Darlings! I missed you. Did you have a lovely weekend? I’m feeling rested and recharged after a tryst with my lover this weekend.

I was feeling extra foxy (a super sweet Christmas gift from my darling parents)…

So decided to go for a hike — and a spin (doesn’t everyone hike in tights and cowboy boots?)…

After twirling and chasing my own shadow (FYI, we’ll have six more weeks of winter, gosh darn!), we decided to leave “our” house in Yucca Valley, California (which you, too, can rent for one of the best weekends of your life)…

And ventured off on a drive into Joshua Tree and Twentynine Palms…

Where I brought the hubby over to the vintage side when he scored a pair of jeans for $1 at a vintage store in the desert (didn’t he used to do that in high school too and then cut them up to make Daisy Dukes or was that just me?). I even crossed a few things off of my Amazing Life List this weekend. I drove…

We tried a new restaurant (and were happily surprised that you can find good Thai food in the desert)… But the biggest news is that I woke up in time to catch sunrise in the desert.

Isn’t it gorgeous? I even woke up without an alarm or the bribery of Nutella in bed (which is the most shocking part to myself and to those who know me best) — and hours before my darling hubby (I got to make him breakfast in bed for a very refreshing role reversal!). When I showed these pictures to my darling dear, I exclaimed “Look, it looks like a star!” To which he replied “Really. Imagine the sun looking like what it is, a star.” Oh right… Crazy scientific facts aside, since I was experiencing this majestic sunrise solo, I of course needed proof that it was indeed I who was snapping the photos…

And because I wasn’t about to horrify you with what I look like sans makeup at 6:30am, this will have to do…  Of course, after a day of waking at the crack of dawn, hiking and twirling, driving and shopping, cooking and eating, I was ready for a rest come nightfall.

So we meandered out to the cowboy hot tub, enveloped by illuminated rocks and twinkling stars and discussed life’s most memorable  moments as we spotted Orion’s Belt and the Big Dipper. For me, this was one of them. I’m excited to share more desert vacation photos later in the week xx!

[Photos by kellygolightly]