This past weekend, we braced ourselves for the not-so-great weather and headed to Sarasota to visit a place of interest: Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. It was gloomy and chilly, but since we didn’t have anything planned, and not wanting to spend another weekend at home, or go shopping, this was our solution.

It was last-minute that I found out that we can visit for free which made it even more enticing and sealed the deal immediately (always love a deal over here!). Otherwise, the tickets are $15 per adult per location; locations are The Downtown Sarasota Campus and the Historic Spanish Point, which is about 30 minutes away. The Downtown Sarasota Campus is smaller, with a more urban-like feel than the Historic Spanish Point which is more relaxed, or “untouched” though still beautiful. For the plant/nature lover (like me), they both are worth exploring at least once, especially if you are lucky enough to catch the orchid-blooming season (we didn’t).

Heads up: From our experience so far, Sarasota traffic is something else, so arm yourself with patience and extra time to get to places. Not sure what the issue is, but our GPS has failed us twice there already — we resorted to Google Maps to get where we needed to after being left stranded, basically. Anyway…

Even though it was chilly, I wanted to wear this gorgeous eyelet dress that has been waiting in my closet for months. I got it at Target a while ago (they made a similar version of it this year as well — I’m sure more styles are coming), and it still surprises me how comfortable and soft it is. Oh, did I mention it has pockets???

I wanted to pair it with espadrilles, but thinking that it might still be wet/muddy from the rain the previous day, I decided to wear it with these flats which are my version of white sneakers (only a few sizes left). Yes, I’ve been wearing them constantly lately as you can see in all my recent outfits on the blog and on Instagram — they’re comfy and go with everything!

If you fancy an eyelet dress for yourself this upcoming spring, check these options I linked below. I love this one a lot, as well as the first and the second ones below but I had to stop myself from getting them as they’re too similar to what I already have. There is a “too much of a good thing”, you know?

Scroll down for more photos of this dress and gardens.

Would you visit these gardens?

xo,

Em