for a wonderful trip, Sheryl.  Your home is beautiful and your gracious style is a gift.

What I Did On My Vacation Essay

 La Quinta is a whole lot of pretty.  Pretty palm trees, pretty flowers, pretty cacti, pretty streets.

See what I mean?  It's pretty.

 The citrus is amazing.  It's a novelty to pick lemons for Pacific Northwest gals and the flavor is amazing.

Chris, Shelly and I spent more time by the pool than I thought we would, but it's hard to resist when the sun is shining and the temperature is a perfect 80 degrees.  The view and the conversations were wonderful.

 But all good things must come to an end, and our vacation did too.  We flew back to the snowy mountains, the rain and the wind.  We were happy to see our families though.  My Hubby was in Charleston, N.C. working while I was playing.  He came home just in time to celebrate Valentine's Day with me.

Chris will return to the desert with her hubby and boys in March.  As for Shelly and I, we get to go back too.  On Sunday.  Another girls trip for us.  This time we are going to Sheryl's place with Sheryl and Doreen.

 In the meantime, I have plenty to do at the museum, I have laundry and ironing to get caught up (though it is nice to put it right back into my suitcase), and on Friday some diva appointments.

Life is good great!

Rose Bowl Flea Market

 The purpose of our girls trip to Palm Desert was to visit the Rose Bowl Flea Market in Pasadena.  Chris, Shelly and I go junkin' together and our dream was to visit the granddaddy of them all.

Many designers on television design shows visit the Rose Bowl, including Nate Berkus, Ty Pennington, Eddie Ross.

Chris posed next to Bertha, the only realistic dress form we met in Pasadena.  Aren't they cute?

 The flea market is antiques, crafts, furniture makers, artists and clothing.  We ran out of time and didn't make it to the clothing section.  Many Hollywood stars shop there and costume designers flock to the Rose Bowl for television and movies.

 I have a small collection of R's throughout our home so I am always on the lookout for an R.  There were so many that I got overwhelmed and didn't bring any home.  I'll just have to return.

 Just in case there was any doubt, my friend Shelly is HOT.

 Shelly and I bought hats for some shade.  My theory was go big or go home.  Chris and Shelly thought I look like a Mary Engelbreit poster child.  

 The furniture pieces in the Grand Loft Custom booth made my heart go pitty pat.  I can't stop thinking about the dining room table I picked out.  So many great pieces in their booth.

 The one that got away because it was just too awkward to ship was a metal disc for sledding.  I took a photo and will have to be happy with that.

 This furniture booth was new and considered hot.  It was furniture made from old warehouse pieces.  Most of the items had sold stickers.

There were some disturbing booths too.  It wasn't all pretty.

 It was dumb luck that we found our car back.  We were giddy upon arrival and didn't really think about the end of the day when we would need our car... whew, we found it.

It was a wonderful day of junkin'.  The only disappointment was that Eddie Ross was there shopping and we didn't know it.  Shelly saw his flea market pictures on instagram the next day.  We did meet one of the Storage War guys though so that was fun.

Such a great day!  We shipped a few things home.  Including an oil painting that I purchased for ten bucks.  I'm having a love hate relationship with it.  I'll know for sure when it's in our living room if it's a keeper.

When In Rome do as the Romans Do or When In Palm Desert Go to the Gym

I work out with friends on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.  We refer to it as boot camp, though we are not as rigorous as a real boot camp nor as rigorous as when we started 5+ years ago. Four of us meet to walk, use our free weights and occasionally run some hills.

Obviously, I am not in great shape but without "boot camp" I could be in worse shape.

And I am pleased that I have done this consistently for almost 6 years.

Sometimes I take my exercise clothes and running shoes on vacation but I quite often don't use them. Since I was only taking carry on luggage to Palm Springs, I decided to leave my runners at home.

That was my first mistake.

Chris had just gotten four work outs for the gym in the desert.  Her trainer had visited and created workouts specifically for the gym.  The night before when Chris mentioned going to the gym, I deferred.   I didn't really have ideal clothes and I had brought some Guess sneakers but no running shoes.

In the morning though, Chris was going to go to the gym and I thought I may as well go along.  I wouldn't be on the tread mill too long, I could still use the free weights, and I could always bike with sneakers.

A little workout is better than no workout, right?

That was my second mistake.

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 Chris takes the golf cart to the gym as it is quite a ways from her house.  Oh, fun!  I don't get to ride in a golf cart to boot camp.  This is great!

I had some shorts that I sometimes pull on over my swim suit so I wore those, a t-shirt and my sneakers.

 Ooh my, this place is beautiful.  I'm glad I decided to go to the gym.

 As we walked up to the gym, I thought about just sitting court side to watch a tennis game.  It was so pretty,  the sun was shining, there were chairs set up, I could order coffee... no, I went right into that gym.

That was my third mistake.

There are no pictures for what happened next.  

I waved Chris on, told her to enjoy her work out and not to worry about me.  I know what I am doing in a gym.

That was my fourth mistake.

I got on the tread mill to warm up.  Just needed to tap the screen to get it started.  That thing was S L O W, I kept tapping, nothing happened.  I was leery of it going too fast so I was careful.  After seven minutes of sauntering I was getting a little impatient.  

My impatience was my fifth mistake.

 I had taken the machine in the corner of the gym for several reasons including the fact that I didn't have a sports bra along on the trip so yeah, private might be better.  My shorts were daisy dukes, not athletic wear really and I had on Guess sneakers.  Better to stay on the down low.

I pretty much looked  like a hick.  Like out of place, crazy out of place in the Rancho La Quinta Club.  Give me some credit though, I do work out regularly AND I was working out while on vacation.

Anyhoo, after sauntering for seven minutes I hit some buttons.  

That was my umpteenth mistake.  Let's not count the mistakes anymore.

Because what happened next was horrific.  That machine took off like a bat outta hell.  I was running FAST and FASTER and FASTEST.

Imagine a 55 year old woman in short shorts, no sports bra, cute little sneakers sprinting in the Olympics for the finish line in a very close race.  That blur,  it was me.

I tried to stop it.  I pulled the emergency stop rope.  I tapped every freaking 'stop' button on the screen.  At this point my whole beautiful vacation flashed through my mind, as though I were drowning, I saw myself tumbling through the air and landing with a thud and broken bones.

Noooo... this cannot happen to me.  I was scared to try to jump off because I'm not the most graceful gal out there.   But I had no choice, I prayed, I grabbed the bars and jumped off onto the sides, heart pounding, sweating in my daisy dukes and sneakers, gasping for breath. 

Near disaster, a good  great save, some loss of pride as I was surrounded by the fit and the beautiful, but nonetheless a SAVE.  I  am pretty sure that the fit and the beautiful in La Quinta are still talking about that CRazy lady running for her life sans sports bra in their gym.  Who let her in?

I walked away from that treadmill to use the free weights and a bike.  

That treadmill was possessed.  By the devil, himself.

Chris later asked how fast I was running.  "Uh Chris, like freaking running for your life fast, that's how fast I ran at the gym today!"  Sheesh.

 But I don't give up easily so I went back the next day.  This time I warmed up on a bike and then followed Chris around using her upper body workout from her trainer.  Thanks Bethany!

Safer that way.

Chris let me drive the golf cart home.  We stopped on the way back to the house and picked fresh oranges for juice.  The golf cart and the OJ pretty much made up for the gym.

Nothing was broken, no harm, no foul.  Right?

Palm Springs Girls Trip

I left the snow at home and went to Palm Springs for some fun in the sun with gal pals, Shelly and Chris.  There was a purpose for our trip and I'll post later today about the whole fantastic trip.  

We came home yesterday.  I am missing my morning coffee in the sunshine with the gals this morning.

I know, I know, no one feels sorry for  me. Now, I'm off to work, the skies are grey and of course, all homecomings involve an Eat Less, Move More.

Random & Rambling But You'll be Caught Up

Busy week last week, busy week this week.  Last week it was all about the Big Game.  I sent the guys Seahawk care packages.  I posted recipes for the BiG game and I worked.

 I worked at the museum.  A bit more than normal as I painted the lobby/gift shop.  The prep, the cleaning, the washing of the walls and the spackle all took a long time.  And then I painted and then Hubby showed up and saved my bacon and helped me paint the walls.  The carpets got shampooed.  My Thursday morning docents, Leslie and Marjean helped me put it all back together.  Back together like a giant jigsaw puzzle when you don't have a picture to refer to.

 Then I focused on everything Seahawks.  I dug out this picture of Danny and Sam when they were little Seahawk fans in 1990.  Such adorable babies, where did the years go?

 Hubby and I watched the BiG game on Sunday at home, alone.  Just the way we wanted to watch the game.  We really didn't want to miss a play and we wanted to be in our respective sofas enjoying the moment, yelling without embarrassment and snacking as needed.

 With the Seahawks WIN, the game was everything we ever wanted and more.

 Richard Sherman, you are the bomb!

My Hubby brought me flowers last week.  I think he loves me.

I got a new app for  my phone, waterlogue.  It water colors photos.

Honestly, it is so much fun it is hard to resist.  I plan to print and shrink some of my "paintings" and use them to make cards.  The berries are from a shot I took at Pike Street Market.

 Our Christmas tree!  A tad addicting, just as Rhonna Designs is addicting, Waterlogue is also very addicting.  It's $2.99 and worth it.  Enjoy!

Over the weekend I noticed that I seemed to have a sinus infection.  A sinus infection is a regular occurrence for me in the winter so I thought no big deal.  And then I got vertigo.

I went to the doctor and I am hoping for a speedy recovery.  If I seem tippy it's cuz I am DiZZy.

I have a flight on Friday, so I need to lose the ear infection and sinus infection STAT.

This week I'm busy again.  I leave on Friday for Palm Desert, CA for a girls trip.  This one is a Junkin' Trip in the Palm Springs area with my junkin' girlfriends AND we are going to the Rose Bowl Flea Market.  I'll be junkin' with Chris and Shelly and prolly running into Nate Berkus, Ty Pennington and other designers.  Sniff.  Oh my, this is junkin' with the BIG dogs.

I got my hair cut, I got a pedicure, a spray tan (my first ever) and I'm scheduled for nails tomorrow morning.  The life of a high maintenance babe is not easy.  I am very busy getting caught up and I am very busy going to appointments.  I was wondering how high maintenance ladies keep up when Shelly reminded me that they have staff.  And I do not.

I am packed (this may not seem like a big deal but I am only taking carry on luggage, which isn't easy for someone that likes to think of every eventuality and BE ready) and I am giddy just thinking about our trip.   Oh, and I hardly look like myself with all of the appointments I've been to this week.  You may not recognize me.  I kid.  It takes more than a few appointments to turn this train wreck around.

I'll keep you posted poolside...

Hah!  I love saying "poolside".