Girls Weekend

Once a year...at least...I try to have a little "girl time" with a buddy of mine. This has been going on for quite some time now.
This time there were even more good reasons to make the time....between her recent illness and the loss of a much loved pet. Sooo....while I'm not a fan of the drive up to Maine....I headed out on Friday afternoon. Even with daylight saving time I still managed to get there before dark!!
What a fun weekend. Ann really knows how to plan activities to keep us busy. Another one of her friends, Kathi, came over the first night to have dinner with us (which she provided) and enjoy a movie. The movie was a bit of a dud....but the conversation and wine made up for that.
The next day we started with two farmers markets!! Amazing collections of produce and assorted yumminess along with live music. Not a bad way to start the day. From there we did a bit of shopping (yes, some paper purchases were involved) right down to driving out into the wilderness to purchase an item from a person right from their home. Gives a whole new meaning to "cottage industry"...lol  Afterward there was some arts & crafts time at the house while dinner was made using some of that fresh produce.

The next morning we were off after picking up Kathi to see the elephants in Hope, Maine.....Opal & Rosie. It is a tiny preserve but incredibly interesting. Nice to see some very old elephants in poor health being taken care of so well. Great job!!
Later we drove over to Rockland, Maine to a place Ann had been dying to take me. It is "Fiore"...an amazing artisan olive oil & vinegar shop. Wow....was way more than I expected. I've honestly never seen so many varieties of oil & vinegar before!! They have tiny little paper cups for you to go around tasting anything that sounds interesting to you. I had my doubts about actually tasting so much of this...but before long...I was into it!! The people there we quite knowledgeable and friendly and were able to answer any questions. When you decide what you'd like...they bottle it right there in front of you!!
I came home with a tangerine vinegar, a lemon vinegar, a Tuscan herb oil and a garlic oil. I already see tons of use for these. In fact...I just used the lemon vinegar along with the Tuscan oil this evening to make a dressing for our dinner salad....and it was amazing!!! We both went back for seconds!!
What a fun weekend. Ann...it was soo good to see you....even if you did give me a new "Fiore" addiction.
Seriously....if you can....go take a girls weekend. It's good for you!!