1/23/17:

Rain, Rain, go the @!$# away.

Hey, everyone. Been a rough few weeks what with the depressing vibes and wet environment these crazy west coast rainstorms have been bringing. 😖 Unless you literally live under a rock, you know that it basically never rains in ☀️ California, Los Angeles especially. Rain = bad for morale/daily functioning. But, also, rain = good for the environment (see reaaaaally green grass below). 😁

Well, all of that has changed in the past couple months. The rain here in the supposedly sunny SoCal has never seemed to stop. I'm from Washington, D.C., so, yeah, I'm "used to" the rain, but that doesn't mean I like it. 😑I moved here for several reasons... One of which being that it is supposed to always be SUNNY!

Inset: A cactus is just one type of plant that flourishes in California due to the infrequent rainfall (apparently, it can also flourish in the rain, too?!). 🌵

My friends and I brainstormed a way to avoid this ridiculous L.A. rain last weekend... Go to the relaxing Palm Springs, where the forecast was warm & sunny, for Friday night through Sunday afternoon. 😍 #GENIUS! As those of you who are close with me know, I have a huge California travel bucket list, so I was so down to check Palm Springs off of it! 🤘🏼

Inset: my love for California expressed through even the smallest fashion details 😉 💁🏻

We brought this plan in clutch because we decided to go through with it two hours before leaving. That's right, Amanda Rome West pulled off another on point last-minute plan yet again. Goals. 🙌🏽

For those of you who aren't hip, Palm Springs is the West Palm Beach of California... AKA it's where all the elderly chill till it's their time. 😂

It only took about 2 hours to drive from South Central to Rancho Mirage, and we ended up getting some bomb Mexican food on the way, so it was all good. 👌🏽

After a "stressful" second week of school, we decided to get deep tissue massages on Saturday. 💆🏻 Let me just say that teaching yoga sculpt seriously throws your back out of alignment, and that this massage was much needed. #BlessUp. 💯

We also found some thrifting gems at the Palm Springs Goodwill, which is where all the rich old people go to throw away their nice crap. Yay. 💎 One woman's trash, another woman's treasure?

We also spent a lot of time driving around in my friend's golf cart all over his country club to see the gorgeous views of the sunset, sunrise, and sky in general, tall palm trees, extremely green grass, and snow-covered mountain ranges surrounding Palm Springs. 😮

Relaxing is an important part of getting away, so of course we spent a ton of time in the hot tub/jacuzzi and pool... Yeah, this weekend was so much work, a super hard, work-filled weekend... 😏

We even got to go to the world's first ever "cactarium," which, essentially, is a terrarium filled with extremely rare cacti. It. Was. STUNNING 😍

I'm obsessed with "That Pink Door," the Instagram-popularized front of an aesthetic house on E Sierra. As you all know, if I didn't strike a cool yoga pose in front of something "hip," is it truly hip? 🤔

I love dressing up to go out, even if I am in a really chill place. Saturday night, I wore a lingerie-inspired silk top paired with very affordable ripped light wash jeans, gold hoops, black choker, some of my "hippie lifestyle"-inspired bracelets in stacks, and white Vans.

😜

Oh. And the food. Don't let me forget to talk about the food. OMG 😩 😍 I had some of the best meals on the planet, including an Italian bolognese pesto crepe, delicious Caesar salad, epic huevos blancos a la mexicana, and even artisanal BBQ pizza. Thankfully, I can eat these things, because of the yoga sculpt with weights classes I teach 3x a week at USC! 💪🏽

It was raining SUPER hard on our way back to L.A... A reminder that we were leaving paradise 😣 But it's all good because apparently the rains are coming to an end soon.

Let's pray that this week the sun will finally reappear 🙏🏽.

Do a Reverse Rain Dance 🎉,

ARW

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