First Taste of Summer

I feel like its been a long time since I have posted an outfit. Not cool. So here I am! Last week we had some gorgeous weather! Like mid 70s, low 80s weather. I even got a little tiny bit of color. When the temperature hits 80 degrees in western Washington, it becomes too hot. Im one of those that just cannot handle the heat. I am definitely from the west side of the state. While western WA is dying in 80 degrees, eastern WA is thriving. Its a desert over there. Normal summer temps are in the 90s. I don't know how I spent 3 summers over there.
So, who is like me out there and can't handle the high temperatures?

And don't forget to enter this giveaway!

Outfit Details

Dress || Target

Vest || Thrifted

Sandals || Forever 21

Bracelet || My mom made it

Fresh From the Field Wedding Flowers || Giveaway!

I am so excited to write this post for you guys but have no idea where to start, I have so much I want to say! So I'll just start from the beginning :)

I know that some of you are new readers, (Hello there!) and may not know that I have a degree in Landscape, Nursery and Greenhouse Management and a certificate in Organic Agriculture from WSU... Go Cougs! So, I love watching things grow and creating gorgeous outdoor areas and working with flowers and plants of all kind. I thought I wanted to work in a nursery, and I did for 3 amazing summers, but during that time I realized I had some major love for the flowers and desperately wanted to create gorgeous bouquets and arrangements and garlands and flower crowns and anything else I could. So I started researching floral design and different florists. I came across the incredible world of farmer florists that I had no idea existed. And I became obsessed with this idea.

The first farmer florist I came across was Erin Benzakein from Floret. I was so unbelievably excited to find out that she was a florist that grew her own flowers, she had a blog and she was from Skagit Valley. 1 hour away from me! Its always amazing to find someone local. This discovery led me to many other flower farmers and floral designers and just fueled my desire to learn all I could.

I was so ecstatic to hear that Erin was working on a book with Lynn Byczynski for aspiring flower farmers, floral designers and DIY brides, Fresh From the Field Wedding Flowers. I fit 2 of those categories! I waited patiently for its release and was so grateful when they sent over 2 copies, 1 for me to read and review and 1 to giveaway to one of you! I read the whole book and watched all of the 75 minutes of video (yep! it comes with a DVD!) the day I got it.

This book is all about the local flower movement. Buying and designing with local flowers. It is more geared toward that DIY bride who wants to create her own flowers for the big day. If that is you, I cannot recommend this book enough. I am helping a friend with her wedding in August and this book answered so many questions, some I didn't even know I had. Seriously, you need this book if you are doing your own flowers or helping a friend or family member with theirs. It has everything you need to know about finding, buying and designing with local flora.

If you want to know more about the art of arranging, it covers all of that too. All of the tools you need and the techniques. The DVD is SUPER helpful with this aspect of the book. And have I mentioned the insane amount of gorgeous photos? So much inspiration.

They end it with information on a lot of the popular cut flowers and with a list of different farmers and florists across the country using and growing local flora.

I can't recommend this book enough and am so happy I get to give it to one of my readers! All you have to do is comment telling me what your favorite flower is and make sure you enter through the Rafflecopter below. There are some extra entries you can complete too to increase your chances :)

You can also find Fresh From the Field Wedding Flowers on Facebook and Pinterest.

And don't forget that all ad spots are still FREE for reaching 500 followers! Use code "500".

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Flora Focus || Bluebells & Honesty

Remember that bouquet I made a couple days ago with the wild blue and purple flowers? Im here to tell you a little more about them :) Im pretty sure wild flowers are my favorite. If anybody knows of any wildflower meadows, please point me in its direction. Im dying to find one.

Bluebells
Botanical Name: Hyacinthoides
Flower: Each stem produces 5-12 long, tubular violet-blue flowers with the end of the petal curved backed. Some have a very sweet scent.
Leaf: Long and linear, producing 3-6.
Meaning: Constancy

Honesty
Botanical Name: Lunaria annua
Flower: Violet to white flowers, with round petals in the spring, followed by a showy translucent disc that is the seed pod.
Leaf: Large and oval ending in a point and with serrated edges.
Meaning: Honesty

500 Followers || Free Sponsor Spots

I can't believe this post is here already! Pretty Lovely has reached 500 Bloglovin and GFC followers! Thank you so so much! And a BIG hello to all my new readers! I am so so glad to have you here! To thank ALL off you, ALL of my sponsor spots are FREE. Yep, that includes my large and medium spots. Just use the code "500". Now is the perfect time to sponsor Pretty Lovely at no cost whatsoever. Just a little thank you for being so awesome. In the upcoming weeks and months you can expect to see A LOT of flowers and pretty clothes. Two of my favorites :)

Thank you so so much! 

Roadside Bouquet

Happy Monday! I have been playing with flowers like crazy lately and I kind of love it. All of these ones came from the side of the road. I just couldn't drive on by without picking a few. Do you blame me? This bouquet is made of Lilacs (Syringa vulgaris), Bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) and Annual honesty (Lunaria annua). You'll be able to learn more about these flowers later this week :) Hope this brightens up your Monday a little. Flowers are always good, right?

Casual Sunday

Look at that! A sunday post, I kinda like it. The past 2 weeks have been less than normal, not bad in any way, just not my usual routine, so I'm getting back into the swing of things again. This outfit was my running errands outfit. Something comfortable and easy. For these pictures, I literally stopped on the side of the road in a field. Just a super casual, everything on the go day. I then came home and played in the garden. The perfect way to end a day.

Outfit Details

Jacket || Nordstrom

Top || Kohls

Pants || Old Navy

Shoes || Target

Necklace ℅ Ali Oesch 

Flora Focus || Forget-Me-Not & Evergreen Candytuft

Hello there! I've got two flowering ground covers for you today that are in bloom right now! The evergreen candytuft I planted last summer after it had already flowered, so I'm really happy to see it in all its glory this year. The forget-me-nots came to us from our neighbors yard, it decided it wanted to creep underneath the fence and start growing in our yard. I am perfectly ok with that!

Forget-Me-Not
Botanical Name: Myosotis
Flower: Small, 1 cm or less, blue, pink or white flowers with yellow centers. Most have 5 petals.
Leaf: Oblong in shape about 1" to 3" in length and about 3/4" wide. Covered in tiny little hairs, giving it a fuzzy feeling.
Meaning: Memories

Evergreen candytuft
Botanical Name: Iberis sempervirens
Flower: Clusters of small white flowers with 4 petals, 2 of them larger than the others. Clusters a=can be 1 inch wide and cover the whole plant.
Leaf: 1 inch long by 1/4 inch wide, arranged alternately on the long semi woody stem.
Meaning: Indifference