Happy birthday!!

Saturday was Spouse's birthday!  And Walter's birthday!

This year I planned a very social weekend away for Spouse's birthday but kept all the details a secret.  I told him to simply pack casual clothes and don't try to figure everything out.

So Sat morning we drove to the DC area where we used to live and arrived just in time for lunch at the Taco House with our friends Jeff, Shaun, Brandon and David.  Spouse was happily surprised to see them, and of course equally happy to eat at our longtime favorite Mexican restaurant.  I'd emailed in advance to be sure the owners (who are also friends) Juan & Gloria would be there, so we had a nice reunion with them too.  Unfortunately I took no photos.

Next we drove over to have a short visit with our good friends Bugsy & Roger.  It had been about a year since we'd seen them at our house so we enjoyed a nice, relaxing visit at their home.  Again I took no photos.

Then we drove several miles south to the area where I grew up, but that has changed quite a bit.  Spouse knows that our friend Carl lives there so he guessed we were either going to Carl's house or meeting him somewhere for dinner.  But instead, we arrived at a hotel and checked in.  After a few minutes of relaxing and changing our clothes, we went to a hip bar/restaurant nearby.  Waiting for us to arrive was Carl, Kerry & Hugh, Kelly, Kim, Justine & Liz, Harriet & Bob, Ana & Jose, Javier, and Emily & Brandon!  This time I managed to take a few photos but they're pretty bad.  

L-R: Kelly, Javier, Harriet, Bob, Jose, Ana, Hugh, Kerry

L-R:  Carl, Kim

L-R: Kerry, Justine, Liz, me

The birthday boy

I didn't give people time to look at the camera or smile, I just snapped away.  As you can see from the table, alcohol was involved which likely contributed to the (non-)quality of the photos, but at least its better than no photos.

About 3 hours later everyone left except Kerry & Hugh and Carl, so the servers moved us to a smaller table where we ordered a couple desserts to share and continued visiting.  We had a lovely, lovely birthday dinner, as well as a fun day overall.  We got back to the hotel and crashed.

The next morning we showered, checked out, and headed back north to Spouse's sister's house.  Waiting for us there was his sister, her husband, her 2 sons, and Spouse's brother and his wife.  'The family' had a yummy brunch and visited for a couple hours before heading home to DE.

Spouse complimented me on the terrific birthday weekend and said it was probably his favorite ever.

Sharing Spouse's birthday, although completely overlooked this year, is Walter who turned 5 years old.  We adopted him in Sept but were told he was born on July 20, the same day as Spouse.  That is why Walter's middle name is the same as Spouse's first name.

Weekend recap

This past weekend our dear friends Kerry & Hugh and Kelly & Jeff came for a visit.

Its been their custom for many years to participate in the Polar Bear Plunge the 1st weekend in Feb.  Notice I said "their" custom.  They would plunge into the frigid cold ocean while Spouse held their dog Chopper and I filmed them.

But about 3 years ago they decided they were tired of doing that, but still wanted to come for a visit.  Since Spouse & I have been away the last 3 years during that first weekend in Feb, we've picked a mutually convenient winter weekend for our dear friends to visit.  This year it was this past weekend.

They arrived on Sat right at lunchtime so we wasted little time deciding where to go for lunch.  Actually, we went to the same place we often go for lunch with them, our local diner.  Afterward we hung out at the house and talked and laughed and caught up on all kinds of goings on.  Before we knew it it was time for dinner so we took them to our newest favorite place Iron Hill Brewery.  The vibe is lively and the food is fresh and delicious.

Our gang

Afterward we talked until each of us began to fade so we went to bed.

Sun morning we enjoyed coffee and bagels for breakfast followed by more relaxing, talking, and laughing.  We were going to go for a walk around town but the sky looked a bit too threatening so we turned the walk into a driving tour.  They got to see and hear a portion of what I do as a realtor.  Then we went to Crooked Hammock for lunch before they packed up and headed home.

Kelly & Jeff

We had a terrific visit!  They are such dear friends and we always have so much fun together.

Palm Springs: day 7

On Fri we had breakfast at home, then headed to our 2nd home tour:  Twin Palms, the Palm Springs home of Frank Sinatra. The docent said the architect was new at the time Sinatra contracted him to design his home.  Sinatra wanted a colonial style home but the architect was afraid designing one in Palms Springs would effectively end his career, so he persuaded Sinatra to accept a completely different design with custom touches which blends beautifully into the community.

Twin Palms got its name from these 2 tall palm trees in the back yard

The docent also said that this home is not a 'time capsule'.  The current furniture and decor in the home did not belong to Sinatra. Apparently the home was empty and in disrepair at some point, and the buyer of the home was unaware it once belonged to Sinatra.

Master bedroom

The guest bathroom is completely clad in smokey mirrors.  My guess is that this wall treatment was applied in the 70s.

Below the modern flat screen TV is the original stereo sound equipment believed to have been used by Sinatra. Bi-fold doors close to hid the equipment when entertaining.

This is the living room.  Behind the 2 arm chairs and side table is a fireplace, obviously not used with this furniture arrangement.

Guest bedroom with cone shaped fireplace and flame style sconces.

I love the lighting on both sides of the mirror

Another guest bedroom with a unique fireplace

I'm in love with this breakfast room chandelier which resembles a collection of tom-tom drums!

I love all the textures in the dining area with the wood ceiling, stack stone wall, terrazzo floor and sculptural light fixture.

The 3 of us agreed the home wasn't as large or glamorous as we'd expected, but its design was very cool, especially for 1947.  One of the custom touches the architect added for Sinatra is the openings in the breezeway roof.  This was done so that the shadows would create a piano keyboard effect.

While its not as apparent in this photo due the angle from which I took it, the pool is in the shape of a grand piano.

 The front of the home featured a circular driveway.

Following the Twin Palms tour we headed over to McCormick Classic Car to view some of the cars they'll be auctioning soon.  Sorry that many of these photos are partial car shots.  Because the cars were not parked to be photographed it was difficult to get shots of the entire car in many cases.  Hopefully you'll these anyway, as we did.

Love the color of this mid-50s Chevy

Thunderbird

Rolls Royce

Thurnderbird

Rambler wagon

AMC woody wagon

Ranchero

Rolls Royce

Continental

Buick

Corvette

Camaro SS convertible

Next we went for a little road trip to explore the towns just outside Palm Springs.  We took hwy 111 which goes in a south easterly direction and drove through Cathedral City (which Spouse accidentally called Cathedral Ceiling!), Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, and La Quinta.  On the way back we stopped at Del Taco for a quick lunch before heading back to the house for pool and spa time.

After getting ourselves cleaned up we went to Wangs for 'Boys Night Out' happy hour but we didn't stay too long because the music was too loud.  So then we moved onto Hunters for another drink, then walked over to Ruby's Diner for dinner. Then we walked over to Chill Bar to see what was going on there. Back at the house we sat out by the pool for a little while before going to bed.

Palm Springs: day 5

On Wed we had breakfast at home again, then went downtown to the Michael Weems Gallery.  We were introduced to Michael Weems' art on our last visit by our friend Peter who knows Michael personally.  Unfortunately Michael wasn't in the gallery when we stopped in, but his assistant told us how Michael's newer work is moving away from the AutoErotica theme and going in a less racy but still fun direction. While I liked the AutoErotica stuff, I found his new stuff to have a wider appeal.

I love the color and contrast in this piece

Same with this one

These are 2 car parts onto which photography has been transferred.  Very cool!

This piece makes me smile

This piece is very Palm Springs

These coasters are a scream!

These would make a great gift for the person who has everything. Order online at the website.

This one had me laughing out loud in the gallery!

I almost bought one of these trays with the mid-century homes but I was afraid of transporting it home, so I'll order one on the website.

Next we drove over the mountains to Joshua Tree National Park.  I didn't know that much about it before we went so I had no real expectations.  One thing I knew for sure is that we were NOT going hiking!  So we stopped at the visitors' center and got a map that showed a great driving route threw part of the park.

I was really struck by how peaceful it felt there.  No homes, no buildings, no power lines, just the sun and the breeze.  It was 25 degrees cooler there (60 degrees) which was a surprise, since the 3 of us were in shorts and flip flops.

I found this sign to be comical.

Spouse & Carl at Keys View overlooking the Coachella Valley

From Keys View

From Keys View

You can literally see for miles

The Keys View observation area

 On our way back from Joshua Tree we passed a Jack in the Box and Carl's enthusiasm was wildly apparent.  For those unfamiliar, Jack in the Box is a burger chain (that also sells tacos) that used to exist where we grew up, but has been long gone, kind of like Shakey's.  So we stopped for a late lunch at Jack in the Box which delighted Carl.

The balance of the afternoon was spent at the house by the pool and spa.

Carl relaxing near the pool

That evening we took Carl to dinner at Lulu.  We enjoyed our meal there so much during our previous visit that we made it a priority to bring Carl here.  We had a very talkative waiter who was very nice but sort of held us captive when Carl needed to sneak out for a cigarette!  It was a great meal.

Carl at Lulu

Afterward we hung out for a while at Hunters and Streetbar before calling it a night.