A few weeks ago I made a fabulous mid-winter trip to the glamorous and art-filled Palm Springs, California for the 2018 Altitude Summit. I represented It’s Not Hou It’s Me and networked with small business owners, designers, photographers, bloggers, sponsors and creatives of all sorts at the overflowing-with-color Saguaro Hotel. I spent most of my time running around to workshops and round-tables, but I did manage to find sometime to get offsite and explore the city! Here are some of my favorite ways to spend a day in Palm Springs, California.

Morning in Palm Springs

Wake up and do some morning yoga at the Saguaro Hotel. They have a hotel room on the first floor that has complimentary yoga classes throughout the week. Also, in general you need to wake up early and watch the sunrise. It’s absolutely incredible to see silhouetted palm trees as the sun peeks over the mountains!

Afterwards, hop in a car, cab, or borrow a bike (the Saguaro rents them) and head out to do a door tour of Palm Springs. The town is filled with ranch homes with vibrantly painted doors in magenta, canary yellow, turquoise blue and more! You might have seen #ThatPinkDoor trending on Instagram (it even has it’s own account!), you can find it here. Click here for a list of some of the favorite doors in Palm Springs, and scroll to the bottom to see a [handmade] map of where to find the brightly colored doors.

Photos by Meg Calton. 

If it’s a weekend from 7am to around lunch time, you can also hit up the Street Fair at College of the Desert for a flea market, farmer’s market and all sorts of craftsware and vintage finds. I bought a cute flowy blouse here for my Yacht Week adventures.

Afternoon in Palm Springs

The downtown area of Palm Springs is pretty cute with a bunch of shops and boutiques and restaurants. Earlier in the year, I did a pedal party for a bachelorette party with Sunny Cycle.  The pedal party circuit is quite different than the Houston scene. First because it was an electric pedal party, so you didn’t actually have to pedal. But also because you can’t drink on the streets in Palm Springs and when you stop and go to the bars, it’s a sit down affair–not a quick shot or beer chug like we do in Houston. We did manage to stop in a bunch of cute places for drinks and appetizers like the Trio Palm Springs. Afterwards we grabbed Mexican food and margs on the patio of Las Casuelas Terraza–awesome patio and great cover band with live music!

Obviously, if you’re like me and going to California and staying at the Saguaro Hotel, the rest of your days are filled with photo adventures and lounging at the pool. If I ever find myself back in Palm Springs (chances are probably good given how much I travel), I would want to check out one of the Palm Springs Modern Architecture tours, the Moorton Botanical Garden, the Palm Springs Art Museum and Joshua Tree National Park. I’m all about art, culture, color, and a darn good Instagram photo.

Shout out to Pretty Little Things Boutique for outfitting me all week with the most fantastic items like my gingham jumpsuit and white denim skirt!

Photos by Meg Calton.

Evening in Palm Springs

Again, watching the sunset against the mountains and the palm trees is an absolute gem to experience! Do be aware, it can get a bit nippy at night because Palm Springs is totally an arid desert climate. You’ll have great hair days every day while you’re there since there is not humidity (like our beautiful Houston), but tights and leather jackets were totally the move as soon as the sun went down.

For dinner, I went to a few places in town including Evizin for Mediterranean cuisine–highly recommend the falafel platter. I was most impressed with visiting the Riviera Hotel for dinner. I went here on a sponsored dinner with the Grove Collaborative at the Cafe Palmetto where the ambiance and the menu were amazing! It’s a luxurious hotel with fabulous decor across their many lobbies, bars, and restaurants. This spot would definitely be a great place to come and take photos during the day time as well.

Night Life in Palm Springs

Palm Springs has a few places to go out.  One night went to Neil’s Lounge for low key karaoke (super divey, and filled with local regulars in Indio, but my ultimate favorite place to go out in Palm Springs is the the Nest. The crowd is a bit older, but it has live music and a DJ on weekends and a great dance floor. When we went there were a few other bachelor/bachelorette parties out, so you know it’s a destination and we stayed till closing.

Here’s another list of great places to go out in Palm Springs.