Olive’s spring break

Hi everyone! This week American Style is all about SPRING BREAK. I commissioned three college students to document 48 hours of their lives as they enjoyed the great American college tradition of having fun in the sun halfway between classes starting up again after Christmas and summer vacation. First up is Olive, a 19-year-old New Yorker studying English and Film/Media Studies at Pomona College, who spent her spring break at a friend of a friend’s aunt’s house in Palm Springs.

Name: Olive

Age: 19

Occupation: Student

Hometown/where you live now: New York/ Claremont, California

How did you decide what to do for spring break? I basically didn’t. A hometown friend of a college friend invited me to Palm Springs: she and four of her girlfriends from Columbia were going to stay in her aunt’s house for a few days, and they had room for three more, and did we want to come join them? Then, my hometown-and-also-college friend told me something similar: she booked a hotel room in LA with room for one more, so I’m joining her for the second half of the week.

When did you start planning? How long is your trip? Not much planning happened on my end of things. The week before break, we figured out how and when to drive the 90 minutes to Palm Springs. For the last month, I’ve been adding to a shared Notes App note with the LA trip with vague plans for shopping, meals, the beach.

Did you do any shopping? What did you buy? Noncommittally window shopped in Palm Springs: preppy vacation wear in pastel shades; Schitt’s Creek and Marilyn Monroe memorabilia with rainbow flags. I bought sunglasses and a lighter with the Paris-Britney-Lindsay car picture printed on it.

How did you get to your destination? Was it stressful? Traveling was easy. Our only friend with a car on campus drove us. We paid him $100.

What do you hope to achieve this spring break? Self-enrichment: reading, writing, painting. Also, unfortunately, self-optimization: job applications, catching up on sleep, getting ahead on an essay about King Lear.

Hours 0-24

What time you woke up: 9:30.

What you slept in: Brandy Melville tank and shorts.

The weather: Dry, unrelenting desert heat. UV 8. Around 94 all day.

Breakfast: Brunch at a busy place on Palm Springs’ main stretch. I got an omelet with pork, chile verde, and brie.

I wake up feeling a bit groggy because I got really high the night before. But it’s easy to get out of bed when you’re on vacation. The first brunch place we try is closed, so we walk through the scorching heat for 10 minutes to find somewhere else. I hope to see Alcaraz as we walk around, because I heard he was here for a tennis tournament. By the time we eat and walk back to the house, we are all tired and ready to jump in the pool. We fuck around in the house and by the pool for the whole afternoon (reading, tanning, etc). The host’s aunt, uncle, and mom come by and we play with their dog. I am in awe of how nice everything is.

Your goal for the day: Get lost in my book (Taipei by Tao Lin). Get rid of my sneaker/sock tan lines.

Your outfit: Brunch: tank top, pink gingham skirt, flip flops. Daytime: red bikini. Nighttime: jeans and a hoodie.

Hydration of choice: Peach tea Surfsides, Aperol Spritzes.

The vibe in the air: Sun-kissed lethargy.

Lunch: Baguettes with butter, cigarettes.

High point: Playing pool games at night.

Low point: Drinking-game-induced nausea early in the evening.

Meet anyone interesting? Our host’s aunt: a film producer who’s sick of her job.

Most spring break moment of the day: Smoking a joint with my feet in the pool.

Dinner: Marinated chicken, potatoes, yogurt sauce. Our host loves to cook; I chatted with her and drank cocktails and helped cut potatoes.

What time you went to bed: 1:30 am.

Good day? Amazing!!!!!

In the late afternoon/early evening, at that weird liminal beautiful time after golden hour and before the sunset, we start making Aperol Spritzes and our host starts making dinner. We all chat and I try to make myself useful in the kitchen. After dinner, we put “WAP” by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion on maximum volume, clean up, and start taking shots. We play some drinking games: King’s Cup, I Love London, and Rage Cage. We change into bathing suits, get high, and jump into the pool. Our host teaches us a pool game called Colors that I’ve never heard of before. We laugh a lot. We play for at least an hour before crashing for the night.

Hours 25-48

What time you woke up: 11:30.

What you slept in: The same Brandy Melville pajama set.

The weather: High of 103. The air is still and dry. Our host tells me that in the summer it’s even hotter, and she once actually fried an egg outside.

Sleeping in feels amazing. It’s punishingly hot and sunny when we step outside to get coffee, the kind of afternoon where your skin feels like it’s sizzling under the rays. In Slow Days, Fast Company Eve Babitz has an essay about Palm Springs and says something about how you can lift your hand up after fifteen minutes and have a palm print on your leg, that’s how fast you can tan or burn.

Breakfast: Coffee and a smoothie.

Your goal for the day: Keep reading my book. Maybe work on a job application. Don’t spend too much money.

Your outfit: Paisley-printed bikini, a green sticker the barista gave me this morning “to protect you from getting pinched” on St. Patrick’s Day.

I get a coffee and a smoothie (double fisting!) and we bop into nearby stores for the A/C—weird art, prints and coffee-table books of gay icons and Old Hollywood people who vacationed here in days of yore.

Back at the house, I hit the pool for the last time and everyone does their own thing: reading, homework, watercoloring, calling home friends/parents, summer applications, etc. We scrounge for leftovers and take pictures.

Hydration of choice: Lime (green!) La Croix and Pimm’s.

The vibe in the air: Determination to enjoy the sun despite its formidable heat. End-of-vacation ennui.

Lunch: Leftover pad see ew and pasta.

High point: Sitting in the pool with my book.

Low point: Working on an endless grant application with my friend.

Meet anyone interesting? We stayed in the house and at the pool most of the day. I got to know the Columbia girls more, learning about their campus’ vital protest culture and their experiences in boarding high schools.

Most spring break moment of the day: A thirty-minute-long sunset photoshoot next to the pool.

Dinner: Enchiladas and beer.

What time you went to bed: 11:30.

Good day? Yes!!!