We’re back from sunny California feeling refreshed and ready to fully embrace this beautiful spring that is already upon us. How’ve you been? While we were sad that our little getaway had to end, we were also happy to be coming home to some fun home improvement projects. Our upstairs bathroom is being gutted as.we.speak and I cannot wait to see how it turns out. This is no DIY project. We are leaving this one to the professionals. We are also replacing the upstairs windows – the old ones that hang on ropes and pulleys are going away, yikes! So really, really good stuff is happening. I’ll share more details with you soon.
Oh La Quinta, how I love you. Our days were filled with sunshine, as in every single day was perfect. So bike rides, long runs/walks, hikes, and countless hours poolside pretty much sums it up.
I always love walking in the neighborhood and taking in the curb appeal when I’m there. This house looked different to me this time around. I love the simplicity!
Hiking in the desert is one of my favorite things to do and this time we visited the Painted Canyon. Our college student went there with his roommate during his spring break and recommended it to us. The trail was pretty strenuous and yes, I climbed that crazy ladder. The scarier part was coming back down. :/
The cool kids teenagers decided they wanted to go check out a pop-up store on Fairfax in LA so I checked in with @homesweethollywood on instagram to find out where to go. I don’t have any pictures, but we enjoyed the Farmer’s Market. Mr. and I ate lunch at LA Korea & the boys had Patsy DÁmore’s Pizza. Thanks for the rec Karen! We also checked out the Santa Monica pier and I’m working on a very cool Malin inspired image from our trip.
We were stylin’ in our convertible, but forgot to request anything but red. 😉
We also celebrated the birthday of the special friend who joined us. This may very well be the best cheesecake I’ve ever had. And I may have enjoyed it more than once, but who’s counting on vacation?
The sunset on our very last night was especially gorgeous! Have a great week!
What a beautiful trip! I'm following Home Sweet Hollywood now on IG. Such great photos there and here!
Karen is such a sweetheart and knows everything about LA. Wish we had more time to spend there.
Looks like a perfect getaway. Looking forward to seeing your bathroom reno. We have those old windows with ropes. Love 'em. Even though they're very energy inefficient. We're renovating our tiny mudroom. I've been documenting our slow progress. It's very exciting as I've been waiting for this day for many (many) years!
Claudia
I love those old windows too (when they work). The ropes on almost all of our have been broken since we moved in and are difficult to raise and lower. Yay for a mudroom reno!
The sunsets look gorgeous! Glad you had a great time!
I love La Quinta .. the spouse and I have a house in Indian Wells. Glad you had a wonderful time 🙂
Monica, http://www.pear-shaped-gal.com
I see signs for Indian Wells every time we visit La Quinta. Do you ever go to Coachella? We drove by the grounds as they were gearing up. So fun!
Santa Monica, pier and all, is one of my most favorite places! Even when it's foggy, it's gorgeous. Glad you had such a great time!
What a beautiful beach! And we picked the perfect day as it rained the day before we were there. We loved Melrose too which brought back memories of hours spent watching Melrose Place :).
This sounds like such a wonderful getaway!! I'm really looking forward to hearing more about the bathroom project!
Reneeeeeeeee! I missed you and your Blog so much. I wrote yesterday but for some reason my Google account was having problems. Your photos of your trip are amazing. I know your sweet family had a wonderful time. I can't wait to see project progress. 😉
Mandy
Looks like a great vacation….I love California! I always enjoyed going to LA when my stepdaughter raced there.
Looks like a wonderful vacation Rene and La Quinta looks beautiful! You were certainly brave with that ladder. Not sure I could have done that. We lived about 1/2 mile down from the Santa Monica Pier, right on Ocean Ave. I missed you while you were away. I kept popping by your blog. Have fun with your projects at home and can't wait to see your bathroom! That is exciting!