I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, whatever that means for you. I certainly did, in a very Palm Springs sort of way, all eating and drinking and no snow! (Note the preponderance of shorts in the following pictures!)
Friend Peter arrived from San Francisco on Christmas eve - the best of presents, a good friend. We started the visit off with, of course, a good meal at Miro's, an Eastern European restaurant in down town Palm Springs.
...with food such as stuffed cabbage, goulash, schnitzel, roast duck, and, of course, strudel. It came highly recommended by Open Table, and, more importantly by friends Andrew and Elaine (with whom I had tried it last year). A great meal, both in terms of food and atmosphere/service (a straight, adult restaurant - what a concept!). Loved it! Again!
On Christmas day, Peter and I had been invited to Geoff's house for Christmas brunch. (Those of you paying attention probably remember that Peter had introduced me to Geoff last year, Geoff being a colleague of his who spends his time half in Vancouver and half in Palm Springs. He thought it would be a good fit, and it has been!)
(That's Geoff's friend Tom, from Vancouver, in the background.)
....and Geoff and I by the pool, drinks in hand. (How Palm Springs is that?)
Don't you love Christmas in the desert?
You can probably tell that Peter gave himself the newest IPhone for Christmas...
A feel good evening for all! By the way, the show runs til May 18. Should any of you want to come, I would love to see it again, and there is a bedroom in my newly-renovated place with your name on it!
And, finally New Years eve. The party was at the club house of my complex, as always, but the organizers out-did themselves with the decorating and the food, and managed to get a fabulous turnout. Not only were all the old regulars there, but a lot of people who have recently moved into the complex as well.
Friend Peter arrived from San Francisco on Christmas eve - the best of presents, a good friend. We started the visit off with, of course, a good meal at Miro's, an Eastern European restaurant in down town Palm Springs.
...with food such as stuffed cabbage, goulash, schnitzel, roast duck, and, of course, strudel. It came highly recommended by Open Table, and, more importantly by friends Andrew and Elaine (with whom I had tried it last year). A great meal, both in terms of food and atmosphere/service (a straight, adult restaurant - what a concept!). Loved it! Again!
On Christmas day, Peter and I had been invited to Geoff's house for Christmas brunch. (Those of you paying attention probably remember that Peter had introduced me to Geoff last year, Geoff being a colleague of his who spends his time half in Vancouver and half in Palm Springs. He thought it would be a good fit, and it has been!)
(That's Geoff's friend Tom, from Vancouver, in the background.)
Geoff just got settled into his new digs - don't you wish you had his private (heated) pool? - and I think he will be very happy there. Certainly, his decorator gene kicked in, and it is very well appointed. Didn't know he was such a good cook - the eggs benedict on smoked salmon were yummy - and, as always, a good time was had by all.
Followed immediately by Christmas dinner and party at the clubhouse.....
Well, as you can imagine, we needed a little R & R from the holiday at this point, so the 26th started out on my deck.....
..... followed by, what else, more food, this time of the Jewish variety, breakfast at Sherman's Deli, a "must visit" for Peter every time he's here.
And, in order not to bore you to death with the subsequent three days of eating and drinking (in my defense, remember that I am renovating and have no kitchen - that's for those of you who need an excuse to eat out), I will just say that breakfast at Don and Sweet Sues and Red Ruby's, brunch at Encina Golf Club and dinner at Shame on the Moon and LG's ("locally owned and world known) Steak House were all great.
You probably remember Ruby's from previous photos...
You can probably tell that Peter gave himself the newest IPhone for Christmas...
And this is the view from Encina. (The food's great too!))
And finally, LG's
Peter left on Sunday, the 29th. As always, I was sorry to see him go. Our friendship gets better and better. Long may it wave!
From old friendships to new. After driving Peter to the airport, I met new friend Dru (short for Drucilla! I have never met anyone named Drucilla before). She is a friend of a friend; those of you following along remember she is part of the Vancouver, Palm Springs, Puerto Vallarta gang). We started off heading for Trio for happy hour, and changed our minds mid-stream. We ended up at the Purple Room, a bar at the Hotel Trinidad which in a (much) earlier incarnation used to be a hang-out for the Rat Pack. (That's my retro Palm Springs!)
Ah, happy hour in Palm Springs! Drinks at $3, and (Canadians, take note) no-one measures! I only wish I could drink faster. As it turns out, I only ever drink one drink, but it is strong and cheap, and something about Happy Hour invites confidences, great for greasing the wheels of new friendship!
Monday, the 30th, about ten of the gang had tickets for the Follies, a revue that has been running in Palm Springs for 23 years, and is closing after this season. We are all really sad; there are not too many places where you can see singers and dancers, men and women, in their seventies and eightiess, strutting their stuff. It is a tribute to the past, downright patriotic, and just plain fun. No pictures of the dancers, of course, but I did get a few of the theater.
A feel good evening for all! By the way, the show runs til May 18. Should any of you want to come, I would love to see it again, and there is a bedroom in my newly-renovated place with your name on it!
And, finally New Years eve. The party was at the club house of my complex, as always, but the organizers out-did themselves with the decorating and the food, and managed to get a fabulous turnout. Not only were all the old regulars there, but a lot of people who have recently moved into the complex as well.
As always, I wish you and yours whatever your heart desires for the new year, but, most important, health, happiness, friendship and love. And remember each and every day how lucky we, with our First World problems, really are.
On January 1, I was on the move again. I flew back to Vancouver for a month of work (I do, after all, have to pay for those renovations). I'll catch you up, shortly.
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