Silver Suitcase in The NEW YORK TIMES!

Well, lookey here!  Me and The Silver Suitcase made it to the big time! 

THE NEW YORK TIMES!!

WOOT WOOT!

Nancy Baron, photographer + Documentarian extraordinaire featured us in her new book titled: "Palm Springs: The Good Life"

If that wasn't enough love, this past weekend she penned a piece for the New York Times about her beloved part time residence and her new book.

Lo and behold this was one of the photos featured:

  

photo courtesy of Nancy Baron/New York Times

I love that this was simply titled:

"Matthew"

The latest Silver Suitcase® + The Tonka Toy make it home

July has  been a whirlwind month so far with a lot of road trips and shuttling back and forth to Los Angeles.
Here's my latest addition to the Silver Suitcase® family (the 1960 Tradewind) which did incredibly well as my Tonka Toy towed it back to its final home in Palm Springs

Pretty great, right?

I can't wait to get started on this one!

Road Trip Continued: Marfa, Texas+Prada+Tonka Toys!

Almost to Palm Springs! 

I picked up my new car aka the "Tonka Toy" (To tow my Airstreams- not my clients!)  

in Houston 

and ended up driving through Marfa, Texas today. 

I had to make a stop at the art installation "Prada Marfa" and photograph 

my new purchase! 

Of course, I found some vintage cars:

These shots almost look like they could be from the 1971 movie

"The Last Picture Show" 

Next Stop: New Mexico, and then home!

Road Trip Continued: Making My Way Back to Palm Springs

But first, I had to make my way down to Texas to pick up a new car to haul my Airstreams. 

Of course a car big enough was in Texas. What other state would have them 

so readily available and affordable?

On a side note: This has to be one of my favorite photo bombings, courtesy of 

Grandma from Central Casting. Discreet, yet obvious. 

Road Trip Continued: Somewhere In America, This Exists.

May I present:

The Enchanted Forest Wine + Spirits Store. 

Ellicott City, Maryland. 

Funny enough, their website has absolutely NO Photographs of the timeless architecture behind me. 

Do people not understand branding?

More Vintage Car Porn from the Oldsmobile Homecoming Show!

For Father's Day Weekend I was at the Oldsmobile Homecoming Show and Swap Meet with my Dad  - a fellow car enthusiast (Where do you think I learned everything from?)

Here's a few of the cars amongst many that caught my eye!

If that's not a cool front with sex appeal, I don't know what is. 

You definitely can't say that about too many cars on the road these days.

A Prius, sexy? I think not. 

I would say for me, this is probably the second happiest place 

next to  Disneyland. 

I love the gold toned cars. Perfect for the Desert. 

The two tone gold and black works really well on a vintage car. I can't really see it working on a new model. 

The attention to the details on the back and front ends is something that's sorely lacking these days in car design. Such a shame. 

Red is definitely one of the more popular colors for vintage cars. 

Though, there was this minty green. 

And this cool blue...

And then, I saw a WAGON. 

I'm thinking this wagon will be good for Silver Suitcase® #4 AKA "The Country Cottage"

Right??

But look at this detail:

Incredible! Country-ish, no?  

I think the Joshua Tree Clientele would love tooling around in this wagon with a picnic to go!

Sandwiches, some cocktails...

Pretty snazzy!

If you're a vintage car enthusiast, (and even better if you're an Oldsmobile enthusiast) I highly recommend going next year! You won't be disappointed. 

Info HERE

And, BIG news about the airstreams coming this week!

(Hint: One flew the coop, and another one is ready for its debut!)

Vintage Oldsmobiles + Airstreams = Michigan!

A sneak peek how I spent Father's Day Weekend with my Dad:

At the Oldsmobile Homecoming in Dimondale, Michigan.

Can you imagine hooking up one of theairstreams to these cars?

Oh, I can.

Beautiful, pristine, and fully functioning!

Seriously, my head was going to explode from all the incredible cars. I'll post more pics tomorrow. I need to go lie down now.

Meet the Newest Member of the Silver Suitcase® Family!

Yes siree, here is Silver Suitcase® #5!!!

This, my friends is a 1960 Airstream Tradewind

All 24ft! Gorgeous, right? 

***Really, it had me at Jalousie Windows!

If you look really hard you might be able to make out the blueprint:

*** Jalousie windows are the slatted windows like this:

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

The trailer companies did away with them in the 70's, having switched to sliders.

Can't wait to get started on the latest and greatest! 

More Scenes From a Trailer Park: 1955 Roadcraft aka Silver Suitcase® #4

Another captured look of the "Country Cottage".

Can't say it enough. Design is in the details.

Cozy, no? 

Scenes From a Trailer Park: 1955 Roadcraft aka Silver Suitcase® #4

The "Country Cottage" is coming along nicely...

Design is all in the details.

As is everything in Life. 

I'm thinking Snickerdoodles for when the ice bucket isn't in use.

That's Country Cottage-ish, no?

Lookey, Me and the Silver Suitcase® are in a Magazine!

Fast Company magazine profiled Nancy Baron's book The Good Life  which includes a photo of me in the Silver Suitcase --- Fast Company used that photo  as the intro to the piece with this headline:

PHOTO ESSAY OF LIFE IN PALM SPRINGS MAKES ME WANT TO RETIRE IMMEDIATELY 

Photo by Nancy Baron. Duh.

Fast Company wrote: 

Photographer Nancy Baron's  The Good Life takes us behind the classic veneer of the city's resort glamour. 

Read the full article HERE

Thanks Fast Company! 

Silver Suitcase® #2 Update: 1966 Baby Safari Gets Some Love from Trina Turk

It's Don Drapery Day at the Safari! 

Sneak Peek at the Trina Turk drapes and pillows.

We're almost there. We should have the Safari done in the next few weeks!

(Fingers crossed, of course!) 

The New York Times Officially Declares Palm Springs Cool Again

Okay People! 

It's Official - our town is on the map + cool, yet again!

On the cover of the FASHION+ STYLE section of today's (SUNDAY!) New York Times,  

there was this headline this morning:

The Desert in Demand says the headline. 

You can read the article HERE

 

But really, shame on them for not writing about the other Palm Springs way of living. 

Ahem ahem ahem. For a quick tutorial, look HERE

Vintage Airstreams + The Men Who Love Them: Lenny Kravitz, Matthew McConaughey, + Steve McQueen

Lookey what I got in the mail from eBay!!! 

Yup, you read that right. "We visit Steve McQueen's Mobile Home!"

THIS Steve McQueen. The Movie Star, the Bad Boy, the Rebel, the Guy that men in America wanted to be in the 1960's and 1970's:

Mr. McQueen loved his motorcycles, cars and trailers. Once I find photos of the interior of his trailer, I will post them. 

(not to be confused with Oscar winning Director Steve McQueen seen below:)

and by the by, why does he have the exact same name as the movie star? I mean its a made up name, so...? 

I should look this up but this post is about Vintage Airstreams+ the cool cats who own/ed them.) 

Yesterday was Award-Winning Singer, Songwriter, Nominated Actor, Design Aficionado,and all around person/performer extraordinaire Lenny Kravitz's 50th Birthday. 

Who doesn't love Lenny Kravitz? 

He's Steve McQueen. The movie Star that is, not the director. 

He's über talented. 

He's cooler than cool knows what to do with. 

And he's the guy that dudes look up to, and women want to marry. 

You know why I Love Lenny Kravitz besides all of the above?

Lenny's Vintage Airstream in the Bahamas.

He said he likes living in the airstream because he finds it freeing and because of the small space, you know exactly what your boundaries are. 

Then there's super talented Oscar Winning Actor, Bad Boy, Bongo Playing Texan, most likely to be shirtless at any given moment 

Matthew McConaughey 

Matthew has made his love of Vintage Airstreams known. 

Even though he bought a "real" home, he says that he still takes the airstream on the road with his beautiful wife Camila and their kids - to show them the USA the trailer way. 

A big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Lenny Kravitz, and a tip of the hat to the iconic men who love their iconic Vintage Airstreams. 

Silver Suitcase® #4 Design Update: The 1955 Roadcraft Formerly Known As 1960 Park Model

Things are coming along nicely on the Country Cottage in Joshua Tree:

Remember the kitchen? 

Pretty Dreary - almost Breaking Bad-ish.

I put in some counter tops, a stove/oven, replaced some drawers, painted the wall a warm golden yellow, and switched out the sink fixtures. 

I kept the cabinets as I wanted that rustic not too done feel. 

I wanted to retain some of the "historical" design of the trailer. 

My goal with this trailer was to give it a more woodsy cabin feel.

I do love the softer light here.

Bathroom Vanity Area

Looking at the Living Room + Bedroom Area from the Kitchen: 

Guest Bedroom:

I'd be a happy guest, wouldn't you?

At times it was tricky to keep the colors on the warmer side, but I had to keep with the warm country cottage via vintage trailer via Joshua Tree theme in mind at all times.

Don't forget this trailer will serve as a dual purpose: One as a getaway, and it will also be used as The Paul Kaplan Group Joshua Tree Outpost office. 

There's still some tinkering to be done here and there, but most of the 1955 Roadcraft Country Cottage is pretty much done!

Doesn't Get Any Better: Coachella 2015 + Trailer Park!!!

Yup, it happened! Tickets went on sale for Coachella a little over a week ago. the mad frenzy has already begun, and needless to say weekend one was sold out in a matter of minutes!  

But we got our tickets, and people, I cannot stress this enough:  if you haven't been, figure out something and find a way to go next year. You will not be disappointed.

Before the Polo Fields, before Coachella, there was of course, a Trailer Park!

I stumbled upon this: 

Now, that's a Trailer Park! 

Pretty nifty, right?