Well, I was able to check an item off my bucket list this summer. I finally made it to Palm Springs, California after drooling over it on Instagram for what feels like forever. I went with six other girlfriends and we rented what is called The Lucy House. Supposedly Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz used to vacation there back in the day and, with all it’s old school charm, I don’t doubt it.

The house was amazing, the food in Palm Springs was perfection, and the weather was – insanely hot. Thankfully there was either air conditioning or a pool to jump into nearly everywhere we went. We had lazy days by the pool, very nice meals around town, and even planned a full spa day at the Miramonte Indian Wells Resort. I’m also extremely happy to report that when I suggested we go visit the dinosaurs from Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, no one laughed at me and most everyone came along for the adventure!

As mentioned above, the food was incredible! On our first night we didn’t have any reservations and ended up stopping by the street fair in downtown Palm Springs. From there, we wandered over the The Tropicale Palm Springs and had no idea what we were walking into. The girl who poured our drinks was dressed up like a cat (?!) and the menu featured everything from sushi to fried chicken, all with a dark yet retro atmosphere. If it sounds crazy, it was – but it was also the perfect introduction to Palm Springs.

The next day we had happy hour / early dinner reservations at Azucar, which is inside La Serena Villas (a beautiful new boutique hotel). The restaurant was simply STUNNING, as was the rooftop bar.

Thank you Laura for the photo!

Another amazing meal that we had was at FARM where they have a prix fixe dinner menu. Everything about the evening was very charming.

And of course we can’t go to Palm Springs without going to brunch, right? Duh. Workshop Kitchen hit the spot with their $12 bottomless mimosas and Insta-worthy decor.

We didn’t have dinner reservations for our last night, but a few of us girls caught a second wind and grabbed a tropical drink at Bootlegger Tiki, a bar around the corner from our house. Afterwards, we checked out the new Kimpton Rowan Hotel and ate at their rooftop restaurant, 4 Saints Palm Springs. We then finished off our last night in true Palm Springs fashion by checking out another tiki lounge, Toucans’ Tiki Lounge, where they had a famous drag show (my first one!)

Surprisingly, the drag show was not our wildest adventure. While the massages that we had scheduled for our spa day were heavenly and very relaxing, when we arrived at the pool-side cabana we rented for the day we found another level of fun. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that former Oakland Raider cheerleaders were holding a reunion at the hotel and had pretty much taken over the pool – and I can’t explain how much fun we had with these awesome ladies! We helped judge their insane pool float contest and got to listen to stories of the good ol days from our new gal pals.

And of course, this blog post wouldn’t be complete without photos from our excursion to Cabazon Dinosaurs. It was a thirty minute Uber ride away, but well worth it for the memories (and photos of course). Two of my favorite movies growing up, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure and The Wizard, both shot scenes here so for me it was pretty exciting.

Thank you Stephanie for this photo!

Overall, it was a fabulously relaxing and fun trip with some amazing ladies. I already want to go back.. Just maybe when it’s a little cooler.