Birthday Celebrations

{sweet flowers from husband, GF chocolate cake that husband made!}

Today is my birthday and the beginning of my favorite time of year. Our October {and early November!} schedule is packed full of adventures, outings and dinners with friends. The mornings are cool enough to require a light sweater, and the leaves are starting to turn colors.

Since we had this past weekend to ourselves, husband took me to some of my favorite places in Athens as a birthday treat. We started early with breakfast at Mama's Boy and then headed over to check out the Athens Farmers Market. The produce was beautiful, the bread smelled amazing, and we stumbled upon some delicious smelling coffee made via hand pour while we were talking about switching to the hand pour method*. Kismet, I tell ya. We were also able to meet and talk to the owner of B&G Stables, a local farm producing grass-fed beef and humanely raised pork.

{bleary-eyed before my coffee, egg scramble with spinach/tomato/goat cheese + cheese grits + salted spring mix}

{farmer's market favorites: delicious coffees, lovely blooms, vibrant veggies}
 

We finished off the morning with a quick trip to Trader Joe's** for some weekly supplies and some pumpkins {naturally}, followed by a stop at the apple orchard. We filled our buckets with Jonagolds, Cameos and Fujis fresh from Blue Ridge, Georgia, and I happened upon some fresh herbs that I need for herbal cold and flu remedies {more on that soon!}.

We spent out afternoon at home, cleaning and organizing, ate GF chocolate cake that husband made, went for an afternoon walk, and watched Parenthood on the couch. It was the perfect way to spend a birthday. Funny how different our celebrations were ten years ago, ha! Hope you had a wonderful weekend! Here's to a great week!

xoxo

copyright Hiking in Stilettos

*Side note, hand pour is how they make coffee in Panama. Locals don't have electricity or electric coffee pots or even french presses. And the coffee we drank in Panama, and brought back with us, is hands down the best I've ever had.

**I actually enjoy grocery shopping. Filling my cart and subsequently my fridge with whole, healthy foods for the week just makes me feel good.