Nifty Nifty... Leah's 50!

Leah's 50th Birthday Weekend

We celebrated her birthday by traveling down to Indian Wells for a girls weekend.

I booked a flight on a small airline called Contour. I was a little worried as I had never heard of this airline, but they were awesome. The plane was tiny, one side of the aisle had one seat, the other had two! Teeny, tiny. But it was a great flight!

And I got a full size beverage!

Flying over the desert mountains.

About to land in Palm Springs!

The Palm Springs airport is a small airport. You walk off the plane onto the tarmac and walk to the terminal.

I caught an Uber and met the girls at the Seguaro Hotel in Palm Springs.

What an interesting hotel with a colorful history.

The interior is bold and eclectic.

With an interesting display of barbies.

We are ready to get this weekend started!

First on the list is an architecture tour of Palm Springs.

Mod Squad Tours

Our guide, Kurt Cyr. A local celebrity, designer and mid-century modern expert.

We all hopped into the minivan and had no idea what to expect.

We learned all about the mid century modern movement that was so prevalent in Palm Springs. We also learned about Brise Soleil. This is an example of the sun screen made from blocks of all shapes and sizes.

The rich history of celebrity homes is very interesting.

This is the former home of Liberace.

This home has been the abode to several celebrities and is now owned by Leonardo DiCaprio.

The gate to Elizabeth Taylor's former home.

What an interesting tour! I had no idea that any of this existed and learned so much about the architecture and lifestyle here. I'm so glad they talked this motion sickness, touristy-tour opposed girl into it!

Now it's time for lunch! We were able to get into Tac/Quila for lunch, it's a popular dinner spot, so we were glad to be able to walk in and have a meal without reservations.

Cool decor and the food was amazing!

Verde enchiladas, taco chips, salads and pineapple margaritas, YUM!

We drove south from Palm Springs to where Karlyn lives in Indian Wells.

Her house is A-MAZING!

Built by William Cody in 1961. It was saved and restored a few years ago and will entered into the historical society on October 14th, 2019.

From the moment we arrived, we were in awe of this architectural masterpiece.

I walked around taking pictures trying to take it all in.

The living room

Entry way

This is a jack and jill bathroom attached to my room for the weekend.

And then there is this! The incredible backyard! We felt like we were in a resort all weekend. Who wouldn't love to live here. It's where you will always feel like you're on vacation!

The view from my bed.

A horrible way to spend an evening in Indian Wells.

Me, the birthday girl Leah, Karlyn and Sarah. :-)

Just when you think it can't get any better, the sun goes down and this is the view!

Lady Palms is even more beautiful at night!

The next morning, I went out to go for a run around the neighborhood.

5 miles and street after street of mid-century modern masterpieces.

These streets are quite a departure from our local streets. Very clean, wide and well maintained.

Everyone I came across were polite and friendly.

I just can't get enough of the area, it's beautiful.

I can tell this won't be my last trip here.

Karlyn had arranged for us to have a birthday celebration brunch at

the Pink Cabana at the Sands Hotel.

Turkish coffee (decaf for me)

wow! Where has this been all my life? Delish.

While I enjoyed my simple traditional eggs and bacon, Leah and Sarah had this quiche. My picture does NOT do this justice. It was so tall and dense with an incredible buttery, flaky crust.

Pure quiche perfection!