Wanderlust: Holiday in the Sun

Ah, January -- back to reality. I hope you all had a lovely holiday. Before we get back into the regular swing of things, I wanted to share some snaps of our winter break. We hit the road heading south in search of sunshine and swanky retro fabulousness, and for the most part, that's what we got.

So this is the house we rented in Palm Springs. I meant to take a few snaps inside, but then forgot. Dwell on Design did a video tour of the place a few years ago (click on "Wexler Harrison House"). The furnishings are all different now, but you'll get the idea.

This house is really all about the backyard, anyway.

I think I took these pictures of the kids frolicking in the pool on Christmas Eve. It's just wrong, I know.

Elvis and Priscilla spent their wedding night here.

Trina Turk Residential was fun in an over-the-top, Palm Beach kind of way. (I was too shy to snap pics there; the ones above were borrowed from The Contemporist.) And there was the 111 Antique Mall, a great jumble of a secondhand store in a random strip mall north of downtown. (Thanks to the always-chic Maison 21 for the tip on that one!) I lusted after a pristine and decently priced set of teak dining chairs and a bunch of midcentury pottery there, but didn't get a chance to return for them after my initial hurried run through the shop. Just as well, because we're totally broke.

All told, though, I have to say that I wasn't too impressed with the shopping in Palm Springs. The other stores I visited were mostly obscenely overpriced midcentury boutiques (trust me -- you can do way better on eBay and craigslist) or equally overpriced trend emporiums that looked like a Z Gallerie exploded inside. Asylum, pictured above, was probably the least offensive of them. Elsewhere, I saw a lot of things that I'm positive the shop owners picked up at Pier 1, the Z, and even IKEA and tripled the price on before putting them out on their floors.

Besides shopping and driving around random neighborhoods, my favorite thing to do on vacation is hang out at hotels we can't actually afford to stay in. And, of course, you simply can't go to Palm Springs without checking out the Jonathan Adler-designed Parker.

I'm finding myself less and less of a fan of Adler's pottery and product design (most of which seems to be shamelessly ripped off from original midcentury pieces). But I still love his interiors, which have a great sense of exuberance, wit, and fun.

The Parker's lounge almost makes me miss my parents' circa-1974 living room. Almost.

Plus, the grounds are gorgeous.

Brunch on the patio at Norma's. There were a lot of hungover, sunglasses-sporting Hollywood hipster types sucking down Bloody Marys when we visited.

The gift shop is a bit Legally Blonde, no?

Here's Nick hamming it up at Mister Parker's. If you're in the area and want to drink old-school cocktails and spend $400 on dinner (thanks, Mom!), this is the place for you.

We also stopped by Kelly Wearstler's Viceroy Hotel, which was super-glam and swanky. I'm pretty sure this is the yellow-and-white tile wall featured on the cover of Modern Glamour. Can't you just picture Kelly striking a pose here in some insane couture ball gown?

One of the cleaning ladies saw us wandering around drooling, took pity on us, and invited us to poke our heads inside a Viceroy suite. Sweet!

One of the property's three pools. If I ever win the lottery, I'm moving here.

The pool cabana, darlings.

The recently refurbished Riviera Resort is more Vegas than Palm Springs, but is definitely worth a gander.

These portraits of local legends (this one is Bob Hope, of course) were made entirely of sparkly bits of metal. Sadly, the shot I took of the pre-surgery Cher in all her glory didn't turn out.

My 13-year-old says he want to be a cabana boy here when he grows up. That's right -- aim high, my love.

In a future life, I think I'll need an enormous, patent-leather wing chair.

Something about this place makes me want to drink whiskey and eat steak.

One day, we actually got out of town to explore the desert. (Sara Bethell, I hope you're happy.) I am so not a nature person, but I'll admit that Joshua Tree is pretty amazing. Strangely, though, I still haven't found what I'm looking for ...

OK, on to L.A.: I would love to tell you that we did fabulously cool things there -- but the fact is, we mostly drove around kind of aimlessly, tried to visit a bunch of stores that were closed for the holidays (of the ones we managed to get in, ReForm School was my favorite), did some dorky touristy stuff the kids begged to do, and sat around at my sister- and brother-in-law's little Silverlake bungalow, noshing on vegan treats and watching DVR'ed episodes of Whatever, Martha. (I'm now completely addicted -- and think I may be even more terrified of Alexis Stewart than I am of her mother. Thanks, guys!) It was lovely, if not terribly exciting.

Dinner at the Farmer's Market with Nick's beautiful sister and her hilarious husband.

My husband makes a pilgrimage to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery and Sunset Strip Guitar Center.

The weather was insane -- mid 70s and sunshine the whole time we were there.

There's no questionable taste quite as awesome as L.A. questionable taste; don't miss the naked statues of David in the background. (Photo courtesy of my BIL.)

All in all, it was great fun -- although we're going to be eating rice, beans, and Top Ramen and Netflixing it on date night for months while our wallets recover.

How were your holidays?

Sound Off: Top Design 2 Season Premiere

Did you watch last night?

I'm so, so happy this show is back. I know Season 1 had issues, but in my book, Top Design is still miles better than Design Star. Plus, Kelly Wearstler's hairstyles alone will make this worth watching. (Did you catch the little hairstyle montage in the upcoming-episodes teaser? Oh. My. God.) And Flipping Out's Jeff Lewis as a guest judge? I'm in heaven.

My prediction for Season 2's breakout star: Wisit, the so-gay-it-hurts, opera-singing sprite. He's a strange little bird, but I think he just might have what it takes to create a beautiful and unusual space.

And my prediction for breakout bitch: Andrea (aka Mrs. Ricky Schroder). I like her, and think she has some design chops (even if her aesthetic veers dangerously toward "shabby chic") but suspect it's only a matter of time before she starts ripping her competitors a few new ones.

Anyway, what did you think of the completed lofts, and of the parameters of the challenge? Granted, the $2,000 budgets were a major roadblock, but please spare me from designers who whine about spending that much on a table lamp. Hello! Welcome to the real world, folks.

I don't want to spoil anything for those of you who Tivo'd the show, but I feel bad for the contestant who was sent home for working hard laying wood floors in an entire loft in two days when there was clearly another train wreck on that team ...

And one question: Why was Todd Oldham even there? India Hicks has rendered him completely extraneous.

Thoughts? Discuss.

P.S. I'm going to be seriously despondent if Tom & Lorenzo -- aka the Project RunGay guys -- aren't blogging this season. TLo, I know you must be utterly exhausted from blogging Project Runway and Shear Genius and Mad Men so brilliantly these last few months. But please, for the love of God, I need you and your exquisite bitchery now.

P.P.S. Update: Woo hoo!

Sound Off: Design Star 3 vs. Top Design 2

Season 3 of Design Star starts Sunday, June 8. Do you care?

I did Tivo Season 2 of HGTV's ratings juggernaut, and enjoyed it well enough. (Though I think winner Kim Myles' new home-makeover show, Myles of Style, is disappointing.) But I can't work up much enthusiasm for Season 3. I dunno -- the cast looks pretty cheesy, for one. And the location: Umm, Nashville? I'm sure it's a beautiful city, but I don't exactly think of it as a design center. I predict lots of has-been country singers getting their basement rec rooms re-done by the eager contestants. Zzzzz ...

Personally, I'm more excited for Season 2 of Bravo's Top Design. I love me some Jonathan Adler, and can't wait to see the atrociously entertaining hairstyles and getups Ms. Kelly Wearstler trots out this season, what sort of politely veiled bitchery Elle Decor's Margaret Russell dishes up, and what we can expect from new host India Hicks. (But I wish they had lost the painfully awkward and wooden Todd Oldham.) Oh, and we can't forget the return of Tom & Lorenzo's deliciously vicious postmortems of each episode. When's the premiere, oh Bravo gods? I am so there.

What about you? Will you watch the new seasons of Design Star or Top Design -- or give both a pass?

P.S. Anyone? Bueller? Anyone?

Etsy Find of the Day: Decoupaged Trash Bins

Who says garbage can't be glamorous?

Discard your refuse in style with these wastebaskets from Etsy seller decorative instincts. The trash bins above, decoupaged in Kelly Wearstler's Imperial Trellis pattern in Gunmetal Gray and Citrine, are $55 each. The David Hicks-inspired design, below, is $30.

See all of the offerings in decorative instincts' Etsy shop right here. (She has great Imperial Trellis pillows, too.)

Set-Design Drool: Nancy Drew

Nick and I took the kids to see Nancy Drew this weekend, and I have to say, the sets were the best thing about the movie. (Even so, our daughter is now devouring her third Nancy Drew book in as many days, and anything that gets her excited about reading can't be all bad ... )

Taking place mostly in the fictional Draycott Mansion -- the formerly glamorous, now timeworn and supposedly haunted Hollywood Hills home of a movie star who died under suspicious circumstances decades earlier -- the set oozes old-style Hollywood elegance.

Production designer Tony Fanning modeled the mansion's interiors on the work of Billy Haines, decorator to many a silver-screen star from the late 1930s through the early '70s, including Joan Crawford, Carole Lombard, Gloria Swanson, and even Ronald Reagan. (If you're not familiar with Haines, be sure to check out the great book Class Act: William Haines Legendary Hollywood Decorator.)

The rooms feature lots of Blanc de Chine and other Asian accents, dark metallic finishes, silk and velvet fabrics, and ornate furniture (hallmarks of the current Hollywood Regency look popularized by designers like Kelly Wearstler). But all of it is washed in an aged, sepia tone that gives it the look and feel of a Hollywood that's long since disappeared.

In short, to die for. (The movie, though? Not so much.)