what we did in palm springs (with kids)...

Palm Springs has always been one of our easy getaway locations ever since moving to Los Angeles six years ago. It's warm, quiet, filled with lots of great design, and it's all within two hours (give or take with traffic). Ever since having two kids, we almost always stay in a vacation home when we travel. It's a much better option for us to stay in a house with space for the kids to play. I am partnering with Airbnb this year to experience what it’s like to stay with my family in a number of the vacation homes available on their site. Airbnb put us up in this awesome house we chose for our Palm Springs stay, and it had the perfect mix of outdoor space for the kids plus comfortable living and amenities. Here's what we did...

an oh joy room in the modernism house!

Each year for Modernism Week in Palm Springs, The Christopher Kennedy Compound re-imagines a classic Palm Springs property, using the best of modern of technology and bringing together about 20 of the country's most prominent design talents for a house that gets completely decked out called the Modernism House. This year, I was one of the designers to design a guest bedroom for the home owner, Kelly of Kelly Go Lightly! Here's a look back at our plan, the before photos, and the finished room...

happy friday + modernism week!

Ah! I'm so excited to share that next month I'll be designing the West Guest Bedroom at The Christopher Kennedy Compound: Modernism Week Show House for Modernism Week in Palm Springs! If you're not familiar with Modernism Week, the annual event celebrates and fosters appreciation of mid-century architecture and design, as well as contemporary thinking in these fields, by encouraging education, preservation and sustainable modern living as represented in Palm Springs.

Each year for Modernism Week, The Christopher Kennedy Compound re-imagines a classic Palm Springs property, using the best of modern of technology and bringing together about 20 of the country's most prominent design talents...and I'll be one of the designers this year! The Christopher Kennedy Compound is published in Traditional Home and California Homes magazines, and raises approximately $100,000 for architectural preservation, education, and neighborhoods in Palm Springs. Here's a look at the guest bedroom we're designing...

I can't show you the whole thing YET, but this gives you an idea of the overall vibe—whimsical, colorful, and chic! And the best part is, the home owner is Kelly from Kelly Go Lightly! It's always fun to create a space for someone whose style you love and admire. For those of who heading to Modernism Week or who want to visit the house, you can read more about the house right here and buy tickets to see the house right here!

{Room Design by Oh Joy and rendering by Angie Stalker. All sources will be noted in final reveal of the room!}

 

happy friday + scenes from palm springs...

Last week, to celebrate Oh Joy's 11th anniversary, I took the Oh Joy team to Palm Springs for some inspiration shopping and a little R&R by the pool. Here's a peek at some of the places we stopped along the way...

a sunny weekend of crafting in the desert...

Last weekend, we took our first weekend getaway as a family of four to Palm Springs! We went to the annual Crafting Community retreat at the Ace Hotel which is basically like summer camp for families who love the arts. There were craft activities galore, dance classes for the kids, workout classes for the parents, ice cream, snacks, and a ton of lazy times by the pool. It was a busy, but super fun weekend that really helped get us away from the daily grind and just focus on family time together (I even left my laptop at home!).

The craft workshops were insanely good with teachers that are some of my fellow colleagues and craft idols. We had never attended Crafting Community before because Ruby seemed too young previously to really enjoy it, but this year was the perfect year to come. While she was on the younger side of the crafting kids, she was just old enough to start enjoying it (with our help for some of the projects).

But when you're in Palm Springs, and the weather is like 100 degrees—the bonus is having a pool nearby which we spent a ton of time in. Ruby spent most of her non-crafting time in the pool, and Coco got in the pool for her first time EVER!

Having a concentrated weekend together away from everything else (I couldn't get distracted by dirty dishes, errands to run, or other daily life stuff) was so, so good for us. Bob has been crazy busy at work lately, and life with two kids has made us both a little more frazzled then usual. So, it was really a great way to reconnect as a family and reminded us how important these little getaways can be! I'm already looking forward to going back next year and figuring out how we can carve out more long weekends like this for our family this year.

P.S. For those of you in LA, Crafting Community's next big event will be a holiday craft day for families which is like a mini version of the Palm Springs retreat! Join the mailing list to be alerted when it's happening.

{Most photos above by Morgan Pansing for Crafting Community with a few of our personal photos sprinkled in.}

happy friday + what we did in palm springs...

Our little getaway to Palm Springs was much different than past trips we've taken before. Ruby wasn't her usual perky self, and we spent a lot of time consoling a cranky, teething toddler. So this visit was much more low key, and we really spent the majority of time hanging by the pool and at the house where we were staying. But we did manage to have a few little adventures...

a bruncher's delight in {palm springs}...

I recently spent a very brief whirlwind weekend-ette {sadly not the full weekend} in Palm Springs at The Parker. With a gaggle of girls, we found ourselves at Norma's two days in a row for brunch. We found ourselves amassed with giant fruit-topped pancakes, mini doughnuts, and {my favorite} the Wa-Zaa...a giant waffle filled with and topped with fruit as well as a crackled layer of crème brûlée shell in between. The fish tacos {not shown} were also very tasty.