Butterfly Town, U.S.A.

One of my favorite things about visiting my parents' home in Northern Virginia is sitting on their back deck and basking in the greenery that doesn't exist in New York.  (Well, outside of Central Park.)  Naturally, it was one of the things about this past weekend in Monterey that I enjoyed the most - there was so much nature I felt like I was in a National Geographic series.

My parents have an abundance of different plant life in their garden, including bushes with conical clusters of saturated blue, pink, and purple flowers.  Butterfly bushes, like the insect they're named after, are bright, colorful, irresistibly beautiful, and happen to permeate the entire city of Monterey.  In every single part of the city we visited, whether in the busiest shopping districts or the more remote parts of the Pebble Beach forest, these bright purpley blue flowers poked their heads out to remind us that yes, there's a reason Monterey is called "Butterfly Town U.S.A."

Quite simply put, I was in heaven.

It was the icing on the cake of what was already an amazing weekend:

1) My baby brother got married to an amazing woman.

2) The Mr. and I got a break from work, the crowdedness of Manhattan, and life.

3) I actually pulled off a pretty good-looking (and tasting) wedding cake!

If it were in any way possible, I would have packed bushels of bushes in my duffel bag to smuggle back to the city with me.  Alas, I think my packing skills are limited to buttercreamed cakes and fondant; for now these pictures will have to do.  (Or maybe a visit to Virginia is in order ...)