Chelsea Bird

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have saw that I took a last minute trip last week for work to Southern California. I got there late Wednesday evening, stayed with my best friend, Courtney, in Encinitas for the night, and then hightailed it to nearby Carlsbad for a four-day event that was being held at a local golf course. While I spent most of my days there on the green, I was very fortunate to be able to do and see a few very special things while in the golden state — like head down to the Beverly Hills BHLDN with Courtney where she said, “YES,” to her wedding dress (which was an incredibly special and ugly cry kind of moment!)! Since I can’t really show you any pictures from that trip (top secret until her wedding in October!), I wanted to show you the amazing Carlsbad Flower Fields that Scott and I went to after he made his way into town for the weekend!

During the week before my whirlwind trip, I had started to see photos pop up of this gorgeous place on Instagram — somewhere that I never thought I would end up just a few days later. The Carlsbad Flower Fields are the result of over 85 years of floral cultivation that began when Luther Gage, an early settler, brought Ranunculus seeds to the area and began growing them in his fields near the ocean. Today, there are nearly fifty acres of Giant Tecolote Ranunculus that bloom for approx. six to eight weeks each year, starting at the beginning of March and going until early May. This annual burst of color, which has become a huge part of the area’s local heritage, is said to be one of nature’s official ways of announcing the arrival of spring in Southern California!

Once we entered the fields, there were rows and rows of ranunculus — truthfully, they were as far as the eye could see. Most them were divided by color — purple, red, pink, orange, white, and then there were mixed rows of shades that complemented one another. My favorite mixed bunched look liked a bunch of autumn leaves at their very peak!  

We spent some time walking up down all the different rows and shades of ranunculus and finally stopped here — among many shades of pink that just seemed to make my heart flutter. I’m not usually a very pink kind of lady, if you know what I mean, but this bunch just spoke to me! They were too beautiful to ignore. 

As we made our last loop around the fields, the sweetest lady asked us if we would like a photo together — and of course, we said yes! It was the perfect way to end our time at the flower fields, and will now be the photo that I show our future kids and grandkids one day — hopefully we can bring them all there to take in this beauty together! 

We ended our evening at a local beach, taking in the waves and letting the sand squish between our toes. I’ll save those photos for another day, though! In the meantime, I’ll be posting over on Instagram about the road trip that we’re currently on! We’re spending the weekend in Southern Arizona with some of my family, and I foresee lots of yummy treats and fun at the local fair in our very near future. Happy weekend, friends!

Outfit Details:

 Ray Ban Round Sunglasses                                                                                                                   Madewell Industry Button-Back Top                                                                                             Madewell Tile Jacquard Scarf (on sale!)                                                                                        Madewell High-Riser Skinny Jeans                                                                                                   Classic White Converse

Chelsea xo