Weekend Update: 2 Weekends Ago...(part 2)

Friday night we ate dinner at the hotel - Jay got a panini and I had a sandwich of some sort. I can't remember the exact details because we shared a side of macaroni & cheese and omgitwassogoooood.

There was a wedding going on at the pool outside of our room, so while we talked ourselves out of crashing it, we watched movies and I danced around the room and the patio to the tunes. 

Saturday was my birthday & we got up very early thanks to my alarm on my phone (and forgetting that it was MONDAY, not Sunday). Not my favorite part of the day, but I did enjoy putting on some long sleeves since it was a cloudy & chilly morning, and heading over to Koffi across the street for some pastry & coffee. We sat there & watched the old people reading their newspapers and the M-F workers grab their cuppa Joe before work. I always love that reminder of being on vacation - these other people are going to work & I am not. 

It was now time for our massage! Jay suggested a couples massage which was a nice treat! Afterwards we enjoyed the sauna for a bit before heading back to the pool. Even though it was still a little cloudy, I think we got the best part of our tans on this day. It was a great time to read & people watch...but soon enough we were hungry again & I was craving a burger! 

We found this place online called Tyler's (can't find their website but this blog post explains it pretty well) and set out to downtown Palm Springs to find it. After a few wrong-turns, we finally found this cute little place in the middle of a parking lot. I got sliders (delicious!), Jay got a cheeseburger and we shared a basket of fries. The lemonade was homemade and hit the spot. I loved the patio seating and the casual location.

We were so full we decided to take a walk. The downtown was super cute. Described by Jay as "Spanish Revival...1920s & 1930s..."(don't act like you aren't impressed...). I liked the Walk of Stars - just like in Hollywood...names like Elvis Presley & Bob Hope lined the streets. There were old photos of Rock Hudson & other celebrities enjoying the area from several decades ago. Palm Springs definitely prides itself on  its history which was really nice!

We got back to the hotel around mid-afternoon & had a coffee break at the hotel's casual restaurant. 

It was very diner-like and I liked it! Plus, how cute are the creamer & sugar containers? And these stools?

I started feeling artsy. I need to learn bokeh on my camera. I want to really bad. Maybe my friend Joe will help me?

Heading back to the room, Jay actually smiled for the picture but all I got was this...

Room 531. You walked through this wooden door to our patio & then into our room. I loved the door. 

Aren't the fixtures cute? Rustic. I like that too. 

And then it was time for dinner! I was so excited because the place we selected - Castelli's - was highly recommended to us by the CFO at my work. She goes every year and gave it rave reviews. We were definitely not disappointed! We shared the Fried Artichoke Hearts to start and then for the main course we each had one of their specialties. I had the Fettuccine Alfredo with chicken and Jay had the Osso Bucco. Both were delicious! 

And the wine. Ahhhh the wine. It deserves it's own paragraph. We splurged on a bottle of Bolla Amarone and I was in heaven. It was absolutely delicious. Yummy. Just thinking of it is making me salivate. 

                                                

It made Jay feel sexy...

                                                

And why do I love my husband so much? Because he isn't afraid to splurge on the finer things in life and he makes me laugh. A lot. 

For dessert Jay had the Creme Brulee (of course) and I had attempted eating a slice of cheesecake. We shared two different glasses of port wine and some coffee before calling it a night. Our fabulous waiter gave us a tour of the restaurant (I was ready for a mobster to walk out of the shadows at any minute) and then handed us a check along with a shot each (including himself!) of Sambucca. What a night!

Thanks hun for a wonderful birthday!!!

Weekend Update: 2 Weekends Ago...(part 1)

Two weekends ago, my husband came home!! It had been a long, LONG time, so it was so nice to see the countdown on my phone get closer and closer to the big day :) Also interesting to note: Scottsdale had rain on 10/21?! 

Jay came home Friday afternoon & we enjoyed a nice little late night dinner at Crust. Saturday I had acupuncture & then Jay went to yoga with me! Of course, after watching some Nebraska football!

Sunday morning we got up, packed, and got on the road. It was a nice slightly overcast morning and the drive to Palm Springs just flew by. Ok, it really didn't. It sucked. It felt like it took forever. 

But we made it! We had gotten a great deal via TravelZoo (have you ever tried it? We got a great deal for our Montreal trip here too) at the Ace Hotel & Swim Club.

The hotel is an old-school motel that has been renovated into a funky retro hotel. We had a patio room that felt very "surfer" to me...

I loved that we had our own private patio to enjoy...

And can you tell that it's a party hotel? They had quite the stash available to us...

Once we checked in, we immediately got into our bathing suits to lay out by the pool. They have a pool party on Sundays with a DJ, so we laid out a bit and Jay got us come cocktails. The drink menu had some interesting items on it so Jay started us off with a drink called a Figa. It's made with house-infused fig vodka, earl grey tea & honey tangerine. Um. It was gross. So guess what? Jay drank both of them. 

Then, he ordered me a Caphirina (cachaca muddled with lime & kiwi) and I didn't like that one either. So...Jay drank it! I thought it was pretty funny: 

(I'm wearing a beautiful shirt that Jay brought home for me! I look super fat in it here, but it's real cute in real life!)

And THEN, I ordered a margarita (below) and was happy! Jay, on the other hand...was drunk :)

Lesson learned: Order the margarita. 

Weekend Update: Trouble x2

Jay was nice enough to book me a trip to Kansas City for Labor Day weekend. I was so excited to see Liam & Xander (and Todd & May too!) - we hadn't seen them since Thanksgiving!! 

Todd picked me up late Friday night so I woke up Saturday morning to the sounds of two 2.5 year olds requesting "Jay TV". It was so great - walking downstairs to some big hugs and "Aunt Amie!". Melted my heart! 

May had to work Saturday morning, so Todd & I took the boys to Costco & Toys R Us to get some errands done. In the afternoon after their nap, we took them to Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead. This place is amazing! It's huge and has tons of animals and several different play areas. This is the best picture I could get of Todd, Xander & Liam before we entered the park.

Xander peeking over the fence at the geese.

Liam was most interested in the play areas. Check out that static hair!!

When we got home I tried wrangling the boys together for a photo. This was the best I could get!! (notice a trend??)

Saturday night May was nice enough to let Todd & I head to the bar to catch some of the Nebraska game. It was the first of the season & we kicked butt! :) I'm so used to being with Jay to watch the games, but Todd - thanks for being the stand-in - I had a great time!

I had purchased some finger paints at Toys R Us Saturday morning & Sunday before bath was the perfect time to give them a go! It made me think of their first birthday when neither of them was very pleased to have cake on his hands. The paints had the same effect. That is...until Liam got pissed and smeared it all over (Go Liam!!!):

(don't you love how artistic Liam looks holding the paintbrush like that?)

...and until we gave Xander a paintbrush. 

Sunday after nap, Todd & I brought the boys to Wonderscope. What a cool place! It's an old school converted into a kids museum with all these different themed rooms for the kids to enjoy.

This room was called "Small Wonders" and was probably the boys' favorite. It had bridges, tunnels, stairs, and all sorts of things they could play on. 

Liam liked playing with the Legos in the underwater-themed lego room:

It was equipped with submarines made out of legos!

Xander liked to push all the buttons!

Everything inside was even made with Legos - even the coffee maker, fridge & microwave in the below picture!

Sunday night was girls night! I was excited to go out with May and her friend Wendy for their weekly escape :) We had dinner & drinks al fresco - the weather was just perfect! It was great getting to know Wendy & honestly, getting to know May even more as we have never gone out together alone before! Thanks May for inviting me out - I had a great time! 

Monday we just hung out around the house which was really nice. I once again attempted to get a good picture of me & the boys:

Xander wasn't too pleased, though it looks like Liam thinks it's funny!

Slowly wriggling out of my lap...

Checking to make sure the girls are still contained (they got set free on Saturday during our first photo shoot):

....and we're spent. Maybe next time :) 

Thanks Todd & May for having me! I had such a great visit & can't wait to get back over there!!

Weekend Update: Rocky Mountain High

Last weekend Jay and I went up to Colorado to see his family and get some fresh mountain air. We flew in early Friday morning and grabbed some breakfast before heading to Estes Park. It was a beautiful day and the drive was perfect for all of us to catch up. 

Me & my Mountain Man. You should have seen how long that beard got before he started his new job :)

Karen & Ed

It was 48 degrees up at the top of Rocky Mountain National Forest! It started raining just as we arrived at the top. The altitude was killing me, so we didn't stay up there too long before heading down into Estes.

We did see a few elk on the way down.

On the way up there was this beautiful view that we decided we'd stop at on the way down (it wasn't raining at the time). Well, of course on the way down I insisted we get out & get the picture! Jay wasn't too happy about getting wet, but it was so fun running out to the spot as it was thunder & lightening! We just giggled the whole time! A special thanks to Ed for being such a trooper & taking the picture for us!!

There is a Huskers store in Estes, so I had to get a shot with Herbie. Go Big Red!

Friday night we arrived home, freshened up & then braved the torrential downpour to go out for a nice dinner at Union Bistro. The kahlua chocolate bread pudding was pretty delicious!! 

Saturday morning Jay and I went into town to the Farmer's Market with Craig, Mary & Erin who was visiting from NYC. We walked around the shops and just enjoyed some more nice weather. The rest of the day we just hung out at the house and relaxed. Shawn came down from Denver just in time for some beers on the porch!

Mary, Craig & Karen

Erin & Ed

Someday we'll get out to visit you Erin!

Jay and his BFF. We love it that we get to see Shawn every time we go up there!

We had an amazing steak dinner (I still need to get Mary's recipe for those potatoes - they were such a hit!) with everyone and just an overall great time.

Sunday we got up & went for a nice little hike right near the house. We had beautiful views of the Rocky Mountains and got to see some amazing houses from up there as well!

We went to the outlet mall to look for butter bells (they were $40 at the Rocky Mountain National Park gift shop - $12 at the outlets) and then did some grocery shopping in the afternoon. Ed made Alton Brown's ribs for dinner and Karen made her famous Blueberry Pie! Both were so delicious and the perfect way to end such a great weekend. 

I am so glad to be a part of such a great family! Love you!!