Fresh Flower Fridays

I love flowers. I guess that’s not too unique – what woman doesn’t love flowers, right? But I’ve grown up knowing a bit about flowers because my mom used to work as a sales associate in a florist shop while I was in high school. My dad was a master with flowers, too – my family has always had pretty extensive gardens, but my dad seems to be able to make any plant or flower grow healthy and happy. When I was 16 I worked at the florist shop my mom was working at and learned so much about flowers. They really were floral artists in that shop and I got spoiled by the beauty that surrounded me. And so my love affair with flowers began.

When I lived and worked in San Francisco, one of the things I loved about Fridays (besides the fact that it meant the weekend was almost here) was buying fresh flowers. There was one flower vender in particular at the Embarcadero BART station that would discount his inventory after 4pm on Friday afternoons. I always made sure to stop by his shop and pick up whatever variety of flowers struck my fancy. My ride home was always a little bit happier because I had this beautiful bouquet in my hands.

Once I stopped working in SF, I didn’t buy flowers for myself as regularly, although I did it from time to time. And then once I moved out of the City completely, I almost never bought flowers for myself. I would always forget, or I didn’t think I had the money for it, or I ran out of time, or…

I still bought flowers for myself now and then, but usually only if I was having people over my place and wanted to have it look its best.

Until this summer. I’ve been buying fresh flowers for myself each week, and I’ve loved every minute of it. I usually get them at Safeway or Trader Joe’s or the farmer’s market. I’ve gotten dahlias, peonies, tulips, and sunflowers. I love how they brighten up the room and lift my mood every time I see them. I usually find the flowers on sale, so spending $8-10 a week on myself isn’t too much of a splurge. It feels so good to do something nice for myself. I get so much enjoyment out of them that I have decided to keep this up.

From now on Fridays are going to be Fresh Flower Fridays for me.

Here are this week’s flowers, some beautiful gerbera daisies. 

Advertisements