Peter Rabbit Festival

By Laurie Bower Epps

Since nearby Clemson University has a large agricultural department, their free botanical gardens are simply stunning. I've used them for blogs before, but I'd never attended one of their events. Somehow, this Peter Rabbit Festival just spoke to me. Not just for the books, movie, and old school melamine sets, but because the entire series just speaks of Spring. We've been dodging rain storms for months down south, and this event was no exception. Thankfully, just like the Spring Jubilee, the rain held off for a day longer.

Amanda and I have been friends for close to five years now, and we met at the mall of all places. Our kids ducked under the round racks of clothes and were playing like they'd known each other their entire lives. At the time, I sold health insurance, and Amanda works in the healthcare industry, so we had plenty to talk about. She's a graduate of Clemson University, and since the S.C. Botanical Garden is managed by them, one could say she's sort of shown me around. We agreed to go to this particular event because it seemed like it'd be perfect for our preteen girls.

I was really torn whether this should be on my Adventures with Chloe on Tuesdays or here on my fashion blog on Friday's. But there were a lot of activities within the festival. But I didn't feel it'd be complete without a selfie with Peter Rabbit. Other than a paparazzi style cameo of Peter, this was the only picture that I got of Peter Rabbit. It was an unseasonably warm day, so whoever was in the costume, was probably unseasonably hot too. 

This picture was just footsteps from the book signings. I'm friends with one of the authors, and that's how I found Peter.

Another activity was face painting, and my daughter wouldn't rest until she got her face painted. Those of you with preteens, know all too well, how many times my kid was capable of reminding me..... 

As you can see, Chloe chose to have a butterfly painted on her face.

Note: Chloe's Fashion (top & bottom) is  from Arizona Jeans Company which is available at J.C.Penney's. Pullover hoodie is available at Old Navy.

My Fashion

For today's outing, I wanted to be really comfortable, so I'm in my macaroon leggings by Lularoe. My consultant, Lori Powell, hunted the earth for these beauties. My top is from a company called Zenana Premium. I don't know where you get them, but they are available at a storage building place in Iva, SC called A & A Portable Buildings. If you want to use Facebook to look them up, the consultants name is Tonya Stevenson. My top is actually a dress for most people. Just looking at my blog superficially, you can't tell that I'm nearly 6'0" tall. My footwear were my favorite flip-flops by Sketchers that are available at Rack Room Shoes.

I was all about the herbs. I really wanted to get my herb garden going again. This festival gave me the head start I needed. I had an herb garden as a young woman, and loved it. Dare I say, that this one i growing even more successfully? If you guys show an interest, perhaps I'll show you my herb garden now. It's really yielding a lot of herbs.

All and all, it was a lovely day in the beautiful springtime sunshine. A day filled with laughter, friends, and ice cream. If you live in the South, go enjoy the sunshine every time you get the chance.

Until next time, fashion-love's, stay fashionable and be blessed.

Laurie