where to – the desert
california dez edition: palm springs, joshua tree + borrego springs
i’m all about california’s deserts. each town’s so entirely different from each other – palm springs is a bit more posh with its iconic mid-mod architecture and pops of color, joshua tree feels like its weird cousin, in the best way possible (i mean, just looking at an actual joshua tree for too long makes you feel like you’re on something). while borrego springs is for wholesome tennis and serene star gazing…
where to – palm springs:
stay at the ace hotel & swim club or a kindred / airbnb with a pool. utilize the hotel’s bikes to get an obligatory date shake (they taste better here — just trust) at palm greens cafe or nature’s health food & cafe. get your steps in with a lowkey hike at lykken trail before a healthy-ish lunch at chef tanya’s kitchen. treat yourself to an afternoon glass of natural wine at las palmas brewing prior to dinner at rooster and the pig. martini bang bang at bar cecil + mr. lyons! take in the scene with a night cap + photo booth opp at amigo room at the ace before tucking yourself in to zzz and rest easy knowing you’ll wake up to solid coffee + breakfast in the attached diner king’s highway before you roll on over to the pool.
where to – joshua tree, yucca valley, 29 palms:
stay at the dreamy hotel wren 29 palms or a kindred / airbnb. get your caffeine fix at joshua tree coffee co and lunch at la copine in flamingo heights. hike at jt national park, pioneertown mountain preserve, or 49 palms oasis then stop for snacks + bottles for later at desierto alto. dinner + drinks at the copper room, before/after visiting one of jt’s many fine watering holes: pappy & harriets (catch a show), the red dog saloon (margs + djs spinning vinyl), the tiny pony (happy hour, fries + photobooth), giant rock meeting room (solid vegan pizza), kitchen in the desert (huge patio). hopefully you’re waking up in jt on a saturday for the jt farmers market with brunch at jt country kitchen (order the stir fry noodles)! then head to mas o menos for coffee and/or a glass of something stronger.
where to – borrego springs:
if you’re into tennis, you absolutely must spend a night at the courts. borrego springs is not a huge food town tbh, so byo wine + food to grill at the courts. but if you really want to explore the town, hit up carmelita’s for lunch and carlee’s for dinner / drinks (+ pool table). in case you couldn’t secure a res for one of the two airstreams at the courts, there’s day passes so that you can hang poolside or at the clubhouse when you’re not hitting with coach jaroslav. at night you can properly star gaze without all that la light-smog. if you wake up craving more nature, try the slot hike before driving back to the real world.
our bb kitchen doesn’t have much room for storage so i have to be extra selective and these are my tried and true go-tos:
graza olive oil (as mentioned once or twice) drizzled on everything, rotating coffee beans (joe’s half caff medium roast at the moment), s&p in my audo grinders, bragg nutritional yeast (dump on my eggs), rotating tinned fish (my friend rachel brought me these portuguese tins back from big night), woon sea moss (touch of savory), rotating nut butter + jam (koeze pb + amish strawberry rhubarb jam with no added sugar) for all my pbjs, a baggie of castelvetrano olives c/o bucatini, plus a huge bowl of japanese + purple sweet potatoes ready to bake <3
now playing:
it is what it is by blood orange
borrowing this record and almost forgot how obsessed i was while living in ny