My visit to Descanso Gardens was very serendipitous. My friend, Treya and I went on a Saturday morning. We picked up tickets at the ticket booth for regular admission and for the little train ride of the the grounds that they offer.
Of course we had no idea what was in store for us when it came to the little train ride, emphasis on little. As we walked into the gardens we saw a set of miniature train tracks and joked about our train ride being on a mini train. Little did we know our joke was in fact the truth. As we followed the signs to the train we laid eyes on the most darling yellow miniature train. It was scattered with children and their guardians. Of course being a kid at heart and ready for adventure we jumped on the train. The train ride was so cute, I mean like totally adorable and around 6 minutes long. It was perfect because it gave us an exciting little tour of the gardens. All the kids were bouncing around and folks not on the train stopped and waved to all of us on the train. It was so fun.
We were at the gardens for roughly three hours. We enjoyed The Rose Garden, The Japanese Gardens, The California Gardens, The Ancient Crest, Oaks Forest and Camellia Collections. We also visited the Sturt Haaga Gallery that had three different room art installations. First there was all pink room that was just so delicate and fun. There was a wig wall in the pink room and furry pink seats and eclectic pieces hanging from the ceiling, some of which were made of stockings.
Then there was a bells and chime room that you could choose to interact with the bells or just let them perform their magic. They played on their own some beautiful tunes. I felt like I was in a magical sound bath. Lastly, there was a room with charcoal rocks on the floor and a really cool red art installation that turned out to be cardboard. The echoes and sound definition in this room was out of this world. I felt like I was transported to Mars. The three rooms were part of my favorite moments in the gardens.
There were endless spots for me and Treya to capture some picture perfect moments. I adored the Rose Gardens especially and the Pink room in the Sturt Haaga Gallery for pictures. The Japanese Garden was serene and was full of koi fish living their best life. That was also a great picture moment as well.
The gardens were teaming with small children and teenagers and we got so many compliments. This one group of teenage girls ran up to us to tell us how beautiful we looked and when we replied they themselves were beautiful they giggled, shrieked and ran away exclaiming they couldn't believe we thought they were beautiful.
We were also approached by a photographer when we first entered the gardens who loved my fairy princess dress and asked if it was alright if he was our incognito photographer for the day. He followed us around and got some of the images you see in this post including so many more not included in this post that are behind the scenes of me and Treya's adventure in the gardens. His name was Bennie and he was so kind and it was such a serendipitous connection as he frequents the gardens on a weekly basis and showed us all the hidden beautiful delicacies of the garden. He was our tour guide for the morning/afternoon.
So for the fun part, What am I wearing? As you can see I am wearing a fairytale pink dress. It was one of the dresses featured in Doll's Kill: Wizard of Oz collaboration. It has the most form fitting ballet pink corset bodice, and bubble gum pink full bodied skirt and puffy shoulders that give the look of wings. And the dress is adorned with glitter throughout and made of my favorite organza material. It's light and airy and really feels like you stepped out of a fairytale. And it really spoke to me when I discovered it because I am in a fairy princess era of my life, as you can probably already tell. I decided to pair this glittery fabulousness of a dress with my glass slipper heeled sandals with a furry trim to complete the look. I felt like I was one step away from clicking my heels together to magically appear home. I felt like Tinkerbell in the world of The Wizard of Oz.
Well, I hope you enjoyed hearing about Descanso Gardens and enjoyed the photos of this fun, fabulous dress and decide to check out Descanso Gardens for yourself. It's a quiet oasis and you could have a ball dressing up and taking pictures just like Treya and I had.