favorite things thursday

It's that time again! It is the third thursday of the month, and we all know what that means: ITS FAVORITE THINGS TIME!

I don't know about you, but the weather here in Oregon has been really strange the past week. Last weekend was simply lovely, even though I got burnt to an absolute crisp, but since Sunday it has been cloudy, humid, and never over 80 degrees. Very odd for this time of year. But I am handling it pretty well. And by pretty well, I mean I haven't melted to a puddle or been cranky (as heat has been known to do to me.)

This favorite things post has a lot to talk about today, partly because a week ago I had an actual favorite things party! It was so much fun, and everyone had a great time!

Here are some of the highlights:

The food: deconstructed caesar salad. mini greek chicken pitas with tzatziki sauce. caramelized onion dip (OMG DELISH.) circus {animal cookie} truffles. lemonade and iced tea. oven roasted potatoes.

the favorite things: world market earrings. Avon smudge corrector nail polish and mustache stickers (that was me!) Joe-Joes and citrus fruit gum drops from Trader Joe's. Memo pad, fine point sharpie, and Voss water. Mini stamps, chocolates and bottled Frappuccinos. Watchamacalit candy bars. Olay super moisturizing body wash. Bath and Body works candles and a toothbrush (from my roommate who just got accepted to dental hygienist school-super cute.) Tropical fruit skittles. Neon nail polish and a file.

I made the brown paper packages tied up with strings so that everyone could take their favorite things home in a cute bag, and also the little cards to say what each food was. You can find recipes and tutorials for most of those things on my Pinterest board "Party-tastic."(http://pinterest.com/caitlinsfortune/party-tastic) 

Which, by the way, if you aren't following me on Pinterest, please do! I only pin the good things :-)

I know I just had a whole party about favorite things, but I had some serious hard decisions to make for this installment of Favorite Things Thursday. After a lot of thought and some deep personal searching, I have picked my official favorite things for July.

1) Stephen Fry in America

 Stephen Fry in America is a six episode mini-series documentary from the BBC that takes you on a journey through all fifty states, as seen through the eyes of a non-American citizen. While he has gained quite a bit of fame and fortune in America for his bit parts and writer/director roles, he is known throughout Europe for his wit, his refined taste, exceptional education and use of it, and for being a general and well loved man-about-town.
This television series, available on DVD and through Netflix instant, is a unique and wonderful look at the land of the free. Fry embarks on a cross country odyssey having recently learned that he was almost born in America instead of in Britain; or as he so eloquently puts it, "a Steve rather than a Stephen." To see America from an outsiders point of view is rather interesting, and it gives you a glimpse into some of the lesser-known parts and habits of the country. Plus, it leaves you talking in a British accent, and there is nothing wrong with that!

2) anchor jewelry
I know I am not alone in loving the new trend for anchors in fashion. I have been fascinated with them for a while, and not just because nautical things are cool (although I do adore my blue and white stripes...)
I fell in love with anchors almost a year ago because of this.
Hebrews 6:19 "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure."

That verse has lifted me up and stuck in my soul ever since I read it. So when my birthday came up about six months ago, one of my dear friends got me a small, bronze necklace with an anchor on it from Forever 21. I have loved it so, and made this little guy to go with it.

I have gotten so many compliments on it, and once I started making them for friends THEY started getting so many compliments! As well has being fashionable, they are also meaningful for me, which is why I love them.

3) greek chicken
This is the only food item from my Favorite Things party that I don't have a recipe for on Pinterest, and that is because my mom invented it.

Okay, I know she didn't invent Greek flavors, and God knows she didn't invent the chicken. But what I mean to say is that she made up this recipe, and it is one of our family's all time favorites.
It is delicious any way you cook it: barbecue, oven baked, skewered, sautéed, anything. Hot or cold, by itself or on a salad, or in a sandwich... the list literally never ends. And, bonus, it is SO EASY.
See for yourself:

Greek Chicken

1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp. dried Rosemary
1 tsp. Basil
1/4 tsp salt
1 garlic clove, minced

Mix all ingredients.  Marinade for about 3 pounds of chicken.  Drain marinade prior to grilling.
Could also be oven baked at 375 until juice runs pink from chicken.
For best results, marinade overnight.

When I made it for my party, I baked it and served it on these adorable (and tasty) mini pitas I got at Trader Joe's with tzatziki sauce from Open Nature and a diced tomato/cucumber mixture.

The other best use for this recipe is to make the marinade but leave a little bit out from the chicken. With the left out marinade, slice up good french bread and brush it on both sides. Grill until the little black grill marks appear but bread it soft. Oh my word it is good. We dice the bread up and mix it with the chicken, kalamata olives, romaine lettuce and a light balsamic vinaigrette. You'll never want to eat anything else again.


So there we are, another Favorite Things Thursday!
What are your favorite things this month?

celebrate america

This is a strange week.
It was kind of like a holiday weekend because of the Fourth of July, and although I worked at a car wash for the first half of the day on Saturday, I went to a first birthday party later that afternoon and then rented a movie and relaxed the rest of the day. Sunday was probably my favorite service all year long at church: we call it "Celebrate America." It is so AWESOME! Not until I started attending my church 3 years ago did I realize how much of a sucker I am for grand displays of patriotism.
We deck the sanctuary out in bunting and flags, and the choir prepares a medley of traditional American songs. We always have a guest speaker who has served in the military at some point, and we honor all the men and women of our congregation that have, past or present, served our country.

It is easy to get caught up in politics and tradition and the spectacle that Independence Day becomes. We get so focused on the picnics and the flags and the barbecues and the sparklers that we forget what the day is really about. As I looked around the service on Sunday, and even as I looked at my own reaction to the events, I realized that there is a stark contrast of the appreciation for freedom between my generation and older ones. I don't know if it is because they have lived through things and witnessed things in America that my peers can't imagine, or if it is because we are more inclined to mockery and sarcasm than previous generations.
I am a former history major and someone who grew up on PBS and documentaries. I am someone who loved American history from a very early age, and was the girl that idolized Ken Burns and Garrison Keillor but could have cared less for popular artists or celebrities of the day. As such, it hurt my feelings when people couldn't name at least half the states or place them on a map. It astonished me when people, adults even, didn't understand a basic timeline of American events. It drove me nuts when people couldn't even sing the National Anthem correctly or recite the pledge of allegiance. How could you not know? From my recollection, elementary school wasn't that hard. More than that, how could you not CARE?

Even I fell into the apathy trap. I stopped being shocked when people didn't know what I had always taken for granted as general knowledge. I gave in to the reality that most people didn't care. We are country that has so many distorted values, acknowledges that they exist and that we need to change them, but then does shockingly little about any of it. We are resigned to appreciate mediocrity on so many levels.
But in that service on Sunday, I realized that I do care. I am thankful for our nation, and as messed up as everything feels sometimes (don't get me started on the education system...) the fact stands that I live in a prosperous nation. I happened to be born in a country that is idealistic to a fault. But I would rather live with the sometimes foolish notion that any dream I have can and will come true if I am willing to buckle down and do the work than to feel hopeless or that no matter how hard I try it will never pay off.

My favorite part of the service was when we prayed for our country. I understand how powerless you can feel in such a big country, and with so many decisions really being out of your hands. But if I want something to be different, and I want it to change, I have to do what I can, how I can. And sometimes all you have left to do is pray.

"The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live."
1 Timothy 2:1-3 (MSG)

So I will be praying for my country. I will be praying for my leaders, national and local. I will be praying for a new revelation in the young people of the nation, for good leadership, for good choices, and for a new reverence and appreciation of freedom. Tomorrow, I am going to sleep in and then go to a barbecue with good friends, and we will watch some fireworks while we eat s'mores. But I can only do that because I am an American, and I am beyond blessed to be one.