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!

a reunion of sorts

Remember these lovely ladies from last year's first annual "Bloggers who Brunch"? Let me tell you, these gals are awesome. I really feel blessed to have met this group of ladies and I wish we were able to get together more often. This past weekend we enjoyed some time outdoors for a little wine & cheese picnic at my place. We really lucked out with perfect weather for spending time outside...low 70s and mostly sunny. I wish we had gotten a photo of the whole group together, but of course it didn't occur to us until nearly the end after a few people had already left. Honestly, I was enjoying the fellowship so much I almost forgot to snap some photos. Thanks again to Ashley for having the good sense to organize a blogger meet up last year...my life has been richer for it!

And be sure to check out Ashley's photos from our afternoon...

photo date

A couple weekends ago I met up with my good friend, Ashley, for an afternoon photo date. We headed into the town of Leesburg, grabbed some lunch at Shoes Cup and Cork Club and then walked around the town with our cameras. It was an overcast day, but thankfully the rain held so that we could capture some of the beautiful flowers and historic buildings in the area. It was fun to just walk wherever we felt so inclined...there was a lot of "right or left?" followed by a shrug of the shoulders, which was nice since we both weren't on any time crunch. I definitely need to take advantage of the surrounding dc area more often...and make "photo dates" a regular activity on my calendar.

Check out Ashley's awesome photos from our afternoon here.

· national arboretum: part i ·

Last Friday I spent the afternoon with a couple friends touring the national arboretum. I'm a little embarrassed to say I've lived in the dc area my whole life and this is my first time visiting the arboretum. It was the perfect spring day to be there, the weather was sunny and in the high 60s...and the azalea garden was in full bloom! The grounds are gorgeous and obviously well maintained. I have a camera full of photos from our afternoon there...I'll be working my way through them this week and hope to post more photos soon!