Once upon a time, I turned 31. It was full of adventures, friends, food, and fun. Let's talk about it...
I always try to take some time to celebrate my birthday. This year I wanted to make it special, but also keep it pretty-low key. Life has been busy and I didn’t want to do or plan anything that was going to absorb energy I just didn’t have to give. So, I decided why push everything into one day, when I could celebrate slowly and leisurely over the timeframe of a week.
The best parts:
1. My sweet friend, Miranda threw me a little mini cafe birthday! She is a great cook and runs The Herby Eater.
If you know me you know that joy comes in the form of carbs and tea, and this little gathering had plenty of that to share! It was perfectly slow paced filled with a killer coffee shop playlist, good talks, and overall good vibes – cozy as a coffee shop should be.
2. I went on a date day with my husband! The morning starting off with a little hike at Beaman State Park. We got some fresh air and some steps in to start the day. Of course, we had to get some bagels for breakfast (because again, carbs = love).
Then we went a little rogue. My husband, Eric, knows I love exploring new places, especially little towns and meeting locals. He is also a map aficionado. He will scout all of these places on maps to and pick out places he thinks we should go visit. That led us to a little town not too far from Nashville called Wartrace. As soon as we pulled up it looked like we were on the set of an old western movie. There were tons of cute brick shops, a gazebo, and even an old bandstand built in 1909! We meandered around there for a while, until we decided to head back home to get ready for our dinner plans…
3. I had a fancy dinner! Fancy and filling with 10 courses that kept us drooling for three hours. I had never had a fancy meal out, and as someone who grew up in a family where if you were lucky enough to go out to eat – appetizers, dessert, and a drink other than water – were absolutely unheard of. Even now in my 31 years of life, I still feel guilt if I even consider ordering anything other than my main with a side of water. So imagine my excitement when this meal had multiple apps, mains, and desserts!
I had heard all about this restaurant in Nashville called Mangia. They do reservations only on Friday and Saturdays for a chef curated event. They explain, “it’s like an Italian Wedding without anyone getting married”. Y’all, it was *chefs kiss* amazing. The chef chooses what he’s making for the night- so you just inform them of your allergies and wait to be fed copious amounts of food. After about 3 courses, the chef led the restaurant in a sing-along. After 5 or 6 courses, the chef had everyone get up for a dance break – and the whole place danced around the restaurant for 20 minutes. The evening ends with two, yes TWO desserts. The chef even personally thanked us for coming, gave me a wholehearted hug, and we were off to head back home and go to sleep (because it was 10:30 and past our bedtime). I’ve never had such good sleep, apparently the answer to insomnia is singing, dancing, laughing, and eating your body weight in focaccia and pasta for 3+ hours.
4. Do y’all ever take advantage of birthday freebies? Everyone knows about the free Starbucks drink. I did start with that, but I also got my free smoothie from Tropical Smoothie, a free bagel from a local bagel shop, a free drink from the coffee shop down the street, my Ulta birthday gift, a free cookie from McAlisters, and a few other things! Y’all I swear I download these damn apps to my phone, just so I can utilize their birthday programs. I’m not really a Starbucks gal, but you better bet your butt – I will go on my birthday to get my free drink (and I will order the most annoyingly expensive thing on the menu, just because…) It does make my birthday week feel even more festive because I feel like the world is giving me little birthday gifts everywhere I go. 10/10 would recommend.
It’s so important to create moments. I really don’t want my life to just float by and all the days to blur together. Curating moments like these above – make the days,months, years more memorable. Twenty years from now, I can say oh yeah my thirty first birthday is when I had that fancy Italian feast, and when my friend made me custom logo’ed cafe cups to go with her home coffee shop. How lucky am I?
If your life is going by, I dare you to take a step back – celebrate something (a birthday- sure, but also work, one of your kiddos accomplishments, or even just life in general). Celebrate by doing something outside the box, maybe something you’ve never done before. Make a core memory.
Love Always,
