life lately

clockwise, l to r: pedicure // in honor of st. patrick's day // sunday snow
// saturday night at Baine's // silly friends // it snowed a lot // Allison and I
// spending time at White Hart // weekend breakfast hash

I've done a few "life lately" type posts, trying to catch up on all the fun little details that I often miss in my routine blogging.
I've been on a blogging roll this week, both here and at Voguish at Best.
I've been trying to really get into the swing of blogging multiple times a week, and it seems these past few weeks have flown by without giving me the proper chance to document them!

I mostly blame our trip.
Trying to go through all of those pictures and post those long, photo-heavy posts has been daunting.
And I'm sure I'll finish them...eventually...but in the meantime, our Lynchburg lives have been moving steadily forward.

My last post before we left for London was a food post about a great new pizza spot, Arosto.

After we got back from our trip, we had to drive 3 1/2 hours back to Lynchburg from Washington D.C., and resume work and school the very next day.
Luckily our flight got in late Sunday afternoon, so we had some time to get home and get in bed at a decent hour.
Surprisingly, it was way easier coming home than going there!
It was definitely a drowzy week, but we had no trouble going to bed each evening!

That first week back was rather uneventful, save for a much-needed lunchtime pedicure date with Allison!
I tried to make up for missing St. Patrick's Day this year by wearing green a lot (we were coming home from our trip on the 17th) but really missed having our super spectacular St. Patrick's Day party like last year.
Luckily we were able to have some fun friend time over the weekend, when we went down to Appomattox to see a folk concert (by Kinfolk again!) at Baine's Coffee Shop. It was packed with a lot of friends from the law school, all there to enjoy the music.

clockwise, l to r: amazing stuffed bell peppers // more time at white hart // kitten cuddles // coffee morning // sunset at Dusty's soccer game // breakfast while watching the breakfast club //
Caitlin the irish dancer, a sticker doll from Baine's // putting the bell peppers in the oven // feeling blue // Dusty and mango Arizona iced tea, yum!

One of my favorite things that next weekend was watching The Breakfast Club for the first time.

We went over to Greg and Allison's with donuts and turkey bacon, ready to watch this iconic 80's movie...ready for our lives to be changed forever.

It actually led to a very funny conversation between Dusty and I about why our parents must have guarded us from watching certain things when we were younger. Who'd have ever thought there was a really good reason for that? :)

But all in all, a totally great, classic 80's flick. It was a fun night!

clockwise, l to r: Dusty's easter basket // Easter morning // at lunch // Easter sushi // cadbury egg
// Wasabi, our favorite sushi // our Sunday best // at church

Our Easter was really lovely.
We kept it really light and casual...I made us breakfast that morning, while we went through our Easter baskets. Then we went to church in our best Easter wear.

I thought my card art was pretty clever. Dustbunny.

After church, we went out to our favorite sushi place for lunch!
We kind of decided on Easter last year that sushi would be our little Easter tradition.
That may change once there are little Schanakers running around, but for now, we're all for it!

That afternoon, we were in 100% cuddle/sugar high mode.

We also had the most hilarious chat with one of my best friends, Britany.
She may hate me for these pictures, but I'm way too far away for her to do anything about it.

My favorite is that she looks like a floating head in the midst of pitch blackness.
The phone kept freezing, so we'd lose each other for a bit, and we'd try and freeze in the most absurd expressions so when the phone started working again it would be instant hilarity.
Reason #3487 why we're friends.

clockwise, l to r: leaving for Chicago // cute little book // birthday outfit (in Dusty's honor) //
Barrister's Ball // breakfast at IHOP // lazy Saturday // bad cats // sneaky
// spring in Lynchburg // birthday bed

Really early on April 2nd, Dusty left for the National Mediation Tournament in Chicago!
They didn't end up winning nationals, but we were all so proud (it was the first team ever from Liberty to go to nationals!) and it was a really amazing trip for Dusty.
He was gone all week, including most of his birthday, which was kind of sad for me.
But I cleaned the house and decorated the room with gifts, and we went to our Barrister's Ball that night.
We did mini birthday outings the rest of the weekend, too!

(side note: 14,000 things to be happy about is the cutest book ever. My favorite was "yummy-to-lick envelopes" and the list of the entire cast of Winnie the Pooh. "Tigger", "Piglet", "Christopher Robin"... Also, on a sad note, the girls pulled down the entire tablecloth and shattered our coin jar...so much for Paradise Falls!)

Dusty's birthday card...all these cute pairs on the front,
then it says "you and me" in the middle, with "some things go so well together."
I then noticed as I was writing in it that is says "you and chocolate sauce" on the bottom! HA!

We had a fun birthday breakfast at IHOP, which was free since he got two free birthday emails!

We were pretty happy campers.

That night we went fancy and went out to Isabella's, our absolute favorite Italian restaurant here!

It had been way too long since we'd been there. The first time we went was on Valentine's Day, 2012.

And it had been that long since we had had the amazing mocha latte cheesecake...

Well, we did eat real dinner, first.

But the dessert is really all that matters!

clockwise, l to r: lunch at Milan // plate at Milan, yum! // B is for Brooklyn // Potato, Sausage, Apple casserole // Caitlin the Irish dancer // Dusty with his birthday ice cream
// Life Group // Lavender Honey Ice Cream

clockwise, l to r: our spring-full apartment complex // sushi boats with Colin and Victoria
// new book necklace from the Vintage Market // Stephanie, Allison and I at Allison's Shower

The following week was great.
It was my boss's birthday, so we got to go to my favorite Indian place (okay, the only Indian place I've been to) in Lynchburg, called Milan.
Dusty doesn't care for it, so the only way I can really get my fix is when there's a special occasion at work. It's the go-to place for my coworkers, and I love it!

I also made a really good Roasted Sausage/Potato/Apple dinner thanks to my sister-in-law. It's basically Fall in a glass dish, but is pretty much awesome year round.

I made honey lavender ice cream, we had our life group on the grass because the weather was so beautiful, I got started on decorations for Allison's shower (including a big letter B for Brooklyn!), and we went and watched New Girl with Greg and Allison and had an impromptu birthday time for Dusty. Ice cream, oreos, and candles, oh my!
We have such great friends.

Speaking of great friends, we went on a double date to Wasabi with our friends Victoria and Colin (can you tell we love sushi?) and we each got our sushi on a boat. 
We also had our favorite waitress there. She's so spunky and is always cracking jokes, every time she talks to you it feels like you've been friends for years. We've had her once before, and so had Colin and Victoria, and she remembered all of us.
We felt so fancy, and had an awesome night out. We're so excited because we just found out they'll officially be staying here over the summer, too, so we'll for sure be having lots of summer fun together!

This past weekend we had an amazing mini trip to Charlotte, NC (our last trip there was one of our favorite summer weekends!) where we got to see Needtobreathe in concert again and spend some time with our friends Jon and Emilie!
That, as well as this past week, will have to be a "life lately: part 2" for another day. :)

Have a great weekend!!

In love,
Cait

dresses and bubblegum

January has been floating by.

The weather has been surprisingly warm, as if we decided to switch places with our now-freezing relatives on the west coast. 

We haven't minded, though, enjoying the change of pace. 

Our first week back we were feeling the jet lag, so we spent a lot of time avoiding unpacking!

Dress: J. Crew, Cardigan: Banana Republic, Scarf: Gifted, Tights: Target, Boots: DSW

This was my favorite outfit that week.
This mint dress is possibly the most-worn dress in my closet, and I love playing around with it. The possibilities for color and pattern-pairing is limitless.

My husband took these pictures for me outside of our favorite new sushi place, Wasabi.

It's not easy taking pictures in the wintertime, because as soon as I'm done with work it's already dark!

I've been really missing Frocktober, and the way it challenged me to work with my clothes and get creative with what I wear on a daily basis.
I would love to start a fashion blog, where I could document my pattern experiments and Frocktober-esque challenges, mirroring some of the blogs I love to follow.
I would still keep this blog for my more personal posts, but I'm in the process of figuring out how and if I could start another one.
Any thoughts/advice?

Maybe someday soon I'll be able to get some help in redesigning this blog space to be less cluttered and more user friendly!

This is one of my favorite Christmas presents, from my best friend Becky. She knows I love green, and with it being the Polyvore color of the year, I'd say it was perfectly timed!
(I also really needed a new purse).

If you have any fashion blog name ideas, I'd love to hear them!
I found this great article today that got me brainstorming for fun ideas. It shouldn't be that difficult to come up with a name, but it's been torturing me for weeks!
With this article's advice, I was coming up with all kinds of gems. Cookies and Cashmere, Hoops and Jalapenos!
So far "Pleats and Eats" is in the top running.
What do you think I should name my fashion blog?

In love,
Cait

small pleasures

Have you ever really watched someone make sushi?
It's an art. It's beautiful, it's fragrant, it's precise.
We finally found our sushi place, ya'll. It has happened.

It's called Wasabi, and it's a Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi Bar.
It's actually about a 37 second drive from where I work on campus.
Which is a really big problem, if you know us at all.
We're easily derailed into food-related temptation.

It used to be a mediocre Mexican food restaurant, and it finally got remodeled into this fantastic spot.
It's pretty pricey, (we're keeping our fingers crossed for the development of a "Happy Hour" sushi night or something!) but it's really delicious and seems packed with new admiring customers! The place looks awesome, and the entire center of the place is dedicated to the Hibachi grills.
The sushi bar is off to the left, and it's really nice. The service was spectacular, and the sushi was delish.
It's possible we just haven't had good sushi in so long that we actually don't know how to tell if sushi is really good or not, but we liked it. A lot.
Which is why we went two nights in a row.
Oops!

The Volcano Roll
Our sushi glows, ya idiots.

The Lynchburg Roll

On our second night, we decided to try a few different rolls!
The presentation is just lovely. It's art, like I said.

The No Name Roll and the night's special, The Phoebe Roll

We ordered the "Phoebe Roll" because of the jalapeno!

On both nights, we ordered little avocado rolls - which were divine, so smooth and fresh.

On our second night, the sushi chefs handed us each a bowl of fresh tuna and avocados with their specialty sauce drizzled on top!
He said, "for dessert" with a big smile on his face, "on the house".
By golly, don't mind if we do!

 It was a great weekend. We shook our bellies like bowls full of jelly.

T-minus TWO days until we're home for Christmas! :)

In love,
Cait

Get in my Belly: Washington D.C.

"Life is just a bunch of time spent anxiously awaiting and planning the next great meal."
-Heather and Caitlin
(Paraphrased).

Heather and I figured out pretty quickly that we were very alike in that way.
Going to bed at night: "Ooh, I can't wait for Starbucks in the morning."
After Starbucks: "Oooh, what's for lunch? I can't wait to go there...yeah, that's only like 4 hours away!"
Five minutes later: "No but really, I wish it was lunchtime already..."

Haha.
This was a great trip for our bellies. We essentially ran out of time this trip, with a rapidly growing list of must-eat restaurants for next time!

CUBAN


Um, yum. Holy cannoli. Actually, more like holy tapas!

"Mojitos and Tapas", our first restaurant experience.
We stopped at this bad boy on our drive out, a totally hidden little gem nestled in some hot spot about an hour outside of Fairfax.
Luckily for us, Chris has Cuban roots and was an expert on the menu and on the delicious things to get! I can't believe I haven't been eating fried plantains and Mojo my whole life!!

Dusty got the Cuban sandwich (fitting, ya?) which was HUGE and wow. I got Tostones Rellenos, delicious plaintains stuffed with Ropa Vieja, which is the Cuban styled beef. Excuse me while I speak "foodie" for a moment: Ohmyword, mmmspice.

Mojitos and Tapas was also decked out in St. Patrick's Day decor, which was kind of fun :)
The blending of two cultures.
Oh, and PS, Cuban coffee? Yeah, you guessed it, yum.














BURGERS


I was going to title this section "American", but the truth is, Burgers deserve their own category.
Especially the burgers from Good Stuff Eatery.

I speak for both Dusty and I when I say this was our favorite stop from our last visits to D.C. And absence really does make the heart grow fonder -- I left violently angry that this joint wasn't in my own backyard. Actually, I left in a blissfully happy food coma, but the anger did come around later on.

It was SO FUN introducing friends to such deliciousness.
They were pretty excited. Though slightly daunted by the line that trailed all the way to the door, I think it was just further proof that this place was going to rock their socks off.

I'm going to take a moment to talk about the shakes.
No, actually, I'm not. Because I'm sorry folks, but you've gotta just buy a plane ticket and get your little tushies out there and try them for yourselves.
And nix the "them", because there's really only ONE that you've gotta try: Toasted Marshmellow.
Drool.
Creamy, toasty, bonfire-y, summery, flavorful delight.
I'm feeling the anger again.

This is the face of "Good Stuff".

I'd like 1 Obama, please!

Dusty ordered the Uncle D chili/cheese burger, which was melt-in-your-mouth delicious. I personally had the Obama Burger. While I leave politics completely out of this blog, I gotta say, it was pretty fantastic to take a bite out of Obama. :)

The "Prez Obama" burger has applewood bacon, onion marmalade, roquefort cheese and delicious horseradish mayo. I'm telling ya, it was the stuff. The GOOD STUFF.

And lastly, I'm going to tell you gently and lovingly of the rosemary and thyme french fries.
Ooo, la la. Ooo, la la la.

I really shouldn't write this blog post so close to lunch.






JAPANESE


This venture included a very exciting cab ride (with a driver we named Ranjit, please watch How I Met Your Mother for proper appreciation). Dusty had NEVER ridden in a cab before.
I'm not gonna lie, I love that silly-faced man.

Once we arrived in the we're-gonna-die-here neighborhood, (this was long after we had pulled up to an empty-looking brick house where Ranjit asked, "is this it?"), we spotted the neon "Open" sign in the window next to Coco Booty. Oh, I mean Kotobuki. Chris kept saying Coco Booty so often that we decided to just change its name.

 The restaurant was hidden in the upstairs of this building, so we had no idea what to expect! We climbed the narrow staircase and found a small, and I mean SMALL, Sushi restaurant. We knew we were in for a real treat. The restaurant seated about 24-30 people, if you really squished (which we did). It was full, so we just stood halfway at the top of the stairs, a quarter in the storage pantry, and a quarter in the kitchen, until a table emptied out. We had gotten there right in the nick of time!
They didn't seem to want to seat us at the two-person table, but we assured them we could make it work.

Everything was so fresh, and so delicious.
It was a real, genuine Sushi place. No tricks, nothing artificial. We savored every bite.
I was really wishing my brothers were there with me!
This place is definitely hidden, and a definite treasure for those "in-the-know". We felt super fancy and rather fortunate to have gotten a table, and we really, really enjoyed our meal.

Afterwards we walked over to Safeway (Safeway!! How I miss thee) and got the long-awaited Birthday Cake Oreos that we had been dying to try, and some milk! We managed to figure out the bus sytem after a while, freezing while we waited. The nice man let us ride the bus for free, (chivalry does still exist), and we ended our night with Oreos, milk and Saturday Night Live.

AMERICAN


The next day was awesome, totally comfort food.
WE FOUND A CHEESECAKE FACTORY.
We got everything we wanted: Sweet Corn Tamale Cakes, Avocado Egg Rolls, Evelyn's Pasta, coffee, cheesecake....it was a little taste of home, and it was oh so sweet.

We also hit up a Shake Shack! We went to the one near Times Square when we were in New York, and Dusty was excited to get another shake.

No offense to anyone, but I'm much more of a Good Stuff Eatery gal. :) although Shake Shack is a delicious, solid burger -- everything you want from a fresh, lettuce/tomato/onion kind of treat.
Heather and I humored the boys as they enjoyed their shake and burger, but we were more excited about the Pinkberry across the street -- especially after the incredibly heavy lunch we had!




Frozen yogurt has pretty much spread like wildfire all over the place, and there are way too many fro-yo places to even name. Bloop is by far my favorite in Lynchburg, but Pinkberry is the winner of the original tart. It's the best, and is so thick and creamy, it stays intact while you're eating it and doesn't get all melty.
The salted caramel is also super yummy!

CUPCAKE WARS


This was quite fun, I must say. :)
On our bike-ride trip to Georgetown, one of our main goals was to stack up two of the most famous cupcake places, Sprinkles and Georgetown Cupcakes, against each other and see which one was victorious.

Sprinkles has been my long-time favorite, since they have a location in Scottsdale. I knew from experience that the Coconut flavor was by far the Cup of their Cake.
Oh and also, FYI, they serve delicious COLD milk. That's important to some people!

Dusty and I decided to go outside the box, and get something neither of us had tried before.
I opted for the Banana, and Dusty got the specialty Irish Cream, just in time for St. Patrick's Day.
I'm glad Chris decided to get the Coconut -- I'm still convinced it's the best representation of a to-die-for cupcake.

Banana

Irish Cream

Cutie!

We then headed to the infamous Georgetown Cupcakes.
(On our way there is when we got bombarded with insults from a strange man.)
When we got there, we knew immediately that this was most definitely a well-liked and well-known place!

Standing in the loooong line!

Toffee crunch - my choice :)

Point 1 goes to Sprinkles - Georgetown's cupcakes were much smaller!




A breakdown of our rating system goes like this:

Quality of Cake: Sprinkles
Quality of Frosting: Georgetown
Size: Sprinkles
Variety of Choices: Georgetown

So it was a tie, except that Sprinkles won.
Haha! And here's why: overall, size and cake won out in our minds. Plus the frosting at Sprinkles is super good, just not quite as fluffy and creamy.
Word to the wise? Always get Coconut.

MEXICAN


Our last meal was a doozy. We were thrilled at this choice! One of the most unique experiences of our trip. And honestly, the whole idea of "Tapas" (a meal composed of smaller/shareable plates) was new to Dusty and I. At this next place, we ordered about 3 or 4 Tapas plates per person.
Oyamel  was chosen by our hosts, Jeremiah and Christina. We were so glad they knew their way around, and we had so much fun being bold and trying out all the unique Tapas!

They had such intimidating choices, especially for a newly-reformed picky eater like Dusty.
Chris and Heather tried out this dish on the left, which was called "Ceviche de atún Pacífico". It was raw Tuna with Maggi-lime marinade,
scallions, avocado, toasted pecans,
jalapenos and crispy amaranth.
They let me taste some, and I really liked it!

 One of my favorite features of the evening.
They had a fresh guacamole menu item, where they come and make it right next to your table.
It was the BEST guacamole I've ever had.
And I really don't say that lightly!
It was also the spiciest. Oh my word!
We told her to make it spicy, and she definitely delivered.

 She made it so quickly and effortlessly (did I mention our waitress had something akin to a Ukrainian accent? She was pretty cool), but I wish I had really payed attention to all the ingredients.
It was delish. I'd probably go back there just for that.

Next stop?
Brussel sprouts.
I don't even wanna hear anyone's moans or groans - these brussel sprouts were so good, even a spoiled picky-eater child would love them.
These were my number one love of the night.

These Col de bruselas estilo San Quintín were perfectly designed.
Crispy brussel sprouts with an arbol
chile sauce, pumpkin seed, peanuts and lime.
WIN.

Now I'm most definitely ready for lunch.
So excited to have spent that time in D.C., and to have had such fun experiences there with our friends.
It's one of the huge bonuses of being over here on the east coast. I don't want to miss out on being so close to  some amazing travel opportunities! :)
Looking forward to our next trip.

In love,
Cait