ace hotel, palm springs

so in case you are ever feeling down-in-the-dumps about yourself, do not visit the ace hotel in palm springs. you will leave feeling old, lame & extremely uncool. I have never been surrounded by so many skinny, aviator-wearing, tattooed, asymmetric-haircut hipsters in my life (I should also mention that there was a photo-shoot going on for american eagle, so there were a plethora of 95-pound models hanging around too). it was depressing. but this place is incredible. amazing design & signage everywhere you turn. it could not be a hipper hotel.

 {the pool, which is aptly named the "swim club", complete with bar & DJ}

 {great signage everywhere}

  {pool rules. I'm pretty sure there's one on there that says, "must be young & hot to enter"}

  {the rooms - some had patios with fire pits & couches}

  {how cool is this? by the second pool swim club}

  {the american eagle spring photoshoot. just look at those beauties scowl at me ;) }

  {our room}

sprinkles cupcakes: san diego

gosh, I like love cupcakes. and one of my favorite things to do in a new city is to explore the cupcake shops & taste test until I find my favorite. so far, I keep going back to sprinkles. I've visited the beverly hills location (here) & the dallas location (here). so when we were in san diego this past week, it was only appropriate that I cross one more location off the list. their vanilla milk chocolate cupcake is seriously the best ever. ever. good thing we don't have one in florida or I'd be broke. and fat. "not that there's anything wrong with that."

the getty center

last year while visiting robert in la (we all know who I was really there to see), I had some free time alone, so I made a visit to the getty center. this place is gorgeous. the weather was beautiful & everything was in full bloom. the whole time, I kept thinking I wish we could have gotten married here! for anyone making a visit to los angeles, I'd highly recommend a few hours at the getty center. 

don't judge

we all have stupid obsessions. I mean, maybe I'm 28 years old & my favorite tv show still happens to be beverly hills 90210 (the original, duh). and maybe my main motivation for leaving work by 5pm is so I can catch the last 30 minutes of 90210 on soapnet. and maybe the highlight of my year was meeting jennie garth at a car show when I was twelve. and there might be a chance, that when visiting los angeles for only three days, that I made my husband spend one of them driving me around to all of the 90210 locations. don't judge, okay.

with the help of this absolutely amazing website (I would seriously donate money if they had a paypal button on their site), I was able to see all of my favorite 90210 locations. if you're not a fan of the show, you won't understand my excitement (sigh). but if you are (you are awesome), I posted some photos so you can share in my childish amusement. baa-baa-ba-ba, baa-baa-ba-ba - (phap, phap)

{"it's dylan. you know the drill"}

{I'm leaving room so that robert can photoshop dylan's porsche in front of me}

 {welcome to casa walsh!}

  {ok. don't get too upset. but the peach pit is now a japanese restaurant!}

and in case you didn't get enough 90210 in this post, a very important day is coming up. yea. that's right. 09.02.10! and of course I'm having a party. will share pics after the event. 

sprinkles cupcakes: the original

as you probably know, I am a bit obsessed with cupcakes. I've tried all the best & sprinkles is still my fave. I've made three trips out to the dallas location but have always wanted to visit the original sprinkles in beverly hills. I finally got my chance a few weekends ago on an impromptu visit to los angeles. we limited ourselves to one each: the peanut butter chip & the vanilla milk chocolate. they make a great breakfast at 10am.

eames house

robert & I are big fans of charles & ray eames. we were out driving around in los angeles & I decided to put their address into the gps to see if we could find the place. sure enough, right near the edge of a cliff in the pacific palisades, in front of a grassy meadow & overlooking the pacific ocean, it stood.


charles & ray built the house in 1949 and they lived in it until their death. the couple's family now maintains the house to preserve their collections & decor. it was quite exciting to get to wander around the residence & experience this mid-century masterpiece up-close. it was definitely an unexpected highlight of our trip.

{the front of the residence}

{constructed entirely from "off-the-shelf" parts available from steel fabricator catalogs}

{there was a crack in the curtain & I was able to get a shot of the interior}