Surprises in Dixon

Sometimes you can have the best thought out plan for a fun day and life surprises you.  Yesterday was one of those moments.  You pick the perfect brunch place, the spot on outfit and gather the right trio of gals.  I'll set the scene.  

It was a typical Marina Saturday.  Brunch @ Rose's or Rosie's as my mom likes to call it, where my order is typically routine.  You guessed it, green eggs with a side of iced coffee.  We were celebrating a belated birthday and my upcoming lucky double 3 so a few pastries were also necessary.  The mission: sunflowers.  The outfit: I decided on a gingham off the shoulder number with a red leather that is my current obsession as I wait for Fall in the city.  #ItsBanana and you need it on your body.  The accessory: my shaggy friend below, a raffia bag with embroidered stars my sister surprised me with after planning her San Diego Bachelorette adventure.  I was ready for the perfect photo op among a sea of happy florals in the distant farm town of Dixon.  Or so I thought.

Brunch was filled with moments of laughter, a chocolate croissant and gifts that made me realize I am pretty predictable and my current favorites are very clear to those around me.  Three words:  Flamingos, cacti & gold.  But more to come on those later.

Getting out of the city for a spontaneous road trip isn't my typical weekend agenda.  The Field of Sunflowers looked magical and the perfect backdrop for the gingham I had carefully selected for flower photo fun.  As we approached the trail to what was sunflower mecca, we turned on the desolate road to find the first patch of sunflowers as dry, sad stems.  Immediate heartbreak set in the car.  We figured hey, maybe it's the first batch, the good ones are at the end of the road and our optimism was still high.  As we continued down the path, it became evident that well into August, the sunflowers decide to peace out and 2/3 of the car broke into immediate laughter.  We missed the season by 2 weeks.  The old Tay as my sister called her at dinner last night would have been so upset and dwelled on the fact that she didn't get to the final outcome her heart was set on.  Instead, the moment will always be a memory of a time when I drove to Dixon with two of my favorite gals in search of sunflowers and all I came back with was a Starbucks.  

The best part of the day was a snowglobe.  A flamingo snowglobe.  Yes, you read that correctly and it's something I never knew I needed which is why you know you have friends for life when they surprise you and it's you to a T.  If you see me walking around with it on Chestnut, I don't need to be checked into an asylum, I probably just couldn't part with it that day.  I was completely giddy after meeting my new toy and might as well be turning 5 as I couldn't stop holding it on our drive back.  I am obsessed.  It pairs well with a calculator I rarely use to crunch numbers but just looks so coordinated atop my desk.  ​​

The other decorative gift standout is four easy letters, L-O-V-E.  The first thing I thought of was the scene in the Sex & The City movie where Carrie has a small gold keychain with that simple but powerful word.  It now sits at my window with rotating succulents.  When I walk into my apartment, there she is.  That's love.  And I'm bringing it to me all day long.  

Hope your Sunday is filled with adventure, maybe a few kinks but most of all laughs.  That's the irony of life sometimes, right?  You can find beauty in the most unexpected of ways and in disappointment, a chance to do it all over again when the time is right.  

No "flowers" were harmed in the writing of this post.  Luckily, 11 months of planning to visit these stems in July calls for plenty of outfit options and photoshoot strategies.