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Fall is in full swing, but I want to make one last post to commemorate summer! I did this for the first time this spring and really enjoyed compiling one big seasonal recap, so I hope to make it a regular thing. Join me in reflecting on summer one last time, then I promise I'll join you in celebrating fall!
I kicked off the first day of summer in the Outer Banks - I can't imagine a better way to welcome my favorite season! I did a full trip recap that you can read here.
The first week of July, Kenny and I attended the final wine dinner at the Joshua Wilton House, where we had our wedding reception. They remodeled and reimagined the space this summer, so I knew we had to visit one last time before they changed things up.
We sat at the table where our wedding cake was served! I love the backlit stained glass.
Dinner was delicious as expected, we both liked the pork loin the best which surprised me! Kenny doesn't drink so I drank all of his wine and I was getting VERY loose by the end. 😂
The next day, my mom and I got pedicures and visited the Green Valley Auction House. It's an online auction house but you can visit in person to look at items before they're open for bidding, which I didn't know! After that we went to the pool - it was INSANELY hot that week!
That night we went over to my parents' to watch some pre-4th of July fireworks!
The next day Kenny brought me to this quarry that is essentially right in our backyard but we didn't know existed til this summer. It's beautiful there but it freaks me out!
Afterward, we went to Brix and Columns Vineyard to watch more fireworks. That was on the 3rd of July, and oddly enough, I don't remember what we did on the 4th. 😂 I got a really bad cold that weekend so I guess we were laying low.
We became obsessed with Rita's this summer, this was the first time we tried it! It was gross and stormy out, so kenny picked us up some treats and we watched Love Island.
There's the cutest pick-your-own flower patch at a farm outside of town and my mom loves visiting it. They have such an incredible variety!
She has the best eye for floral arrangements!
I love seeing her latest creation every time I come over. She even has great arrangements in the fall and winter with dried pieces and greenery!
The second weekend in July, we headed down to Roanoke for a funeral. It just so happened that Kenny's best friend and his wife had that same week, so we got to visit them!
Banana pudding ice cream from
Blue Cow - yum!
Mac and Bob's is a downtown Salem institution. We ended up going for lunch and again for dinner with friends. 😂
More ice cream from the Salem Ice Cream Parlor!
Another Rita's and sunset session! That was my favorite way to spend an evening this summer.
We went to Leesburg one Saturday and got talked into ordering a garlic chicken and pickle wrap from an Egyptian street food place. It was SOO good!
We love downtown Leesburg - I often visit
Echelon wine bar for a flight before dinner.
Lots of deck hangs with Roxy!
And lots of Rita's and sunsets. 😎
I have been so blessed with SO many perfect garden tomatoes gifted to me this summer! I've eaten tomato sourdough toast nearly every day... a tomato sandwich is my FAVORITE food on this planet and I vowed to enjoy as many as possible this summer!
We went to a Nats game one Friday which is always a great time!
Nats Park hosts a summer concert series that gives ticketholders access to a post-game concert several times per summer. We saw Jason Derulo and he was SO good!! They had some technical difficulties at the beginning and he just had an impromptu dance-off with some of his dancers while they worked on it. 😂
Many more dirty martinis and tomato toasts on the deck.
Dressed like a picnic blanket for the picnic. 😂 I LOVE this Amazon halter dress - I featured it in this outfit post.
My mom and I spent an afternoon visiting farmer's markets. This one has THE best sweet corn on earth.
Then we had wine and cheese on the deck. I got homemade focaccia at one of the farmer's markets and everyone who saw me holding it raved about how good it was - they were absolutely right! We dipped it in the Trader Joe's bruschetta topping with extra olive oil mixed in and it was such a treat.
Kenny and I visited one of our favorite hotel lobby restaurants,
Taps! I feel like their food has gone downhill over the years, but the ONE reason we go there is for their shoestring fries with red wine ketchup. The ketchup is INCREDIBLE.
We SKREETED into Kline's one Sunday while we were out running errands because we saw the flavor was cookie butter and we wanted to try it. It was good, but I didn't like it as much as a recent cookie butter Blizzard I'd had!
August marked a PIVOTAL MOMENT in the summer! We made friends with our local stray cat! Her name is Lady Liberty because I had a dream that that was her name. 😂 We'd seen her around for several months and she would come up to our door and fight with Roxy through the window, but she'd never let us pet her or even get near her. After a walk one night, Kenny and I saw her laying in the grass and sat near her for a while to see if we could get her to approach us. All of a sudden, a switch flipped and she couldn't get enough attention from us! She's such a love bug and we feed her dinner every night.
I have half days on Fridays at work in the summertime which my mom and I usually spend hanging out since she's a teacher and off during the summer. My summer Fridays end around the same time that she goes back to school, so we went out with a bang with a winery day. We started at
Septenary!
We ended at our favorite spot,
Chiswell, which is conveniently basically right next to Septenary (by a country mile or so). The Meritage and Cab Sauv are my favorites!
A storm rolled by while we were at Chiswell, but the rain just missed us - we still got to enjoy the rainbow, though!
A break from the tomato toasts - my mom made scallion cream cheese and gave me some. so I put it on toast with avocado, cucumber, salt, and pepper, and it was sooooo yummy. I need to make that again soon!
One last summer winery visit - Kenny and I went to Veritas! It was beautiful there but very crowded and I wasn't overly impressed by the wine. I would sooner recommend the nearby Afton Mountain Vineyards. This outfit is featured in this outfit post!
My mom sent me a picture of her latest mini windowsill bouquet while we were out! 💗
After the winery, we met up with my brother and his girlfriend, Carmen, for dinner at
The Local! I got a salty dog cocktail.
I got the lobster and crab pasta which I was super excited for but was just okay. Carmen's grilled branzino on the other hand was incredible! That's not something I would've ordered before, but it's definitely on my radar now.
We headed downtown after dinner and got ice cream and
Chap's. It was packed in there, peak summer night vibes!
The next day, my mom and I headed to the county fair to enter flowers! I look forward to the fair every year, it's so nostalgic for me and the perfect final event of summer before school starts back up. I entered Carmen's flowers on her behalf because she was dog-sitting and couldn't be there - she saw it as a favor, but I wouldn't have missed it for the world!
Six months ago I would've NEVER believed that I'd have Lady Liberty jumping in my lap for head scratches while sitting on the deck!!
I went back to the fair a few days later with my parents to see what flower entries won. Dahlias are my favorite flower and it's always my favorite section to browse!
I have NEVER seen such a color mutation on a dahlia! I saw this one getting entered when my mom and I were doing our entries, and I knew it had to win first place. Yay!
I'm not even sure what category this was, but a single green bean winning first place cracked me UP! I had to take a picture.
A couple of days later, Kenny and I went back to the fair with my brother and Carmen for the rodeo. Carmen and I had car dirty jar-tinis. 😂
The rodeo itself was fairly anticlimactic this year, but we still had a great time.
Another tomato haul from my dad's friend - he sent him home with a box like this once or twice a WEEK!
Kenny and I hiked Crabtree Falls which is one of my very favorite waterfall hikes in Virginia. There were SO many mushrooms, including these purple ones! According to Google they're pretty common, but I've never seen such a thing before!
I was also thrilled to spot some doll's eyes - these are the best ones I've seen!
After the hike, I had a dinner date with my friend Madeline. We got our favorite - Bella Luna! I got the pizza special which was a fresh summer take on gyro flavors.
Our washing machine died, so while we waited on a replacement I did laundry at my parents'. I borrowed one of their laundry baskets to schlep clothes back and forth and Roxy took to it immediately. 😂
I got my mom some incredible local flowers and some of her favorite hand soaps for her first "official" day back to school.
She made magic with them as usual! I LOVE the dahlias, that green zinnia, and the straw flowers.
I kept seeing this random couch in a field so I made Kenny take my photo on it. 😂 He had just gotten in a car wreck right before this, everyone was okay thank goodness but his car is no longer with us...
The next weekend, we had a quivk weekend getaway to Charleston, West Virginia to go to a Jason Aldean concert and visit the New River Gorge National Park! I recapped our trip in
this post.
The night before my birthday, we hiked Bearfence in the Shenandoah National Park for sunset!
On my birthday, I did a whole lot of NOTHING! I took off work and spent the day relaxing on the deck with Roxy. I had more tomato toast, then Kenny and I watched the sunset and got my favorite Thai food. I recapped my birthday weekend(s) in
this post!
The next Friday, we went to an album release show for Kenny's friends' band.
My parents hosted us for a belated birthday dinner with all my favorite summer foods!
Kenny and I visited
Bluestone and
Marceline Vineyards with my brother and Carmen.
Kenny got a new car! I was at my brother's with Carmen watching the Love Island reunion and he came and picked us up for a joy ride. 😂
Dinner at
Woodstock Cafe! They have incredible pastas and THE BEST parker house rolls, oh my goodness.
After dinner, we hit up the Shenandoah County Fair!
The next day, we went to the first JMU football game! There was a CRAZY storm that morning and they ended up pushing the game back. My mom and I were out and about at a local nursery's mum open house and got caught in a torrential downpour on the way home and just kept driving around town looking at the flash flooding. We even saw a fire in someone's backyard that looked like the result of a lightning strike!
More deck martinis and sunsets with Roxy!
And more evening walks with Kenny... This sunset was so crazy with how the light filtered over the peaks of the mountains!
One of our favorite neighborhood cats to run into, Captain Jack. 😻
Lady Liberty comes for dinner most nights now! My brother came for dinner that night too, I tried my hand at New Orleans barbecue shrimp!
The next day, we went to the JMU game and then Texas Roadhouse for dinner. Their fried pickles are my favorite!
That Sunday, my parents and I attended our family reunion. It's always held at a park that has a fire house on the same property, we saw this crazy wrecked car that had been part of a training exercise!
Roxy had great fun for several days with this Amazon box and its paper stuffing. 😂
I never catch Roxy with the blep face so I was thrilled to capture this photo, it's one of my favorites now. 😂
The last weekend of summer, I visited my friend Madeline in Richmond. She has the best taste in interior decor!
Before I visited, I had the idea that Madeline should get a cat. I think everyone should get a cat. 😂 Anyway, long story short, I drug her to the SPCA and she fell in love with the SWEETEST five-month-old kitten "Bicycle" who now goes by Beatrix. They have been inseparable since the moment she came home and I am so excited for both of them!!
I had a great summer and my fall is already off to a great start too. I hope to see you back here in December for a fall recap!
xoxx, Laura
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