Blue Collar Red Lipstick

14
Jul
2017

Palm Springs: What I Bought

So, it turns out that I have a lot to say about Palm Springs; all of my recap posts have been lengthy, but hold on to your, erm, tablets and phones because this one is going to be extra epic. I have a lot of thoughts about shopping. Quelle surprise, non?

Thrifting

Let’s start with the obvious. Surely, you didn’t think I would not use this opportunity to check out a new thrift scene? As if. The first store we drove to (after stopping to get water & snacks) was Goodwill. Predictable is my middle name.

First, the good. The Palm Springs area has a ton of thrift stores (as well as consignment stores). A TON. Most of them are conveniently clustered around Highway 111 between Palm Springs proper and La Quinta. As far as I could see, the main “chains” are Goodwill, AngelEyes Thrift, and Revivals, but there is a healthy smattering of smaller thrifts as well. It would probably take 2-3 full days to check them all out, and my husband had other plans in mind, so in the end, I only went to 3 (one in Palm Desert, and two in La Quinta).

Now, the not-so-good. Prices at Goodwill are slightly higher than back home, especially when you account for the exchange rate. I was not blown away by the selection, though the AngelEyes store I checked out was slightly better than the 2 Goodwills. It would not be fair for me to generalize based on such a small sample, because a thrift scene can vary wildly based on location even within the same city or geographic location. Still, I was kinda disappointed. I did not see a lot of designer brands, even though there are a ton of high-end stores in the area, and the pieces that I did see were in pretty poor condition. It is entirely possible that I missed the “good” thrift spots in the Palm Springs area, which only more research would reveal. Next time!

Here’s a look at some of the pieces I spotted.

Cute print. Too small. Sad face.

This is an Anthro brand, but not my style. The condition was not great either.

I love this brand, but these flats were too small for me and rather worn.

Oh, Juicy Couture. Good times.

I’m glad the kids didn’t see this because they’d be insisting we take it home.

This is probably the weirdest thing I’ve seen at a thrift store. The Goodwill had a whole stash of these. Funnily enough, the “game” is made in Manitoba, Canada. Very strange.

I recently saw this same top at my local consignment store for $18. Here, it was something like $4, but the condition was pretty terrible (stains, etc.).

This would have been a good find, but it’s not my personal style.

I did end up buying one thing: a white button-down shirt from Uniqlo. It was in pristine condition (looked unworn) and it’s one of those “closet basics” every fashion magazine always talks about (which I don’t currently own), so I figured it was worth US$7. I also bought a 100% cashmere John W. Nordstrom sweater for my husband.

Palm Springs Night Market

Everyone told us to check out the night market, which takes place in Palm Springs every Thursday, so we did. As June is the off-season, the market was smaller than usual, but it was still a fun experience. The stalls were pretty typical of farmers’ markets and the like — street food, handmade soaps, artefacts, jewelry, etc. I didn’t buy anything, but I didn’t really mind; it was a gorgeous night for strolling and taking in the sights. We did try some custard ice cream, which — SPOILER alert — tastes just like regular soft serve.

Grocery Stores

This may seem like a weird category for my American peeps, but trust me — it was one of the best parts of our trip. See, you lucky guys get all sorts of foods that we don’t. Different flavours of chips, candy, soda, you name it. I tried La Croix for the first time (meh) and Trader Joe’s large offering of healthy-ish snacks (love). We also hit up Whole Foods and Walmart, where I bought a package of jelly donut-flavoured Oreos for my bestie. One of her hobbies is collecting (and sampling) Oreos from different parts of the world. My travels don’t take me as far afield as hers do, but I’m pretty proud of this offering. Also, my husband bought this t-shirt at Walmart for $5, and I have only one word for it: amazing.

Overall, my impression was that, while the selection was different (better) than at home, prices were comparable — and, in fact, higher after factoring in the exchange rate. It’s probably not fair to compare, say, Superstore and Trader Joe prices, but the same trend was evident at Walmart as well. This surprised both of us because we were expecting things to be cheaper in the US, as traditional lore would have it. It was the reason I didn’t binge buy any drugstore make-up, which made me really sad. I was really looking forward to stocking up on cheapie lip balms.

Premium Designer Outlets

If there is one thing I would change about our trip, it would be the decision to go to the designer outlets north of Palm Springs. I would have enjoyed that 4 hours better by the pool, to be honest. Now, don’t get me wrong; the outlets offer a veritable cornucopia of designer labels, some of which I was super excited to see (Mulberry, AllSaints, Vince, Theory, Nordstrom Rack, etc., etc.). The problem was, again, the prices. There were simply no great bargains to be had for those of us shopping with Canadian dollars and used to the Edmonton thrift scene (ahem, yours truly). I saw a ton of gorgeous pieces, but the prices were in the hundreds of dollars for brands I can regularly find back home for far, far less.

For things I can’t find as easily here, like designer bags and shoes, I didn’t have much better luck. None of the designer shoes I liked at discount outlets were my size, and I did not like the quality of the bags at stores like Mulberry. They felt cheap compared to the bags I have at home.

I did end up buying one thing at the Saks Off Fifth store — this MPC dress:

The brand is not familiar to me, but I liked the unusual design which looks a lot more elegant and less athleisure in person.

TJ Maxx & Marshalls

I also checked out a few TJ Maxx and Marshalls stores in the area (there are a handful scattered around). I didn’t spot any big-name designer stuff; the selection was similar to that at an average Winners back in Edmonton. I did end up buying a few gifts for family there. As with grocery stores, prices were comparable (in absolute dollars) to home, which meant that there were no phenomenal bargains to be had.

El Paseo

I had no intention of hitting up the “fancy” shopping strip in Palm Springs, but I ended up stumbling upon it by accident. Apart from thrifting, the only shopping goal I had in mind when I left home was finding some discounted Alexis Bittar pieces. My local Holt’s has stopped carrying their pieces, and I am not aware of any other local stores that carry the brand. I adore Alexis Bittar, and this makes me sad. I wanted to treat myself to some goodies but … no dice. I wasn’t able to find any at the outlet mall, or the Nordstrom Rack off Highway 111, or any of the TJ Maxx, Marshalls, etc. As a last resort, I decided to check out Saks Fifth Avenue, which happens to be located along El Paseo.

My plan was to be strategic and go in for the “kill”, so to speak, but I ended up getting distracted by the Anthropologie store located right next to Saks, and then running out of time because it was Saturday afternoon and the stores closed early. Sad face. So, no Alexis Bittar for me, but I did pick up a couple of things at Anthro:

And that is all of my Palm Springs shopping. I do love the pieces I ended up buying, but they did not add up to a memorable shopping extravaganza or anything. I remember the first time I went shopping across the border, some 10 years ago or so, and there is no comparison between the two experiences. A decade ago, there were tons of stores that had not yet opened their doors north of the border, and prices in the States were very attractive. Shopping at the Nordstrom Rack in Seattle back in 2008? Be still, my heart. Nowadays, there are very few brands that are inaccessible to Canadians, so some of the thrill is gone. We have so many discount shopping options, including thrift stores, that match US prices or even beat them. My main takeaway was a newfound appreciation for my hometown shopping scene; we have it pretty good here. Anyone want to come visit?

13
Jul
2017

Palm Springs: What I Wore

categories: style, Travel

I have been getting better and better every year about not over-packing for my travels, be they for work or pleasure. That trend continued with this trip. I wore all of the pieces that I packed, and had only a couple of regrets which I’ll share in a moment. The nice thing about Palm Springs, and what made choosing a travel capsule a cinch, is the weather; in June, you know exactly what you’re going to get every day: hot, hot weather. I took one jacket, one pair of jeans, and one light sweater with me for the flight, because I get cold easily on airplanes; the rest of the “capsule” was otherwise made up of the most summery clothes I could muster. Light layers pack easily, so I left home with a half-empty suitcase (which included some of my husband’s stuff as well). Were it not for my toiletries (and space for potential vacation shopping), I could have done this 4-day vacation out of a carry on.

Let’s have a look at my vacation OOTDs.

Jacket, Club Monaco (thrifted); tank, Joie (thrifted); jeans, Frame (via consignment); shoes, AGL (via consignment); bag, no name (consignment)

This was my plane outfit #1. White jeans on a plane? You may well wonder; my husband did. But here’s the thing; I was traveling without kids, which is half the battle. Also, I really wanted to wear my new Frame skinnies, and they go well with this Joie tank which is light and airy and perfect for hot weather. I figured that white would be better than regular denim or black jeans once I landed in the desert. I layered a black sweater over the top on the plane, because I don’t mess around.

I brought along these AGL loafers because my feet also get cold on the plane; I didn’t expect to wear them during my vacation, and I was right, but they were a good choice for the flight.

Rather than pack a regular purse plus a carry-on, I used this funky carpet bag-like holdall. It’s bigger than a tote, and smaller than my usual carry-on suitcase. It fits a ton of stuff in there; the downside is that it can easily turn into a “black hole” which is not great when you’re fishing for your passport. I don’t know what brand it is because it doesn’t have a visible logo, and I bought it from my fave consignment store. It was something like $35 and it looks like it’s going to hold up really well. Definitely a keeper.

Dress, Joie (via consignment); hat, Aritzia; shoes, J. Crew Factory

I wore this outfit on our first evening in Palm Springs, for dinner and a trip to the Night Market. Of all the dresses I packed, this one was best suited to the climate. It’s the most lightweight silk, which is perfect when the temperature is 100 degrees Fahrenheit at 10PM. The sandals are my trusty pair I take on every “hot” vacation; they are indestructible and super comfortable. I wore them every single day.

Top, Mango (thrifted); shorts, Winners; necklace, Stella & Dot (thrifted); hat, Aritzia

This was my “day” outfit for Day #2, when we hit the Joshua Tree National Park. Not a great outfit for hiking or outdoor adventures, but I knew that we would be doing most of our sightseeing from the car so I just wanted to be comfortable and as cool as possible. And by “cool”, I mean “not hot” of course. I’m not sure that acid washed denim cut-offs are cool by any other definition. They were actually a last minute addition to my suitcase (as an alternative to wearing the white jeans from the plane), but I’m glad they came with me. Palm Springs is too hot for pants. Hashtag: kidding not kidding.

Dress, Moschino; shoes, J. Crew (thrifted)

I wore this on the evening of Day #2, when we went for a stroll in Old Town La Quinta. The dress is one of my faves, and its vibe suited the location, but it was a wrong pick for sure. The dress itself is silk, but the lining is polyester. Black polyester. I might as well have been wearing a garbage bag for all of the sweating that I did. No bueno. The sandals were also a mistake. One, they are too high to be comfortable for extended walking. Two, they were too dressy.

Palm Springs is hella casual. I had never been to California before, so this was something of a revelation to me. Like, it makes sense because of the climate, but still — so, so casual. I stood out a mile away in this outfit. And that is even *after* I took off all of my accessories. That’s the other thing I learned: no need to bring accessories like necklaces, etc. Didn’t end up wearing most of the ones I brought, because no one else was wearing any.

Dress, Numph (via consignment); hat, Aritzia; shoes, J. Crew Factory

Day #3 outfit. I wore this when we went to see the Salton Sea, and it was perfect for a long car ride.

Dress, Vanessa Virginia (thrifted); shoes, J. Crew Factory; bag, Coach (thrifted)

Day #3 evening outfit. Yes, this dress has sleeves, but it’s made from cotton, so it was OK for the weather. Being a loose fit, it’s pretty airy. Let’s close in on the bag for a moment because …

close-up on my bag charm (anthropologie)

… how cute is that key chain/bag charm thingie? I bought it at the Anthropologie store on El Paseo (the fancy shopping strip in the Palm Springs area) and had to immediately attach it to my trusty Coach bag (the only bag I brought with me). I’m not a huge fan of bag charms but I couldn’t resist this one.

Top, Theory (via consignment); jeans, Frame (via consignment); shoes, AGL (via consignment); necklace, consignment; bag, consignment; hat, Aritzia

Last we have my second plane outfit. Again, I wore a black sweater over the top during the flight itself and after landing at home. The weather in Edmonton was nice, but +26 feels a little on the chilly side after +45. It’s all relative, you know? I added the necklace only because I had brought it with me all that way and had not worn it yet. The Palm Springs airport was pretty deserted so my accessorizing did not draw any attention, hah.

Now, you might say that this isn’t much of a “capsule” since I more or less wore something different every day, twice a day. But there was reason behind the madness. One, I used the same shoes and bag throughout the trip, which cuts down on packing substantially. As I mentioned, I wish I hadn’t bothered with the high heeled sandals; I could have done the whole trip with 2 pairs of shoes, and even that’s only because I needed closed-toe flats for the flight (damn my poor peripheral blood circulation!). Two, I packed a LOT of one-piece outfits, AKA dresses. Summer dresses take up practically no space, so packing 5 of them was no big deal. It also meant that I could wear something fresh every day and not worry about sweat and laundering. [There was one extra dress I wore on Day #2 when we drove out to the outlet malls, but I didn’t take a photo of it.]

Things I packed that are not pictured above: 2 bikinis, one cover-up (which I didn’t really need because the pools were a 2 minute walk from our room), PJs, and various unmentionables.

Come back tomorrow for my final post on Palm Springs, in which I’ll be tackling where I shopped and what I bought.

12
Jul
2017

Palm Springs: What I Saw & Did

categories: Travel

Palm Springs - Highway 111 — Palm Springs – Highway 111

First Impressions

It’s hot. “Hot” has a slightly different meaning at home, where it’s typically capped off at around 35 degrees Celsius. In Palm Springs, we got down to 35 sometime after 10PM … maybe. Since it was a dry heat, I didn’t mind it too much. The evenings and mornings, in particular, were lovely because I was never cold. I hate sunny mornings that give you the chills as soon as you step foot outside. Not a problem in Palm Springs, no matter how much of an early riser one might be. On the other hand, we never spent more than half an hour or so outside at any given time, pool-time excepted. Air conditioning is a wonderful thing.

It’s also arid. I had never been to a desert before, so I found the terrain really fascinating. Edmonton is a very green city in the summer (and our Rockies are also heavily forested), so it was strange to see so much bare rock everywhere. The landscape made me feel like I was in a different world, which is actually a nice thing on vacation in my books.

As we did our exploring, I came to appreciate the differences in the landscape to the north and south of Palm Springs. I saw so many cool things just driving the highways to and fro our various destinations — vineyards, palm tree farms (is that a thing? I’m not sure what they are cultivating them for), tomato fields, humungous cacti, and of course … wind farms.

I am not exaggerating when I say that I was obsessed with these wind farms. I actually squealed the first time I saw them, and I took a bazillion photos and videos as we drove past them (three times!). They make the landscape extra surreal, and I love them.

Resort

We stayed at La Quinta Resort & Spa in La Quinta, which is south of Palm Springs and just north of Indio in the Coachella Valley. More on the location in a moment. The resort itself has beautiful grounds, designed around a Spanish-influenced aesthetic. The rooms are clustered in foursomes, and are of the “casita” variety, which I like because it’s easy to get in and out and they feel more like a real house than a hotel room.

The décor was cute but a bit tired, and the bathrooms were teeny-tiny for a 4 star resort. These are things I would normally have overlooked and not even mentioned, because the rooms were clean and the bed satisfied my personal preferences (firm-ish mattress, non-poufy pillow) and those are things I value more. However, there were other issues with the resort that were rather aggravating. First, it boasts over 40 pools, but they are all small. This was not a problem when we first arrived because it was off-season and the resort was pretty empty. However, that weekend happened to be the 4th of July long weekend, so by the second day, the resort filled right up. Each of the three nearest pools by our room became insanely over-crowded, even late in the evening. There was basically no room to do anything in them except to stand awkwardly next to a stranger.

Since we did quite a bit of sight-seeing, and only spent the early mornings and late afternoons at the resort, even the swimming pool issue might not have been a deal-breaker; at 8AM, the pool was empty and the weather perfectly lovely for a swim, which was good enough for me. My biggest problem was the parking situation. Once the resort filled up, there was absolutely no place to park anywhere close to our room. I was told by staff that some guests brought 2 or 3 cars with them, and that the resort did not have a policy of reserving one stall per room. So, for 2 days, we had to park a good distance from our room, and hike back and forth every time we had to go anywhere which was, in my opinion, unacceptable. The fact that valet parking was being offered was no consolation; we didn’t want to deal with the hassle with trudging to the valet area every time we needed our car, which was even further away. And it was even more irritating that the concierge with whom we spoke was all like, “LOL, y u mad?”

Now, to be honest, I was ready to leave a scathing review for the resort as soon as I got back. I even rage-tweeted and everything. But then an issue arose on our last day, and the hotel staff went above and beyond to fix it for us, and that made me reconsider. So I will end with this: I am not sure I would recommend staying at this resort during the winter season when it’s likely to be packed, unless you keep in mind my caveats about amenities like the pools and parking and don’t mind. However, it is a beautiful place and the staff (with the exception of that one concierge) are absolutely lovely so I am also not not-recommending it.

La Quinta

I booked our resort based on the photos (and the price) rather than its location; I had never been to Palm Springs before, so I had no idea about what would be the best place to stay, geographically speaking. “Palm Springs” is actually made up of a number of small communities, including Palm Springs (proper), Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Indian Wells, and La Quinta. Of the lot, La Quinta is the furthest away from the airport, but if you’re renting a car (greatly recommended unless you’re planning to stay put on the resort the whole time), that’s not an issue. Getting around from one community to the other was super easy thanks to Highway 111. A lot of good restaurants and shopping are clustered around Highway 111, so driving back and forth made for good reconnoitering.

I liked staying in La Quinta, which allowed us to explore the Old Town. Again, it has a strong Spanish influence to its architecture. Sadly, I didn’t take very many photos, but you can get a flavour from the one above. I was obsessed with all of the fountains! The Old Town was fairly quiet when we visited (during the day and at night) because June is off-season. But there are a few boutiques, and some good restaurants to explore there if you are so inclined. There wasn’t much nightlife to speak of, at least in the Old Town. Everything seem to shut down by 10PM. Since we are old people, this did not make a big difference to us, but it’s something to keep in mind if you like more “action”.

Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree -- south entrance — Joshua Tree — south entrance

Joshua Tree National Park was at the top of our “must see” list for this vacation. It did not disappoint! We traversed the entire park (from the Yucca Valley side to the Cottonwood side), but only explored Hidden Valley on foot. The heat was too much for us, hiking-wise. I loved it, and took a bazillion of photos. You’re lucky you’re only getting 4.

This experience made me seriously consider starting a quest to see all of the major US national parks. Since I have yet to see all of the Canadian ones, it’s probably too ambitious a plan, but a girl can dream.

The Salton Sea

My husband has been low-key obsessed with the Salton Sea for a while now, so I told him that of course we had to go see it because, even though it meant a ton more driving for him, we had to seize our opportunity. Who knows if and when we will be this close to it again? I’m really glad we went because I enjoyed seeing it as well. It has a bizarre and fascinating history, and the landscape is otherworldly. The Salton Sea is the largest man-made lake in the US. It came to be largely as the result of an engineering error, gained notoriety in the 50s and 60s as a playground of the rich and famous, and has since become an ecological disaster. I highly recommend watching the Plagues & Pleasures of the Salton Sea on YouTube; it’s a good primer on everything you need to know about this place.

The beach area is periodically the gravesite for massive fish die-offs; some of the carcasses were on display when we went there (and I think the “sand” itself contains more than a bit of ground-up fish skeletons), but we did not experience the overwhelming stench that people warned us about. I found it less smelly than, say, the ocean in Vancouver. It is preternaturally quiet, however. There were hardly any tourists at the visitors centre on the North Shore, and we saw only 2 locals in the entire time we spent driving through the ghosts towns on both sides of the lake.

west coast - Salton Sea Beach — west coast – Salton Sea Beach

We took a wrong turn on the highway outside of Indio, and ended up on the western shore of the Salton Sea, as opposed to the eastern one we had intended to visit. (The signage in California is terrible, people. Here, we don’t have half of the tourist attractions, and there are signs for everything every damn kilometer. My husband didn’t want to pay for GPS on our rental car, which made for some really fun times. Not.) This meant that we got to see Salton Sea Beach, a small community that has a really cool welcome sign and not a whole else going for it. It is not literally a ghost town, because people still live here, but it looks like one. And a rundown, shanty-like ghost town at that. It was sad to know that, at one time, this was a vibrant, fun community — and more so to know that some people are still haning on. I can’t imagine living in a place like that, on the edge of a toxic lake, miles from anywhere.

We eventually drove back and around to the other side of the lake, to check out the Salton Sea Recreation Area visitor centre, as well as Bombay Beach. The latter, in particular, was an interesting experience. It was just as deserted as Salton Sea Beach in terms of people, but it was easy to see that people live there and in fact, have created something of an art community. There are really cool art installations all over the place, like the one above. But the same sense of decay and faded glory is evident here. I wish we had had the chance to meet and speak with some residents, because I found their stories (as told in the documentary I mentioned above) to be fascinating, but I am also kinda glad that we didn’t. I’m not sure if they enjoy having their town be “on display” for every Tom & Jane Tourist that comes along, and I would not have wanted them to feel like they were on display as well.

There were a ton of other things we wanted to see in the Palm Springs area, including the aviation museum, the Annenberg estate, and the art museum, but alas — time ran out. Although we had originally chosen Palm Springs as our vacation destination because it was supposed to be a “quiet” place with few distractions, we found it to be the opposite in the sense that we loved discovering its history and places. I wish we had gotten some more pool time, but I don’t regret a minute of our adventures.