This past weekend was one I had been looking forward to for several months now. As a blogger, one of my very favorite parts is getting to know other bloggers, making connections, and eventually friendships. This was the case for Rachel and I toward the end of last year. We share a lot of the same tastes, likes, etc., and our friendship easily unfolded during 2015. Fortunate for us, we both live on the east coast, and not too terribly far away from one another, which meant a meet-up was definitely a must!
We scheduled the date, time, and place, and waited until it arrived. It came faster than I thought it would, and we had the best time getting to meet one another in person and introducing our families. This is how the weekend unfolded...
Winchester, Virginia, was our meet-up destination. With it being equidistant from both of our homes, it made all the sense in the world to pick it. Winchester holds a special place for husband and I as well. It was one of our meet-up locations during the distance part of our relationship. When we arrived Friday night, we knew Thai Winchester would be on the menu for dinner. Curled up on the hotel bed in our pajamas, watching Family Feud (yes, you heard me correctly) we enjoyed a favorite that did not disappoint.
Since we were meeting up later in the day, Saturday morning looked a lot like Hobby Lobby, a place I had never visited until this weekend. I was swooning over all the fall décor they already had out, and even made it out of the store with a couple of purchases. The aisles were like a pumpkin paradise! And it didn't help that the temperatures were cool and the day was rainy. It felt like fall, people! Husband was a total sport though :)
For lunch husband and I found a quaint little diner call the Papermill Place. It was your typical southern food kind of menu in a mom and pop setting. I ordered the potato soup and a country ham sandwich on sourdough bread. It was delicious!
Mid-afternoon rolled around and we found ourselves at the Marker-Miller Orchards and Farm Market to meet Rachel and her family. I have to tell you, I was slightly nervous! Here I was about to meet someone that I had gotten to know fairly well online, through emails, and texts. But, what if I was a disappointment and she didn't like me in-person?! I've got a tendency to feel inadequate at times, and I was praying for an awesome meeting and afternoon/evening together.
Silly me, I had nothing to worry about! Rachel and I picked up like we'd just been together. Our husbands meshed so well, and her boys were nothing short of darling. It was surreal to be face-to-face with one another after months of correspondence and collaborations. Rachel truly was just as genuine and sweet as the gal behind Floral & Fudge, and I feel so lucky for our friendship, both in blogging and outside of it!
We spent a lot of time playing around the orchard. (I'm bummed I didn't back up enough to capture this moment), but you get the picture!
Before heading out, we went inside the market/bakery. I loved the rustic feel inside. A very simple place, it was full of fresh fruits, veggies, and baked goods.
We ended our time there rocking on the front porch, enjoying sparkling cider and apples. Our next destination was the pedestrian mall at Old Town for dinner.
Dinner, brick oven pizza, was had over really great conversation. We talked a lot about blogging and our experiences with it. I've always found it so helpful and encouraging to find someone who knows exactly where you're at in something. And because both of our husbands are as much a part of our blogs as we are, they were able to join in and share their take on it all. It was a really cool way to find new insight and perspective.
Dessert at the Red Fox Creamery followed. I went with coffee ice cream and it was perfection. We spent the rest of our time together talking like old friends and sharing stories. When it came time to leave and head our separate ways, I was sad to see our time come to an end so quickly. But it was such a wonderful experience with really incredible people! Hopefully, we'll find another time to meet up again, but until then we will keep our friendship going the way it started, on the blogs!
Happy Monday!! See you all back here tomorrow with a bumpdate from the second trimester (woohoo!)!
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