Last week was a law student’s long-awaited sanctuary: Spring Break! Ours was slightly modified – we had a midterm on Monday morning, so our “break” was really a Tuesday-Sunday opportunity to unwind a little bit, get caught up on work, and plunge ahead on the next batch of assignments.
While I snuck in some time to eat at a couple great new restaurants, the “anchor” to my Spring Break was a two-night stint with my roommate Jenn and friends Whitney and Matt at Jenn’s family’s house in Palm Desert, CA.
I had been to the Palm Springs/Palm Desert area twice before, but it had been 10 years since my most recent visit. I was eager to re-acquaint myself with it, soak up the sun, and relax a little bit.
Jenn and I headed out on Friday and enjoyed the view along the 10-E. (I’ve heard it’s a so-cal thing to put a “the” before giving the number of a freeway – “the 10″ “the 405″ “the 101.” Do any of you NOT do this?)
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on the 10.
One of the side projects for this trip was to get me my first set of real “business” clothes. I’m going to need a suit if I’m going to do this lawyer thing. Jenn knew I’d have luck at the Banana Republic Outlet at Desert Hills Premium Outlets – and luck was had! Boom.
We got to the desert, had a delicious salad dinner at Las Casuelas in La Qunita. We grabbed some groceries for the weekend and eagerly awaited Matt and Whitney’s post-work arrival.
Saturday morning began with a new vacation tradition I’m starting for myself (stolen from Jenn’s family): vacation cereal! We bought a sinfully good cereal that I’d literally only ever purchase on vacation. Two mornings of waking up to Lucky Charms? So. good.
Image may be NSFW.
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Jenn, Whitney, and I decided to go on a little run around the complex – but between my knee pain (3 miles is okay, any more than that starts getting pretty brutal), Jenn’s newly developed shin splints, and Whitney’s calf pain from a charlie horse during the night, we were quite a show. Our 4-mile run included lots of walk breaks, but it was still awesome to start the day with a sweat sesh. When we got back, we did a little core work and rewarded ourselves the only way possible:
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saturday morning mimosas!
We headed to the local pool and soaked up the sun (we all came back with sunburns, not so awesome. I must have forgotten to put sunscreen on my tummy – fml.)
Later, I conned Whitney into squeezing in a second work-out with me:
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walking our way to starbucks, where else?
That night, we opted for a low-key night – we headed to see Friends with Kids. Overall, I really liked it – it was different, witty, funny, but also sentimental. It was revealed that I do indeed have a soul because I full-on cried at one point, and no one else shed a tear. The cast was great, and while the movie wasn’t perfect, I’d recommend it for sure.
We decided to forego a formal dinner in favor of post-movie Apps and Zerts at Yardhouse.
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Stone IPA a.k.a. "Old Faithful"
The Apps and Zerts originator himself:
We all fell asleep watching The Hangover (I’m ashamed – I love that movie). After losing an hour, we hustled back to the City of Angels literally so I could get to the library before the week started and hit the gym.
Now, I’m back at school (and the grind). I did take a fabulous spin class today with ALL house music (this song was one of my favs) and did my 4th workout from the New Rules of Lifting for Women. I may be crazy, but I think I already notice some changes.
Random side-note: A Cup of Jo featured this Rainbow Hotel today that just so happens to be in Palm Springs. I want/need to go here ASAP.
Not too much else to report – although I am bummed I won’t be making my 26.2 debut on Sunday, I am SUPER excited for my Dad who will be running his first marathon rain or shine this weekend! He’s trained hard since early fall and I know he’ll have a great time!
Do you do anything special/different when you’re on vacation?
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
