Farmer's Market

Confession: I am a Farmer's Market junkie. Every year I anxiously await the last weekend in April for it to open. I tend to wander through several times in the vain attempt to pretend the experience won't have to end. It doesn't hurt that a close friend and I use this time to catch up every week as we wander through the stalls swilling coffee.

I almost always give in to the temptation of freshly baked baguettes (I recently rediscovered my toaster, and let me tell you a fresh baked, toasted baguette smothered in butter makes extra gym time totally worth it), and later in the summer I'll buy mostly tomatoes and herbs.

But my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE part of the market are the fresh bouquets of flowers that run about 5 bucks. There haven't been any yet this year, fingers crossed they will be at the market in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime I keep repeatedly looking at pics of the bouquets I've bought in the past...

frozen toes and a runny nose

I love winter, don't get me wrong, but I feel as if this one has been particularly harsh. Two blizzards, what feels like daily windshield scraping, my pension for keeping the temp in my condo at 55 and having my boogers freeze while I sleep (too much info? ...nah), has me nostalgic for those sunny spring days. 

I am particularly jones'n for my absolute favorite part of summer: farmer's market flowers! They're gorgeous, brilliant and just $5 bucks. Somehow the winter bouquets in the refridgerator section of Target just aren't the same.

So, until spring arrives, I'll just think of this lovely bunch I scored a couple years back!

Pretty

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Travel Inspiration : Hawaii : Flora

You really can't talk about Hawaii without mentioning the glorious flowers that cover the landscape.

Bird of Paradise, one of the many pictures taken before dawn on our first morning there (aka my birthday!!). Jet lag was definitely our best friend, as we went to bed just past midnight and were wide awake by 4:30 in the morning. Energized by our new surroundings we went on a long walk through the neighborhood in Kaneohe. We learned a valuable lesson that morning: it rains, everyday, in the morning. Needless to say, we were a little damp upon return.

I have no idea what this is called, it was in someone's front garden bed, Kaneohe.

Pine trees? In Hawaii? I had to snap a pic as we whizzed past on the Kamehameha highway.

Hibiscus! I love that you can see a star in the middle of this one. This was along the road in Pahala, just down from the Paniolo cabin.

Bamboo in the heart of the rainforest near Akaka Falls on the Big Island. I immediately bought a bamboo upon return and it sits by my desk to this day.