christmas vacation, part 2

10 things i loved...
1) the ace hotel. well-executed in just about every way.
2) even some sunshine is great. enough to give us a vitamin d boost before our portland winter.
3) the lemon tree outside our room... gathering them, packing them, and then making a christmas day tarte au citron thanks to them.
4) the tandem bike... such a lesson is working together! but very fun and, what can i say, moon is a good driver. (i just need to lighten up).
5) hammocks and ping pong. (and a good book for reading poolside).
6) drinking wine on our patio. and drinking stumptown coffee in palm springs!
7) moon singing karaoke to lessen the pain of all that rain.
8) bingo night! (in such "ace style" it was certainly the most fun i've ever had playing bingo).
9) easiest flying in and out experience ever. could grab a taxi an hour before the flight!
10) having all that time with moon! (wait, i think i am writing my list in the wrong order... this would definitely be #1). he can make any travel experience an adventure... and fun.

christmas vacation, part 1

actually, the real part 1 of our trip to palm springs would be pictures of rain. and more rain. and flooded streets. and some more rain. and the "history-breaking-we've-never-seen-this-much-rain-in-southern-california" rain.

but the part 1 that we want to remember is of the sunshine, the pool, the palm trees, the beautiful dessert hills, riding a tandem bike along the streets lined with mid-century-modern homes, and overall just taking a break with moon was really wonderful.
(i also want to remember moon in his ace-hotel-outfitted dessert style robe... as seen to the left).

merry christmas!

(our cards will be coming to you soon...).

heading south

i suppose we are a bit untraditional. most people want to head to cold weather for christmas... skiing, big coats, lots of snow, and cabins. well, we had a pleasant dose of a colorado thanksgiving and that will suffice for this holiday season. we're excitedly traveling to palm springs for several days next week. we have a small "vacation fund" as part of our budget. and we've never had that before. in the past we've just traveled when we needed to for whatever reason we had. but we knew that during this more stressful and challenging phase of our life we might need to take a break and there wouldn't be a "good reason" (like visiting family, work travel, etc). so thanks to the ace hotel we'll have a place to stay, and well, we know it will be at least 60 during the day and there will be some sunshine... and the pools are heated. (and there will be bike riding!). i think that's all we need (and of course each other). merry christmas!

boulder, co

moon and i spent an afternoon in boulder while visiting my family in colorado for thanksgiving... a favorite coffee spot, lunch, and a stroll down by the snowy boulder creek topped off our time.

thankful

...for family, for mountains, for fresh colorado air, for funny and charming nieces and nephews, and even for football.