WordArt

First we checked out the American art. We saw so many beautiful and interesting paintings, including a reproduction of a painting of George Washington that we had seen on our trip. We love stuff like that, so we really enjoyed it.

The next building was an exhibit about the history of roses and about how varieties have been developed over the centuries and across the world. There were even smelling-stations, where we were able to smell some different rose varieties that were bred for their scents. It was really cool. We went outside and wrote in our idea books and then Mike took some great pictures with my camera.

Next, we moved into the old-but-newly-renovated conservatory, which is now a giant greenhouse. The main section was the rainforest. It reminded me of some of the places I saw in Costa Rica, with the big trees and big leaves and bright flowers. Mike and I made our way down the spiraling ramp as misters turned on occasionally to keep the “rain forest” nice and humid. This building was full of information and cool ways to learn while we played.

We climbed up from the forest floor to the ground level; where we were able to look at flowers up close to learn more about what the parts are and what they do. I got to tap into my memory of plant biology to explain some of it to Mike. He was super interested in learning it, and he even wrote some things down in his idea book.

The next room we went to in the greenhouse was a learning lab. Here we saw how seeds travel, how pollination works, how animals and plants interact, and about the life stages of a plant. It was pretty much awesome, and my mind was totally blown by how interested Mike was in all of it. I have to say, nerdy guys really catch my attention, and when they are good looking too, that just seals the deal. I guess it just made me so excited to think that someone could actually get me the way he does, and enjoy the things I geek out about. After the learning room, we checked out the cloud forest and the bog room, where we got to learn about carnivorous plants and epiphytes, which are plants that live on other plants, without being parasitic.
Narrowly avoiding death by carnivorous plant, we escaped to the café, were we had some lunch. After that, we snapped a few more photos of some of the beautiful plants and trees and then made our way through the not-yet-blooming rose garden to the Japanese garden.

The Japanese garden is hilly and spread out. A stream divides this garden into two sides and on the far side, there is a display of a traditional tea room. There were a lot of people in this part of the grounds—it is obviously a favorite spot for people who come to the library regularly. Not finding a place to hang out, we continued walking through the Japanese garden. At the northern edge, we walked through another gateway and found ourselves in the beautiful new Chinese garden.
There were many structures in this garden, as well as trees and plants. There were small pagodas with benches inside and some bridges, each with a symbolic name written in both Chinese and English. This garden was also a little crowded, so we searched hard for a perfect spot to sit and enjoy the beauty of the garden. We found a bench of the hillside, overlooking the lake and bridges, and of course all of the people who were savoring the sunshine. We took out our idea books and sketched pictures of what we saw. It was a nice creative time, and something that we had never done before.
Finally, the library closed and docents came around asking everyone to leave. We picked up our things and walked slowly out. It had been an amazing day already. We had so much fun just being together and seeing all of the beautiful things. We saw art, history, and science in a free, open, and beautiful format.

But, our wonderful day together was not nearly over. We drove over to downtown Pasadena, where we planned to hang out and grab some dinner. As I narrated directions and looked for a parking space, Mike told me that we had dinner reservations at 6:30! I had no idea that he had made reservations, so I was totally floored. What a stud, getting us reservations at a nice restaurant and leaving me clueless until the last minute! This day was just getting better and better.

We parked and had some tea, and took a leisurely walk toward the restaurant, falling in love with Pasadena as we went. It was really clean and fun and seemed to have plenty of cool places to hang out. Finally, we arrived at Bistro 45 on Mentor Ave. Although we were terribly underdressed, our beaming smiles and excitement may have caught the mater’di off-guard enough that he graciously escorted us to our seats. I was so excited to be having such a wonderful dinner (I just new it would be wonderful) after an already amazing day. As we sat down, we were given an anniversary card from the restaurant, which was super-sweet. We had our water glasses filled with mineral water while we took in the lovely ambiance. We perused the menu and wine lists and finally determined what we would have. Our server was sweet and patient. We ordered a bottle of Chianti to get us started, along with some fresh homemade ravioli. After much deliberation, Mike ordered the Angus Steak and I ordered the special Duck with orange sauce. When our food arrived, Mike and I were both struck by the perfect presentation and the amazing combination of flavors that we tasted. Everything tasted so wonderful, it was impossible not to finish, although it was very rich. Despite being full, we had to order dessert for our special day. More deliberation. I ordered the “Chocolate Soup”—a chocolate soufflé with hot fudge and vanilla ice cream. Mike got the berry crème brulee with cookies. The funnest part was that our plates had “Happy 1st Anniversary” written in chocolate! It was so special. We took some pictures, talked about how much we like each other, and finally decided to go back toward home.

On the way toward the car, we passed a record shop, so we popped in to look for cheap CDs and cool vinyl. We looked around and each ended up taking home a handful of CDs that we thought we would like. It was a fun little adventure within an adventure.

We walked back to the car and did some math about how soon we would have to be sleeping in order to get up in time for Easter. We had been enjoying our time together so much it was hard to agree to end it, but we would get to celebrate Easter together in the morning; and we both know that we are at our best when well rested.

Mike dropped me off at home, and I quickly fell asleep smiling about the wonderful day that we had. I remembered how excited we were about the weather, and how surprised we were to see George Washington again. I laughed about our pollination lesson and sighed thankfully that Mike did not lose his finger to a carnivorous piece of grass. I giggled thinking about the way Mike says, “You’re so beautiful,” and how it melts my heart every time.

It was a magically wonderful day: a perfect day.

To see more pictures of this day and other photos that I take, please visit my photo gallery by clicking on the "Pictures I Take" link to your right.