Charlottesville for the 4th

My parents and I decided to take a day trip to Charlottesville this 4th of July, and it was such a great day! There was rain in the forecast, but it thankfully didn't hit us until we were on our way home.

The Charlottesville City Market is a GREAT farmer's market-- we ended up with some black raspberries (we made them into a muddled berry/simple syrup that made for some EXCELLENT vodka tonics), sour cherries (that Mom turned into the most delicious mixed berry cobbler that we topped with ice cream), lettuce (we made Asian shrimp lettuce wraps that I unashamedly devoured), corn on the cob (because it's just necessary on the 4th), and really yummy vegan/gluten-free crackers.

Charlottesville's Downtown Mall has some adorable little shops, too! I love wandering through bookstores and shops full of paper goods...and I showed such good self-control surprisingly!

One of my bucket list items for this year was to go wine tasting at a new vineyard, so we checked out Pippin Hill Farm and Vineyard! It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. I would love to live in a place like that. It's confirmed now that I love love love dry wines and prefer reds to whites, and it was fun getting to try five of Pippin Hill's wines. If anyone needs a wedding spot, CHECK THIS OUT right now. It would be perfect.

Our trip home was slightly scary at points with the crazy rain and storms, but we stopped at a MASSIVE antique store where I finally found a globe I love (I've been looking for ages!) and a really cool vintage metal tin to store art supplies-- nothing like some antique bargains!

Hope you all had a fabulous Independence Day weekend celebrating our beautiful country, and that WORLD CUP WIN too!