Swoonful Places: York

View of York from the Micklegate Bar

Instead of celebrating Valentine's Day with my sweetheart (who is currently 4,400 miles away), I packed up for a quick weekend trip with friends over to York, an easy train ride from where I live. It was a good distraction from an otherwise terrible day. I even had better internet than in my current place, so our Valentine's Skype-date was nearly HD! 

I had an amazing time in York, I was overwhelmed and jealous of the shops and cafes, in love with the York Castle Museum, and at peace in the Yorkshire Museum Gardens. I often thought to myself during the short stay, "Oh why couldn't I have lived here instead?!" But as the train pulled in to my smaller city, I sighed in relief. There would be no tourists to compete with for taxis. No bustling crowd outside of the rail station. But I did miss my little room at the B&B (with my own TV even!) once I got back to my university accommodation.

I highly recommend a trip to York if you're looking to go. There are a lot of things to see and do, it's quite a tourist-friendly town, and it will leave you with the feeling that you just might want to move there someday. 

xoxo, Kels

Five Tips For Making Your Flowers Last Longer

Just received some flowers for Valentine's day? Got yourself some flowers for Galentine's day (shout-out Parks and Rec fans)? Somehow ended up with flowers? Keep your flowers around for longer with my five tips for making those babies bloom for days. 

shoutout to my boyfriend for managing to send me flowers transatlantically

Tip #1: Cut Them Stems
The minute you are able to, cut about an inch to an inch and a half off of the ends of each stem, making sure to cut at an angle. This gives the flower more surface area to drink up water and I'm sure has other scientific benefits. Regardless, I've been told this by many florists and I swear by it. 

Tip #2: Instructions Are Important
PLEASE don't be that person who throws away instructions. Take that time out after you've read the attached card to read the little instruction booklet. Chances are, your flowers shouldn't be exposed to direct sunlight, kept too hot, and may need their water changed more often than usual. Keep these instructions in mind for the next week or so that your flowers hang around. 

Tip #3: Flower Food
Don't throw away the flower food! Florists put that nutrient-rich mixture in there for a reason. After you've cut your stems, put the flower food in your vase, fill the vase with water, and pop in those pretties. 

Tip #4: Change Change Change
After three days you are going to want to change the water. See instructions or Google the flower type to see if you need to change it more regularly. Obviously if the water is becoming murky or green you need to change it pretty quickly to avoid bacteria killing your flowers. As you change your flowers, if you notice a dead one or some that have wilted, just go ahead and remove them. Each time you change the water in your vase, or change vases, cut a little bit off the ends of your stems to keep them fresh.

Tip #5: Anything Is A Vase
As your bouquet becomes smaller the more often you change the water and weed out the wilted ones (try saying that ten times fast!), feel free to experiment with your vases. I received a lovely bouquet from my boyfriend and at first had them in a typical vase. However, as I had to throw out filler bits and wilted flowers, I found that the vase allowed my smaller bouquet too much room to spread. What do you do? Use a pilsner glass of course! Seriously, these make great vases for small bouquets. Each time you change the water, get rid of wilted flowers, and cut the stems on the good ones, you're probably going to need a smaller and shorter vase. Feel free to play with these shapes and sizes. Use a mason jar, a large bowl with the flowers fanned out, you could even keep a saucer with the last flower or two by your bedside to savour those last blooms. 

I hope you find these tips helpful. I'm no flower expert, but I have handled a lot of bouquets in my life and these tips have really helped me enjoy flowers longer. Let me know what you do to keep flowers fresh in the comments below! What's your favorite flower? Mine are tulips :)

xoxo, Kels