Tuesday, July 29, 2008

invent something new every day...

I have to do something like this on a pretty regular basis to keep myself sane.

I've noticed on the days I create something, I'm a much happier person. I love coming up with a recipe... making a necklace... embroidering something... knitting something... "making some art" (my way of saying painting something or making a collage.) I love to be creative. I also love to glean some creativity from other people, i.e. following a recipe for something wonderful or building something from a kit.

Today's creative endeavor was a very Caitlyn thing to do. Last night I ate some of my friend Meribeth's watermelon and feta salad at at pool party. It was delicious! I began having a late night craving for something feta-y.

Brandon got some feta for a pasta dish we made last night for the pool party. We ended up not using it, and I got to bring it home. But you see Friday begins the two week Dormition Fast (honoring the dormition of the Theotokos.) Since the fast begins on Friday and Wednesdays are always fast days, this only left Tuesday and Thursday to eat the feta, and I knew my family wouldn't eat it, they think it stinks.

Anyway, I had this craving and we had nothing sweet that traditionally goes with feta. We usually have some dates in the house, and I was going to make a couple of feta stuffed dates to satisfy my craving, but we were out. So I made up a fabulous recipe... WARNING: You've got to like feta... ANOTHER WARNING: I don't measure things, sorry. You'll have to estimate.

Bright Feta Salad:
1 Apple (Green, is there really any other kind?)
Feta Cheese
Golden Raisins
Pecans (I guess walnuts would also work, we just had the pecans.)
Lemon Juice
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

I chopped everything up, mixed together the oil and lemon juice and crumbled in the feta... YUM!

Birthday Recap:
Well, Friday was my birthday, and a very lovely one at that! I had to work on Friday, but my friends Claire and Clark met me for lunch, they were both so much fun to have lunch with! Clark gave me some pecan fudge from Dinstuhl's (yay!) My friend Kim stopped by my work before lunch and brought me some beautiful prayer beads made of olive wood! It made me so happy.

Victoria, one of the file-students I work with, gave me a Snicker's bar with a pretty bow on it... it was so thoughtful. A few weeks back Liana, another file-student, gave me the Wicked soundtrack as an early birthday present... uh-mazing!

That afternoon I went out to my car to find the latest Vegetarian Times magazine on my windshield. Brandon came all the way to my work to drop it off, he's way too sweet. He gave me my present a few weeks ago, a cooking class at the Viking School. I scheduled it in September, I'm so excited!

After work I went over to Brandon's house to meet him for dinner. His family SHOWERED me with presents. His mom gave me a Viking gift card to use when I go for my class (you get 10% off the day of your cooking class.) His sister Ashley and her husband James and sweet baby Justin gave me the cutest pink and green lunch bag that says "My Lunch." His other sister Courtney gave me a cupcake stand, it is so perfect, I can't wait to make cupcakes for everyone.

We went to Abyssinia with my family for dinner. I love Ethiopian food, and my family actually enjoyed themselves. I love to introduce people to "weird" cuisines. I mean, I introduced them to Indian food before it was trendy, and now my mom makes some of the best curries I know of!
My family gave me a very cute red (faux) alligator bag, it's the perfect size for me: BIG! They also gave me a clothing fund (AKA- Target gift card) YAY!

The next day, Brandon and I had a fabulous breakfast at Cafe Eclectic and then hung out for a bit. Then I went shopping at Target and got 4 dresses, 2 tops, new shoes, and a new wallet! It was a VERY nice gift card! Afterward, I went to go get a manicure, and said what the heck, let's get a pedicure too. I got "Pistol Packin' Pink" on my fingers and "Lunch at the Delhi" on my toes. (Who doesn't love those OPI nail color names?) I also got a McAlister's sweet tea, an indulgence I rarely afford myself. It was as good as I remember.

Then, I came home and began making myself pretty for our night out. Brandon and I went to eat at Encore. The chef, Jose Gutierrez, is incredible. I would go into the details of our dinner, but I might just get too excited and start salivating. It was simply amazing! And, as a bonus: I could see the chef at work in the kitchen from our table. I felt like a crazed fan, I couldn't stop staring.

Overall, an amazing birthday weekend.

I will have more to write about as soon as this week is over. We're having Vacation Church School this week. I'm drained!

3 comments:

Liz said...

Hey cous! I texted you on your birthday, but wasn't sure if you got it. I would have called but I was in the middle of KY Governor's Scholars Program summer-job craziness, as it was the last week for the kids we worked with.

Anyway, don't you love how creativity runs in our fam? We are one special clan. haha.

The big 2-3. Man, you're so adult now.

Susan Cushman said...

Didn't know it was your birthday, Caitlyn! I think I've seen you 2-3 times since then but didn't know to give you a birthday hug.I'll catch up with you soon:-) GREAT job at Vacation Church School! love you!

Anonymous said...

Yay for birthday and BIGGER yay for Feta! yup... You are not allowed to forget to write about VCS. Also, someone forgot to mention they got a very special gift card from Clark to Apple...that was regifted with 20 dollars and... some change, hahaha