Palm Springs: Part 1

While Dave and I were on Christmas break, we decided to drive up to Palm Springs, CA for a few days.  I had never been and thought now was the best time to go before I would be a free again (sometime after June).  The weather was perfect!

We stopped at the Cabazon Dinosaurs roadside attraction on our way.  I always make a point to stop by if I happen to be in the area.  

They looked like they could use a new coat of paint.

I also have a tradition of posing on the foot of the one of the dinosaurs just as the family did in the movie "The Wizard" starring Fred Savage.

After a brief stop to visit the dinosaurs, we were back in the car and on our way to our destination.

Our first stop was at the visitor's center which was built in 1965 and formally used as the Tramway gas station.  What a cool building!

Below are a few pictures of the San Jacinto peak.  We had plans to ride the tramway up but not today.

Our next stop was at the Caliente Tropics hotel which is where we would be staying while in town.  The hotel opened in 1964 and is home to many a tiki idols that are scattered throughout the hotel.  The hotel was once host to past Tiki Oasis and Tiki Caliente gatherings.  We loved the fact that their pool and spa were open late.  Late night dips are the best!

After getting checked into our room, and having a nice refreshing dip in the pool, Dave and I got dressed up to have dinner and drinks at the new Tonga Hut located in the downtown area.  Unbeknownst to us the restaurant and bar was currently having a soft opening.  Below are pictures of our sad faces.  Oh well, next time for sure.

Dave crying his eyes out!

We ended up having dinner at Tropicale which, luckily for us, was literally just down the street from the Tonga Hut.

The restaurant was lovely.  We enjoyed our dinner out on the back patio.  We were however tricked by our server into ordering a "Mai Tai I Wanna Lei Ya".  He told us that it served two.   It could have easily served four or five!

Dave and I filled our glasses up ten times, between the two of us, and hardly made a dent in the clam shell shaped dish.  The presentation and drink itself was delightful. 

Our lesson learned for the night was to ask about drink prices as for two thrifty people like us it was way more expensive than we would usually spend on alcohol. I'm too embarrassed to say how much we spent on it, considering we couldn't even finish it.

After dinner we walked through the downtown area making a point to stop by the the huge Marilyn Monroe statue.  I was anxious to get back to the hotel room and thought I'd be sure to pose for a picture later but that didn't happen.

Part two and part three to follow soon.

Till' Next Time,

Suz

Thrift Blog: December 2013 Continued

Hi Folks!  I'm so sorry for yet again dropping the ball on my blogs.  December was a busy and stressful month to say the least. It also ended up being a month of recovery as Dave and I got sick three different times!  I decided I'm taking a clean break from the blogs I had hoped to finish from December (thrift blogs) and instead doing a quick wrap of the month events with a few "have to share" thrift finds thrown into the mix as well.

As I previously posted I had a fantastic birthday with friends.  Shortly following my birthday Dave and I were saddened to hear the news that my sister's beloved doggie Kelly had passed away.  She is truly the first family dog we have had and will be greatly missed. This sadly is one of our last pictures together.

Dave and I officially began our Christmas break by attending a San Diego Ballet performance of the "The Nutcracker". We got all dolled up and were a bit thrown off by the hoards of people that showed up the watch the performance in jeans or in some cases sweat pants!!  This societal dumbing down of fashion do's and don'ts seriously confuses me.  Oh well!  We looked stellar!  And I finally got to wear a dress that I bought three years ago!

Christmas was to follow and included many of my family members coming to San Diego to celebrate together.  This included a visit from Dave's family which be the very first time our two sides of the family have come together.  It was a splendid meeting!  We also had the fun of celebrating Christmas with my niece who started walking a week before the event.  Christmas is so much more fun with little ones around.

There were seriously some cute moments this year!  Here is Paige and my dad playing in her favorite Christmas gift, a cardboard box.

Seriously how can you not smile back at that munchkin!

So here are my favorite finds of last month.  This was going to be a white elephant exchange gift but I liked it too much!  It looks great on Dave's bar.

I wore the heck out of this red wool coat upon its purchase. 

It's actually an official women's Boy Scout leader coat from the 50's.  It had a felt bull stitched to the front of the coat which I very carefully removed.  It was already very loose and not in the best condition.  I do have plans to restore the coat but it works just fine as it is for now.

 I have been wanting to add a pole lamp to this corner of the living room for months after seeing how awesome looking one was in a friend's house.  I purchased this on eBay for a good price.

All i need to find now is a whip fabric glass shade to replace the black one that presently sits on my Carmen Miranda moss lamp.

I found a bevy of wonderful vintage Christmas decorations including this wonderfully stain free vintage table cloth.

In the midst of all the chaos I even managed to make my own little DIY tiki twist on a Christmas wreath which was perched on our front door.

But here is the mother-load of my favorites for the month.  I let out a pretty loud laugh when I happened to come across this find.  I find this funny on so  many levels.  The fact that someone took the time to hand make needlepoint this creation, the roses next to her signify her sh*t don't stink, and the mess she has created underneath her dress stating not all is what is seems!  I have it hanging in the bathroom presently which is the only place I deemed it appropriate to sit.  Again, this was meant to be a white elephant gift but I was unable to give it up.

I hope you all had a wonderful and safe winter break!  I'll have a blog to follow soon from of our quick trip to Palm Springs we manage to take this month.

Till' Next Time,

Suz