On Saturday, I celebrated my 25th birthday. I have one word to describe how I feel after this weekend: lucky.

We took a short trip to the beautiful town of Chapel Hill, NC on Saturday to hunt for used vinyl. I had about $25 to spend as well as a $50 gift card from my co-workers for dinner.

I was nervous to bring Howie along, but last week he had surgery to remove a benign lump from his neck. The surgery was minor and he’s recovering well, but he has staples in his neck from his incision, so we didn’t want to leave him at a boarding facility.

He was thrilled to come along, of course, and it ended up working out wonderfully. All of the record stores that we browsed were happy to allow Howie to come in with us, and we had dinner on the patio at a dog-friendly restaurant. They even brought Howie a dish of ice water.

Having him with us was a little inconvenient at times, but I’m glad I was able to celebrate my birthday with my whole family, including our perfect little dog.

We found 7 albums from our list and stayed within our $25 budget, and the restaurant was so affordable that we were able to order two beers without going over budget. Overall, it was one of the greatest birthdays on record, all thanks to my incredible little family. :)

Click here for more images from our adventure.