happy birthday to me!

I had a fantastic birthday yesterday! I began my day with my usual weekend trip to the Farmer's Market:

$36 poorer when I arrived home, but loaded down with all of this good stuff! Clockwise from top left: wholegrain sandwich bread, chives, hot salsa, two pounds of asparagus, wholegrain tortillas, basil, eggs, and pepper Jack cheese. YUM!

After the Farmer's Market, I met up with five of my girlfriends for lunch at Galactic Pizza! We chatted while we enjoyed salad, cheesey bread, pizza, and the awesome Chai Latte cupcakes Courtney made!! I received a couple of nice cards and gifts, too -- a great birthday surprise! Thank you Courtney, Ann, Christine, Tiffany, and Ashley! It was great to see all of you!

After lunch, Dan and I loaded up our CamelBaks, hopped into the car, stopped at the co-op for picnic supplies, and drove 45 minutes out of the city to Lake Maria State Park. We went for a six-mile hike, enjoyed our picnic dinner at the "Wildlife Viewing Area," and took one more short one-mile hike before heading back to town. Photos from the afternoon:






















On our way back into town, we stopped at Cheapo, where Dan encouraged me to pick out my birthday present -- two new CDs! We then headed home, where I pretty much collapsed into bed -- too much birthday fun, exercise, and busy-ness. (But I slept really well last night!)

Back to the grind for me today. But . . . less than two weeks until vacation time! Wee!