the Right side of the bed

Ya know that expression about getting up on "the wrong side of the bed"?
Well, sometimes it sure feels good to get up on the right.

Yesterday was a little bit of a rough spot. I had to miss several hours of work to go to the chiropractor and meet with an insurance agent, and have been battling some soreness. But, the day ended much better.

I came home to these:

Which were accompanied by a clean living room, and fully vacuumed house. I just cry when these things happen, because it's such an unexpected and lovely display of affection.
With the house feeling much better (it's been in a down spiral throughout the two weeks of finals, and is finally at a point where we can have the time to clean it!), we went up to the fitness center and did our evening work-out (yeah, that's right!) and began to get ready for dinner.
The hubby had ran some errands for me earlier that day (thus the surprise flowers), and he had picked up some mangoes! Sweet boy, he knows they're my favorite.
With chicken on the menu, I simply put 2 and 2 together, to equal Mango Chicken.
Dusty was the genius that found the recipe that included orange juice.

Ladies and gents, meet the melt-in-your-mouth, delicious, one-of-a-kind, taste-of-heaven dinner.

We juiced about 10 oz. of fresh oranges from our juicer (we love this thing), and simply poured it into our square pan. We added two defrosted chicken breasts, sprinkled with chili powder and cilantro and surrounded by the cubed mangoes. Dios mio.

It transported me back to Mexico, when a strappy young fellow on the beach came up with a Mango cart, and proceeded to serve it up with lime and chili powder, right there on the sand. It was bliss.

Back to dinner...we baked the dish at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes or so, until the chicken was cooked all the way through. And let me tell you guys. Melt. In. Your. Mouth. The mangoes, being boiled in the fresh orange juice, become impossibly soft and juicy. Served over rice, this dish is a fast favorite, and completely unique. Not to mention extremely healthy!

We sprinkled some lime juice on top, served it over rice, and enjoyed every last bite.

So needless to say, the evening was delightful after that. Dusty had some reading to do, I had some River Monsters to watch, and we had a very nice time.

Before bed, I prepared our breakfast for the next day. Thanks to another revolutionary recipe I found, which has changed our lives forever. It has actually allowed us to eat breakfast. We never eat breakfast!

Enter, the before-bed oatmeal.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Oats
1 Fat-Free Yogurt Cup
1-2 Tbs of Milk
Fresh Fruit (as desired)
Optional: honey, cocoa powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.

These little guys are perfect for the kind of people that have a difficult time getting up in the morning, and would rather sleep than spend time on breakfast. (ME).
You simply mix up all the ingredients, cover, put in the fridge, and overnight it becomes a creamy, delicious and cold oatmeal treat.

And let's not underestimate the positive power of eating from a mini honey-pot every morning :)

Blackberry yogurt,
with fresh raspberries and honey drizzled on top.

Peach yogurt, with fresh strawberries
and honey, cinnamon and nutmeg.

This morning, I couldn't help but wake up on the right side. :)

Sometimes it's the little things in life that bring about that "right side". Maybe it's a clean house. Maybe it's surprise flowers! Maybe it's just waking up and knowing exactly what you want to wear, and going through your day in a perfect outfit.

Whatever it is, let your day be right.

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in  you.
Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.
Psalm 143:8.

Good day.
In love,
Cait

Will the Real Summer Lovin' Please Stand Up

This marks the second week of freedom from law school.

Except that it doesn't, because the hubby is taking a horrible intensive, which ends Friday.

So this Friday, we will be able to celebrate all over again that the beginning of (the true) Summer is upon us!!

But that doesn't mean we haven't had some fun this weekend. :)

Friday was an adorable birthday party for a sweet little boy we know named William. His party was straight out of a magazine, which is a tribute to his creative and food-tastic mother, Stephanie.

It was manly and mustache themed :)

"You really tickled our whiskers --
please help yourself to
'the stash'!"

"Man"wiches.

"Wet Your Whiskers".

The photo booth area.

Socializing.

Stephanie (and her husband Josh) really outdid themselves. The menu consisted of delicious mini sandwiches (including a dark bread/brie combo that was melt-in-your-mouth), fruit salad, pasta salad, fruit cones (ice cream cones stuffed with delicious fresh fruit), salt and cracked pepper chips, and individually-cupped veggies and dip. The drinks included water, bottled root beer and minty lemonade.
The sweet treats were some of the best -- chocolate or peanut butter mustaches (see below), animal crackers, gumballs, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate dipped pretzel sticks with sprinkles, and lemon vanilla cake/cupcakes.

Needless to say, we were completely stuffed. But that didn't stop us from filling a few bags to-go!

It was an absolutely gorgeous day. The weather has been top notch for the last few days. Lynchburg had a week or so of really vicious mood swings, going from sunny and hot to windy and rainy. But now that perfection has struck, we can only hope that it will last!

When it came time for cake, we just let the babies take charge. And boy, did they take charge!

CAKE!

"Victory!"

Happy birthday, William. :)

The rest of the evening, we took photo-booth pictures, and played some cornhole. Some healthy competition was going one. :)

We somehow always end up being girls vs. guys...

Aidan really wanted in on it :)

The rest of us just watched, and were on baby-watching duty.
I don't think Dusty minded very much :)

Cuties.


I spent some time with the adorable Pierre, who was very French indeed, down to the cute little puppy bandana.

We discovered Pierre's love of tissue paper.

"J'aime ma famille.
Accessoires tissus et papier sont en haut de ma liste comme bien,
parce que je suis celui qui suis."

The rest of the our weekend went by in a blur.
Saturday consisted of Luna and I in various positions of relaxation.

From this:

To this:

 To this:

And finally, to this:

Eventually we just gave in and told each other "i love you" and went on to other productive activities.
Like this.

Sunday was a haze of movies and coffee.
And a lotta this:

 

My first official craft fair is coming up this weekend, so I've been a busy little bee building up enough inventory for it. I have around 30 pairs of earrings that I finished up this weekend, among other accessories :) I can't wait!
If you're local, come by! It's at Yellow Branch Baptist Church in Rustburg, from 8am to 5pm this Saturday, May 26th.

My crafting movie marathon consisted of:
1. Ever After
2. The Holiday
3. Cast Away
4. Countless episodes of How I Met Your Mother, season 3.

It was a beautiful day outside, so I made sure to have my blinds open. :)


On another note, the hubby and I are doing our own version of a juice cleanse for the next week or two. Wish us luck as we have our fruity oatmeal in the morning, and fresh juice throughout the day. We managed to muster up the courage to visit our resident fitness center (no air-conditioning, which is hopefully just temporary), and plan to make that a regular habit.

AND we found a PARK in our complex!! Who knew!

 I think that's all for my musings and updates. So for now, I'll leave you with this nugget of truth and warning:

If you ever go to a J. Crew (or "insert fancy brand name store here") warehouse sale, wear flip-flops, a tank top, and skinny jeans or shorts. And don't bring your husband.

You have been forewarned.

G'day mate!

In love,
Cait

comfort food

I love the concept of comfort food.
Comfort food is completely tailored to each individual, and has everything to do with how and where they grew up.
It can range from french fries to fried chicken, from potato soup to mac and cheese.
Or if you're fancy, maybe it's shrimp or lobster or steak.
For me, my comfort food is Top Ramen. I know, go ahead and groan, go ahead and talk about the high levels of sodium and the potentially indigestible properties of the pre-packaged pasta delights. I don't care.
I was in a car crash last night, and the first thing I did was go home and curl up on the couch and eat a bowl of chicken Top Ramen with Tabasco sauce. (It's okay, you can groan again). Then I fell asleep to re-runs of How I Met Your Mother, because I was so comforted.

When you're functioning on leftovers and cheap foods, it's amazing the kind of cheap and easy throw-together meals you can create. Like crackers and spray-cheese, they get the job done.

Like
Cabbage Salad:

Why it's comforting: soy sauce and vinegar, and the delightful crunch.


For non-cabbage lovers, this will be a no-go. Because if you haven't noticed, it's a salad made completely of raw cabbage.
(Although I think this may be very tasty eaten hot, with fried or steamed cabbage, as well).


Ingredients:
Cabbage
Carrots
Mango
Lime
Soy Sauce
Red Wine Vinegar
Pepper

Directions: 
Chop up everything until your bowl is full, and sprinkle with lime, soy sauce and red wine vinegar.
Dash with fresh ground black pepper.
Voila!

This satisfied all of my cravings, while being extremely low calorie, which is very odd for "comfort food". It had the salty sourness of soy sauce and lime, as well as the delightful sweetness of mango and the pleasant crunch of cabbage and carrots. The perfect raw salad.


You could also go for the
Tilapia Sloppy Joe


Now don't gross out on me. I promise, it was good. I had two of them, they were so yummy!
My pictures are on my laptop at home, so maybe I'll add those later. But just trust me on this.


My original plan was to make tilapia patties, because I was craving a burger/fish taco. Sometimes cravings get mixed up in transit.
But I didn't have any eggs, so I knew it would be difficult to make a patty mix that would stay together. So I improvised.


Ingredients:
2 tilapia filets
1/2 fresh chopped tomato
Bread crumbs/crushed potato chips (I'm so creative/unhealthy)
Olive Oil
Garlic Salt
Fresh ground pepper
Crushed Red Pepper flakes
Chili Powder
Whole wheat hamburger/sandwich buns (I'm back in the healthy zone)

Directions:
Finely chop your tilapia filets (this might be easier if you cook them a little bit in the skillet first). Toss together with your chopped tomatoes, bread crumbs and a little bit of oil.
Sprinkle as desired with garlic salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and chili powder. (For me, the spicier the better!).
Throw into your skillet with some more olive oil, and fry them until thoroughly cooked. Scoop the mixture onto the bun, add ketchup, and consume.

The result is a crumbly, deliciously comforting "Sloppy Tilapi". I don't regret it, no matter what people may say.

These are my musings for the day. Sometimes, comfort food is what ya need for dinner.
Be creative, but don't feel bad if Top Ramen is on tonight's menu. Oh, and Taco Bell. Don't let anyone judge you for Taco Bell.

In love,
Cait