Mother's Day

I'm gonna be honest here, my mom is absolutely wonderful. Those other two fellas with us are pretty great too but that's another story (p.s. my family is cute)

Yes, we can yell at each other better than most but I promise it's out of love. Mostly, we don't fight though. Mostly we laugh a damn lot because let me tell you...this lady I call mom is HILARIOUS. Maybe you have kids so that you can have someone around with the exact same sense of humor? Maybe not? I think it's a definite perk.

My mum came to visit this weekend, and we totally did it up. Wineries, good food, the great outdoors...it was sort of, kind of perfect. Oh and it was mother's day, almost my mum's birthday, and I finally had my birthday dinner. We went to the wonderful Cucina in Woodstock (If you're from the area you must stop by) and my friend works there and made sure it was an excellent night! Big celebration weekend. We did it right.

Our first outing was to Benmarl Winery, my sweet friend Patti (she works in the hospitality office where I do tours for the school and she's the sweetest, as are all the ladies that work there) told me she worked in the tasting room on weekends so we had to stop by!

For lunch we took Patti's recommendation and ended up at the Raccoon Saloon for a burger.

I loved how they served the bread. 

We split this monster of a burger with jalapenos and sauteed onions, and yes, those are sweet potato fries. They were really spot-on-good!

For mother's day we headed over to Clinton, a farming oasis if you will.

We drove by all the gorgeous farms and I dreamed of living on one, it'll happen.

Mother's day brunch was had at Wild Hive Café. Right when we got there we met these folks. They're regulars and good friends with all the staff. We had a great chat.

They filled us in on the place and introduced us to the man that grows all the grain that they mill into flour and sell at the café. Seriously impressive grains.

Oh yah, and look at their adorable lending library (it's currently under construction)

When we walked into the cafe I instantly fell in love with this sign:

How could you not?

We ogled at all the baked goods made from their very own grains and settled on a savory onion roll while we waited for a table.

I ended up ordering the scramble with kale (LOVE) mushrooms, and onions. It was served with their homemade bread. I couldn't decide on just one kind so I got a slice of the raisin walnut and a slice of the sprouted wheat. mmmm I want to make bread.

Mom got the French (freedom) Toast, made with their wheaty challah bread.

We ate and modeled a little.

I love this picture my mom took of me with the flower in focus. Artsy, eh?

Oh and there's the lady herself!

You already love her, don't you? 

Last stop: One more winery! Phew, it's not easy being us.

The whole area was breathtakingly gorgeous.

My GREAT friend Conner was working over at Clinton Vineyards, so we had no choice but stop by for a tasting. Friends in high places, right?

The tasting was a treat! I was really impressed with the cassis, we even ordered Kir Royales afterwords.

Wine tastings and mother's day should go hand and hand. What a pair!

Wow wow wow

Such a perfect weekend, filled with TONS of sunshine too.
Happy mother's day to all the moms out there & Happy mother's day to my lovely mum! I hope you all have mothers who are as funny and supportive as mine.

And I leave you with Shelby, my adorable new friend from the vineyard.