LAST DAY IN PALM SPRINGS

Good afternoon everyone! Here with a final post on my Palm Springs trip. This day was a lazy one. We all woke up late - around 8am - instead of early like we normally do. While my step-mom and Kuyuki went into the lazy river one last time, my dad and I walked around the resort and took pictures. Brianna stayed in the hotel room watching the Hunchback of Notre Dame (Djali's the cutest!).

 Check-out time was 11am, so we packed our stuff, turned in our room keys, and set off on another trip to Whole Foods for breakfast. I'm really going to miss Whole Foods. We don't have one near Hemet. Afterwards, we jumped around many different stores on our way out of Palm Springs. First stop was the World Market. I have never been there before, so it was neat looking at all the food and products from around the world. We have a family friend that visits Gemany often and she always brings us back Kinder chocolates. We thought they were only in Germany but we found them at the World Market, which was pretty cool. Too bad they're not vegan. Those are so good...

We then went to Trader Joe's - another store we've never been to before because we do not have one by us. I didn't much care for it. It wasn't like Whole Foods or Sprouts. While I was there though I bought some of their Apple Fruit Bars. Afterwards, we went to Family Christian to look at bibles and other Christian books, then to Lappert's Ice Cream shop, and while driving to find a place for lunch, we spotted a Cancer Survivor's Park that we ended up stopping at to take pictures with the statues.

For lunch, we stopped at Native Foods Cafe for me an Kuyuki, which is a fully vegan restaurant, and Subway for everyone else. At Native Foods I got their Moroccan Earth Bowl and Kuyuki got their Bangkok Curry Bowl. Both are so delicious and I would buy them again, so I have no doubt that everything else is just as delicious. Check out their instagram to see how divine their food looks! After lunch, a man pops out his head from an Italian ice shop called Cactusberry and asked me and my sisters if we would like free samples. Of course we said yes, and there was two vegan options for Kuyuki and I to try: Tiger's Blood and Pineapple Delight. Both were so delicious I couldn't decide on what to get, but finally I decided on the Tiger's Blood, realizing on the way home I could have just gotten half and half.

After lunch, we finally headed home. It was a fun trip with definitely a lot of stops at Whole Foods! On another note, today is pretty exciting. My mother and Kuyuki are moving to Maryville, Tennessee, which is sad, but my other sister, Brianna, and I are staying with them until July 28! We're driving there, which will take about five days, plus we're bringing our cat and snake, so I must say it'll be an interesting road trip. Plenty of Tennessee posts to come!

Moroccan Earth Bowl

DAY AROUND PALM DESERT

Good morning! Back again with another post to talk about my second day in Palm Springs...So the next morning, while my father was in a meeting, my step-mom, sisters, and I got breakfast. It was Bagle Bistro for my step-mom and Brianna, and Whole Foods for Kuyuki and me. To me, my breakfast felt more like lunch, consisting of black beans, brown rice, variety of fire-roasted vegetables, tofu scramble, and baba ganoush, along with a side of nuts, berries, and quinoa. And get this...the total for mine and Kuyuki's food came out to be over $26 and we had no idea what to do because we only had $20 as we weren't expecting our food to be so much. We were just going to start over, but some nice man behind us paid the difference. How thoughtful! I still can't get over that.

Afterwards, we went to the Goodwill to look around. I got the book Tuesdays With Morrie and two pink cow figurines which are the cutest things ever! We then go back to the resort and while my sisters and step-mom relaxed in the lazy river, I layed in the shade and read my new book. Our father met us by the pool and after everyone dried off and showered, we went to Whole Foods again for juices. I got the beet juice and it turned my teeth and tongue hot pink! We then drove further into Palm Desert to the Westfield Mall to see what kind of stores there were. I ended up getting this pj set at Forever 21, which I love and is so comfy!

We went back to the resort again to get ready for dinner with my father's co workers and headed out the door again. We took an uber to a mexican restaurant called La Casuelas Nuevas in Rancho Mirage which was super delicious. I ordered their quinoa avocado salad which was so so good. I was nervous about where we were going to eat because we were not allowed to chose, so I was glad that where we were going had vegan options. Another family in my father's company is vegetarian, so it all worked out for everyone.

After dinner, we went to Whole Foods for the third time today for dessert. I didn't get anything, though my sister's vegan chocolate oreo cupcake did look good!

That day was long and I was so tired by the end of it that I don't even remember falling asleep! Tomorrow I will be posting about our third and last day in Palm Springs, so stay tuned!

 

Day Outfit (Left):
Bodysuit: Macy's
Shorts: Hollister
Shoes: Wetseal

Evening Outfit (Right):
Bodysuit: Macy's
Skirt: Macy's
Shoes: Wetseal

ARRIVAL IN PALM SPRINGS

First off, I am sorry for my absence. I haven't written in what seems like a lifetime! I have been so busy with school and everything else that I just never made the time to sit down and write a post. Now that school is FINALLY out (I literally cried - don't judge), I have been reading books and blogs, going to the beach, spending time with friends and family, and everything else that I really had no time for while school was in session. May was really busy with essays and finals and a trip to Oregon, but within all the craziness, I managed to sneak in a Palm Springs getaway with my family at the end of May.

For those of you who have been keeping up with my blog, you may recall that last year my family and I took a trip to San Diego for my father's work trip. This year, it was the same thing, but in Palm Springs. We stayed the weekend at the Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort and Spa which was really beautiful. It has everything you could want for your stay: shops, restaurants, spas, golf course, gym, and more. From outside our patio you could even see the lazy river and pool! Oh, and free wifi - gotta have that.

Less than a minute drive away from the hotel, there's even more restaurants, malls, and high-street fashion stores. We arrived at the hotel around 6pm and after driving around to see what our dinner options were, my family and I settled on Johnny Rocket's. I ordered a salad with spring greens and tomatoes, and instead of chicken I asked for mushrooms, and instead of dressing I used lemon. It was filling, but I literally fell in love with their mushrooms I just needed more. They're the best mushrooms I have ever had! Weird huh? So, after ordering two more sides of mushrooms to take back to the hotel, I decided these would probably taste good with an avocado. So we drive down the street, and to my amazement, we found a Whole Foods. My family and I have never been to Whole Foods before so we were excited as we have always wanted to go, and we totally loved it! I love going to new health food stores. After grabbing some avocado, we decided to buy some snacks. For me, I grabbed a That's It! Apple + Cherries Fruit Bar, as well as a Two Moms in the Raw Gojiberry Nut Bar. I have never had them before so I couldn't wait to try them, When we got back to the resort, I smashed my avocado, mixed it with my now-cold mushrooms, and dug in. By then, I was too stuffed and too tired to get into the hot tub with everyone else, so I listened to music on my mp3 player and fell asleep soon after that.