Getaway with my guy

Just got back from an overnight in Portland.  Ahhhh, it was so nice to get away with my man and just relax!  We walked, we talked, we shopped, we sipped some vino and we ate...A LOT at this restaurant in The Pearl District. I haven't had much Peruvian food but I have had loads of Spanish tapas and they seem to be very similar to each other.  Andina was delicious!  I highly recommend it to anyone visiting The Rose City...especially if you're sans children and love the idea of a two hour plus dinner (which I LOVE when I am on vacation! For some reason it reminds me that I'm a grown-up.  We have a good friend who loves to say that eating before 7:00pm is uncivilized.) Make sure to order a mojito!

My dream garden...and hat...and basket...and...

I watched It's Complicated yesterday and fell in love with Meryl Streep all over again.  Seriously, that woman can do no wrong in my eyes.  I just had to post this movie still that I found on the blog Hooked on Houses because I  am so inspired by this garden.  If it weren't for the ravenous deer running through our yard at all times I would be outside staking out my plot with the hopes that it would look like this mid-summer...oh and that I would resemble Meryl in my hat and basket casually picking tomatoes. 

Peony in pink= perfection

Just sending a little LOVE your way in the form of these luscious peonies.  Happy Friday!  Have a great weekend everyone!

Sunshine!

Sunflowers make me smile.  If a big happy bunch are sitting on your table how can you not feel optimistic?!  Summer is coming, the weather is getting warm, we can sit outside and eat dinner (s'mores anyone?)...life is good and these sunflowers make it just that much better.

Reining it in...

Sometimes I can be a lot WILD when it comes to my floral designs.  I like branches flying or vines trailing out of an arrangement.  I like bouquets to look like they were just picked from a field.  But this week I decided to rein it in for a wedding reception consultation and I have to say these little beauties....simple, controlled...were so fun to create!  And again with the fruit...just couldn't say "no" to these tiny key limes at the market.

Mother's Day deliveries

It was a gorgeous weekend here in Corvallis!  Perfect weather to celebrate Mother's Day.  Here are some of the arrangements that were delivered to some very special moms on Sunday.

Mossy branches

The Pacific Northwest is a little wet, a little chilly and a lot mossy.  I'm so tired of the rain around this time of year, it's May after all, but there is something so eerily beautiful about all the green goop that drips from the trees.  Being a Southern California girl I am used to a warm, dry climate which is the perfect environment for succulents and other drought loving plants.  But after living here since the fall of 2008 I am getting accustomed to the lush green ferns and moss that live happily on the trees here all year long and am thinking of all the groovy ways I can use them in arrangements and bouquets....check out the mossy branches in front of the giant mirror in this gorgeous dining room.  I love bringing the outside Oregon landscape indoors!

Artichokes and kumquats

Currently I am obsessed with using fruit and veggies in my arrangements.  Right now it's artichokes, any citrus and apples...maybe in to summer I will try berries that are not quite ripe.  I think blackberries that are green could look really fun in a wild just-picked-from-the-garden bouquet.