*I was recently interviewed by the wonderful Daddy Dan over at his blog. My interview is posted today, so go check it out! While you're there, check out some of the other great interviews he's done...it's a great way to find a new blog to read! Also, be sure to check out pictures of his son, 'Babito'. He's so adorable and makes me realize that maybe having a baby boy won't be so bad after all!*
I consider Jonathan and I very lucky because not only are we very close to our parents, but we also love our respective in-laws as well. I think that has a lot to do with the fact that I'm very much like Jon's mother and in turn, he is very much like my father. I guess what they say is true; girls marry men who are similar to their dads and men marry women who are similar to their moms.
We're only an hour away from my parents in Maryland and about three hours from Jon's parents in Pennsylvania so we get to see our parents quite frequently. Because we're so close to our parents, Jon and I have decided to move to Maryland rather than moving South in a year because we want to be near our parents once we start having babies. Though we were seriously considering the Carolinas, we feel that family is definitely more important than a warmer climate and a bigger home.
This weekend, Jon's parents were in town to visit us, so we decided to take them to one of the local wineries for a wine tasting. Virginia has a reputation for making great wines and there are plenty to choose from just within a half hour's drive from us. We figured we would combine our wine tasting with a shopping trip at the outlets (of course!), so we settled on Tarara Winery for our tasting.
You wouldn't believe how beautiful it is out there, especially because you're just about 35 miles away from DC. There are farms and forests and fruit and vegetable stands all along the road. We ended up doing two flights of tastings, one with their Reserve wines (fancy) and the other with their everyday wines (cheaper). I have to admit, the Reserve wines definitely tasted better, but the everyday wines were also quite delicious. Oh, and get this...their winemaker has a blog! No wonder I like their wine! In addition to grapes, Tarara also grows other fruits and they're currently in blackberry season. Their best-selling wine is actually made with blackberries but it was a bit sweet for my liking.
They also have apple orchards and I was surprised to see that apple picking season is almost upon us. As I've mentioned before, I'm definitely ready for autumn and all of the lovely things that come with it, but where did the summer go? I mean, goodness, we're already into apple picking season? We're definitely coming back for it though because believe it or not, Jon makes an awesome homemade apple pie (the only dessert he makes) using his mom's recipe. Pies are the one dessert I have trouble with and I think it's because I get flustered by making the crusts. Apple picking starts in September and his parents have already planned on coming back down to pick some apples with us. Maybe we can even have a pie baking showdown, with Jon versus his mom! I'll be the judge, of course!
On our way home, we stopped at one of the roadside stands to buy some fresh picked fruits and vegetables and we planned our weekly dinner menu around the great stuff we bought. You really can't beat fresh produce, especially tomatoes, so you can bet we're going to have some delicious BLTs this week. Have I ever mentioned my love for bacon? Or tomatoes? I think I could be a vegetarian if not for bacon and when you put it together with a fresh tomato, it's just perfection.
On Sunday, my parents drove down to have brunch with us and Jon's parents before they hit the road back to Pennsylvania. They don't get to see each other very often, so it was nice to get our parents together and enjoy some great food with them. Both sets of parents will be going on the cruise with us in January, so that's probably the next time all of us will be together.
Oh, and I can't finish up without mentioning my bargain of the weekend a la the Outlets. I got a Gap sweatshirt for only $2.95! I was expecting it to ring up for $12 or so, but when it rang up as $2.95 and I actually kind of screamed, "Are you serious?!" I live in sweatshirts since I'm always cold, so this totally made my day. Jon was also quite pleased.
(photo stolen from E-bay)