About 2 weeks ago, my boyfriend and I spent a week in California – best birthday present ever, am I right?!
We spent the majority of the week in Palm Springs which obviously makes me an expert on this adorable little vacation town, so here are my top recommendations if you’re looking for somewhere to relax in the sunshine state.
Joshua Tree National Park – We spent a day here and there really is something for everyone – as long as you’re not super attached to your phone signal. No joke, we were without signal for about 4 hours but it was actually kind of nice to unplug. We also got some great photos at each stop along the way and even used a real paper map!
This was scull rock, way bigger than it looks.
Miles upon miles of cactuses at the Cholla Cactus garden, and the only place you will find bigger pricks than the ones on the road in LA (more on this later).
Check out their website to see all the fun activities they have each month. Also, the cool people call it J-Tree in case you want to not look like a tourist. https://www.nps.gov/jotr/index.htm
Restaurants – if you’re a huge foodie like I am, Palm Springs has a ton of fresh restaurants featuring local food. We visited some awesome local eateries and I was impressed with every single one:
-Lulu California Bistro: Adorable vintage diner with a massive menu. We went for breakfast and I had the eggs Benedict on portabello mushrooms instead of an English muffin – genius option! http://www.lulupalmsprings.com
-Trio Restaurant: Seared Ahi Tuna Steak crushed in sesame seeds, need I say more? Also, they had fried calamari which I’m pretty sure I ate at almost every dinner we had out. https://triopalmsprings.com
-Jake’s: Cozy date night spot. I’m still dreaming about their Parmesan crusted chicken and their watermelon cocktail will leave you satisfyingly buzzed. Ask to sit on their cute patio. http://www.jakespalmsprings.com/mobile/home
-Reservoir at Arrive Hotel: This place screams “Palm Springs Chic”. Like most places in PS, the decor is to die for. We did not eat here but popped in for drinks one night – Sangria is on point here. The restaurant leads out to the pool area where there is a seating area with a fire pit along with a marble ping pong table – love! https://reservoirpalmsprings.com/
Shopping – Let’s be real, besides lounging around at the pool, I did a lot of this:
-Desert Hills Premium Outlets: Literally every store you can imagine in outlet format, my Saks card worked extra hard the day we visited this massive outdoor mall and there’s even a suitcase store in case you need some extra luggage to bring all your new shit home. http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlet/desert-hills
-The Shops at El Paseo: Because I didn’t do enough damage at Saks off Fifth at Desert Hills, we visited the outlet here as well. There’s also Saks Fifth Avenue and many other designer stores if your boyfriend feels like collecting some major points on his visa. http://www.elpaseo.com
-Total Wine and Spirits: In PS they call this store “the Costco of Booze” – I shit you not. Not only did I find a beautiful stock of my beloved Miraval wine, but this place literally is the size of Costco and has every wine, liquor and beer you can think of. They also have a cigar humidor in case your lungs want to get fucked up with your liver.
Other than visiting all these fabulous places, we spent a lot of time soaking up the sun in the backyard of the house we rented – the humidity is pretty low in Cali so not only did I get an amazing tan, but my hair always looked bomb!
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