Carytown & Maymont Park; Richmond, VA

Two Friday's ago Dani, Matt, Sommer & I made the long trek down to Richmond so that WeThree could have a much needed girls day. We typically try to set aside an entire weekend every year, but with babies, after school activities, new jobs and everything else life has to offer cropping up -- this year it was only a day. We somehow managed to fit A LOT (of food) into twenty-four hours, and had a really fun time in the process.

Originally we had planned to head into D.C. for the Cherry Blossom Festival, but instead we opted to explore the Richmond area. I have had a few friends tell me that I would love Carytown so I was super excited when Chelsey mentioned going there. It really is a neat little self-sufficient area - everything you could need is within walking distance, there are tons of really nice local businesses and honestly, the housing/apartments could not be any cuter. Chelsey just might have convinced me that moving to the South wouldn't be so bad after all. ;)

A lot of the businesses were really unique, like this one. :)

This adorable bakery had tons of cupcake flavors. 

Though I love lemon, I was REALLY excited for the cannoli flavored variety.

It was delicious but I was most impressed by the buttercream icing.

Whyyyy can't I get the hang of buttercream icing!?

Franklin Goose is a really adorable baby/children's store that both of my sisters loved.

They feature a lot of organic items, cloth diapers and sturdy wooden toys.

We all really loved this shop called Mongrel. It was the type of store that carried everything from hilarious cards to entire books dedicated to deviled eggs; cute pink ceramic vases to inappropriate post-its.

These post-its made me laugh out loud. I was tempted, but refrained.

But....you know you've thought about it!

Caffeine break :)

Didn't you just see this picture? No wait, that was cupcakes...

We split up four doughnuts: PB&J (pictured above), Dulche de Leche, sprinkled and a cinnamon/sugar from Dixie Donuts.

We ended up saving them for Sunday morning, and though they would have been better in the moment, I also can't say that they were disappointing in the least. :)

How cute are these teeny houses?! 

A lot of them were set up like the above with two apartments - bottom floor or top floor with porch/balcony. I am in love....

All local grocery store. 

There were SO many grocery stores in the area, prompting me to wonder aloud how they all managed to stay in business. I was quickly reminded of how much this sounded like an Eric Krohn comment - he always wonders aloud on road trips, "WHERE is everybody going!?"

After buying our picnic, we headed to Maymont - a beautiful, sprawling park.

We had our picnic just past this little valley, in the Japanese garden.

Lovely, despite the terrifying fish. 

Beautiful SPRING! (finally) day.

Picnic lunch!

From here we headed through Richmond for a quick tour of the city and then back out to a humongous outdoor shopping center called Short Pump. We split some soup and salad for dinner, and headed home just after eight for some happy mama/bebe reunions. :) Many thanks to Matt and Will for watching the littles for the day! 

Until next time, RVA. :)

**While this post is about our Southern friends, we will continue to have the wonderful and strong city of Boston in our thoughts and hearts. I am praying for a day when these senseless acts of violence will be a thing of the past!! We really do love you, Boston.**