Hothouse Flowers: Spring Disco Queen

Saturday (the 19th) was part 2 of the mini celebrations leading up to my 26th birthday. As my birthday falls on a Tuesday this year, March 22nd, I met up with friends over the weekend. We did the usual dinner/drinks/dancing routine so I made sure to pick a spot to take my photos during the day. My roommate & I headed over to the Garfield Conservatory, essentially a large greenhouse fostering thousands of plants divided into different environs including desert and tropical/rainforest. Sadly it's the only place I could think of in Chicago that would be guaranteed to have flowers & greenery.

Every year I treat myself to a spring dress to wear especially on my birthday. This year was no different and it's definitely the most festive one of them all as this 1970s frock features a dense print of various flowers on the bodice and scattered across the skirt. There are little bows on each sleeve and the skirt is deceptively full, perhaps it used to be worn to the disco?

Best of all is the little floral crown I'm wearing! It's actually a 1960s fascinator made of plastic leaves and flowers. It's all attached to a lucite headband but I also pinned it to my hair so it didn't fall off. Yes, I did wear this to go grocery shopping at Trader Joe's afterwards and even on the El (subway) and bus. Thankfully didn't get any weird stares or comments.

OUTFIT DETAILS

1970s Dress: Knee Deep Vintage, Chicago

1960s Floral Crown: Indiana junk shop

1970s necklace: Garage Sale, Chicago

1950s needlepoint purse: Junk Shop, Chicago

T-Strap Heels: Village Thrift, Chicago

Of course our favorite section was the kid's area. This little bridge reminded me of The Hobbit. It was actually made of plastic!

It's hard to tell but there's actually a waterfall behind me.

There were some behemoth plants in there including this giant banana tree and the palm tree below.

As a kid I always wanted a koi pond in the backyard-- they're just so colorful and calming to watch.

Originally we planned to get dinner at a hip gastropub, Longman & Eagle in Logan Square. Unfortunately when we arrived there was a 3+ hour wait... I've never waited that long for any restaurant including iconic/popular Chicago spots like Kuma's Corner, Hot Doug's and Frontera Grill. I panicked a little but realized Lula Cafe was within walking distance. They fortunately only had a 35 minute wait and we quickly whiled away that time at the bar with some wine.

Funnily enough Albert took me to Lula for my birthday brunch last year. Will Lula be my new birthday tradition? Their food is delicious, they use organic ingredients and change their menu EVERY WEEK so everything is seasonal and fresh. I got the pork belly carbonara (pasta)with escarole, mushroom soffrito, black pepper and pecorino. I also had tastes of the roast duck & garlic sausage and the roast chicken. Sadly two of their desserts were coconut (which I hate) so we shared a few desserts including carrot cake, mango sorbet and rum ice cream.

We took the above photos in a photobooth at Bar Deville. The machine is an old fashioned one but it's a digital strip that comes out, one in color and the other in black & white.