My Best Birthday Yet!

Last Saturday was my birthday and it was seriously the PERFECT day. I have so much going on with the wedding and packing and work and blogging, but I told myself I wasn’t going to do anything productive on my birthday. And it was heavenly. It was a good reminder that downtime is KEY, and not only to celebrate a birthday.

I started my day with quiet time from this devotional book and coffee in my favorite mug. I let Maizey up in my bed on the weekends. Somehow she knows when it’s Saturday and Sunday. 🙂

Next up in my day was a trip to the Fairgrounds Farmer’s Market, and it worked out perfectly that one of my closest friends was going at the same time. The weather was GORGEOUS – 55 degrees and sunny. It’s my favorite time of year when I can wear long sleeves with shorts.

Top| Bra | Shorts (OBSESSED with the fit and color, I got a size 4) | shoes

I got a mocha from Magic Bean Coffee while we meandered. I was so excited to see apples and sweet potatoes at the market. These potatoes came out of the ground the day before the market!

After the farmer’s market and a light breakfast, I went for a run.

Run & Birthday Brunch

watch | shorts | shoes |  tank (sold out in white), hat

I wasn’t sure how far I was going to go, but I decide 9 miles was perfect for a 9/9 birthday. 🙂 The run didn’t feel good, honestly, since I was so sore from CrossFit last week, but the weather was GORGEOUS so I focused on that!

I tried to tell Maizey that it was my birthday and that I wanted a good selfie with her, but she didn’t care.

Tommy offered to make brunch for me post-run and I happily took him up on the offer!

After brunch (which was really more lunch since it was almost 1:00), we watched an episode of The Crown and then took Maizey on a walk and got lattes at Camino Bakery. Then it was time to get ready for dinner!

Birthday Dinner Date

Jeans | top | heels | bracelet | earrings

When Tommy and I started dating, I moved to Charlotte shortly after we met. When we were doing the long(ish) distance thing (we were about 1.5 hours apart), we met in the middle in Salisbury, a small town exactly 45 minutes from us each. We discovered this tiny Cuban place off the beaten path in Salisbury that had INCREDIBLE food (and the best grumpy cat ever). Turns out the place has moved into Salisbury’s downtown and now has a massive space – and it was PACKED. It was crazy to see how they had grown in two years!

And the food was just as good — maybe better — than we remembered. We started with an appetizer that our waiter said was too much food for two people, but we finished it all. I think we shocked our waiter – ha! The yuca frites and pork chunks were definitely my favorite!

We both got the Vaca Frita and took home leftovers of that. 🙂

I subbed out rice & beans for extra fried plantains. Those things are incredible. If you’re local, taking a trip to Salisbury to eat at Mambo Grill & Tapas is DEFINITELY worth it. The town seems to be growing a lot – lots of cute shops & restaurants have opened up since we used to meet there! We had fun walking around after dinner.

I couldn’t imagine a more perfect day, truly. I felt so incredibly blessed and so RELAXED, which is rare these days with the wedding and moving coming up so soon!

Thanks for all the birthday wishes on Facebook and Instagram! You guys are so sweet! Alright, I’m off! Have a great day!

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