Gardens of the World

One of my favorite things about living in Thousand Oaks is the abundance of parks here (second only to the proximity to a j.crew store). There are 4 parks and a botanical garden just running distance away from my apartment. And if I'm willing to drive during the weekend, I'm only a couple of freeway exits from the Gardens of the World.

The gardens are just beautiful. Every time I go I ask myself why I don't go every weekend. The admission is free, it's small but not crowded at all, and it's privately owned by a T.O. business owner. How awesome?! I would love to be able to provide something like that for my city one day.

Spotted: a dragonfly!

There is an Italian Garden, a French Garden, a Mission Courtyard (with citrus trees!), a Japanese Garden, and a Rose Garden. I usually pack a lunch to eat in the rose garden on one of the benches in the shade. But this time I took my camera and practiced taking photos! I love how some of them turned out.

There are two fountains: one in the Italian garden, and a grandiose one in the French garden. Both are fantastic, I love hearing the rushing water.

The gardens are full of butterflies, birds, and bees. I try not to mind the bees too much. I used to be deathly afraid of bees, but I really have gotten better since I started coming here. The songbirds are awesome. I'm really terrible at telling what kind of bird I'm seeing/hearing. I tried to educate myself. I even got a bird clock - yes! I love it, and I can tell what time it is by hearing the chirp. But I still can't, for the life of me, remember what kind of bird makes that sound.