Last weekend, we took a walk across the Williamsburg Bridge and checked out some exhibits that were part of the Festival of Ideas for the New City.

Some cool stuff.

Every day should be a festival of ideas, however small they may be. (Like: Walk more, drive less. Brilliant!)

Did you have any good ideas this weekend?

Nature at it’s finest, at the Sakura Matsai cherry blossom festival at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden this weekend. Gorgeousness everywhere I pointed my camera—it was nearly impossible to take a bad picture. Photobomb, flowerbowb, cherry bomb!

Back in January, when I was in Hawaii, we were planning to go horseback riding.

Turns out we should have done the planning-part a little better, because all the rides were full.

Instead, we found this gorgeous path behind the horse ranch, where we made some new horse buddies.

At the end of the path was our reward: a pretty secluded beach.

/// chambray shirt, H&M / old tank, Marshalls / shorts, Roxy / backpack, Fjällräven Kånken / flipflops, Havaianas, from The Standard Spa in Miami ///

It was a misty morning here in NYC, but clearly these images are not from here.

I temporarily misplaced the drive I used to store my newest pics, but instead was happy to find these…

…from another wonderful misty morning, on the Windward side of Oahu.

I miss digging my toes into that cool sand.

And waking up to the sound of nothing but waves crashing on the beach. Total bliss.

Aquariums are wonderlands to me.

Getting to see these amazing creatures is their (somewhat) natural habitats is an amazing thing.

There were all kinds of fishes.

Snakes.

And a giant whale skeleton.

My favorite was this amazing red octopus, but you weren’t allowed to take photos of him, because he’s very sensitive to light. The sharks were also amazing, but they swam too fast (I only have blurry photos).

I spent the latter part of this week in Baltimore, new territory for me. One cold and overcast afternoon I went to explore the Fells Point neighborhood.

Like much I saw of the city there were piers, boats and great old hand painted signage on brick buildings.

Amazingly rich visual texture everywhere you look.

In an attempt to brighten things up underneath the colorless sky I wore my favorite orange coat (which is actually bright orange), bought in Toronto two years ago.

We could have traveled to Fells Point by Water Taxi, but the New Yorker in me enjoys her walks too much.

Even though I am not a big fan of seagulls, they undeniably add a certain ambiance to it all. There were no other people around… perfect picturesque serenity.

Last weekend, I spent some time with my new goat buddies Upstate. Only a week old, they were very curious, and tried to take a bite out of everything in sight (including me).

The older ones just kind of observed.

Except this one, who kept trying to eat my camera strap.

Some goat babies were nursing their mamas.

Others had to be fed using baby bottles, since there had been so many of them in the litter.

The goats were so cute and cuddly.

Ans they also had a donkey friend.

All the goats—and there were a lot of them—seemed very happy. They also managed to somehow untie all our shoe laces.

After the goats were all fed and happy, we went to visit the chickens.

There were a lot of them too.

Inside the barn, under a heat lamp, were some really cute baby chicks, soon to join their friends outside. They just have to get a bit bigger and more tolerant of the cold first.

This was, without a doubt, the best little farm stand in Callicoon, NY.

It’s crazy to think this may all be gone if they allow hydrofracking in Upstate New York. Say NO to fracking!

This adorable baby goat has only been in this world about a week. My heart melted a bit when I got to hold the little creature. Then, it tried to eat my pants. Cute and feisty, such a good way to be…

On our last morning in Palm Springs, we decided to get up early and go to a horse ranch. It’s been at least a decade since I was last on a horse. My Frye boots were perfect for the occasion (wouldn’t want to go riding in flip flops or heels, the only other shoes I had brought). Smiled to myself when thinking about how my Stella McCartney jeans would probably be seriously frowned upon by real cowgirls.

It was 7:45am and there was still a chill in the air.

I love the smell of horses, it reminds me of going to the stables every week for riding school when I was little.

We were going to ride up there, into the canyons, eventually reaching a real desert oasis.

The ranch workers (cowboys?) took the horses out and gave each of us one. Mine was named Jack and liked to walk really close to the horse in front of him (“don’t worry if he trails close, he’s just like that”).

At a leisurely pace we made our way up the mountain. (See mom, I wore a helmet.) Immediately comfortable in the saddle I wondered to myself why I don’t do this more often.

Happy and dusty, we came back to the ranch two hours later. It was warm now, but only 10am—perfect time for brunch. Such a good morning.

Our room in Palm Springs had a patio with doors that led straight from the “bedroom wing” (aka left side of the room) outside. It’s so nice to be able to leave a door open and get fresh air and feel like you’re outdoors without loosing privacy.

Back in NYC, I felt like my balcony was mocking me. Here, you can’t use that oh-so-coveted outdoor space during at least half the year. I need it to be spring, now.

/// vintage tunic from Beacon’s Closet ///