Trip to the outdoor shopping mall

A few days ago I walked down to the outdoor shopping mall by my dorm. It's very small, and the shops are kind of expensive (except for the QFC =) ) but I find it peaceful to just walk around, and there are a lot of families playing on the statues and play structure. It had just stopped raining before I went, so everything was a bit damp but also had the air of new beginnings. This is why I love the rain :)

This is a typical shot of a [whatever this plant is, it looks a bit like cabbage...]. But I really liked the white leaves and contrasting purple veins. I've never seen a plant like this before!

This is something like a purple version of the plant above. But the leaves were different. This one's leaves remind me of Italian parsley (I should mention that I like food, too). To make this shot a bit more interesting than just another plant, I decided to take a picture from the side, focusing on the leaves' textured edges. I like what I could get focused. Looking back, I realize that if I had everything in focus, it would have been too busy. But I think this could be cropped or something...

Lights on a tree, looking from the bottom.

I didn't notice it until I was right next to it, but there are these tiny little metal (brass?) cast frogs! They are so cute! They were positioned in pairs facing each other and interacting, next to the outdoor cafe tables. I think the frog looks a little warped or off balance in this picture, but I liked the water droplets on its back, and the differing colors it creates.

There were cacti on one of the outdoor cafe tables. I LOVE cacti (I have a jade plant named Sula--short for it's latin name Crassula Ovata), and this one was interesting, regarding color and leaf shape (they looked like hearts!)

I just saw this security guard walking by, and noticed he was carrying a bunch of the complimentary bright yellow umbrellas. I assume he was re-distributing them evenly to all the umbrella stands around the mall. Apparently that's what security guards do when they aren't fighting crime :)