thought for the week: choose joy

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...And we are back with internet, our own bed, and a coffee maker - all the things you really need in life right?  Our new house is wonderful and despite a few unexpected repairs/replacements things are great.

I love this thought for the week and it is one I will be repeating often.  I have so much to be thankful for, and I am determined to keep choosing joy.  While we hand wash our dishes waiting for a new dishwasher...I'll choose joy that we had a nutritious (and maybe delicious) home cooked meal.  While I spend hours every day studying...I'll choose joy that I had the chance to attend an amazing law school, and I have the opportunity to become a member of the bar.  When I long for a perfectly decorated and renovated house... I'll choose joy that I have a roof over my head and my favorite pillow at night.  It's so easy to get caught up in the imperfect parts of life (and let's face it- they are there), but at the end of the day life is so much sweeter when we dwell on the good and choose joy.  

What are you joyful about this week?

xo,

PS: Rather than continuing to bore you all with stories of studying over the weekend, I'm going to try giving "thoughts for the week" on Mondays.  I figure you all might appreciate this a little more than me recapping what color highlighter I used to study Civil Procedure.  Let me know what you think!

dinner with sheri castle

In my weekend recap on Monday, I mentioned we had an amazing "adults" birthday dinner for Cotton and Josh last week.  Well, today I am so excited to tell you more about it!

My sister in law, May, called me a few weeks ago to say she had a surprise planned for dinner.  While I wasn't sure what the surprise would entail, I knew we had a date, time, and location- our kitchen!  A few days later she unveiled the surprise...Sheri Castle was coming to give us a cooking lesson and make dinner.

our menu for the evening

Some of you may know Sheri from her recipes and expert opinions that have been featured in the USA Today, the Washington Post, or Garden and Gun.  Others may recognize her as one of the chefs from the cooking school at Southern Season in Chapel Hill or as the author of "The New Southern Garden" cookbook.  I, however, know her from her recipes in Southern Living.  The woman is a cooking genius and to say I was star struck wouldn't be an understatement.  

Sheri with an warm antipasti appetizer

When Sheri arrived she was so sweet, and in true southern style, she began chatting like we had known each other forever right away.  She got to work unloading and setting up all of her own supplies in our tiny, tiny, tiny, kitchen.  While she asked us about our upcoming move, Sheri prepped a pork loin wrapped in pancetta and a warm appetizer for us to enjoy.  Cotton and May arrived shortly after and the real cooking lesson began.

diligently learning about our meal

food prep

One thing that continuously impressed me about Sheri was her knowledge of food, chemistry, and ingredients.  She truly has a gift for combining flavors and understanding how different textures, tastes, and smells will complement one another.  She was also amazingly helpful with little things- like where to buy everyday use olive oil and where to buy very good (like only use a tsp. at a time) balsamic vinegar.

antipasti

spinach and roasted red pepper salad with hot olive oil vinaigrette

pork loin wrapped in pancetta

Dinner was a wonderful experience made even better because we saw first hand how thoughtfully it was prepared.  Check out Sheri's website here and look for her recipe for tomato pie in next month's issue of Southern Living.

pork loin drizzled with balsalmic

delicious dinner...this is the only picture of the herbed cannellini beans I seem to have.  although they are out of focus, they were delicious...and even better the next day!

dessert

Thank you to Sheri for helping us celebrate, and thank you to May for arranging such a wonderful evening!  It will be one that Josh and I cherish for a long time to come.  

xo,

As a quick "PS," I am about the head to my last day of school ever.  It's been a wonderful three years (tempered with, as my friend Virginia says, some not so wonderful times ) and I'm so thankful for the friends I have made.  While Gator blue will always be my first love, Carolina blue definitely holds a special place in my heart now as well.

thoughts for friday

Happy Friday!  Last weekend was a wonderful recharge for me and it was so needed before this LONG week of projects, meetings, interviews, etc.  Fingers crossed for another recharge weekend full of relaxing, checking things off the list, and CELEBRATING EASTER.  

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As a brief aside, my perspective on Easter tends to get so skewed as a student- I inevitably wind up looking towards exams that are coming up in a few weeks instead of focusing on what I consider to be the most important holiday in my faith.  Let me just say that while I have loved the flexibility that being a student has afforded me, I am super excited to re-join the "real world" and hopefully to focus a little more on the things in life that mean so much more than any test or paper.  

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With that perspective in mind, here are a few things that have brought a little extra joy this week, that I highly recommend trying, or that I am contemplating trying myself.  I bit of a mixed bag of "friday finds" and "thankful thursday" items if you will.  

Dogwoods are BLOOMING in our neighborhood.

Makes those chilly walks so much nicer!

photo credit to josh...xo

Tried to "recreate" the feeling of vacation with a little french patisserie visit in Raleigh.

My croissant didn't come with a view, but it was still a delicious mid-week pick me up.

paris  // j'taime

I LOVE these blue earrings and am contemplating them as a treat for myself.

Thanks to the ever stylish Lauren T for introducing them to me!

stella and dot

New workout tanks that wick but aren't too tight.

Why didn't someone think of this sooner?!

oiselle

Delicious...no DELICIOUS rosemary sea salt bread.

Run to Fresh Market and grab some...it has made an appearance with most meals this week!

Happy Weekend everyone!  I hope it's a wonderful, relaxing time to focus on what matters most to you.

xo,

monday monday

Good Morning!  Monday is here again and we are off to another busy week.  Always seems to be the case.  I only have time for a quick recap of the weekend but I would love to hear about yours!  Feel free to leave me a comment and tell me about the wonderful, exciting (or normal and less than exciting) things you did.  I have to live through you all these days with too much school work and too many extracurriculars to get me out much :)

Despite that crushing feeling of too much work, I did have a wonderful weekend.  Both Josh and I felt like we hadn't seen each other all week (true) and we both felt like we needed to spend some major time catching up on some sleep (also true.)  Luckily for us, we were iced in on Friday night.  An ice-in meant that we scrounged in the fridge and pantry and wound up with...

We also (finally) started watching the miniseries about the Kennedy Family.  It took us a long time to start, but now that we have I am so glad we did!  It is addicting and such a fascinating look at a period of our history.  I'm not sure how accurately the show is portraying some of the family interactions, but it  certainly draws you in and makes you appreciate the different dynamics of any family.  AND, whether the family dynamics are true or not, Katie Holmes is VERY true to Jackie's style...love those dresses, gloves, and the simple glamor she exudes.

Once we got out of the ice, I was able to venture out and run a fast errand...to TJ Maxx.  I know I am late to the game on this store (kind of like I was with World Market) but it is amazing.  Our store had Kate Spade purses, Tory Burch and Becca Rory dresses, and TONS of home goods.  Unfortunately you will note that I said the errand was fast and it was...I didn't have time to really soak it all in, but you can bet I will be headed back there at some point.  Just call me a "maxinista" in training...

Finally, we ended the weekend with our traditional sunday supper.  My sister in law made a delicious chicken pot pie and salad, my niece made amazing brownies, and my brother in law let us preview his newest art project.  (More to come on the art project...maybe even a give away?!  Check out his pieces here.)  AND, speaking of art...check out this art work given to us by our youngest nephew.  It is proudly displayed on our fridge right now, but I am thinking this might deserve a frame!

Please leave me a comment and tell me: (1) if you would like a giveaway from highcotton arts. (a valentine's themed piece perhaps?!) and (2) what you did this weekend!

xo,

thankful for christmas break

I have been so off my proposed blogging schedule with the holidays!  So, today I am bringing back the original "thankful thursday" idea.  While I enjoy these posts, I sometimes think that they are a little self-indulgent (sort of like the highlights of 2012 post from earlier this week.)  I do hope they inspire you to think about the things in your life that you are thankful for- from family supper times to small things like a favorite fruit being in season.

Today I am thankful for my last Christmas break as a student!  There is something so wonderful about the school schedule- work hard for 15 weeks followed by a 3 week break.  And let me tell you, we packed LOTS into a three week break...

One of my favorite things about Christmas is seeing the old houses in my childhood neighborhood decorated.  There are lights on most houses and people strategically place their trees so the lights twinkle through the windows each night.  I think one day I might make a coffee table book with images of Christmas trees through windows at night...something about it make me so happy.  

I love being home and shopping in our little neighborhoods.  San Marco, just across the river, goes all out and has a beautiful Christmas tree in the middle of the neighborhood, wreaths on every door, and great shops full of gifts for everyone.  While some cities can boast better shopping, I do love our little boutiques and restaurants tucked right into the neighborhood.

A newer tradition has been to bake sugar cookies with my nieces and nephews.  This year we made more than 200!  It was so fun to see them get excited about how to decorate each cookie, concentrate hard for a minute on the decorating, and then just dump the sprinkles over the top of the cookie.  I think the idea was the more sugar the better!

As I mentioned here, Christmas Eve is one of my favorite holiday traditions.  We usually eat dinner with our extended "Cuban family" and we have piles of authentic black beans and rice, pulled pork, plantains, and flan.  After dinner we head to midnight services and struggle to stay away through a candlelight version of silent night with our FULL bellies.  

Christmas morning is full of more food with egg casserole, broiled grapefruit, and sweet rolls.  After we have all opened our stockings, we usually take a break to enjoy one of our favorite meals of the year.  Afterwards (and with full bellies again) we make our way back to the tree to exchange gifts.

This break was a wonderful chance to spend some quality time with the pup.  After weeks of exams and studying I think he had forgotten who I was!  We had a great time throwing the ball in a yard big enough to really run and letting him play with his "cousin" Chester.

One of my goals for this break was to learn to sew pillow covers.  Luckily for me, my mom is a sewing whiz and she helped me whip up new pillow covers for our couch.  Check back soon for a "how to" post on making these super easy pillows...and maybe even a giveaway?!

 

Most important this break was the chance to relax!  While our time at home is always packed full of family and friends (which we LOVE) it is also nice to have a little down time and just do nothing.  This picture is my "calm before the storm."  It was taken on Christmas Eve before dinner and church. The presents are wrapped, the cooking is done, and there is nothing to do but lay in the hammock and enjoy some sweet, sweet down time.  

xo,