This past weekend was certainly one of my favorites of 2013 thus far! Michael celebrated his 27th birthday yesterday, so we extended the celebration a bit and made a weekend of it. After running in our friend’s 5K, we visited the farmer’s market for the first time this year and bought some vegetables for our raised bed. Later we treated ourselves to lunch at Bonobo and sampled what has now become my favorite gluten free pizza crust in Portland! Our friends, Cory & Robyn, came over for a birthday dinner Saturday evening and we sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to Michael as he made a wish while blowing out the candles on his coconut cream cake from Scratch!

We began Michael’s actual birthday with a tasty brunch from Pai Men Miyake and spent most of the afternoon in the yard with Orvis. Our delicious weekend concluded with birthday drinks & oysters at Eventide – one of Michael’s favorites!

Hopefully you all had a chance to enjoy some good food over the weekend as well.

A photo of a Two Fat Cats cake in honor of Michael’s birthday weekend!

Sarah from A House in the Hills shared her guide, accompanied by many beautiful photographs, to Tulum, Mexico this week. (While you’re on her blog, be sure to check out some of her latest recipes. We’ve been snacking on these granola bars all week.)

Whenever we begin planning a trip, I always check the Design*Sponge city guides for ideas on where to eat and what to do. This week the team at D*S featured their Best of East Coast City Guides, complete with a nod to our beloved Portland, Maine.

Carin of Paris in Four Months, whose photos are always a daily favorite of mine, recapped her recent trip to Corsica in three parts: I, II, III. You’ll want to start planning your trip by the time you’re finished with the first post!

I was downright giddy when, as I was scrolling through the blogs in my blog reader, I saw a feature on our dear neighborhood bakery, Scratch Baking Company! Camille Styles shared a fantastic piece on the bakery we partially credit for loving our neighborhood as much as we do. It makes us so happy to see other people recognize the talent behind this gem of a bakery.

Sweet Thing has quickly become one of my very favorite blogs, primarily because of Jesse Webster’s beautiful imagery. I bookmarked this post of her weekend trip to her hometown of Ojai, CA a few weeks ago and keep coming back to see the wonderfully rich photographs. Since discovering her blog earlier this year, I’ve added Ojai to my list of must-visit places!

Have you heard of Pure Green Magazine? This profile of the Wanderlust issue on Odessa May Society caught my eyes a few weeks ago.

The latest issue of Travel + Leisure includes a wonderful feature on Cornish coast in England. Hotel Tresanton in St. Mawes, highlighted in the article, is now officially on our Hopeful Reservations list. My interest in Cornwall was initially sparked when I saw these photos by London-based photographer, Kate Murphy. Who’s up for a trip across the pond?

We hope you all have a great weekend planned! We’re running in a 5K tomorrow morning and having some friends over for dinner in the evening. Our Sunday will be spent celebrating Michael’s birthday – one of my favorite days of the year! Enjoy the next few days, everyone!

“To make a pitcher of Bloody Marys (any smaller amount is worthless)…” -Ernest Hemingway

This image we took of a friend’s Bacon Bloody Mary at Vignola caught our eye the other day and led us down a path of the storied drink’s history.

Having lived in Maine for five years now, we’ve started to get accustomed to pretty long winters. Whenever the calendar turns to April, we start to get a pretty intense case of homesickness for the lovely North Carolina springs we experienced each year in our youth. Thankfully, we usually have the chance to make at least one trip down south during the spring to take in the blossoms, the warm weather, and the green grass.

Chapel Hill, where Michael & I went to school, is always one of the best examples of a southern spring. We took these photos while enjoying a walk around campus, reminiscing about our time as students, on a recent trip.

We hope you all had a very happy Mother’s Day weekend!

On our recent trip to North Carolina, Meredith and I spent her birthday in Chapel Hill and Durham, taking in as much of the great food that everyone’s been talking about as possible. As a James Beard semi-finalist for best new restaurant and with a recent shout out in Food & Wine, Durham’s Mateo Tapas was easily at the top of our list of places to try and made for the perfect birthday lunch.

With a bustling atmosphere, fantastic space, and an extremely tasty selection of tapas, it was easy to see what all the fuss has been about. There were quite a few people filling the seats along the walls, but we were able to quickly grab a seat, and by the time our waitress came to take our orders, we were giddy with anticipation. There were so many great things from which to choose, but the huevo diablo spanish deviled egg was simply amazing, and I’d take a plate of the patatas bravas to accompany just about any meal, any day of the week. Meredith only put up a small fight when I offered her part of my portion of the gambas, and ultimately we spent a delightful meal and drinks discussing which dishes were the best, then changing our minds with the next bite.

Contact Information:
Mateo Tapas
109 West Chapel Hill Street
Durham, North Carolina 27701
http://mateotapas.com/
919.530.8700

After a long day wheeling and dealing in the driveway, we celebrated with a meal at Boda. The next day was spent working in the yard, drinking Mint Juleps with friends, and hosting an early Mother’s Day dinner for my mom. All in all, a wonderful weekend filled with many great memories!

Happy Monday, friends!

Ever since my quick visit to the Clifton Inn last summer on my way to North Carolina, I’ve been trying to coordinate a trip for Michael, Orvis, and I to spend some time in Charlottesville, Virginia together. Things happened to come together and we were able to spend two nights in the area en route to North Carolina earlier this month. It didn’t take us long to fall pretty hard for this charming town – UVA’s gorgeous colonial campus rivals that of Carolina’s (which is pretty huge for two UNC alums to admit and something I think Michael is still having a hard time coming to terms with) and there’s so much to see and experience throughout downtown and in the surrounding area. We could have spent an entire week in Charlottesville and just barely scratched the surface of the shops, restaurants, and scenery. In our short visit, we not only had time to hike, eat, and explore, but we also had the chance to catch up with some friends who live in the area. We had an amazing evening, conversation, and home-cooked meal with Abby and Guion, and their beautiful puppy Pyrrha even graciously extended her yard to Orvis.

Clifton Inn seems to be that perfect melding of history, southern charm, elegance, and modern comfort. Meredith stayed here for an evening while passing through Charlottesville, and it was in large part due to Clifton that we made this most recent return trip to the area. As our first trip to a Relais & Châteaux property since becoming 5c members, we enjoyed a delightful upgrade to the charming honeymoon cottage and the opportunity to visit Jefferson’s Monticello before we departed. The staff was extremely accommodating in helping us plan our days, the property was unbelievably gorgeous in the springtime, and our stay was wonderfully relaxing and peaceful. Walking the grounds of the dog-friendly inn with Orvis, through the woods and beside the lake, we couldn’t help but daydream about many, many future return trips.

On our trip to Charlottesville, Michael and I made sure to spend a morning at Thomas Jefferson’s home, Monticello, in order to take in the beautiful spring gardens. It was drizzling slightly when we arrived but cleared up shortly thereafter (while Michael was getting his history geek on with a tour of the home), so I took the opportunity to escape from my spot under a big shade tree and take some photos. Cherry blossoms, early garden vegetables, and beautiful varieties of tulips were just a few of the things that caught my eye.

Contact Information:
Spring at Monticello
931 Thomas Jefferson Parkway
Charlottesville, Virginia 22902
http://www.monticello.org/
434.984.9800