The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is coming up this weekend. Collectively, we’ve made more than a few trips out to Indio, CA, so we thought we would pool our knowledge and pass along our five tips for navigating the type of weekend that can go from “Best day ever” to “Never again” very quickly.

Ace Hotel & Swim Club

1. The Ace Hotel. You’ll never get a room now, but if you can finagle your way into the pool, you’ll find a full weekend of Coachella activities. This year’s “Desert Gold” Coachella Weekend at Ace Hotel & Swim Club features a full lineup of bands and DJs, plenty of drinks, free haircuts from Rudy’s Barbershop, DIY Havaianas flip flops and other pop-up shops, and of course lots and lots of good looking people. As a backup plan, check out the Movie Colony Hotel for an authentic, modernist, Palm Springs desert vibe.

2. Rock some denim shorts. It’s HOT in the desert. Wearing denim shorts will keep you cool, but you won’t look like the girl walking around the infield in a bikini bottom thinking she is at the beach. We sent the HABITUAL Teri short in Bliss to some of our favorite musically inclined ladies.

3. Listen to bands. Coachella is after all a music festival. The design office took a poll and this is the HABITUAL preferred lineup for this weekend (in no particular order):  The Kills, PJ Harvey, The Black Keys, City and Colour, The Chemical Brothers, Kanye West, Erykah Badu, Interpol, and She Wants Revenge.

4. Swing by the “Cactarium”. Cactuses are so in right now, and we have seen quite a few shoots happening at the Moorten Botanical Gardens in Palm Springs. With 3,000 different types of cacti and other desert plants, from places as far as Namibia, Baja, Madagascar, Texas and South America, this is one of the more interesting things you will find outside of the Coachella infield. It is especially worth the trip if you are over 25 and need a break from the music, or under 25 and need to escape from the unbearable socialite you ended up sharing a room with.

5. Bring some sunscreen. Cocktails, heat, and lots of skin is a high risk combo.  The sunburn on sunburn on sunburn look some people sport on day three is really not a good one.

Sadly, we are not going this year, but it’s only Wednesday - still plenty of time to change our minds. Full music lineup below:

A new take on merchandising at Grange Hall

A must stop in Dallas is Grange Hall.  It’s a dark, contemporary shop carrying unique jewelry, art and home decor.  The place is known for once having a party that featured live chickens, in coops, wearing some of the latest necklaces in stock. Grange Hall is boutique that feels like a natural history museum at times, with finds like a paperweight with a snake skeleton inside, stuffed birds, and eerie sculptural jewelry.  A favorite in stock was a snowglobe from clothing designer Martin Margiela. A quirky minimalist, there was no Statue of Liberty or Chicago skyline in there, just a snow globe filled with snow.  No, nothing else, just snow.  So very Martin Margiela.  The guys at Grange also offer some of the most marvelous floral creations you can buy. Urban Flower/Grange Hall is located at 4445 Travis St, Dallas, Texas.

Snowglobe by Martin Margiela

A table display at Grange Hall

Forty Five Ten on McKinney Avenue is for serious shoppers. They carry a handpicked collection of designer clothing, from Rick Owens to Balenciaga to Alaia, along with men’s, housewares and gifts. At 8,000 square feet, you could spend all day here, moving from table to table and rack to rack and taking a minute to admire the fountain in the courtyard. You wouldn’t go hungry either, their own restaurant The T Room is a hot spot for lunch. 

Also in Dallas is Stanley Korshak, with a set of stairs you could walk up all day, with quotes from a who’s who of art and fashion.

The Stairwell at Stanley Korshack

One of our favorites is from Carolina Herrera:

“There is nothing like the moment when a glamorous woman walks into a room and everybody wonders who she is.”

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