Anticipating Saturday

Do you have plans for Saturday yet? If you live in Columbia and you said no to that, then you'd better start planning-there is so much to do! And the Fall weather that crept in last night will make a perfect backdrop for anything you choose!

Here's what the Hill family has planned:
Wesley Memorial UMC Neighborhood Fall Festival begins at 11 AM. FREE to attend and there will be live music by the Blue Iguanas Bluegrass Band, who are not only good, but very generous (they play the St. Lawrence Place Oyster Roast fundraiser every year at a very reasonable price).  There is also bouncy houses, a pumpkin patch, a fire truck, BBQ, and more!  We will be picking out our family pumpkin with Jones.  My sister, mom, and I took my nephew Ben to this a couple years ago and it was fun.

image via here

Next, we hope to attend the first-ever Carolina Green Fair in Finlay Park.  The event is going to be huge!  Live entertainment, local vendors and exhibitors, all showing easy ways for you and your family to make more sustainable choices.  The Free Times has an awesome publication detailing the entertainment, exhibitors, and containing a map of the event.  We hope to hear Lunch Money, a fun local children's band that will go on stage at 3:15.  We'll also make sure to stop by and see our friends from KD's Treehouse, and maybe catch The Blue Dogs at 2:30 too.
Admission is $5, or free if you bring 4 incandescent light bulbs to recycle.

Saturday night the hubs and I will be venturing out all by ourselves for dinner to celebrate his birthday, (which is today--happy birthday, James!)  He has not made up his mind on where we're going yet, but the ideas I've heard so far include Hunter Gatherer and Motor Supply; I'll let you know where we end up!  Afterward, we're meeting some friends at our favorite "Peach Pit After Dark-esque" spot: NiteCaps.  Here's to an adult night out!  (The babe is spending the night at my parents' house).

image of Motor Supply via here

image of Hunter Gatherer via here

The Nickelodeon is showing some pretty crazy stuff this weekend, and the SC State Fair is here through Sunday too. 
So, for real, plan your weekend already! 
XO, B

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Peaceful Villa Farm & Mediterranean Market

Just the name of this place sounds pastoral.  Has anything ever sounded so demure and easy-like-Sunday-morning?  I was not disappointed this past easy-like-Saturday-morning when I walked inside and met the owners, a couple named Ed and Kathleen.  They were both as cordial as could be, and genuinely in love with what they do and interested in knowing who their customers are.

As I got out of the car, I was greeted by red and white-checkered-tablecloth-covered tables teeming with fresh produce:

As I ventured into the small shop, I met Ed, the owner, and we began to talk about how I had found them.  I told him that I had read the recent Free Times review of their quaint store and had to check it out for myself.

Ed is native to Egypt, and he and I had a brief discussion of my Mediterranean cruise last summer, and our love of the small farm we visited in Sorrento, Italy where they grew their own olives and lemons, from which they made olive oil and limoncello.  As Ed and I were talking, his wife, Kathleen walked in carrying jars of freshly-picked olives to put out for sale in the store.  (Talk about fresh!)

Ed on the farm (picture borrowed from their Facebook page)

Kathleen in the shop, receiving a Golden Spatula Award from WLTX (picture borrowed from their Facebook page)

Don't they just look like nice people?

 

The "market" has plenty of hard-to-find Mediterranean dry goods, but also homemade items like lemon-basil pesto, pasta sauce, and breads.  I purchased one each of the fresh pesto, pizza/pasta sauce, and a whole-wheat baguette, and tried the pesto last night over whole wheat pasta.  It was delicious.

Some amazing gold-detail glasses that I will return to purchase...

The Peaceful Villa's Facebook page is filled with pictures and information about their store and updates on what is fresh in the market that day.  Kathleen makes plenty of amazing sauces, breads, baklava, and even convenience foods--she told me that she has bags of already-chopped veggies for sale to use in a stir-fry.

Check out this West Columbia gem Wednesday- Saturday at 1532 Sunset Blvd. and definitely get some pesto!  Tell Ed and Kathleen that Becca sent you!

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