My favorite kind of weekend!

It's been a wonderful weekend, filled with lots of the people and things I love most. I am so lucky.

Yesterday morning began with meeting up with some book club friends at 8am for coffee, then we were among the first to arrive at our county library's big annual used book sale. What fun that was! I was on the lookout for a few specific authors and titles, which I didn't find, but I did leave with two hardcover and two paperback books for the grand total of $2.50. One was an old book titled "The History of the Fragrant Rose" which looks like it will be a nice addition to my gardening collection.

Pictured here alongside the David Austin catalogue that was already residing on my nightstand, ironically enough. 

After buying our books, my friends and I drove downtown to the city's Saturday morning market to have breakfast and shop. Several local vendors set up their wares under tents from 9am-1pm in a large parking area. It's mostly farmers selling local vegetables as well as wonderful grass fed meats, milk, cheeses, and eggs, but a couple of tents were selling crafts, food, and coffee.

See the lady in the above picture, wearing jeans and turning towards me? She's part of a farming family who were frequent customers of mine at the bookstore, and some of my very favorite people from those days.  As soon as I snapped this picture she spotted me and ran over and gave me a great big hug! I haven't seen any of them since I got my new job, and running into her was a real treat.

Her family sells wonderful local meats raised humanely on well run, all-organic farms. I had to buy a few things from them, including sausages, a gallon of rich grass fed milk, and a dozen fresh eggs.

Speaking of eggs, the market manager was under a tent cooking up breakfast frittatas with local eggs and veggies. Here's mine cooking. It had chorizo sausage, zucchini, minced sweet potato, diced heirloom tomato, kale, and a sprinkling of soft white farmer's cheese to finish it off. The guy wrapped it in a small, warmed tortilla when it was done, and it was absolutely delicious! Cost: $4.00

Also for sale: the best, sweetest, most delicious strawberries I've ever had. I bought one of these big green buckets and I haven't stopped popping them in my mouth yet!

The same guy selling the strawberries had heirloom tomatoes for sale. He said they're still coming from Florida at the moment, but the local tomatoes will be ready in three more weeks, give or take a few days. I love a good tomato more than most things in life, so I bought a big bagful of them......

......and made myself the quintessential Southern lady lunch later that afternoon. Behold the makings of the classic Tomato Sandwich:

It has to be Duke's mayonnaise, and it has to be soft white bread. The only other ingredients are a perfect ripe tomato and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. That's it: perfection.

Since yesterday was also Cinco de Mayo, I had my friend Martina over last night for margaritas. We had hoped Marla could join us, for the food if not the tequila, but she wasn't feeling up to it at the last minute due to an ear infection. Which was just as well, since we wanted to discuss a small party we're planning to have for her and the new baby this summer. We were also able to drink all the margaritas we wanted without feeling guilty doing it in front of her!

And we did have a few! I think the only things that saved me from a hangover this morning were using only good quality tequila, triple sec, fresh lime juice, and ice for the drinks and eating lots of fresh veggies, chips, guacamole, and strawberries while drinking. We both got a bit tipsy, and it was a lot of fun. A perfect way to finish out a great Saturday! 

How has your weekend been?