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!

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).

Good luck, outside the Baltimore Tattoo Museum.

Crabcakes, everywhere.

The Chesapeake, in the Chesapeake Bay.

Waiting.

Ice, custard or happiness? I know what I would pick.

Be open.

Perfect mashed potatoes.

“From the Land of Pleasant Living.”

A few things in Baltimore that inspired me.

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.

Cold and sunny is a good combination.

Like gray and brown, up and down, warm and fuzzy, or light and shade…

Sunday was a gorgeous, sunny winter day. Perfect for a long walk.

The intense blue sky made everything look so beautiful.

Blue skies and bright colors make me happy.

There was a line up people outside 765 Madison Avenue on Sunday night. The reason may have been the Agent Provocateur store opening party. Or, these girls dancing in the shop window.

It was very crowded inside. Had I not dropped something on the floor these great stockings would have gone unnoticed.

One could not miss, however, this six-foot Paris Hilton lookalike.

They were totally playing up the sexy librarian look, with big glasses and red-haired beauties.

I thought this piece was really cute—definitely one of the more modest things on offer.

Great hip-jewelry piece.

The top floor had this big, really great chandelier—and more girls—of course.

I love this set, bull skull decoration and all.

With love in the air and champagne in the glasses it was a good early start to Valentine’s Day

I love the way the sun hits a raindrop-splattered window right after it’s cleared—it’s rainshine—how the golden light hits a white wall and how beautiful a simple piece of chocolate can be in the light of dusk.

Serenity.