We call the first week of October ‘annibirthday’ week as our wedding anniversary (48th this year) and my birthday both fall within that week. Today I thought I’d share a few of the things we did and some of the outfits I wore during the week. 

Although our anniversary is actually October 2nd, we celebrated a day early this year because hubby had an appointment in Camrose, a small city about an hour from home, that morning. Yes, at our age appointments sometimes happen even during annibirthday week, but thankfully this was a routine and uncomplicated one. Since there are many more restaurants in Camrose to choose from for a nice celebratory meal than there are in our tiny town of less than 1000 people, I went along with him and after his appointment we enjoyed a fabulous anniversary lunch at Marrow, a lovely restaurant housed in a historic feed mill. The bison burgers were delicious, the service excellent, and we loved the vintage decor. 

Since I was shopping while hubby was at his appointment and we had some outdoor pursuits planned for after lunch, I dressed for comfort. I wore dark wash jeans and the cozy Checkmate Jacket from cabi that hubby gave me for my birthday in 2019. It has become a fall favourite. Under the jacket I wore a dark green top with three-quarter length sleeves that was thrifted a couple of years ago.

You would have to zoom in very close to see the tiny pearl drop necklace that I also wore. It was a gift from hubby 43 years ago on our 5th wedding anniversary! Interestingly, we celebrated that anniversary with dinner in that very same historic feed mill. The restaurant was under different management back then and looks entirely different inside now, but as I recall, the food was just as good. 

After lingering over lunch, we went for a 2.3 km walk around beautiful Mirror Lake in the middle of town and then played a round of disc golf, a sport that we’ve recently taken up and that I’m quite bad at! We finished the afternoon with lattes at GOAT Coffee, a favourite stop of ours when we’re in town. A sugar-free caramel latte with whipped cream from GOAT is the only time coffee crosses my lips.  

The following day, our actual anniversary, was a quiet stay-at-home day. I spent quite awhile doing some travel planning, but more about that in future posts.

This is where I can often be found when I’m at home; on the end of the couch reading or using my laptop. In fact, this is where the blog usually happens. In the photo I’m wearing what could be called my style uniform at this time of year. Simply put, a style uniform is an outfit formula that you wear on repeat; a combination of clothing that make you feel most like yourself. Mine consists of blue jeans and a shirt or top that’s a step above a simple t-shirt or sweatshirt. This shirt, from Gap, was thrifted last year. It has a thin gold metallic thread running through the darker horizontal stripes elevating the look a little bit and the plaid pattern matches at the side seams, always a sign of good quality. 

For my birthday, on October 5th, we drove about an hour from home to the tiny village of Donalda where we started with a lovely lunch at the Coulee Tea House, another favourite of ours. 

I wore a variation of my style uniform; a pair of charcoal jeans with a very lightweight striped boatneck sweater that was thrifted in 2022. I chose the sweater as a base layer for the hike that we planned to do after lunch, but I dressed it up for lunch by adding a scarf. 

For the hike, I left the scarf in the vehicle and added several layers for warmth. When we started out, it was only 12ºC (53.6F) and there was a stiff wind blowing. I may have looked a bit like the Michelin Man, but I didn’t want to be cold!

As it turned out, the temperature climbed and the wind began to die down. Before long, I was stripping off layers and stuffing them in our backpack. Soon, the sweater and my light hoodie were all I needed. 

The 5.15 km hike brought my 150 day walking/hiking challenge to an end with a total of exactly 330 km, 30 km beyond my goal! When we were done, we returned to the Tea House for a birthday cupcake and another pot of tea. They have 34 varieties to choose from!  

For church on annibirthday week Sunday, I wanted to style my recently purchased denim military jacket in a new way. I had a skirt in mind that I’d had for about 20 years and hadn’t worn for quite awhile, but apparently I’m thicker in the middle than I was back then. When I put it on, I couldn’t zip it up so it was set aside to donate and I wore this dress instead. I finished the look with a pair of blue suede ballet flats. 

Now that annibirthday week is over, we’re looking forward to celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving on Monday with one of our daughters-in-law’s family. I do love October! So many things to celebrate!