What a whirlwind this past week has been! It was spring break for the girls and though they only go to “school” a couple mornings a week, having the entire week free still felt really different. At first I wondered what we’d do, which I’m not sure why I ever question it because somehow we always effortlessly fill our days. Of course we started the week with our much-needed mountain escape, then came back to fill in our days with some of the norm, like bootcamp.

 (picture from snapchat- user name: ahealthyslice – I don’t mean to keep pushing it, but I just am so obsessed with snapchat lately!)

And bouncing around from grocery store to grocery store.

The local Lowe’s Foods just underwent a total overhaul and is freaking awesome. Food Lion is going under renovations right now too and as a store that is close to me and one of my favorites for good prices, I’m pretty pumped about that too.

It’s an exciting time to be alive, my friends.

Ok, ok, we also managed to fit it some fun. We spent an entire day with friends at Birkdale Village.

From hanging out at Barnes and Noble to a picnic on the playground and TCBY, we literally spent over 6 hours hanging out and it was such a fun switch up to our week.

Friday night, David and I got to head into the big city for a date night. We started with dinner at Rooster’s uptown and since they were booked, the only two seats left were at the chef’s table, which is a counter that overlooks the open kitchen.

We freaking loved it! Watching all the cooking and prepping was really fun. It helped us decide what to order, which ended up being a random combination of several small plates.

The mushroom medley was out of this world delicious and we struck up a conversation with the chef about the different types included in the dish. Not only did Chef Major explain all the different mushrooms to us, he invited us back to have a look around the kitchen. This food nerd was psyched! I gave the play by play on snapchat, showing our tour of the walk-in-freezer, grills and prep stations. You have no idea how cool I thought this was.

Thank you Chef Major!

From there, we went to see Once at the Belk Theater. The music in the production was incredible. David and I seriously spent the entire next day trying to find a version of the main song that sounded as amazing as Sam Cieri’s rendition.

All in all, it was such a fun switch up for date night and we even somehow stayed up until 11:30.

We’ve still got it.

Saturday we celebrated the spring opening of Davidson’s Farmers Market!

It feels really refreshing to have the farmers markets opening back up. It seems to happen just at the point where I am in desperate need of inspiration in the kitchen.

We browsed, played and ate King of Pops.

Well, the girls did. I was more interested in the chef demonstration from my favorite restaurant, Kindred.

If you are an aioli fan, it’s worth saving the above picture and making this– delicious!

David had to fly out for work Saturday afternoon, but the girls and I filled the rest of our weekend with more farmers market trips (Josh’s is now open Lake Norman locals!)

and also with yard work, porch cleaning, garden tending (more on that soon) and cooking up our farmers market finds.

Broccoli rabe is my jam. It’s in peak season now and doesn’t last long so get you some!

Last night I crashed into bed at about 9:00 pm, exhausted but exhilarated with the freshness of the new season upon us.

Are you a musical/play fan?

What is the best one you’ve ever seen?

I could go see musicals every weekend; I love them! Wicked in New York was one of my favorite experiences, but I also have fond memories of shows at the FOX Theater in Atlanta. I saw the Sound of Music with my dad there, along with other shows, and loved every single one!