Spring Blooms

The weather was really lovely for walking around this weekend, which was perfect since we had guests visiting from out of town. We took full advantage of Saturday and spent the entire afternoon walking around the city, stopping only to graze on amazing food along the way (pizza, cupcakes, fried chicken… what didn’t we eat?).

We stopped by the Union Square farmers market, which is one of my favorite places to be during the spring and summer. You can easily make an afternoon out of browsing the amazing offerings from the local farms. There were a few stands selling cherry and plum branches that bloom with tiny pink flowers, and the tulips just screamed “spring”!

I’m keeping fresh flowers in our apartment more frequently now — it just makes our space feel a little more fun when there is something nice to look at when we get home at the end of the day! Ranunculus is one of my favorite flowers, and I’ve had the bunch seen here for over a week already. As long as you change out their water and get rid of dead leaves, the buds will continue to bloom! What are your favorite spring blooms?

Ladylike Inspiration

And yet again, it has been months since the last post here on City Coeur. It’s not that I haven’t wanted to write, it’s just that life has become rather busy — but all for good reasons! This long weekend was nice and restorative for me, even though I spent much of it packing for my upcoming move (more on that later!). Here’s a quick outfit inspired by ladylike style with a fun summer twist!

I love this classic marinière tee from Comptoir des Cotonniers (who better to interpret this French classic?). If you look closely, you’ll see that the blue stripes are studded with tiny white polka dots! C’est adorable. The bright blue jeans add a pop of fun, and even better — they’re on sale for just $12.50 at Uniqlo this week! The Edie bag from J. Crew is such a perfect ladylike shape, and I’m completely sold on the sugar-sweet pink color. A cheery yellow scarf from Kate Spade is the perfect accessory to add anywhere — around your neck, in your hair, or even tied to the strap of the bag. Finally, I’m a bit of a sucker for peonies so this beautiful arrangement by Olive & Cocoa looks like the perfect thing to spruce up your apartment on a sunny afternoon.

Spring Flowers

Now that we might actually be having a little bit of a spring season before we head into the summer, I’ve been eying the flower department at Trader Joe’s every time I pass by. Growing up, my mom always had fresh flower arrangements in our house. Now that I have my own place, I appreciate how much time and effort can go into keeping up with decor like this! Here are a few ideas I’d like to try:

Emily from Cupcakes and Cashmere posted this great DIY project for a floating vase. This idea seems so casual but elegant, and it requires just a few sprigs of flowers instead of an entire bouquet! {Photo Credit: Cupcakes and Cashmere}

During my trip to Europe last week, I flew into Geneva, Switzerland to visit with a friend there for a few hours before heading on to France. I was amazed by how beautiful and green the city was, and even more amazed when I saw that flower beds that lined the sidewalks were planted with vibrant poppies! These flowers are so unique and beautiful that I don’t even think you need to arrange them with other flowers in a bouquet — they definitely stand on their own! {Photo Credit: rebamex on Flickr}

I often go to the Brooklyn Flea on the weekends during the summer to check out all of the fun stuff on sale. I’ve seen Kat Flower there a few times now, and I’m always so tempted to pick up some of the amazing stems they have to choose from! I love checking out their blog, and the idea of a single ranunculus in a simple glass vase seems like a perfect first step for someone with no flower arrangement skills like me! {Photo Credit: Kat Flower}