food love.

I'm feeling much better thanks to the z-pack. This morning Brandon and I went to the Memphis Farmer's Market. It's down in the South Main District at the train station. We had a super fun time. I had been dying to go for weeks, and it did not disappoint. I even found this heart shaped new potato amongst my purchases.
We did some "cook-storming," which basically means, I brainstorm about what I should cook based on the available ingredients. We're still in the middle of the Apostle's fast so a veggie-centric meal is the most fasting friendly way to cook!

We got blueberries, eggplant, new potatoes, honey, honeycomb, kalamata olive bread, sourdough bread, rosemary garlic goat cheese (for tomorrow's feast of Saints Peter and Paul,) white summer squash (the vendor didn't know the name, it's white and looks like it's from outer space,) and Brandon bought me a rosemary plant. The rosemary plant is funny because I lost a rosemary plant at a white elephant party this last Christmas. I've been bitter ever since.
I also got this awesome handmade butter dish. It makes me very happy. It'll be holding margarine tonight, but it'll fulfill it's true butter purpose in life tomorrow when the fast is over! Tonight's Menu: Spanish Eggplant, Grilled Summer Squash, Roasted Rosemary Potatoes, Kalamata Olive Bread, and Honey Blueberry Crumble. Check out the apron in the above picture; it was a gift from my sweet Brandon.

Oh, and the picture below is from last Saturday at my cousin Shey's wedding. Just so you could have your Brandon and Caitlyn fix for the week. Wow, I just realized how sticky sweet this post is, I apologize.
Happy Saturday... Enjoy some food lovin' tonight!

say aaaaaaaaaaa...

Well, I had my very first sick day at my new job. I went to bed with a very sore throat last night. When I woke up this morning it hurt even worse, and it felt like my whole neck was swollen. NOT COOL!

I called in sick and then my mom made me an appointment with the nurse practitioner. It was seriously the best doctor's office visit I've ever had. They had me in and out in less than 15 minutes. I have a very faint case of strep throat. (Personally I couldn't even see the line on the test when the nurse tried to show me, but he's the expert and I felt pretty awful.) They prescribed a z-pack for me. I'm not usually so hasty about going to the doctor, but I don't have time to be sick right now!

Brandon came over and we had amy's soy mac and cheese and morningstar farms fake chicken nuggets and soy ice cream sandwiches. He understands that I just want to eat comfort food when I'm sick! (I really talk about food on here a lot! Sorry.) Then we watched soccer as stupid Spain beat my beloved Russia at the quarterfinals in the Euro.

Well, I'm going to drink my cranberry juice now. Goodbye.

It's Tuesday... No wait... Now it's Wednesday 12:30 AM.

OK, OK, OK! Correction: I realize I said the ante-occidents blog was written by the 3 smartest guys I know in the last post. I meant the 4 smartest guys OK!?!? Just read their blog and leave me alone.

I just saw a picture of a friend from the wintertime... It made me with it were December. Sad, it's only June and I'm looking forward to cooler weather.

I made a lovely fasting friendly dinner tonight. (Apostles Fast: pretty short, it ends on Sunday with the commemorations of Saints Peter and Paul.) We had some portabellas along with some onions, tomatoes, and asparagus we made paninis. I also resurrected a baked potato from obscurity by cooking it with some onions and spices and making some sort of hash brown/home fry sort of thing. We also ate some of the fasting friendly cole slaw from last night's St. John pool party at Rhodes. (Thanks for the slaw Meribeth, and thanks for the recipe Erin.) My mom also made the Lambert's Macaroni, it's macaroni with tomatoes and other stuff. Pretty simple but yummy. We had a pretty sufficient dinner. Didn't really mean to, we just had a bunch of items to choose from.

Oh, and for dessert we made the vegan chocolate chip cookies from Vegan With a Vengeance.... They are AWESOME! I really like them. Now we'll have to see if they stand the overnight test. I do not like crunchy cookies. If they get crunchy I'll let you know.

Oh, I know I mentioned the dinner group on Friday. It was much fun, we always leave saying "wow, we have the best dinner group ever!" Here is a picture of Brandon and I courtesy of Kh. Susan.... Thanks again for hosting. We had such a great time! (And I love this picture, I swear your camera makes me prettier!)

Tomorrow is some sort of office-wide training at work from 8-3. I don't know how I feel about this. It all seems very Office Space to me... But, the lack of cool factor probably won't fly as an excuse. We'll see! Have a happy Wednesday!

things of a differing nature...

After the last post, thanks for all the comments they made me feel so much better, I thought it was about time for a more lighthearted post.

Brandon (along with Josh, Chase, and Evan) have created a new blog. It is http://anteoccidents.blogspot.com/... it's going to be the best blog ever... apart from mine of course! Read the very first post, the "about me," it'll give you a better idea of what they're all about. A blog from three of the smartest guys I know is a definite workout for the brain, much more in depth than the caitlyncosm is most of the time! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have.

In other news, I made delicious homemade mashed potatoes last night. Brandon gave me the world's cutest apron as a "Thursday Present," and of course I needed to use it! Tonight's our dinner group and I signed up for a starchy side dish. I figured mashed potatoes were starchy enough. Since it's a special occasion, I made ultimate mashed potatoes. I used a whopping 2 sticks of butter, sour cream, parmesan cheese, half and half, and some parsley, salt, and pepper. Can you tell I'm pretty excited that this week was a no fasting week? (Week after Pentecost, yay for feasting!) Watch out dinner club!

can things go back to normal... please!?

I do like my job. I promise. But it just feels like I've lost the old Caitlyn. She was creative, she got excited to go to church, didn't mind volunteering for everything, and actually had time for the gym!

I know that all sounds dramatic. I just want to feel back to normal. For starters: I'm tired. I know this has to do with the fact I've only made it to the gym two times in the month since I started my job. I finally resolved to go when they opened at 6am yesterday. As a result I had a wonderful day. This morning: I overslept. I plan to go to pilates with Gigi tonight. I'll be sore tomorrow, but it's worth it.

I've also been too tired to be creative. I used to embark on artsy projects. Last summer I made a collage that I absolutely love. I have 2 blank canvases I've been dying to use. So far, they haven't been touched.

Along with my creative endeavors went cooking. Cooking makes me happy! This Saturday night (while I was house sitting for Meribeth a.k.a. 24 hour vacation) I cooked a delicious meal. I went to Easy Way (my heart) and got some beautiful asparagus, and oranges, some delicious butter (no seriously, it was so good!) along with some of the best cherries ever! I also bought challah bread, fresh shrimp, delicious Italian parsley, grits, and set out to make dinner. If you didn't figure it out. I made shrimp and grits, roasted asparagus, and a chocolate bread pudding with an orange chocolate sauce. No recipes, just inspiration and creativity, the way I love to cook!

Lately I haven't been as excited to go to Church. The exhaustion played a role there too. I'm getting over it. But honestly, I just didn't want to go, I didn't feel like praying, and I didn't even want to read anything Church related. After our Pentecost Kneeling Vespers, I felt like things there went back to normal. I don't know why. They just did.

I'm very excited about two other things, VCS (Vacation Church School), and OCF (Orthodox Christian Fellowship.) I volunteered for VCS forever ago, but we really started planning this week. I'm so excited. Also, we're planning some stuff for OCF this summer, this makes me happy.

This is a very whiny post. I apologize. I just want things to be back to normal, and posting on my blog makes me feel pretty normal. Thanks for listening.

i promise...

I promise I'm still alive. 40 hours is tough. I never realized how much of your week that actually sucks up!

Things are good in the caitlyncosm. Saturdays are packed right now, weddings, birthdays, going away parties, welcome home parties, did I mention weddings?

I promise to post within the next few days... I promise.