Pretty Lovely: December 2014

December 30, 2014

25 Favorite Posts From 2014

I feel like I really stepped up my blogging game in 2014 and really started creating content that I loved. I am super happy I decided to start blogging about flowers and know that some of you guys are too! I am so excited for 2015 and to see where this flower journey takes me. Should be an interesting one! Here are some of the posts I really loved this past year.

Zermatt, Switzerland Recap

Rome, Italy Recap

R & MB Wedding Photos

Fields of Daffodils

Growing Plants from Seed

Skagit Valley Tulip Festival

Seattle Japanese Garden

Flora Focus || Peony

My Love for Red Convertibles

7 Florists and Flower Farmers to Follow on Instagram (Post with the most Pageviews!!)

The Secret Garden

Feels like Fall!

Woodland Park Rose Garden

Helllooo Fall!

My First Wedding || Ellensburg, WA

Pastel Hair Club

Floret Flowers Seasonal Floral Intensive | Recap

DIY Thanksgiving Centerpiece

Nancy Drew

Floret Floral Workshop Revisited

Leavenworth Lighting Festival

Here's to a Happy New Year!!

December 29, 2014

This Year I...

Played around with lots of flowers!

And learned more about them

Went to a Floret Workshop

Joined the Pastel Hair Club

Arranged the flowers for my first wedding

And my second!

And I turned 25!

This was a great year but I can't wait for 2015!

December 25, 2014

Merry Christmas!

We made it back to the conservatory in time to see it decorated for Christmas! They had one full house filled with poinsettias, a gorgeous tree and a train going around the center of it. Im really glad we made the time to go. And how amazing is this sweater?! I found it deep in my moms closet and just fell in love with it. I wish I could wear it all year.

I hope you all have a fun and relaxing day!

Outfit Details

Dress || Spool No. 72

Sweater || Borrowed from my Mom, Old Eddie Bauer

Shoes || Topshop via Nordstrom

December 22, 2014

Flora Focus || Poinsettia

Its been awhile since I have done one of these posts! I got really encouraged to share more florals here on Pretty Lovely after getting the results from the reader survey. Most everyone wanted to see more! Thanks everyone who took it! It was super helpful to me!
So with Christmas this week (!!!) I thought it would be fitting to share a little about the Christmas classic Poinsettias.

Poinsettia
Botanical Name: Euphorbia pulcherrima
Flower: The flowers are not actually the bright red, white or pink you clearly see on a Poinsettia. Those are called bracts, which are modified leaves. The flowers are the little yellow dots you see in the middle of the cluster of bracts. Very unshowy.
Leaves: Dark green leaves growing to about 7 inches long. The bracts, which need 12 hours of darkness for at least 5 days in a row to change color, come in red, pink, white, burgundy or marbled. The bracts are what make Poinsettias showy.
Meaning: To bring cheer

These plants are native to Mexico and grow as perennials (the same plant growing year after year) there. Our typical Christmas plant is actually a tropical one. I found that really interesting when I first learned that. They grow wild in the tropical forests!

I hope you are all ready for Christmas and not running around for last minute things! Enjoy the week!
xo

December 17, 2014

Our Christmas Tree

During this time of year, I love just sitting around the tree and looking at all of the lights and the ornaments and remembering the stories and times that go with each one. The only thing that would make it better is if there was snow falling outside, but we don't get much of that stuff here. I love the look of the trees with all of the same baubles and also love the trees that don't have 2 of the same ornaments. This tree has ornaments that are over 30 years old, each one bringing you back to a time before. I love that I can remember putting up the same ornaments back when I was five years old.