Long Time, No Blog

You guys!

(Side note – the word “guys” looks really funny when you stare at it for long time. I started typing “y’all” but felt weird since my family in Ohio thinks I’m just trying to be cute when I say it. But really it’s just a part of assimilating to life in the South after seven years. I can’t help it! So, “you guys” or “y’all”…whichever you prefer…)

Hello again! Long time, no blog, huh? 

While I’ve loved this teeny tiny little space on the internet called Counting My Cupcakes for the past 3+ years, letting it go and spending more quality time in the real world has been wonderful. I’ve said it a million times before, so I won’t elaborate on it again, but obviously I’ve let CMC take the backseat in my life. 

On Saturday, Hannah and I did Body Pump together, followed by a breakfast date at our go-to spot, Metto Coffee & Tea. She mentioned how she’s determined to finish writing a blog post about a medical mission trip she took recently, which reminded me how I’ve been wanting to check into my own blog as well. It’s been quite awhile and I (semi-jokingly) told Hannah I don’t want the first post people to see when they visit the site to forever be the one about Christian persecution. While it is such an important issue to pray about, I think something a little lighter-hearted up front and center when someone visits this site better portrays what this space is all about. 

In the time that’s past since my last post, Greg and I visited my oldest brother Ryan in D.C. (my mom and step dad were visiting as well so it was a “kill two birds with one stone” kind of trip). We ate lunch and homemade pop-tarts from Ted’s Bulletin, as seen above. 

Highlights include a tour inside the White House, strolling through Arlington Cemetery, and my new favorite attraction: the Newseum. If you’ve never heard of it, it’s a museum all about the media and how some of history’s biggest stories have been told through the news. There are several videos and other multimedia components that sucked me in. The best part was probably the teleprompter station where I got to hold a microphone and be filmed reading a weather forecast off of the prompter. I was…awful. But! It was super entertaining, especially for Greg who stood there and laughed at me the whole time. 

Meteorologist Greg and News Anchor Brittany at your service!

In other news (no pun intended), after pinning this recipe months ago, I finally made Dorothy’s Small Batch Quick Cinnamon Rolls. Best. ever. I’ve always been intimidated by the idea of making homemade cinnamon rolls, but these were SO EASY. And more importantly, TO DIE FOR. I made them for Greg and I one weekend, fell in love, then made another batch in D.C. to enjoy with my family. 

My last update for today is about none other than the Zo Monster. She turned 2 years old! on September 11th. We had a birthday celebration for a co-worker the day before, so I brought the birthday hat home just for Zoey. She hated it, but I managed to get a few quick pictures before letting her have revenge and destroy it. 

I don’t know when I’ll be back here again, but feel free to connect on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

Happy Fall!!!!

Weekend Eats 7-28-14

The first half of this weekend was non-stop go-go-go at a work event. Everything went so well, but longs days made for one hungry girl. By the time I got home Saturday afternoon and had the rest of the weekend to completely relax with basically no plans, I couldn’t think of anything but getting food in my body. 

That’s not entirely true. As much as I wanted to feed myself, I first had to get Zoey out of the house and give her a little attention. I know being the parent to a human one day will teach me more selflessness than I can comprehend right now, but I like to think being the parent to a young pup has taught me some of that already. Zoey is a spoiled little girl and I had to take care of her first. It didn’t take but a quick half mile walk in the extreme humidity for Zo to be panting and ready to go back indoors. This was my cue to head straight for lunch. 

As much as I love Metto for breakfast and coffee, I’d never had it for lunch. Saturday was the day! 

The Chicken and Goat Cheese wrap – deli style chicken, sundried tomatoes, spinach, and goat cheese – was perrrrfect. Nothing fancy, just simple and delicious. It’s something you could easily replicate at home, but for only $6 and some change it was worth it in my state of hunger.

However. Let’s be real. The star of the show was that peanut butter cookie. They had just pulled them from the oven, there was no way in heck I was about to resist that cookie. I was handed the cookie while I waited for my wrap and had a bite of the pure goodness – warm, soft on the inside, crunchy on the outside. 

Dinner time rolled around and I opted to clean out the fridge with this…

A bed of spinach topped with roasted veggies (broccoli, corn, tomato, bell pepper) and an over easy egg + a drizzle of sriracha. Then I topped a piece of toast with layers of sliced tomato and fresh mozzarella. 

Remember the soft boiled egg from Prohibition’s shrimp and grits?! Ever since then I can’t stop with the drippy egg yolk. 

Anndddd just because I need to make use of the million pictures I take of Zoey, we’ll end this post with a picture of the princess herself. 

What was the tastiest thing you ate this weekend?

Zoey says lots and lots of peanut butter was her favorite. 

Weekend Eats 7-21-14

Today is double the fun with Weekend Eats from the past two weekends. Hey, it was too good not to share. First we’ll back up to two weeks ago.  

Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, based out of Columbus, Ohio (my hometown if you didn’t already know), recently opened up shop in downtown Charleston. Yippee! With so many unique flavors, they not only will let you have as many samples as you want, they highly encourage it. 

I had to go with the taste of my hometown with The Buckeye State – peanut butter ice cream with an abundance of dark chocolate pieces throughout. I paired it with Salted Caramel. For a size small, you actually get to pick two flavors. How awesome is that? The ice cream isn’t cheap, but if you’re ever going to spend $5 for two small scoops of ice cream (sugar cone included), Jeni’s is the place to do it. 

Also last weekend, Greg and I rekindled our love with grilled pizza. It had been a month or so since we took the dough to the grill, which was far too long. Greg wants nothing to do with goat cheese on a pizza, or anywhere for that matter, whereas I think goat cheese has never tasted better than on pizza. The pizza ended up being half pepperoni and half thinly sliced tomatoes (from our garden!), onion, goat cheese and a blend of seasonings including sage, thyme and crushed red pepper flakes. 

If you’ve never grilled a pizza, get on it! 

Side tracking from food for a second, Zoey Girl went on her first college campus tour. We have high hopes for her scholastic future and wanted to show her around our alma mater, the beautiful College of Charleston. 

Now onto this past weekend. I convinced Greg to try Collective Coffee Co. for lunch on Saturday, a place I have been several times but he had never been.

I sipped on a cappuccino, my new thing. Although, this one was very strong and I quickly realized I’m only used to the American-ized cappuccino, not the authentic, fancy Italian style cappuccino. I had to add a couple packets of stevia before I could sip it down without scrunching my face. I’m sure true espresso connoisseurs would have appreciated it much more though. It’s going to take me some time.

The food on the other hand, was fan. tas. tic. I ate the veggie wrap with bagel chips. This is seriously the best veggie wrap ever and it’s one you can feel good about too – romaine, tomato, corn, black beans, TONS of avocado and a brown butter sauce (okay, so you can feel pretty good about it), all rolled up in a soft and chewy spinach wrap. I have always known how much I love this wrap, but I swear it’s gotten even better. Greg had the pimento cheese biscuit sandwich – brown sugar & pepper bacon, eggs, and cheddar cheese. Also quite delicious and something I would for sure get again. 

What was the tastiest thing you ate this weekend?

4th of July Weekend Recap

This 4th of July weekend was one of, if not the, best I can remember. From beginning to end, I can’t think of a single thing I would have changed. Okay, one thing. I would have (and should have) put sunscreen on my face. Whoops. Sorry, dermatologist and future self. 

The weekend ended with a 10 mile bike ride from our house to the Old Village, a historic waterfront neighborhood here in Mt. Pleasant. We somehow managed to avoid any rain, despite the gloomy skies. 

Backing things up to earlier in the weekend…

Zoey explored some marsh land and let her ears flop in the wind. 

We continued to harvest vegetables from our garden, this time picking our very first cucumbers. 

We ate out at my favorite Sullivan’s Island restaurant, Taco Mamacita. And we grilled out at home, three times. Ironically, the tacos shown below were from our cookout, not the restaurant. As much as I love a TM taco, our homemade grilled jerk chicken tacos were simply amazing. Topped with jalapeño pineapple/mango salsa, corn, guac, and chopped romaine for added crunch…WOAH. Speechless. 

We found our new favorite spot to watch fireworks, which happens to be the same place pictured above from our bike ride. The view over the water while watching the sunset, paired with the unseasonably mild temperatures outside made for the perfect night. 

What was the highlight of your 4th? How were the fireworks?

Sunday Blessings – Dates, Weddings, New Restaurants and More

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how productive of a weekend I had. Guess what? It happened again. It’s not that I’m usually a lazy bum on the weekends…okay, sometimes I am…but there really isn’t too much variety. This weekend on the other hand was filled with all kinds of different things.

Remember my list of 6 plans from Friday? I accomplished every single one (except the free coffee part, because that promo is happening tomorrow – Monday – even though I won’t actually be participating).

Gym after work on Friday? Check!

Date night at FED? Check! I have mixed feelings about the new restaurant. It was not busy at all. For a Friday night at 7:00pm, that’s not a good sign. Our waitress…hm. How do I put this nicely? It must have been her first time ever working at a restaurant and seemed to have very minimal training, which made for slightly awkward interactions. HOWEVER. The food was pretty delish.

I had the Garden Burger, an oversize patty consisting mostly of black beans and corn. It was sandwiched between a single slice of grilled sourdough bread which had been slice in half. I found this a little odd, since the patty was way too big to sit on top half a slice of bread. I’d never seen it done this way, but it was tasty nonetheless. I opted for sweet potato fries on the side. I always love sweet potato fries, and while these weren’t the best I’ve had by any means, they were good too. Greg had the Shrimp Tacos with regular fries on the side. He ate his right up without any hesitation. Either he was starving or the food was just that good. I think it was a little of both.

After dinner, we stopped by Barnes and Noble so Greg could get a latte from the Starbucks in the cafe, then headed to TCBY for me. While enjoying our desserts, we started looking up movie showtimes and spontaneously decided to see The Grand Budapest Hotel. I’d never heard of it, but it was quite an interesting movie. Very different, a little strange and quirky, but entertaining overall. 

Moving right along. Saturday started how it always does, at the gym for Body Pump and then home for a late breakfast, relaxing on the couch, playing with Zoey and doing a few random chores around the house. Then it was time for my haircut. Welp. I said on Friday I was going to keep the length and add some layers. Somehow I talked myself into a bigger change and ended up cutting about 5-6 inches off my long locks. I don’t regret it necessarily, but I do miss the length already. I know this shorter cut is much better for the hot summer months to come, not to mention it makes my hair look and feel so much healthier. I’ll get used to it soon enough. I’m already loving the cute little ponytail I have, compared to my old horse mane!

Our friends’ wedding on Saturday night was so much fun. Congrats to Steve and Amanda!! If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen me say this already, but I’ll say it again. Now that I am married, wedding ceremonies feel like a free marriage conference. I absolutely love hearing the vows said to one another, the scripture readings and the sermon. I almost always shed some tears and this wedding was no different. The words are powerful and inspiring. They’re reminders of the words Greg and I said to each other (almost one year ago!) and the loving, lifelong journey we are on together. 

Sunday we spent the morning at church, followed by brunch at Cafe Medley on Sullivan’s Island. I went by myself last Sunday while Greg had to work and was glad he was up for trying it out with me this week. The pics below are from last week when I got a sandwich made with edemame pesto, cucumbers, tomatoes and bacon on 10-grain bread. It was perfect. Today I got another sandwich on the 10-grain bread, this time with egg whites, cheese and tomato. With a hot coffee to go along with my breakfast, I was a happy girl. 

My only complaint is that for the lunch sandwiches, you have a choice of chips or a salad on the side. The term “salad” is used very, very loosely here. The “salad” consists of a small handful of spinach leaves and a small container of dressing on the side. I think it needs a little more “umph.” 

We spent the rest of the day running errands, taking a long walk with Zoey, working in the yard (most of the credit goes to Greg on this one) and enjoying dinner together at home. 

I am so blessed for all of these gifts in my life – the date nights, the meals out, the sunshine on our family walks, and the ability to pay for frivolous things like haircuts and new dresses. 

What’s one thing out of the ordinary you did this weekend?

Sunday Blessings – Sunsets

I’m cutting it close with the Sunday Blessings today, but you know what they say. Better late than never. 

The day has really gotten away from me. It started with teaching Sunday School, followed by attending the late church service and then stopping by the reception for my first graders who received their first communion today. I didn’t get home until one o’clock, which is about two hours later than a typical Sunday for me. I know that’s why the day felt so short, but I can’t complain. It’s been a perfectly balanced weekend of a little rest and a little activity.

After making lunch for Greg and me and catching up a couple episodes of The Office on Netflix, I forced myself off the couch to run some errands. These errands included Target for food and make-up…anndddd of course some clothes because I can’t get out of there without at least one new addition to my wardrobe…then Rack Room for a new pair of running shoes, Belk Men’s Store for Greg, and finally some post-shopping fro yo from TCBY. It was an all around very successful (and tasty) afternoon. 

With clear blue skies and the warm sun shining, I knew I needed to spend more time outside before the weekend came to end. Greg and I stopped back home to pick up the Zo Girl and headed to a nearby neighborhood along the water with a public pier. Just in time for sunset!

Our family sunset walk was just what I needed. I am so blessed for the beauty of the fiery sun, reflecting over the shimmering water. Not to mention the silhouettes of two loves of my life in front of it all. 

Fall Bucket List 2013 Final Wrap-Up

Merry Christmas Eve Eve!

When I looked at my phone this morning and saw “December 23” I couldn’t believe it. Not only is it in the upper 70’s here in Charleston, but I’m working today and tomorrow. So it doesn’t quite feel like Christmas yet. Although, Greg and were super productive and in the holiday spirit this weekend. We finished our Christmas shopping, wrapped all of the presents, and I cleaned almost the entire house in preparation to go out of town for several days.

Side note: When I was younger, I never understood why my mom spent so much time cleaning right before we left for vacation. What was the point?! I get it now!! I absolutely hate coming back home to a messy house when I already have a suitcase full of dirty laundry and am too exhausted from the travel to even think about cleaning. Nowadays I make a point to wash as much laundry, clean as many dishes, and vacum as many floors as possible before leaving town. Like mother like daughter! …almost. I’m not quite as clean as my mom.

Okay so enough with that. Now that it is officially WINTER, I want to do a final wrap-up of my Fall Bucket List. Remember this?:

I already went over #1, #3, and #6 here.  

So how did I do on the rest?

#2. I made pumpkin donuts and double chocolate pumpkin cupcakes. No pumpkin muffins this year, but I can’t complain. 

#4. Greg and I fulfilled this dream of going to a Panther’s game last weekend when they beat the Jets! It was so much fun spending the day in Charlotte and seeing my our boyfriend Cam in real live action.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/92046511@N02/11516906045/player/764fa70e08

#5. We did roast marshmallows and make s’mores, but not over our own fire pit. Our backyard/patio is currently a much delayed work in progress as we wait for our patio stones to be delivered. 

#7. I made it to the Farmer’s Market once or twice this fall. It’s losing my interest though, unless I have a specific gift to buy or have out of town visitor’s. I have found the The Vegetable Bin (which I previously posted about here) has the same produce for much cheaper! 

#8. We took Zoey to the beach on Thanksgiving Day. Oh my goodness, she LOVED it. The beach that is, not the water. So you can imagine her fear when she accidentally chased another dog into some standing water and refused to move for 10 minutes. It was in the low 30’s outside, so the water was freezing as well. What a little baby!! Gotta love her. 

#9. Okay so how terrible is it that the one thing I did NOT do on my list was volunteer? Ugh. #ImNotABadPersonIPromise!

Skipping right ahead…

#10. Although I love dates of all kinds, breakfast dates always feel so special to me. It’s nice to spend a lazy Saturday morning sipping coffee and eating a pastry with Greg by my side. With the hustle and bustle of our lives right now, it doesn’t get to happen often. I am happy to say we got to do this a few times this fall.

And that’s it! Fall 2013 is history. Bring it on, Winter! (just as long as temperatures remain in the 60’s/70’s, even though I know that’s not happening). 

On another note, you may have noticed my serious decline in posting recently. To be honest, I don’t anticipate that changing for a few more weeks. Part of it has been due to the fact our wireless internet modem broke last week, so we’ve been disconnected whether we like it or not. And the other part of it is simply due to the extreme craziness of the holiday season. 

I’ll re-evaluate when we get back from visiting family in North Carolina and Ohio this week and next. Until then, MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY NEW YEAR, AND VERY SAFE TRAVELS!!!!

A Lunch Date at Boone Hall Farms

One of the most popular plantations around Charleston (Mount Pleasant to be exact) is Boone Hall. The plantation draws crowds to its pumpkin patch during the fall and strawberry fields in the spring. They supply produce to local restaurants and have their own market/cafe as well. I drive by frequently and have always wanted to see what the market had to offer. Last week, when we didn’t have any groceries at home in preparation for the excessive Thanksgiving food coming our way, Greg and I met at Boone Hall Farms market for a lunch date.

After we got our waters and placed our orders at the cute picnic style tables, we wandered around the store to explore. 

So much fresh produce!

I could have easily spent a lot of money stocking up on jams, dressings, baking mixes and other goodies. I resisted at the time, but am excited to go back for Christmas gifts for family and friends. 

Oh, and did I mention the wine?! I wasn’t expecting this. 

Finally, it was time to eat. Since I was in the mood to try a variety of things, the Vegetable Plate was the perfect choice. It comes with your choice of four side dishes plus a cornbread muffin. I chose butter beans, broccoli salad, sweet potato fries (sprinkled with cinnamon sugar!!!) and garden vegetables which included roasted carrots, onion, pepper and potatoes. I couldn’t get enough, jumping from one side dish to another, but ultimately those giant thick-cut sweet potato fries were the star of the show. 

I somehow managed to avoid the dessert counter full of cakes and ice cream. It’s a good thing I was in a hurry to get back to the office otherwise I would have likely walked out with a ice cream cone in one hand and a slice of cake “for later” in the other. 

The Boone Hall Farms cafe is my kind of place and I can’t wait to get back for more. 

Locals – Have you been to Boone Hall Farms? If you’re not from around here, do you have any place like this where you live?

Thanksgiving Weekend: The Food

I spent the past five days soaking in quality time with family and friends. It was fabulous. We had the best Thanksgiving, with Greg and I hosting for the first time as a married couple in our new home. I didn’t take many photos at all, but here are a few that I have of the food. Since after all, besides family and friends, it is alllllll about the food.

Triple Layer Coconut Cake

Joey Bag-a-Donuts

Turkey turkey!

Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Aged Cheddar Mac and Cheese from Crave

Modified version of this Brussels Sprouts Saute from Bev Cooks

I am so blessed for the gifts God has given my family and me. Thankful doesn’t even begin to describe the feeling. Praise the Lord for times like these, food this delicious, and big wins by OSU and Auburn this weekend 😉 Go Bucks and War Eagle!!

Fleet Feet Sports – Support the Girls!

I was recently contacted by Fleet Feet Sports in Mount Pleasant about a donation program they started called “Support the Girls.” 

Katie told me, “Many of the high school girls in JROTC have a noticeably higher BMI than their male classmates and worse scores on their weekly PT tests. A huge contributing factor is that most of the girls don’t have (and can’t afford) a proper sports bra, which is making them shy away from physical fitness.”

As a way to help these girls in our community, Fleet Feet is working with one of their brands, Moving Comfort, to donate a sports bra for every bra sold during designated weekends about once a month. They are trying to reach as many high schools around Charleston as possible. 

I was invited into the store to be fitted and get a new bra for myself (disclaimer: I received the bra for free). 

I had actually never been fitted before and proud to say I was exactly right with my size all along (let’s be honest, I don’t have too much to work with anyway). Amy, who was helping me in the store, recommended a few different styles for me. I ultimately chose the Rebound Racer bra. 

I love how the straps are adjustable in the front with velcro, not to mention the fun colors and pattern. Amy told me this bra is great for both high impact activities like running, as well as lower impact activities like yoga. I do both of those things, so I figured it was a perfect fit! No pun intended.

I am so happy to have had the opportunity to be a part of the Support the Girls program. It’s an amazing way to help adolescent girls who have shied away from physical activity in the past. Teenage years can be rough and if we can help those girls feel a little more comfortable in their own skin, I’m all for it. 

Locals – I encourage you to stop by Fleet Feet for a new bra of your own and support our local teenage girls as well. The next scheduled promotional weekend is November 9-10. Be there or be square!