Whirlwind weekend

I had a whirlwind weekend for sure!

In anticipation of everything happening this past weekend, I took Sat off work.  Sat morning Spouse & I met Steven for breakfast, then went to the grocery store to buy the ingredients for the food we'll serve at our tree trimming party.  Once we'd put away the food, I finished decorating the inside of the house.  I'd started the decorating last weekend but finished it on Sat. 

As Spouse began making the party food, I went on a Christmas home tour.  There were 9 local homes on the tour, including a couple homes I'd toured when they were for sale.  The tour was very well attended and several of the homes were quite lovely, all decked out in their Christmas regalia.

After the tour I helped Spouse clean up the kitchen a bit, and then we met Steven for dinner.  (Thad was out of town.)  After dinner I performed as Elton John in the Blue Moon's holiday Legends show.

Whew!

Sun morning we met Steven & Thad for breakfast, then returned home where Spouse began warming the food he'd made the day before and I began setting the tables and getting the platters, bowls, and serving pieces out. Shortly before our friends began to arrive we plated the food and put the drinks out on the beverage table.  

Thanks to Spouse's cooking the day before and my planning an organization, we got everything set up with a little time to spare (let's take a selfie!) and with no yelling.  I consider this a definite "win".

Our friends arrived and we had drinks and conversation for a little while, then had dinner.  Spouse made meatballs in Italian gravy (tomato sauce), Italian sausage with peppers and onions, rolls, and a roasted vegetable pasta salad.

Then we migrated to the living room and began trimming the Christmas tree.  

Occasionally folks paused from the decorating to enjoy some sweets (brownies, chocolate chip cookies, anis pizzelles, and chocolate covered pretzels).

The tree went from this:

to this:

Yes, the tree isn't straight, and neither are we.  :-)

Everyone kept joking that we surely HAD to be nearing the end of the ornaments as the tree became colorful, but I assured them there were plenty MORE ornaments to fill in.  "I like just a little bit of green to show through" I told them.

I really love this tradition of having friends help decorate the tree.  Its a fun way to get together during the holiday season and it makes the tree look different every year.

Palm Springs: day 6

On Thurs we had breakfast at home, then we went downtown to look at some of the vintage shops. I fell in love with this fabulous lamp that was in pristine condition!

 Then we ducked into a non-vintage store called Just Fabulous where I saw this hilarious coaster.

I also bought a cute Christmas tree ornament here.

Palm Springs has its own stars' walk of fame so I couldn't resist snapping photos of some of my favorite 70s celebrities' stars.

The original Wonder Woman

The Bionic Woman

I've always loved Lily

Then on our way to our 1st home tour in The Movie Colony neighborhood we saw this beautiful 1960 Thunderbird convertible.

 

Then it was time for our 1st home tour.  This home had recently undergone a full remodel and addition, and was professionally decorated by a Palm Springs designer.  During our last visit we'd toured another home that had been recently remodeled and professionally decorated which I ABSOLUTELY ADORED, so my expectations were quite high for this one.  Unfortunately I was very disappointed.  While the home's layout was terrific and the finishes were high-end, the subdued color pallet seemed more Phoenix than Palm Springs.  While the structure was mid-century modern, the decor certainly wasn't.

The front exterior was attractive

There were a pair of these unique chairs I liked in the master bedroom

I like the black and white background tile but thought the side wall and floor tiles made it all a bit too busy.

The tropical print grass cloth wall paper in the master bedroom looked too "Golden Girls"

Guest bedroom

Living room

 Where are the bright mid-century colors??

Living room

The rust colored back splash tile was a big miss in my opinion

The thing I liked the most about this home was the back yard pool area and view.

After the home tour we had lunch at Elmer's.  Our lunches were as good as our breakfasts, except for Carl.  He had breakfast food both times!  Then it was back to the house for pool and spa time.  After showers and cocktails at home, we went to the downtown Village Fest.  Several blocks of Palm Canyon Dr are blocked off and tables/booths are set up for artists and food vendors to display their wares. It lasts for 4 hours and was very well-attended, despite it being a weekly event. We ran into our new friends we'd met a few nights earlier at Streetbar's karaoke night.

We loved these clocks that featured mid-century modern chairs!

We remembered seeing this guy during our last visit to the Village Fest in Feb.  He is Asian and sings to karaoke tracks of American standards like Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and Tony Bennett.

I created an entire back story for him.  He's an aspiring wedding and party singer who performs for free at the Village Fest to gain exposure, hoping to book paying gigs.  I named him Bobby Tran.

Once we'd made the entire loop at Village Fest we walked over to Blackbook for a cocktail or two and a gnosh. While its primarily a bar, we'd seen people eating food there that looked really good so we decided to give it a try.  Our food was really good, especially when you think of bar food.  The vibe was right and we lingered there over drinks until it was time to say goodnight.