Graysmarsh U-Pick Berry and Lavender Farm

On Saturday, we went to the Graysmarsh farm in Sequim, where you can pick your own raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, loganberries, blackberries, boysenberries, artichokes, lavender, and who knows what else! It was SO much fun; this is one of the places we went on the day we got engaged last year, so we’ve decided to try to make it a yearly tradition to come.

I tried to discover a little more about the farm, but the only thing I can find is that these berry fields were being cultivated as early as 1855. Everything else on their website history page is… not useful to me. Ha! Well, it’s interesting, but it doesn’t tell you anything about how the farm was founded or who started it!

Last year, we only picked lavender. But this year, we decided to pick a ton of raspberries. Oh, my goodness. It was SO hard not to eat as I was picking! The fields smelled of the berries growing there; walking to the raspberry lines, you could smell the ripening strawberries as they baked in the sun. I think that farm should win “best smelling place on earth.”

Seriously.

And after we had picked about five pounds of raspberries, we had to go pick some lavender. I don’t think I’ll ever NOT get a bundle of lavender when we come; reminds me of getting engaged! And also, it smells amazing.

This year, we came for the Lavender Festival, so the farm was considerablly more busy than it was when we came last year. I have never seen so many  tourists in Washington ANYWHERE. Ever. We also heard Indians (from India), Russians, Frenchmen, and Germans, as well as a large number of Asians . It’s so crazy to me that my little home state would be such a touristed area for people who live so far away. I don’t consider Washington to be a very exotic place, so it’s just amazing that people would travel so far to see it!

Does anyone else ever feel that way?

I was very glad, as we took pictures, to see another girl being photographed in lavender as well; made me feel a little less conspicuous. It’s funny, this dress has no purple in it at all, yet I blended so well with the lavender! Must be the  pattern. I snagged this dress because it’s one of my favorite vintage (probably 70’s-80’s) brands, All That Jazz, and I have two other All That Jazz dresses that I love (here, and here). I tend to grab anything I see with that label now, because the dresses are all so floral and they fit me so well.

And you all know I can’t resist a dress that is floral. Plus, it has pockets. I mean… could it get any better?

Oh, but this pattern. I die. I can’t get over how gorgeous it is. I think I’m drawn to florals with a dark  background; like the one I’m wearing, this one, this one… um… yeah. I think I’m hooked. These three dresses are my current favorites. 

I have decided I need to start wearing more flowers in my hair, and I really need to make a few more flower crowns. Especially some delicate ones; I saw a flower crown the other day (I can’t remember where!) that was just a pretty string of small flowers rather than a thick bunch of them, and it was SO gorgeous. Perfect for when you want a little more subtlety.

I also really love the fact that this dress buttons up the back, except that it also likes to UNbutton itself without my permission. I’ll have to figure out how to fix that.

Vintage: dress
Thrifted: belt
Target: sandals
JoAnn’s: Flowers (bobby-pinned to my head. Ha!)

I hope I can start posting more adventure-type posts; it’s difficult, because my husband and I have very different ideas of what a good adventure is. He’s very much into hiking, going to lakes, camping, going to nature parks, and I’m very much for lighthouses, lavender fields (which he likes, thankfully!), pumpkin patches, museums, antique stores… but most of our adventures end up being his kind rather than my kind.

Which is totally fine; I love parks and lakes and camping (hiking, well…), but it’s much harder to do outfit posts when you have to wear jeans. I’m still at a loss as to how to wear jeans attractively yet practically.

Is anyone else getting excited for fall? I know it’s still the middle of summer, but I can’t WAIT for fall. I’m starting to look forward to the cooler weather, the pumpkin patches and corn mazes, apple cider, and dressing in fall colors! The other day I realized that I really want to dress seasonally this year; I SO want my fall wardrobe to be full of maroon, oxblood, mustard, rusty orange, and black. I can’t wait!

But I am also loving the summery weather, so you know. I can’t complain!

Okay, so that big secret I announced two blog posts ago? I wasn’t actually sure if I was supposed to say anything or not, but I’ve seen another blogger say something so I feel freer now to let you all know: most of you probably read Selective Potential (and if you don’t, you SHOULD!). She’s the blogger who inspired me to get more into fashion, and start fashion blogging. I absolutely adore her style, and she will probably always by my absolute favorite.

Well, if you read her blog you know she’s going to take a week-long break in August, and she called for four guest bloggers to post for her. I, of course, jumped at the chance but didn’t expect too much! I mean, I’m sure she got tons of fantastic post ideas from other bloggers, but I opened up my email right before I left work last Wednesday to find she had chosen ME to be one of her four guest bloggers!

I am, as you can probably guess, OVER the moon about it, and I really, really hope that my post and adventure goes as planned! I can’t wait to share it all!

I hope you all have a fantastic Monday!

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