Spring Fever

If a trip to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, wearing a new sundress, and walking around DUMBO and SoHo doesn't give you spring fever on a warm, sunny Friday morning, I am not sure what will! For one last whirlwind city adventure before school ends, Faith and I decided to take full advantage of the beautiful weather last Friday. After procrastinating studying for our Italian exam for an hour to plan our trip, we finally decided on the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, and the rest followed.

As I mentioned in My Year in Review post, Faith and I have tried to master scoping out free things to do in the city, and the botanical garden is free on Friday mornings! Being our giddy and city-loving selves, we were so happy to visit another NYC attraction. If I had to describe the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens in two words it would be dreamy, charming, and [full of] hope.

I say dreamy and charming because the gardens were the perfect balance of being elegant and bohemian. I say this because at some moments I envisioned being surrounded by aristocratic, socialites on a Sunday stroll in the early 1900's, and at other times I envisioned dancing through a field of flowers on the set of a Lumineers music video.

Yes, you may say that I am quite the dreamer.

The word hope ties into the gardens, because Faith and I came at a time where half of the garden was in full bloom, such as Magnolia Plaza, the other half, such as the cherry blossom trees, were still budding. It is impossible for everything in the garden to be in full bloom all at once, and so it is so exciting to wait in anticipation for what will bloom next.

For my day in the city, I wanted to embrace every bit of the spring weather I could. Therefore, I completely ditched my usual NYC attire of darker colors and my Stan Smith's for a new sundress and cardigan from Old Navy! This simple striped dress is super light, and the classic white and blue color combo make it very versatile to dress up or down. The dress has a fitted top and a trumpet skirt to give the dress a little bit of flare, which is absolutely perfect for the summer! I am an absolute sucker for cozy cardigans, and this beige cardigan was definitely the one for me. I love the textured fabric, and the bell sleeves add just the right amount of 70's vibe I love. I bought it in an XL because I love the flow of big cardigans, and the light fabric makes the piece perfect for summer nights. Since it is larger, it also is the perfect silhouette combo with high-rise skinny jeans. For the last piece in this look, I added my go-to neck scarf turned headband to complete the spring vibe.

Peep my Woman on A Mission Bag! I never leave school without it!

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It was too much of a beautiful day not to stop by DUMBO. DUMBO is a MUST in the city, especially when it's nice out. The bridge, skyline, and river make it the quintessential New York scene and photo opportunity. When we got there we ate our lunch from one of the restaurants in a renovated warehouse complex and sat down by the water before taking the ferry to downtown.

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The last stop of the day: SoHo!! All the boutiques in SoHo are about the closest it comes to a fashionista's utopia. From multiple flagship designer stores to smaller boutiques SoHo is nothing but glamorous. Although I could only dream at shopping in SoHo, I was happy to come at a time where all the store's had beautiful window displays for their spring collections. Window shopping never hurts! I definitely had pinch-me moments walking past Prada and Zimmermann.

The architecture in SoHo is absolutely dreamy. I loved, loved, loved, the warm tones of all the buildings, fire escapes and cobblestone streets.

This will be last post in the city for a few months, as I am heading back home for the summer! However, I am so excited for working in Yellow Springs this summer and going to Cali in July, so stay tuned! This time last year, I would have never thought I would be blogging about my adventures in NYC, but oh my goodness, what an amazing year it has been! As much as I can't wait for more adventures in the city, I will always hold these first few trips to the city so close to my heart!

-RR