On Saturday, I begged Matt to take me out to the country for the second weekend in a row. But this time, I promised promised promised that this trip would yield food…not more blue mason jars, as last Saturday’s trip to Lucketts Antiques did.

Oops.

Like a good husband, he happily obliged to my fruit-picking agenda at Larriland Farms, located about 45 minutes from us. (I packed a lot of snacks.)

En route to Larriland, we stopped at Sisters Sandwiches and Such, this ca-uteeee little lunch place we discovered last year…en route to Larriland to pick blueberries.

The restaurant, obviously started by sisters, is filled with tons of country knick-knacks that make my heart swoon as well as a menu of hearty food that makes any stomach growl. New “vegetarian Matt” ordered the roasted veggie and pesto sandwich on multigrain brain, while I opted for my staple (is it a staple if you’ve only had it one other time?) Vinny salad, which is complete with gouda, granny smith apples, candied pecans and maple balsamic dressing. As you can see, opting for the full size  salad was the best decision ever.

After I swatted Matt’s hand about 17 times for trying to take all the candied pecans from my salad we ate, we decided to wander in the “Roots” grocery store right next to Sister Sandwiches.

Another Best. Decision. Ever.

Now I know I talk about my love of samples probably more than you really care to hear, but when I tell you this place was a sample heaven, THIS PLACE WAS A SAMPLE HEAVEN. I mean, not just your run-of-the-mill “grab a toothpick” samples. I’m talkin’ actual pre-packed samples. Of fifteen flavors of granola bars. Peanut butter. Trail mix.  And no employee standing next to the bowl to regulate how many you stuff in your purse or the ziplock bag you just happenedddd to have with you.

Not that I did that or anything.

Our “wandering” turned into a full-out field trip, and we left with a bag full of groceries, a new tub of Raw Protein (with a free shaker! I mean that’s a dealll) and…well…a purse stuffed to the brim with samples. To top it all off, just as we checked out, the lady at the register said “honey wait – would you like to take some sample boxes of granola?”

I asked her if she would like become my new best friend.

I was so giddy when we got back in the car, you would have thought I just met a member of N’Sync. (Speaking of which, happy 36th birthday JC! Sorry I stopped sending cards. We just…grew apart, ya know?) Just as I thought our day could not possibly get any better…we passed multiple “estate sale” signs on the way to Larriland. I started to push my luck, but realized that there can only be so many “Anne Marie”  things one person can handle in one day.

JUST as I was about to showcase my vocal stylings on Kenny Chesney’s “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy,” we pulled into Larriland. Out of all the farms we have been to in Northern Virginia and Maryland, this has always been one of my favorites. The people are so friendly, the fruit is a-plenty and they have a big red barn chock full of country items and mason jars.

But Saturday’s visit, it secured its #1 spot on my “U-Pick” list. Because while we went to solely pick peaches, we came back with 10 pounds of Ginger Gold apples (yes – apples!!!), four pounds of blackberries, two pounds of raspberries, six sunflowers, one diet root beer and oh yea, a crate of peaches. And since we paid five separate times, it didn’t really seem like we did that much damage. Especially since I failed math in high school and therefore will always have an excuse when it comes to “accidental” excess spending.

I set a new personal record. Four types of fruit, fresh flowers and the ability to walk away from a farmhouse with no flavored honey sticks…or mason jars. Where is my gold medal?? Pretty sure I was doing back flips in those fields, Gabby Douglas style.

My favorite part of the day though was when Matt discovered the greatness of blackberries. Since it was the third fruit we picked, his energy level was starting to wain. Trust me, I tried breaking out the granola bars, almonds – even the bag of Peanut Butter Puffins! I was losing him at a record pace, when all of a sudden he reached up, grabbed a golf-ball sized blackberry, popped it in his mouth and said (excuse my language) “Holy SH*T!!!! These are like grape Kool-Aid fruit!”

Yes babe, grape Kool-Aid fruit. I sighed in relief, said a little thank you prayer and then said “I TOLD YOU SO! STOP EATING AND GET PICKIN!”

In a nice way, of course.

We picked and picked and ate and ate and got blackberry juice all over my clothes until finally Matt told me that we needed to stop or else we wouldn’t have the time or the money to get any peaches. He didn’t fail math in high school, so I knew he wasn’t joking.

He also didn’t fail the “how to survive being married to Anne Marie” test and re-instated our “leaving the field of fruit” protocol, making walk in front of him to the register so I couldn’t duck in to another row and continue to pick every berry in sight.

Yep, he is pretttttyyyyy smart.

After we picked up our peaches (they actually had picked peaches in crates  on the farm, as they are in-between varieties) and grabbed a few gorgeous sunflowers from the barn, we piled our fruit into the car, turned back on “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy” and cruised back to the reality of city life.

…a reality of city life filled with an unreasonable amount of colorful fruit, flowers and blue mason jars, that is.