My Birthday Trip to Memphis

Hi, friends! I finally have a bit of time to sit down and blog about our trip to Memphis, TN. We traveled to Memphis over my birthday weekend. It was a very quick trip, but we did get to do a little bit of exploring. I fell in love with the city and I can't wait to go back. Here's a peek at some of the fun things we got to do, all squeezed into one day!

 

The first place we hit in Memphis was The Beauty Shop Restaurant. You know those places that make you grin from ear to ear as soon as you walk in? This place is SPECIAL. My eyes started tearing up when we sat down because it's just so magical. No joke.


The food and drinks were absolutely delicious. Definitely a great kick-off to my birthday!

 
After brunch, we made our way through some cute local shops, two of my favorites being Red Velvet and Stock & Belle. We didn't do a ton of shopping because it was pretty cold, but I did enjoy popping in a few local boutiques and antique shops, and then grabbing coffee before heading back to our hotel.


On the way back to our hotel the girls conned me into going to the giant Bass Pro pyramid. We come from a city with a huge Bass Pro, so I wasn't super eager to go all the way to Memphis and find myself there. It ended up being fun, though. We took the elevator to the top part of the pyramid and enjoyed a gorgeous sunset. (The first photo from this post was taken from up there as well.)


After I dropped my crew back at the hotel, I met my sweet friend, Natalie (of The Crybaby Club), at The Liquor Store for drinks and a snack. Let me tell you, the drinks and appetizers there are incredible.


How cute is their neon bathroom sign? In love.

It was wonderful getting to visit with her. We've been internet friends for quite a while now, so it was nice to finally meet up in the real world.

After I got back to our hotel, my sweet crew had birthday cake and presents waiting. They sang me "Happy Birthday" and we spent the remainder of the night just hanging out together. It was a lovely end to a special day.



(Find this pin here.)

Whew. Talk about squeezing everything we could into one day! It was a good trip and I'm so glad Hope's gymnastics competition took us there. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure I would have spent the day curled up under blankets, hiding from the cold. 😂

You have our hearts, Memphis! xo.

Palm Springs Pt. 2

Our second full day in Palm Springs was one of my favorite days of my whole life.  Johnny and I had made plans to wake up early and smash our to-do list, but instead we accidentally slept in and opted for breakfast in bed.  I know there are mixed reviews out there about breakfast in bed, but to me it's one of the best things EVER.  After a super relaxed, lovely morning, we headed out to the Cabazon Dinosaurs.  I'm not exaggerating when I say that the dinos were the ONLY thing I cared about doing on this trip.  I've spent most of my life dreaming of visiting this place (thanks, Pee-Wee... I'll love you forever) and it finally happened.


This is my face of UTTER DELIGHT.  I cannot tell you how many times I jumped and squealed and clapped like a small child.  Eep!


Oh, man... this guy CRACKS ME UP.  I like to imagine him as the singer of an 80's hair metal band.  I bet he can seriously wail!


It was crazy how windy Cabazon was.  It was basically raining wind.  Sideways.  Here's a life lesson, fellow dress lovers: always wear shorts underneath.  They saved my trip.  Otherwise I would have been fussing with my clothes the whole time instead of taking it all in.  And that would have been a shame.


Once I basically bought out the gift shop (I'm a souvenir person all the way), we headed back to the Ace for drinks and friend time.  


I had to post both of these photos.  It's strange how we didn't know anyone but Jess when we arrived and by the time the trip was over we had all of these new wonderful friends.  It was a good bunch.

 
I feel like this post is just a series of tangents, but... tangent time: before we flew out of Kansas City, we stopped by Donna's Dress Shop because, well, I don't get to visit that place enough.  Up to that point, I had been shopping for a vintage playsuit for MONTHS with no luck.  As I was getting ready to check out, this little number was hanging near the counter.  I ALMOST didn't try it on because I really don't like trying things on.  I'm so glad I did.  It was love at first fit and it was perfect for hanging pool side.  I felt like I was living in a dreamy movie.

This night was our fancy dinner night, so after a bit we headed back to the room to freshen up and make it to our reservation at Birba on time (thanks for the rec, Elsie!).  I found my dress one night while shopping on eBay, so there isn't a great story behind it.  BUT!  When Jess last visited MO, we found this amazing orange dress that fit her like a GLOVE at one of my favorite vintage shops.  She was on a budget at that time, so I snuck back in and bought it as an early birthday gift.  We call it the "Palm Springs dress" for obvious reasons.  You'll see why in a second.  


Ahhhhh... I love this picture so much.  Johnny and I have a million selfies together from this trip that are silly and only for us, but I'm glad to have captured him in a few photos to share.  This walk down Palm Springs lane wouldn't have felt the same without his face in it.


See?  Lovely little orangesicle dream.  It's perfect on her!

After dinner, the plan was to go get little dinosaur tattoos with our crew.  Johnny and I ended up kinda being jerks and ditching the group, but it was for a good reason.  Or a selfish reason.  Whatever.  I just wanted to spend my last night in paradise hanging with him instead of sitting around at a tattoo parlor.

We ended up having drinks at the Saguaro, dipping our feet in the hot tub in our fancy clothes back at the Ace, playing a couple of rounds of intense ping pong (I won-- oh yeah!), and just letting all the beauty around us seep in.  It was a magical night... and I'm not using that term loosely.  It was MAGICAL.


The rest of the story is all super long travel days and reuniting with my darling girls... the things you would expect.  I'm definitely thankful we got to go on such a fun/sweet/wonderful mini vacation.  I have so many more special photos from this trip that can't fit into a blog post, so I fully intend to make a Palm Springs photo album.  It would honestly be a shame to forget a single second.  xo.