So far, I’ve gotten pretty darn close to checking all of the 12 Things to Look Forward to This Summer boxes: frozen drinks and a pool visit, eating outdoors, summer attire, exploring new places, spotting cute animals, and getting summer hours!

With 25 hours of rehearsal per week , 10 of which are on weekends, it’s been hard to truly enjoy the season. But this Sunday we didn’t have rehearsal, thanks to Father’s Day, and the result was the absolute perfect day!

A 10-MILER BEFORE 10

First, the man and I got up early and went for a hot and sweaty 10-mile run in Wash Park (early-morning runs: check!).

It was a rough one, but I was longing for a long run (heh). Everything felt great physically, but my energy was just low from such a busy couple of weeks. I’m also not used to running in the heat (it was already in the 90s at 8:30 in the morning). I made it, though!

Here, we get a The-Real-Life glance at my post-run look. That’s my face, folks.

Afterwards, we munched on snacks in the car before heading on over to the Farmers’ Market! This is something I’ve been wanting to do for far too long.

FARMERS’ MARKET

We zipped on over to the South Pearl Street Farmers’ Market, where we visited almost every booth.

Oh hello, garlic knots. You’re not what I envision when I think about farmers’ markets, but I’m not going to complain.

Here, the man is bagging some mixed greens for our dinner. He’s pretty cute.

I had just been talking about The Real Dill the day before, and we happened to spot them at the Market! All of those pickle samples were delicious. (They’re hand-crafted artisan pickles based here in Denver.)

Even after our snacks, those 10 miles and that heat had us insatiably hungry. Cheese samples to the rescue, from MouCo, a cheese company based in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Hubba, hubba! It’s kind of a miracle I didn’t purchase any chollate-filled croissants from Rinaldo’s Paris Bakery (based in Lakewood, Colorado). The heat does weird things to my brain. That’s the only explanation. All I could think about was water.

We snagged some mizuna from Brown Dog Farm, based in Golden, Colorado. I also spotted the Brown Dog himself, hiding from the heatwave. Not sure why he’s wearing a shirt in this weather!

I just loved perusing all the organic, locally grown produce and the fresh baked goods! A foodie’s dream. (Shopping outdoors: check!)

I was most tempted by the peony bunches, but decided against them this time around. Peonies are my hands-down favorite flowers! They’re so fluffy and romantic. Swoon!

We chose some brandywine and heirloom tomatoes to include in our dinner, too!

The heat and hunger got the best of us, so we sat in the shade, nibbled on a freshly baked salted pretzel, and gulped down a smoothie from The Green Giraffe:

They serve fresh fruit and dairy-free smoothies, as well as tea and coffee. The smoothies and fruits were especially popular in the 90+ degree heat. We got a banana/strawberry smoothie that didn’t quite last long enough for a photo. Yum!

After our snack, we walked back to the car, but not before stopping to appreciate this cute little flower shop: The Ruffly Rose.

All in all, we left with organic mixed greens, mizuna, a handful of oyster mushrooms to try in our egg burritos, heirloom and brandywine tomatoes, and… I think that’s it. Wait until you see what we made for dinner that night! 🙂

WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT THE FARMERS’ MARKET?