Baby cakes and green souls

Miss Pie turned one yesterday. Without any family in town, and her being so young anyway, we didn't see much point in throwing a big party. Instead, we decided to go somewhere we hadn't been yet and relax. I had visions of a colourful picnic with a box of cupcakes that the Faery and I had made earlier - ripe for cute baby photo opportunities - and consulted my Not For Tourists (L.A.) book.

We decided that the botanical gardens at The Huntington would be perfect. Not too far to drive, and the Children's Garden sounded like fun. Only one problem: a strict no picnics or packed lunch policy. Bummer. We were still keen to get out, though, so we just ate an early lunch and postponed the cupcakes until later in the day. I'm sure Betty Crocker would have understood.

The Huntington is seriously beautiful and we have every intention of going back for more. There's too much to see in one day, especially when there are small kids involved. After exhausting the Children's Garden, we also walked around the Chinese Garden, where we gorged on dim sum at the tea shop. Next was the Japanese Garden, then we finished up at the Desert Garden - which has one of the world's oldest and largest collections of the craziest desert plants you'll ever see. It was otherworldly.

Of course, there were still plenty of cute baby photo ops, but what I really had fun with was prowling around these gardens, giddy with camera in hand as I absorbed the gorgeous scenery. I look forward to seeing these gardens when it isn't winter, but for now, here are some snaps from the day:

It was one of those days that was good for the soul. I always feel lighter after a seeing a good art exhibition, and this was kind of similar. And although we were disappointed at first about the anti-picnicking rules, The Huntington is also strict about dogs, which meant there was no dog shit anywhere to be stepped on. Bonus!