Yesterday was my 25 birthday, and we spent much of the weekend prior celebrating a quarter century of my life. Aside from all the jokes about how I’m really old now, it was a lot of fun and I’m grateful to the friends and family who make every day of life special, not just my birthday.
Since I’m currently contending with a hip flexor injury, my marathon training has scaled back. I only ran twice this week, both for much shorter and easier runs, and I plan to continue resting my hip for the next week or two until I see a sports medicine specialist and get to physical therapy. I’ll keep sharing my more limited weekly workouts and updates on how I’m healing in my Monday posts.
I’ve spent most of the summer in the small Connecticut town where I grew up, and shared little pieces with you in the form of running scenery, blue sky snapshots, restaurants, and lots of local ice cream. But the other day as I was taking a stroll on Main Street, I realized I hadn’t painted a full picture yet. So today’s post is a photo tour of my little corner of the world (does anyone else love that Yo La Tengo song? I first heard it on Gilmore Girls and have enjoyed it ever since. It’s provided the soundtrack for my thoughts lately.)
The Cass Gilbert Fountain greets you as you arrive in town
Just checking in to share a few of my birthday eats and treats from yesterday. I shared a few snapshots from my pre-birthday dinner on Saturday, but wanted to showcase a few more and bask in my birthday glow a little longer. And also, it gave me something to do today while I prepare to take the New York Bar Exam tomorrow and Wednesday. I decided treating this test like a race was the best idea, and that tapering was a good call, so I spaced out my studies and gave myself plenty of time, and took most of the weekend off from Friday through this morning. This afternoon, I’ll review a bit more before having dinner and getting to bed at a decent hour (we have to be at the test center at 7:30am tomorrow, so I need to leave my apartment by 6:30am). I’ll check back in when it’s all over, but until then, I leave you with these morsels of deliciousness…
It’s a beautiful morning, and I’m about to head out for what I hope will be a glorious run. It’s raining at the moment but it will have to clear up soon and the weather will need to match my mood. You know why? It’s my birthday!
I’ve always thought of life as a book. Everyone has a unique story, so their book is a little different, but no matter what, every day is a new page and every year is a new chapter. The thing is, every page beyond the one you’re currently on is stuck together, so there is no peeking ahead to see what happens next or how the story ends. You just have to keep living to find out.
The restaurant
I met a good friend of mine for lunch yesterday, at a restaurant off our quaint Main Street called Bailey’s Backyard. I came here a lot growing up. They closed a couple of years ago, and when they reopened, the owners had altered the atmosphere and the menu, hopping on the farm-to-table bandwagon.
Lunch Menu
While I’m nostalgic for things that have changed since my childhood, the new menu is awesome. It incorporates a lot of local Connecticut and New England ingredients, in the excellent Sunday brunch, daily dinners, and as I found today, regular weekday lunches. I’m both gluten-free and nut-free, of course, which means I need to make alterations to a lot of dishes when dining out. My friend Taylor is also gluten-free, and she can’t eat eggs either. Luckily, although the menu includes lots of allergy-triggering items, the staff at Bailey’s is very helpful in letting you know where adjustments can be made. The chef even came out to introduce himself to us to see how we liked our lunches!
Seriously scrumptious side
We decided to split a side to start. Originally, we were both eyeing the kale and Gruyere gratin, but unfortunately there was flour in that mix and they didn’t have a substitute. However, our choice of the roasted rainbow carrots with garlic butter and roasted marshmallow was simply scrumptious.
Scallops seared to perfection
For our main courses, we both went with salads. Taylor had the Connecticut Kale Salad with grilled shrimp, and I went for the Spinach Salad with feta and onions and grilled scallops. Since I was allergic to the pistachio vinaigrette on the menu, the waiter suggested substituting the apricot dressing, which was a nice fruity addition.
A sweet treat like gooey s’mores
We ended the meal with decaf coffee for me, and more iced tea for Taylor. I’m not going to lie, I may also have scraped every last bit of the blackened marshmallow cream off that carrot plate! It was so lovely to enjoy a relaxing lunch with a good friend. I’m making this last spring break count!
Where’s your favorite place for a girls’ lunch? Do you and your friends have any fun traditions?
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