Pretty Little Balcony

I finally finished my appellate brief, and my whole world is looking a little brighter and happier now that it's done! I hadn't even showered in 48 hours by the time I turned it in, so (needless to say) it was REALLY nice to get it done and rejoin the real world. I celebrated by taking a trip to the outlet mall this morning, and I found some lovely things at the Banana Republic store! 

Moving along with today's theme of things being brighter and happier, we've recently been working on some little updates to our balcony, and I'm so in love with it! This big covered balcony was one of the main reasons we picked our apartment, and it's just so nice to enjoy it with the nice weather we've been having lately! Here's the seating area...

I found those pillows at Target, and I was so excited to take a photo that I didn't even take the tags off! Haha.

Little hostas. We used to have some little palms in these pots, but they got pretty crippled by the freezes we had this year. We bundled them up in towels and sheets, but they still didn't quite make it. So now we have these! They've grown a TON since we bought them two weeks ago, so hopefully they'll fill out the space a little more soon!

Nothing says "spring!" like a cute little flower!

And this replaces the tree we lost in the freeze! Lesson learned: don't bother with towels and sheets - just bring the potted plants inside, even if you live on a courtyard that usually stays pretty insulated and the plants are super-close to the house. Gah.

And of course, here we have our collegiate decor and our Texas cross!

I have to admit, this balcony is something we'll truly be giving up when we someday buy a house (speaking of which, depending on how the next week of my life goes, I may or may not have news related to that soon...). It's just so nice to sit and relax and look out at this courtyard with its pretty palms and its trickling fountain noises. I enjoyed a bowl of strawberry cheesecake ice cream out there the other day, and it was just total bliss. I LOVE spring! This time of the year in Texas is just so pretty!

Anyone else doing springtime updates? Wanna come over and share a pitcher of margaritas on our balcony? :o)