kinfolk honey harvest | middleburg, va | part ii

There were so many lovely elements to the Kinfolk honey harvest...beautiful scenery, delicious fresh bread & fruit,
local honey, learning about bees and so many friendly faces.

kinfolk honey harvest | middleburg, va | part i

I have been a fan of Kinfolk magazine since it's inception back in 2011 - the beautiful, yet simple design and photography is what initially drew me to the publication. And then they started hosting events all over the globe and I made it one of my goals to attend at least one event. Fortunately a couple weekends ago I had the opportunity to attend a honey harvest at Goodstone Inn in Middleburg, Va, hosted by the lovely Rebecca Gallop of A Daily Something. Although rain threatened to keep us from visiting the hive, it ended up being a perfect evening, albeit a little humid. I was a little apprehensive to attend an event solo, but I met so many wonderful people and had a truly enjoyable time. Now I'm making it my goal to attend a Kinfolk event any chance I get!

Obviously there was a plethora of photo ops, so I have broken this down into two posts. Part two will be following shortly...

strawberry picking in crozet

A couple weekends ago I had a strawberry picking date with my sister-in-law (and two nieces and a nephew). I have been wanting to go strawberry picking for several years now, but for some reason or another it hasn't quite panned out...until this year. Since my brother's family lives in Charlottesville, I drove out to them and from there we headed out to Chiles Orchard in Crozet, a picturesque town about 15 minutes outside of Charlottesville that sits in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was a perfect afternoon for picking strawberries - mid-70s, no humidity and no crowds. We came home with several (I think about six) boxes full of ripe, bright red berries. I have to admit my main purpose for wanting fresh strawberries is to make freezer jam...my sister-in-law and I stayed up until 2am making numerous batches, which I will be devouring all summer!

time indoors

Forced to stay indoors by Hurricane Sandy, my roommate and I had to find some ways to keep ourselves entertained...so we may have watched both Bridget Jones movies, tried infusing raspberry Jolly Ranchers into vodka, organized my nail polish by color and painted my nails for Halloween.

Thankfully we survived the heavy wind and rain safely and damage-free (minus a small leak in our kitchen). I know we are very fortunate. My thoughts and prayers go out to all those who have been majorly affected by the hurricane.

(nails: Julep in Brandt & Revlon in Sequins)

apartment envy

My friend Elizabeth pretty much lives in the coolest apartment in dc. The building she lives in is a converted school, so there are all these unique features that remind you of the building's past life. Some of my favorite features are the exposed brick walls, concrete floors, high ceilings, tall windows and the widest hall stairwell that I have ever seen! Back in May, Elizabeth had me and my roommate over for some pineapple sangria and chickpea tacos - we were planning our trip to Charleston (which seems so long ago now). One other very cool feature (that I didn't get a good photo of) is the loft space that overlooks the open living room & kitchen area. This small loft space has a cozy reading chair and lamp, so if you're not afraid of heights, this is a nice place to read and relax (or get a birds-eye view of the place like I did for several of these photos). Needless to say, I definitely have apartment envy...

p.s. the second photo is of a glass of sangria from above...pretty cool, huh? Looks like a bubble!

down south

Some more photos from my time in the Charleston area this summer. A few of my favorite things: thunderstorms, vacherin at rue de jean, live music & hat shopping at goorin bros, southern mint tea at cru cafe, crossing the iop connector, and sea oats on isle of palms.