Christmas in Palm Springs

I grew up in California, but for the past 6 years I've lived in places where winters are long and cold. My self-diagnosed Seasonal Affective Disorder would kick in, and I'd be cold and grumpy for months. Didz would tell me to toughen up, I'd tell him to go suck an egg. We'd bicker on and on like this. He'd try to convince me to embrace the winter - white fluffy snow! hot chocolate! bundling up! - and I'd translate that to mean: nasty, slushy, slippery sidewalks! scalding hot liquid burning my tongue! wearing a million layers to go outside, but then sweating profusely indoors where the heat was blasting to a gajillion degrees!

This year, we decided to skip the holiday travel, the snowy cityscapes, the ice storms and power outages, the flight delays and long lines... and enjoy wearing flip flops and t-shirts for Christmas. We made a spontaneous, last minute decision to drive to Palm Springs and spend a few days here:

We missed our families, and wished we could've all been together... but our little gettaway was warm and wonderful and I think Didz is coming around to understanding how magical living in California really is.

We splashed around in the pool, we ran around on the grass, we woke up all our neighbors with early morning bocce, we ate tacos and drank beer, we chased Ina around the lobby (we spent HOURS in that lobby) and we opened Christmas presents (who knew a pair of mittens could bring SO MUCH JOY) and played in our room until we were all completely exhausted.

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas! Sending lots of hugs and sunshine to you all... and BIG BIG LOVE to our good buddy TK and his darling girl, Vija, who got engaged yesterday. Love you guys! xo