{dear friend}

So! Memorial Day Weekend happened and it was grand.

{I hope yours was great, too.}

As you know my parents were in town and every day was better than the one before. I can’t wait to show you bits and pieces. It was perfection. First I’m going to share some pics from our Saturday in Concord, Mass. We mainly went to visit Orchard House {Louisa May Alcott’s home, and the setting of Little Women}, but we ended up spending some time in the town also. One word: ADORABLE. Seriously. Every single time I take a trip to anywhere in Massachusetts I am always like, I want to live here! This is precious! That house! And that one! This place is amazingggg.

Not even kidding, Massachusetts, you the BEST.

It was a rainy day, but we made it work.

“Be comforted, dear soul! There is always light behind the clouds.” -LMA

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Here are the highlights…

My mom was crazy over this cheese shop. Said it reminded her of one back in her hometown of Greenwich. Also, because CHEESE. I mean, who doesn’t go crazy over a cheese shop. Any cheese shop, really. This one was particularly wonderful, though.

Speaking of cheese, what’s your favorite kind?

Mine’s goat cheese. Oh yes.

Also cheddar and gruyere and fontina and JARLSBERG. OMG. I love it all.

This market was DELICIOUS. We ate lunch there per Bridget’s recommendation and just YES. My mom and I split this CRAZY GOOD New England Clam Corn Chowder creation. Loved it. They also have the kind of french fries that I dream of at night. Not too thin, not too thick, extra crispy. Perfect for dipping in ketchup and thanking the heavens that you were born. And the corn bread they serve? I could have eaten that stuff all dang day.

So basically, if you’re ever in Concord, try this spot. I think you’ll love it.

After lunch we walked around the town popping in and out of gift shops, clothing boutiques, and book stores, dodging the rain and the puddles and the cold. I also discovered this lovely home goods store called Jack and Toba with beautiful vintage + contemporary pieces, a really fun owner that made me smile, and an interior that was seriously every pinterest lovers dream.

Then we drove to our main destination: Orchard House!

I can’t tell you how long I’ve wanted to make the voyage here, and how excited I was when I finally got to experience it in person. Little Women is for me, as I’m sure it is for you, one of the best pieces of my childhood. I feel like those March sisters could be MY sisters, that their hopes and dreams could just as well be my hopes and dreams, and that inside that little brown house lives the history and the imagination of one of the greatest stories of all time.

It was so nice to be able to peak around {no cameras!}, to learn about the true life of Louisa May Alcott {the tour is perfect}, and how the real Alcott girls had similarities and differences to the characters from Little Women we all know and love.

We got to see the piano that Lizzie {Beth} loved to play on, hear of her untimely death at the age of twenty-two {she really did have scarlet fever that weakened her heart}, we saw the eldest sister’s Anna’s wedding gown {which she wore on a spring afternoon in May}, and also! Lousia’s desk where she sat and wrote her stories is right there in her old room and it is really just the most amazing thing to see.

Sigh.

I loved it all.

And now, if you don’t mind me, I’m off to watch the movie! Because after writing this post I just can’t help myself.

Also, because it is one of my absolute forever favorites. For always.

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“Oh, my girls, however long you may live,
I never can wish you a greater happiness than this!”
-Louisa May Alcott, Little Women