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The main focus of the trip was getting things in place for the move, but once we got almost everything taken care of we found ourselves with an extra day & decided to escape the 100+ temperatures by heading up the nearby mountains. We went the longer route and drove up the mountain taking the Idyllwild route up and the Lake Hemet route back down. We’re already talking about getting back to up Lake Hemet in the future and wondering what it’s like in the Fall, so I’m sure it’ll be on the list of places for us to travel this year. Make sure to follow me on Instagram , I’m sure I’ll be sharing photos of this trip a lot over the next few weeks.

I felt pretty confident that we’d be able to find something between a few rental houses, a townhouse or two listed by the owner, or our backup an apartment building…. In addition to showing us everything we’d found on Zillow(and such) he was able to show us a ton more properties that weren’t listed on any of those sites! We then heard back from him about 2 days later & he wanted to show us a few more options that he’d found for us. I can’t wait to share some pictures and such with you shortly, but before I do I wanted to pass along this story if only to say… maybe, just maybe, the old way of doing things can be better.

The other big draw for me is that we can get a combination of things I love (that can be quite hard to find! ); a strong LGBT community but also a small close knit community that you get from a smaller town. I’d love to be more involved in the gay community in Chicago but the area I live in is a 40 minute train ride away from Boystown… sure I could move to Boystown, but then I’d be leaving the things I like about the West Loop and getting some of the not so exciting elements of Boystown… but in Palm Springs it’s a small enough city that I can enjoy both aspects in a much more compact area & get to know my neighbors much easier! I look forward to actually knowing my neighbors and looking forward to running into them around the city, cocktail parties rotating around the neighborhood, and being able to get involved (and feel like it actually makes a difference! ). The other big benefit of Palm Springs is that while it is a smaller place, it’s not exactly Iowa

I’ve got a few favorite companies that I though I’d share to give you some  inspiration! You can find all different types of pins, pride specific pieces, sayings popularized by Drag Race, fun little nods to LGBT culture, or my personal favorite… a Friend of Dorothy badge of honor! They are also pretty affordable starting at $12 I’ve got two clothing retailers that I love for Pride season: Swish Embassy & Lockwood51 A quick glance at the site and you’ll see these a bit less daytime pride event and maybe a better fit for your evening events (unless you’re comfortable with a little controversy) .