Winter Outside; Spring Inside!

Brandon had been bored the whole winter without me while I was having sunshine and great food on the other side of the world (hehe) so I'd better reward him. We had been waiting anxiously for March to come because of the annual Chicago Flower and Garden Show. The picture above was my request from a nice guy. I made sure he got the banner behind us. He did pretty good I guess? You can't take it for granted that people actually know how to take a clear photo :P

We didn't have the most beautiful Sunday that day plus the temperature was still below the freezing point. But it really didn't matter. That was the point of our trip anyway. We were gonna stay indoors ALL DAY! It gets so boring in the U.S. in the long winter if you can't come up with something to do indoors other than staying home and going to movies. I have told my sisters once I had never known I could find such excitement looking at flowers until I had moved away from Hong Kong. But at least this excitement is not an act (for now?). It comes straight from my heart! :P

Every time we drive past downtown Chicago I think of Hong Kong's Central.

I like this view. You can see Navy Pier, where the show was held. You can also see the 150-foot high Ferris wheel. We had been on it once. It's really cool!

If you ever get a chance to visit Chicago in March. I would recommend you to go to the show. Even if you aren't that into flowers, they have got some landscaping designs and a pretty relaxing environment for walking around and sitting around. Tickets were a bit high. You can get a discount to purchase them online.

Brandon couldn't wait to use his DSLR again. If you think his camera is too professional for the day you would have to see this guy we saw - he had two cameras hanging on his chest with big lenses ...

Tulips were one of the highlights. My favorite!

They had displays of outdoor furniture and gazebos. I had Brandon sit there, close his eyes and imagine it was ours.

These were part of the landscaping displays I mentioned earlier.

I liked this waterfall. They really tried to make the indoors feel like outdoors. 

Why did they have flowers in the drawers? They have a theme each year. This year's theme was related to 4Rs so they showed you how to implement this theme with gardening. So I guess if you bring children there it could be pretty educational too.

Not so sure why these were there but of course we wouldn't miss any chances of being goofy.

These frames were pretty cute for photo shooting :)

While relaxing on "our" couch, I didn't know he could take our selfie on the DSLR. I officially told him he is good! :)

They had some uncommon displays too like this rooster house with an actual rooster in there ... 

And an unusual looking fish tank on a table. Would you be tempted to reach your hand in the water? You probably shouldn't but I was and I did, hehe :P

Treating ourselves to a coconut and pineapple smoothie. I think I have got addicted to smoothie and frozen yogurt. I am thirsty/ hungry for these no matter how cold the days are!

At the other side of the venue it was a totally different world - they sold flowers, food and other very unrelated items like bathtubs? ! That was my least favorite part.

We didn't buy any flowers although they were so nice. We took a picture which could last forever, hehe! :D

☺ THANKS FOR READING! YOU MAY ALSO WANT TO READ OUR LAST YEAR'S VISIT AT THE SHOW.