bella italia.

while i was home on my spring break, i went to the philadelphia flower show with two of my really good friends. despite living so close to the city, i have never actually been to it before - its also dumb because for the last 2 years or so i have worked in the floral department of a grocery store. i have always been envious of people who can make really beautiful flower arrangements and who also know what flowers look best together - something that i guess i am slowly getting better at. it definitely helps having my creative genes! but unfortunately i am also somewhat of a perfectionist when it comes to this kind of stuff...so it takes me awhile to complete one.

but anyway...the theme this year for the flower show was italy (!!), making it extra special to go and see it. they had different scenes set up in the style of many of the main cities/regions of italy; florence, rome, venice, milan, tuscany, and the italian riviera. the ideas to set the mood for these areas were so varying - for venice they had an actual gondola, in rome they had real opera singers sign every so often, in milan they had clothes and accessories made out of flowers (one is shown below), and in florence they had real artwork out on easels. the effect of all of these things were really great and reminded me of my trip there.

they also had other scenes/areas set up to display other flowers. there was one section that i recognized every single flower and tree and i wasn't surprised to see that the flowers were provided by a nursery located in bucks county (where i am from)! it was definitely a fun afternoon and i am really glad that i can say that i have been there! we also went to reading terminal market for lunch - which is one of my favorite places in philly. my aunt will be happy to know that i bought a cannoli from termini's (who make the absolute best in the world!)

this was one of my favorite grouping of flowers (above), that was supposed to be representative of venice. i just love the color combinations and the different types of flowers - especially the orange flowers with green centers!

these are just a few of the many pictures that i took (and i would have taken a lot more it if weren't for the fact that i ran out of batteries and they were selling a pack of 4 at the show for $17). but here is a link to more of my photos if you are interested.