We spent the weekend at our timeshare in Palm Desert. We decided to check out the land of cactus and sun and use the remaining days on our account so we would not lose the credit. These time shares can be such a pain at times with all the rules and restrictions. The weather was perfect, the Westin property was nice , not plush at all, but all the basics were covered. One of the things I love about living in California, is that you can drive an hour in any direction and be in a totally different climate.

Westin desert willow

I arrived a day before Reggie, so I took advantage of the “me” time and made a pit stop out to the Cabazon outlet mall and that evening met up with a couple of girlfriends who were staying at the Ritz Carlton for dinner. My excursion to the outlets was interesting, I’m at a point in my life where I have accumulated a lot of things and really, for my current life style I don’t need much so I don’t get excited about shopping like I used to, so that being said I walked the mall for a little pre-holiday shopping. I saw a lot of stuff, some of it nice, some of old and none of it really cheap. A few more designers have joined the outlet mall bandwagon, Valentino , Calypso, Frette, Gucci child, Rag and Bone, Moncler ski wear. I did pick up a nice Dolce Gabbana animal print dress and a few pieces from Allsaints store, but that was it.

dolce gabbana dress

Being out in the desert I was surrounded by retired people, I could not help but to think about what “retirement” looks like for me. I know how old I am, but I don’t feel like I am close to retiring any time soon, perhaps it is because I have for the most part always worked for myself and never put in time at a company where I could “retire” from. I could see the allure of the desert, especially for golfers, which we are not, it is pretty, my alma mater, UCR has a campus out there and there are health facilities everywhere. There are lots of shops and restaurants with lots of mature people working in them, yoga studios, Costco, Whole foods, Nordstrom Rack, a Bentley dealership and even an Apple store. Maybe a second home out there would be nice, considering it is only an hour away, but I don’t see us out there anytime soon on a permanent basis, I’m not even sure we would like living in a community with all mature peeps…

pretty arrangement at the newly reopened Ritz Carlton

Saturday we had a marathon driving day. Reggie had to see a patient that he did surgery on Friday, and we had a party to go to in Tarzana. Although it was a lot of driving I have no regrets, the party was for the Indian New Year celebration Diwali, festival of lights which is celebrated in autumn. Diwali signifies the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil and hope over despair. The food was delicious, Bollywood music, dancing, the decor was beautiful, and every one had a good time. It was nice going to a house party, it seems that people don’t entertain at their homes to often so it was a treat going and my friend Jasmine and her husband were lovely hosts.

Gigi at Diwali Party

Always with my camera

girlie girl table with henna tattos, nose rings, bracelets etc.

After driving back to the desert, we slept in, thank goodness for black out shades, I need to get those in my bedroom. After a late breakfast, we decided to do the tourist thing and go to the tram. Reggie insisted that he took me there when we were dating, he said he took all his “dates” there, I assured him that I had never been there–EVER. If you have not been go- it reminded me of the tram in South Africa that we took up to Table Mountain.

So 27 years later we had our tram date.

Tram date

How was your weekend? I hope you had a good one as well.

Happy Monday!

Xoxo,

Gigi

Gigi in Palm Desert

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