Shutter Sisters

Heaven

By

Image shot with a Lensbaby.

 

On the first day of spring, we braved the cold Portland rain, threw our suitcases in the back of the car and headed for the airport. I couldn’t help but feel giddy. Giddy to be leaving it all behind for a couple of days. And when our little plane finally landed in Palm Springs four hours later and we stepped out onto the tarmac, out into blinding bright sunshine and wide open blue skies, I wanted to cry. Giddy is maybe not even the word. This trip to Palm Springs had been in the works for months. The fine folks at the Ace Hotel & Swim Club had invited me down all the way back in August but due to circumstances beyond my control, I wasn’t actually able to take them up on the offer for a good six months. I know now that the timing was perfect, that the whole thing had come to fruition at exactly the right moment and as our cab pulled into the driveway of the Ace, I felt my shoulders relax. I looked at my sweet friend Nataly (who I’d invited along for the ride) and I think maybe I squealed, I don’t know. 

When it comes to traveling, I am notorious for over-planning. I get excited about new cities, new places and want to learn everything I possibly can so that I can plan extraordinary experiences. I try to leave room for things to just happen but more often than not, we are rushing from one thing to the next. With Palm Springs, I let all that go. My only plan for our 48 hours was to just let things unfold. To raise my camera when it felt right. To wholly surrender to the experience. And for 48 hours, that’s exactly what we did. We wandered the grounds and lounged in hammocks. We laid in bed and listened to records. We drank mexican coke in white flannel robes by the patio fireplace and ordered room service. We hopped in and out of the photobooth (and then in and out again) and borrowed bikes from the Ace to ride into town. We floated on our backs in the swimming pool and looked up at the stars. We sat in the quiet of the diner and talked. Sometimes I picked my camera up, sometimes I didn’t. 

It was exquisite. 

I didn’t want to leave. Ever. I wanted to send for my husband and children and maybe a few of our things. I wanted to start a new life in room 237. But when the time finally came to leave, I felt rested and ready to go, ready to take on the real world and a hundred other little things. And as our cab pulled away, my mind jumped ahead to October. I couldn’t help but feel excited about Shutter Sisters Oasis. And I couldn’t imagine a more perfect place for it. 

Today, share with us a time when you just let it all go, relaxed into life, and allowed it to unfold.

***Just a reminder: Registration for Oasis opens today, at 9am Pacific Standard Time. We do hope you can join us!***

Comments

  7. With a young child, there comes a time when you suddenly let them explore and play out of view, making their own discoveries apart from you. It happened recently because of an exhausted mama (me), an awake-from-nap-and-full-of-oats toddler (my son), and a lemon. Yeah, a lemon.
    http://journeyleaf.typepad.com/journeyleaf/2012/03/lemon.html

    Then the blurry oh-I-must-have-natural-light action shots gave way to little still lifes and a yummy recipe…
    http://journeyleaf.typepad.com/journeyleaf/2012/03/lemon.html

  9. I just got back from Palm Springs St. Patty's day weekend. It was my first time and I am in LOVE! What a beautiful place. When does registration close? Is there a limit to how many you accept?

  12. Andrea…such a fab posting…and I can NOT wait for Oasis… love this…
    'I didn't want to leave. Ever. I wanted to send for my husband and children and maybe a few of our things. I wanted to start a new life in room 237.'

    xo