Just because

What happened on Sunday

So yesterday was the end of daylight savings time so we turned our clocks back an hour.  Of course my body woke up at the normal time so I struggled to go back to sleep a few more times before finally getting up to go to the bathroom.

Later we met up with Steven & Thad for breakfast at the Crystal. 

Although I was scheduled off, I had agreed to meet a new client and show her 3 homes close to where we live.  Spouse picked up some items at the store while I was showing the homes.

Then we met Steven & Thad at the movie theater to see Bohemian Rhapsody.  I've long said that the song Bohemian Rhapsody is a piece of musical genius, somehow weaving together music from several different genres and several different keys, and instead of sounding like a hot mess, it works.  Perfectly.  This film is about the band Queen, not just about this song.

I'd heard good things from several of my friends on Facebook who'd seen it on Fri or Sat so I figured it would be good.

It was fantastic!  Rami Malek did an amazing job portraying Freddie Mercury.  The mannerisms, the body language, the dancing on stage, it was all there.  I expect him to be nominated for an Academy Award for this performance.  I heard that Malek sang/recorded all the music for the film and then both his and Feddie's were mixed together to make the soundtrack.  Very clever.  The pacing was very good too, never getting hung up for too long on any particular scene.  I was shocked the film was over 2 hours long.

Do yourself a favor and see Bohemian Rhapsody!

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.

Beardy boy

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.

Just because