york harbor

in massachusetts this easter weekend.  we went to york harbor, maine yesterday to wish sarah a happy birthday with a posy of purple and gold blossoms.

i love sarah's apartment; it has a coastal new england vibe about it.  the apartment itself feels nautical and she's brought many components of the outside in with a great collection shells, weathered elements and ferns and other plants potted in vintage vessels.  i could never replicate this myself so perhaps capturing it would be the next best thing.  sarah's lucky to live in a place like york harbor.  pete and i often talk about moving back to new england, but we'd miss nyc terribly.

posy of clematis, ranunculus, sweet peas, lilacs, tulips and peach campanella roses

clematis, ranunculus, sweet peas, lilacs, tulips and peach campanella roses

clematis, ranunculus, sweet peas, lilacs, tulips and peach campanella roses

clematis, ranunculus, sweet peas, lilacs, tulips and peach campanella roses

soul pyscho (i mean, soul cycle)

bouquet of lilacs, 'putamayo' carnations, hellebores, sweet peas and clematis

i'm so tired today i want to cry.  this morning was my first morning working out in a really intense way.  i was up at 5:30am for a 6:00am soul cycle spin class.  pure utter torture.  arms. arms.  now double time!  pedal.  pedal.  i left the studio with sia stuck in my head -- "hey i heard you were a wild one, ooh...."  

and before i pass out tonight, i wanted to share this bouquet.  when i have consults with brides, i get a lot of "i don't like carnations" or "anything but carnations".  i get it.  we largely see garishly colored carnations mixed with baby's breath and leather leaf ferns being pushed out from those big box flower companies -- not so pleasing.  but i'm noticing a renewed interest from designers to elevate the carnation's status (see the summer 2012 issue of martha stewart weddings).  and i'm buying what they're selling.  carnations can look very upscale when accompanied by more luxurious flowers and they're inexpensive.  look at this week's bouquet and last week's too.  give them a second chance.

cotton candy

redonkulous ranunculus, hellebores, narcissus, sweet peas, fritillaria and spirea

from last weekend, colors remind me of cotton candy.

i've been told recently that i don't smile enough.  maybe in certain circumstances.  i have an old picture of myself at 24 -- young, naive, still green behind the ears -- and i had a big smile on my face, like a really genuine smile that if you saw it, you'd likely smile back.  i was happy to be in nyc;  happy to be employed; happy to do whatever took to move my life forward.  someone commented on that picture recently; he couldn't believe that i was the same person.  i told him to come see me on my day off.  i'm surrounded by flowers then and then he'll really know what i'm like.  that smile is not gone, just hidden.

ranunculus, hellebores, narcissus, sweet peas, fritillaria and spirea

ranunculus, hellebores, narcissus, sweet peas, fritillaria and spirea

ranunculus, hellebores, narcissus, sweet peas, fritillaria and spirea

ranunculus, hellebores, narcissus, sweet peas, fritillaria and spirea 

ranunculus, hellebores, narcissus, sweet peas, fritillaria and spirea

short and sweet

'nuff said.

peach perfection icelandic poppies

the spills

ranunculus, poppies, narcissus, sweet peas, carnations, white cherry blossoms, spirea and jasmine vine

i managed to spill two vases today that were filled to the brim with water.  real klutzy, i know.  both times pete just looked over and shook his head.  

we went searching for more properties this weekend, but struck out on all five.  some of the homes were too big (like 6 bedrooms and bathrooms too big) or the land didn't work -- too hilly or rocky -- or too close to an upscale race track.  we're hoping april will bring more inventory.  

early spring lovelies

bouquet of white ranunculus, japanese scabiosas, lavender and purple sweet peas, white hellebores,
mini carnations, viburnum, bridal wreath spirea and dusty miller

still looking for our country home (my future flower farm).  it feels like an endless and daunting task, perhaps we'll get lucky this weekend.

it's not easy finding something that could handle the plans i have stored in my head -- a large rose garden, expansive peony beds, tree peonies and hellebore plantings along the woods, clematis climbing up anything and everything, a rolling red poppy field and the list goes on forever.  i imagine myself wearing trucker hat in the driver seat of my pick-up truck with compost piled high in the back.  i bet pete's rolling his eyes right about now.  ok, so maybe it'd be pete driving the truck.  but, still, it's my dream.

so while i dream and daydream of my future, here are some flowers i've put together recently -- a little celebration of early spring.

bouquet of white ranunculus, japanese scabiosas, lavender and purple sweet peas, white hellebores,
mini carnations, viburnum, bridal wreath spirea and dusty miller

bouquet of blush ranunculus,lavender and purple sweet peas, fritillaria, mini carnations,
bridal wreath spirea, viburnum, scented geranium and dusty miller

bouquet of blush ranunculus, lavender and purple sweet peas, fritillaria, mini carnations,
bridal wreath spirea, viburnum, scented geranium and dusty miller

bouquet of white ranunculus, japanese scabiosas, lavender and purple sweet peas, white hellebores,
mini carnations, viburnum, bridal wreath spirea and dusty miller

bouquet of blush ranunculus, lavender and purple sweet peas, fritillaria, mini carnations,
bridal wreath spirea, viburnum, scented geranium and dusty miller

bouquet of blush ranunculus, lavender and purple sweet peas, fritillaria, mini carnations,
bridal wreath spirea, viburnum, scented geranium and dusty miller

bouquet of blush ranunculus, lavender and purple sweet peas, fritillaria, mini carnations,
bridal wreath spirea, viburnum, scented geranium and dusty miller

bouquet of white ranunculus, japanese scabiosas, lavender and purple sweet peas, white hellebores,
mini carnations, viburnum, bridal wreath spirea and dusty miller

bouquet of lavender and purple sweet peas and scabiosas -- makes me all giggly

bouquet of lavender and purple sweet peas and scabiosas

happy birthday, flowers by busy B!

urn arrangement of coral and peach ranunculus, soft peach icelandic poppies, coral lisianthus,
purple anemones and hellebores and secret tulips
with japanese spirea, bridal wreath spirea, sumac, viburnum and jasmine vine

bouquet of coral and peach ranunculus, coral lisianthus, purple hellebores and secret tulips
with japanese spirea, bridal wreath spirea, viburnum and jasmine vine

bouquet of coral and peach ranunculus, coral lisianthus, purple hellebores and secret tulips
with japanese spirea, bridal wreath spirea, viburnum and jasmine vine

my gosh, how time flies!

it's my blog's birthday today and i've teamed up with my new photographer friend, Adeline of Sweet Adeline Photography, to help me celebrate.  Adeline is simply amazing and completely gets my style.  this is our first collaboration and i'm looking forward to doing more with her.

for my birthday post, i wanted to do a something different from my gray wall background and found "it" while in paris.  pete and i toured the louvre over president's day weekend and spent a considerable amount of time looking at dutch still-life paintings of flowers and fruit.  i was inspired by the artwork and wanted to do something similar for the blog sans the hanging dead animals.  i also thought it'd be an interesting exercise to use similar flowers in a different palette.

urn arrangement of lemon icelandic poppies, white and gold ranunculus,
pink and purple hellebores, purple anemones and secret tulips
with japanese spirea, bridal wreath spirea, sumac, viburnum and jasmine vine

urn arrangement of lemon icelandic poppies, white and gold ranunculus,
pink and purple hellebores, purple anemones and secret tulips
with japanese spirea, bridal wreath spirea, sumac, viburnum and jasmine vine

bouquet of white ranunculus, white sweet peas, lemon poppies and pink hellebores
with japanese spirea, bridal wreath spirea, sumac, viburnum and jasmine vine 

bouquet of white ranunculus, white sweet peas, lemon poppies and pink hellebores
with japanese spirea, bridal wreath spirea, sumac, viburnum and jasmine vine 

what's surprising about this whole blogging thing is that i really love it (despite it being effing hard to create and publish original content).  at the end of almost every day, i look forward to seeing how many visitors i've received.  during the first few months i averaged 30 hits a day but now it's consistently reaching 150-200 hits a day.  it's so rewarding to see the growth in readership.  and when i can't post, i miss it.  and i miss my readers.  i love it when you come back.  encourages me to do better and more for you.

and thank you, Adeline, for these gorgeous images!

a hot mess of cuttings.  love this picture.