Hi wonderful friends! I hope you’re checking in today feeling great. I also hope all of my American friends out there enjoyed a few days away from work and had a fantastic time celebrating the Fourth of July!
Our weekend felt pretty much like a typical weekend and since Ryan worked both Monday and Tuesday, we made the most of his ability to leave the office early and celebrated the Fourth of July together in the late afternoon.
Here are some highlights from the past few days!
Date Night Dinner at Fork
Friday night I planned a date night for me and Ryan that took us to Fork, an intimate restaurant located in an old house just outside of Davidson. (Fact: Friday was the first time I actually put on makeup and did my hair all week.) We’ve been to Fork for brunch before but this was our first dinner experience and it was fabulous! The food was so incredibly delicious (everything has a seasonal and local focus) and I don’t think I can pick a favorite course!
(Wearing: Yumi Kim Ava Silk Romper in Garden Poppy)
We went the small plates route and ordered three appetizers from the menu to share (deviled eggs, crab cakes and a tomato cucumber salad) in addition to our entrees (steak for me and wahoo for Ryan).
We rounded out our date night with his and hers ice cream from a local hot spot before heading home. It felt SO nice to get out just the two of us and we both agreed that date nights like this need to happen more often!
Blackberry Picking
Saturday morning we headed off to Lineberger’s Maple Springs Farm in Dallas, North Carolina for a morning of blackberry picking!
The 40-minute drive was quite pretty and took us along some winding country roads before we arrived at the farm around 10 a.m.
We walked to the produce stand and inquired about berry picking and were told to grab a gallon-size basket to fill for only $9.
(Top: Free People Bodysuit / Shorts: Free People purchased a few years ago via Nordstrom Rack / Bag: French Connection purchased a few years ago via RueLaLa but this $35 vanilla bourbon bag is similar / Sunglasses: Steve Madden)
We headed out back and picked berries and played around the playground equipment with Chase for the next hour or so until the heat told us to wrap it up and seek solace in the air conditioned car.
It was such a fun morning and I’m pretty sure we ate almost as many blackeberries as we picked! They were absolutely huge and so juicy and sweet. So often blackberries are sour and too tart for my taste but Ryan, Chase and couldn’t get enough of them.
Naturally we spent the remainder of the weekend using the blackberries in a myriad of recipes but our favorite was, hands down, The Pioneer Woman’s blackberry cobbler.
We served it with vanilla ice cream and it was the perfect Saturday night dessert!
The Barcelona Burger and Beer Garden
The rest of our Saturday was pretty low key. We mostly hung out at home but made one small outing for dinner at The Barcelona, a new burger and beer garden located in Mooresville.
The hot spot is located right next to Alino Pizzeria, our absolute favorite pizza place, and since the owners are the same, we had high hopes for The Barcelona and couldn’t wait to give it a try.
I ordered the Barcelona classic with a side salad and also shared a side order of sweet potato fries with my boys.
Everything was incredibly tasty and we will absolutely be back!
Sunday Organizing
Our Sunday kicked off on a fun note and we spent the first half of the day on the lake! The second half of the day was a little less exciting but one of those necessary “let’s get our lives together” kind of afternoons that included a trip to Lowe’s and lots of work around the house.
I bought some storage bins for various items and one thing I’m kind of excited about is beginning a “toy rotation” for Chase. I read about this years ago on Caitlin’s blog and thought the idea was genius!
I did a modified version of Caitlin’s technique since Chase is still too young to really understand how it works and plan to cycle a bin of toys in and out of his play area in the living room when it seems like he’s bored with his current selection. I’m hoping that by hiding away some of his toys they’ll seem exciting and new again when we bring them back out again in a couple of weeks!
Fourth of July Fun
Ryan worked most of Monday and Tuesday but left in the early afternoon so we were able to still have some fun as a family both days. Chase and I visited Ryan at work yesterday morning and the minute we walked through the doors of his office Chase said “WOW!” Ha! Clearly we built up Dad’s place of employment an awful lot! (Whenever Chase asks for Ryan when he’s away, I say he’s either at work or exercising because that’s almost always the case, so I think it blew his mind to finally understand where Dad works.)
During our visit, I had a good laugh over this little gem that Ryan has framed in his office from our college dating days!
We said goodbye to Ryan after our short visit and made our way to Birkdale Village where I met up with some friends and their kiddos for a Fourth of July celebration that involved splashing around in the giant spray of water coming from the hose of a local fire truck.
Chase was in heaven and I left with a sopping wet and very happy toddler!
Our evening celebration included watching fireworks in our neighborhood with friends and staying up a little too late but it was well worth it for a little extra summer fun!
I hope you guys enjoyed plenty of time outside with your favorite people over the past few days and I also hope the rest of your week passes by in a flash! Happy (belated) Fourth of July!
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Happy fourth to you guys! The firetruck looks so cool! I’m sure the little guy was in heaven. Have an awesome end to the week!
Thanks, Juliette! Hope you have a great one, too! 🙂
Love that last picture….too cute!! So, while at B&N on Friday with friends, I picked up The Husband’s secret, and even though I got it to read at the beach next week, I’m already at Chapter 14. I can’t put it down…..so good!!! Thanks for the recommendation 🙂
So glad to hear it!! Have you read any of her other books? Almost every one I’ve read by Liane Moriarty is a page-turner!!
Happy 4th! We rotate our little guy’s toys and I love it because he doesn’t get bored and we don’t have 1000 toys out at once, works great!
Blackberry picking looked like so much fun! I was jealous when I saw your Instagram story about it. It’s making me excited to go apple picking this fall.
https://maureengetsreal.wordpress.com/
I cannot wait to pick apples! We missed apple picking season last year and it’s definitely on my radar this fall!!
I missed it last year too! I can’t wait for this fall now.
https://maureengetsreal.wordpress.com/
I’ve been hearing so much about The Barcelona – I can’t wait to try it now! Sounds like the perfect weekend of productive and fun!
So fun! I remember thinking it was so cool to go visit my dad’s work when I was younger and he is a lawyer, so the office was pretty typical corporate-looking stuff, but because MY dad worked there–it was awesome. That cobbler looked delicious! I’m typically more of a fresh, not cooked fruit fan, but I could make an exception 😉
Same here! I remember visiting my mom (a nurse) and my dad (he worked in finance) at work and always thought it was really cool to see where they spent so much time!
Julie, it looks like you guys had an absolutely perfect weekend. Speaking of organization, I’m slightly obsessed right now on how to declutter and get better organized in the hopes that life will feel a bit more manageable if the house is managed. So I’d love to see a post with your tips and how you keep your home organized and guest ready.
Aw happy 4th! i love your blueberry picking outfit! Cant believe Ryan had to work on Tuesday!! Thats the main holiday day off 🙁
It’s not too bad because his work actually offers a flexible holiday schedule for most holidays so if he works that day, he can use it toward vacation another day of the year! If we don’t have many travel plans, he works some holidays so we can take longer vacations together later in the year!
Blackberry picking looks like it was a blast! There’s something so great about eating berries that you picked yourself. And your date night sounds precious 🙂
Ah! Chase is so adorable and looks like such a happy little guy. You guys are making such sweet memories for him!
<3 Thank you, Ginger!!
We love berry picking and eating along the way – ha! It’s also fun to get creative and try new recipes with the fresh fruit. Yum!
Happy 4th of July from Barcelona! 😉
I do toy rotation with my cats toys. Works exactly the same as for little humans!
Have a great rest of the week! 🙂
The toy rotation is awesome! Stick with it! I am always sad when I slack off and then the toy situation gets out of control …
What a fun weekend/holiday. Blackberry picking sounds so fun!
I need to do a toy rotation after doing a major purge of our playroom. We are moving in a couple of months so no time like the present, no? Looks like a fabulous weekend!
It looks like you had such a fun holiday weekend!! Happy 4th to you! Somehow my husband had both Monday & Tuesday off for once, so I am definitely thankful for that! Have a great week, Julie!! Xoxo
That romper is so cute! You always have the best style!
Your blackberry picking pictures remind me that we used to go strawberry picking every summer. It was so fun and then to come home and help my mom make strawberry shortcakes or eat strawberries with cool whip, best summer desserts!
Happy 4th of July to you! Looks like y’all had a fun weekend!
Fresh picked berries are the BEST! My in-laws have some incredible blackberry vines and the blackberries are just starting to get ripe! Can’t wait 🙂
Have a great day!
You guys are so cute! And your camera is KILLING it with these pictures — they are all SO good. As far as burgers — that’s my big pregnancy craving, so I have at least a couple a week. And for cleaning and organizing? I read Marie Kondo’s book an recently did a HUGE purge on our house — feels so good. Happy Wednesday, Julie!!!
i read that book as well! it definitely made me want to get rid of EVERYTHINGGGG. haha!
This sounds like an amazing weekend! I want to try out Fork so bad – it looks like just the kind of place my fiance Chris and I love. Also, I love that picture of you and Ryan from college! Chris also keeps the most random pictures of us on his desk at work – I always ask him about how he chooses them and rotates them out, haha
berry picking is the BEST! and that top/dress from the first photo looks gorgeous on you! glad you had such a wonderful weekend 🙂
This weekend sounds like the perfect mix of activities and down-time! Chase is just the cutest too. Our extended weekend was spent exploring Annapolis, eating delicious food, and hanging poolside with some friends yesterday. It was great, but I’m already itching for the weekend! I love short work weeks!
Blackberry picking looks like it was a hit! I would be right there with Chase and Ryan eating them, they’re so tasty.
Blackberry picking sounds like so much fun! I almost went strawberry picking during June, but unfortunately I had so much studying to do that I had to pass! I regret not going, but I will find another time to go fruit picking!
Such a fun weekend- love that you guys get out for date night, have time as a family and for yourself!
Crab cakes sound so yummy, i have just tried tasting seafood and i love it so i may give these a go x
How cute is little man eating all those blueberries?!
You guys are just the cutest!
Oooo….you’ve got me craving deviled eggs with that pic! Love that photo of your younger dating days on Ryan’s desk, btw, it’s such a cute one!
As always, I enjoy your recaps so much. And I love that you went berry picking! It’s the quintessential summer activity, isn’t it? Like apple picking in the fall.
Hope you’re having a great Thursday, mi lady. 🙂
Hi Julie! I always love coming and reading your blog! 🙂 I wanted to ask how Chase does with babysitters. I notice that you and Ryan don’t have many date nights and neither do my husband and I with a 13 month old at home. Do you usually put Chase down for bed and then go out after or have someone do the bedtime routine with Chase?