Trading Up my Saturdays

When I was in my early twenties, Saturday morning often meant a groggy morning after a long night out with friends. Even if I didn’t drink very much, I still stayed up too late and didn’t get enough sleep. Nowadays, I still don’t get as much sleep as I want, but I love that my Saturday mornings are now so peaceful and start earlier.

(note: most photos on this post taken with my iPhone, since I kept forgetting my DSLR at home! Whoops!)

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Gone are hours wasted in front of the TV “waking up”. Instead, I wake up eagerly looking forward to our weekly trip to the farmer’s market.

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Sometimes I’m so excited, I even dress up a little.

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Our Saturday morning farmers market habit has grown with us. At first just hubby and I went. Then, we started taking Bailey. Now, I’m even making friends with some of the people at the market and look forward to a casual conversation with them every week.

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And another tasty tradition is enjoying the eats at the market. Roots food truck always has something yummy ready for breakfast. On Saturday, we enjoyed an egg sammie with pickled cabbage and an egg/potato hash. Yum!

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I found something new this week – locally grown rice! I didn’t know any markets around carried the stuff, but here it is. I got some of the brown after chatting with the lady working the booth (I think she’s the owner?).

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From the same vendor, I purchased one life-saving strawberries and mint “lollies”, made with strawberries from the creator’s garden! So cool, right? Mostly, I wanted the treat for the coolness factor since it was a hot-hot day!

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I returned home with quite the stash: cabbage, kale, blueberries, brown rice, and 25 year balsamic vinegar. This is the nicest bottle of balsamic we’ve ever purchased, so I’m really looking forward to enjoying the higher quality…and therefore better flavor. Perhaps it’s time to make more focaccia?

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After dropping Bailey off, we headed out to run more errands.

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We stopped at Zoe’s Kitchen for lunch. I was really impressed with their menu and tasteful vegetarian selections. Although I’m not vegetarian, it tells me that they’re really thinking about the quality and content of their meals, which I appreciate.

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Although it was hot outside, we ate al fresco to enjoy the fresh air.

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I got 2 (maybe 3?!) vegetable servings with lunch between the cabbage slaw on my grilled chicken pita and the roasted veggies. Again…impressive, right? 😉 This is a great spot for Project Veg-Up participants needing eats on the go!

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Hubby got the chicken kabob plate.

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I noticed this Fine Cooking magazine while I was out running errands. Look familiar? 😉

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And as the day came to a close, we had a few more fun activities in store. We saw the Hangover 2 (funny, but not as funny as the first)…

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…and then a late outing to Barnes and Noble. I just can’t spend too much time here browsing books and magazines and finding new reading material to take home. I got 3 magazines, and I’m hoping to try out some yummy new recipes this summer with them!

Just like my Saturday mornings, the evenings are a lot different from those spent in my early twenties, too. If I wasn’t working in a restaurant, I was probably staying out too late with friends. And while those were fun days, and I’m glad I had them, I’m also glad to be enjoying more low-key times nowadays. I like to think of it as trading up my Saturdays.

How have your weekends changed over the years?

15 thoughts on “Trading Up my Saturdays”

  1. My weekends are definitely calmer now! 🙂 I’m kind of similar to you in that I would always be out or working late… for sure I was drinking too much and sleeping too little! It’s nice to find a balance I guess.

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  2. I love going to farmer’s markets on Saturdays! I was never much of a party-er, even though I’m a college student. I’m an early sleeper and early riser, and if my friends want to hang out during the day, I’m all for that!

    That chicken kebab looks SO good 🙂

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  3. i’ve been out of college for 4 yrs now and my weekends always seem so long now. i ran cross country & track from 7th grade-college graduation so i was used to my saturdays being consumed with meets or practices, which meant early to bed on friday. i’m not a party-er at all so that wasn’t an issue but i missed time with friends anyway. it’s nice to have more free saturdays now!

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  4. I went to Atherton Mills Market for the first time about a month ago. One of my many finds was a bottle of Strawberry Balsamic and let me just encourage you to give a try next time you are there! I used some to deglaze a pan of skillet cooked chicken that was served on top of a bed of baby spinach with fresh strawberries and a vinagerette dressing–to die for!!

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    • Lisa, that sounds amazing! I did try that balsamic, and I really wanted to buy some, too. I almost got the 4 mini-balsamics so I could try a couple flavors, but I needed the basic one first. 🙂

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  5. That looks like a perfect Saturday to me! I wish we had a farmer’s market closer to me so I could do something like that. My early 20’s were similar to yours. I love not feeling horrible when I wake up now from long nights and not enough sleep. I actually like waking up early on weekends for the extra hours in my day 🙂

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  6. My weekends are a million times better now that I’m done with school and that I made a vow to only spend 2-3 hours on work stuff. I’m a teacher, so that’s hard, but it makes me use Mon-Fri time at work more efficiently.

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  7. I definitely used to spend my mornings hungover and I’d watch the day go by. I absolutely hate that. Now we get up and get going! Or we relax and make a good breakfast, basically whatever we like. I’m glad I don’t waste my weekends anymore.

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  8. I know what you mean about Saturdays changing as you get older (or more mature?) I truly believe the “Sunday is a day of rest” theory and therefore try to get everything done on Saturday!

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