Gardens, Authors + An Anniversary

Brooklyn Botanic Gardens

Carina, Loren and I tried to go to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens a couple years ago to see the cherry blossoms. It ended up pouring that day (or maybe it was snowing?) and we had to cancel. We finally made plans to go again a couple weeks ago and about 98% of the garden wasn't in bloom. I'm starting to think there's a conspiracy against us! But there was ONE cherry blossom tree to see and it was beautiful. The whole garden is just a wonderful sight to see. It was easy to imagine what'll be like when it's much warmer and I definitely want to go again. 

after multiple failed selfies, someone offered to take this picture for us // the cherry blossom tree!

the gardens was much bigger than we expected and this was one of many

pretty sights // afterwards we went to Butter & Scotch for a s'mores pie

Epic Reads Tour

Last week, I went to the Epic Reads Tour stop at Books of Wonder with Estelle and Alexa. My number one reason for going was to see Katie Cotugno but I genuinely enjoyed listening to all these women talk (she was there with Susan Colasanti and Maria Dahvana Headley). They spoke so candidly and played off each other really well. Plus they all had a great sense of humor. I spent most of the panel either smiling or laughing at their anecdotes (Katie has seen Hanson 31 times and Maria used to be a pirate negotiator). 

A photo of all the authors + Margot Wood, who moderated the event. 

My fangirl moment with Katie! I told her that I loved 99 Days (which I did!) but that How to Love is one of my favorite books ever and that I owned 4 copies. She told me she adored me (the feeling is mutual!) and it pretty much made my week. 

Happy Apartment Anniversary!

I still can't believe it but I've officially begun my third year of living here. Seriously, where did the time go? It feels so fast but at the same time, living at my parents' home feels like a distant memory. I can't imagine not having my own place. On my other blog, Roses & Coffee,  I talked a lot moving out, decorating and sharing pictures. I didn't want to completely repeat that here. But one thing I did mention was that it's all about the details. And it's true. At this point, I have my furniture basically set (although I'm thinking about changing my desk) so now, I'm much more focused on the details. Adding a print or finding a cute accent. It's fun to bring these eclectic pieces together and making them work. So I'm sharing the details! 

I have a "favorites" bookshelf that has all my favorite books (obvs!) but it also has a bunch of fun prints and little souvenirs from my travels. The Audrey print is something I recently got from Hannah and that little wind-up music box is from Paris (it plays "la vie en rose"). 

Then I recently got a betta fish! Some friends may remember that a few years ago, I used to be fixated on having a betta fish since I thought that was the only kind of pet I could handle. Then after two fish died, I gave up. I started thinking about it again and on a whim, I went to Petco, asked someone what's the easiest fish to take care of (it's a betta) and bought this little guy. His name is Rowan (after the character in Heir of Fire) and hopefully he lives. Third time's the charm, right?

This small stack of books lives on top of my coffee table. It's How To Love, The Little Prince, What Would Audrey Do and 40 Days of Dating (I was obsessed with the blog!). It's a happy coincidence that they match and I love love love the gold accent on top of it. 

I've had my chevron chair, that pillow and the ottoman for a very long time. But what's somewhat new is my little plant corner. I used to have only one plant but added two more last month. Two are thriving and one.. well, I'm not quite sure what's happening (it's starting to turn brownish). Regardless, I just know I love having plants. 

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This ended up being a lot longer than I expected! 

But anyway, that's been my life lately!

How's everyone else doing?