Dress #7

Joe and I went to Lake Balboa Park today (2/17).  We like to go to the park pretty often on the weekends.  Sometimes we pick up sandwiches or burgers and go to the park to eat.  It's very peaceful there.  There are so many ducks, geese and birds that hang around.  They often come right up to us hoping for food.  The park has a bunch of benches and tables so there's always a place to sit and eat.  After lunch we took a walk around the whole lake.  I noticed that some of the cherry blossoms were coming in.  They only bloom for a few weeks in March so I always try to keep a close eye out for them.  Looks like they're going to bloom sporadically and early this year.  Only a few trees were blooming.  The rest were still bare.  The park has several benches that have a gazebo like overhead structure above them with vines all over.  All of the vines were bare except for one.  It had strands of purple flowers hanging down.  It was so pretty.  I could imagine how lovely the benches will look when all the flowers are in bloom.  I'd love to go back to the park when everything's in bloom and take pictures.

I wore my black Hawaii sundress with white flowers on it.  I have several Hawaii sundresses.  This was actually the first one I ever bought.  I got it back in 2007 on my first trip to O'ahu in Waikiki.  Although I was in O'ahu for a whole week I don't think I had a chance to wear the sundress on that particular trip.  I bought it toward the end of the week and had already packed plenty of skirts and shorts.  I have however worn it several times since.  It's great for a hot summer day, a trip to the beach, a walk through the park, tea time, etc.  I wore it out one time when my friends and I went to pottery painting and afternoon tea.  We all got Groupons and went to Color Me Mine in Sherman Oaks.  I painted a plate that had my own version of Rapunzel's castle on it and a spoon rest with a tomato.  It kind of made me feel like a kid.  It was fun but I wouldn't go without a Groupon because it's too expensive.  The Groupon was $25 dollars for $50 worth of pottery and I reached that amount with just the two things I painted.  My friends painted a spoon rest, an hors d'oeuvre tray and a pitcher.  After painting we went to afternoon tea at Chado in downtown LA.  I really love that place.  They have every tea imaginable to choose from plus finger sandwiches and fresh scones for $18.  It's actually the cheapest afternoon tea place I've found so far.  And it always smells delicious in there, like a sweet bakery.

The dress is black with white flowers on it.  I got it at one of the ABC stores in Waikiki.  The ABC stores sell cheap touristy Hawaiian goods including sarongs and sundresses.  There's so many ABC stores in Waikiki you can't walk a block without passing one.  I was originally going to get a blue sundress but ended up liking this one more.  It was probably around $10.  It's very comfortable and fits perfectly.  The top is a tube stretch that's one size fits all.  It's made by the Hibiscus Collection Hawaii.  100% Rayon.  Made in Thailand.