Weekend Happenings: Waterfalls and Northern Faces

Okay, right now I can just barely see the light at the end of the tunnel of work I'm currently buried in but I've been dying to give an update about my weekend so here it goes. This weekend I visited some friends from my abroad trip. While there I went to a Northern Faces concert and explored a waterfall.
It was so nice to laugh with old friends and just get an update about everyone's life.

The venue was called the Hollow. I'd barely heard Northern Faces before but I love going to concerts. They turned out to be pretty good and I'd definitely go an check them out of iTunes or Spotify.

There were two opening bands playing for them. The first was Royal Tongues. They are a pretty new band from the Buffalo area. The second band is called Stellar Young. Out of all the bands I thought these guys were the most fun to watch. The lead guitarists was super funny. My favorite song of theirs is Playing With Guns. Definitely check it out.

Then there was the Christian Forest near Albany. It was a great place to hike around and explore. The hiking was pretty easy and relaxed.

 Also the waterfalls were amazing. They reminded me so much of my grandfathers old house. He used to live on the side of a mountain in the Catskills and a stream ran right next to his house. My sister and I used to play in that stream for hours when we would visit.

Well that was my weekend. I cannot believe I'm just a few weeks away from graduating. Definitely want to drag it out a little longer cause it's going to be so sad. I'm just going to try and take it a day at a time and enjoy it while it lasts.

Hope you had a great weekend!

oxo Caitlin

Thoughts and Photos

Happy Easter! I hope you are all having a fantastic day spending time with family and eating enough eggs to keep you satisfied for the year!  Here are some photos from my week. It was above 60 degrees twice this week which was a miracle if you as me! Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to experience the weather as much as I'd like. We're nearing the end of the year and things are getting a little crazy up here! I was able to catch a few moments of peace as I was walking across campus.

I've found that it's important to take these moments for ourselves sometimes. Life can get so hectic and we are always thinking of the future when we should take time to be in the moment. Anyway here are the photos!

oxo Caitlin

Things You Only Notice When Your Flight is Delayed

I've been a pretty lucky flyer considering the nearly 10 flights I took last year to fly around the globe went rather smoothly. I know there are people who have absolute horror stories about week long delays in layover cities so I can't really complain but last week I did have the pleasure of staying an extra four hours in the Manchester airport watching it snow while I waited for my flight to sunny Florida. During that time I noticed some of the weird thing that occur at the airport when your flight is delayed and is the last flight out for the night.

1. The news has an end. I know it doesn't seem possible that the reporters could ever finish making misguided assumptions about what's really going down in the Middle East or Ferguson. Eventually they will even bring up ebola briefly before they finally can find nothing else to pretend to care about. 

2. When #1 occurs CNN will probably play some religious documentary. At this point many of your fellow delirious travelers will become far to invested in the shroud of Jesus. 

3. You will spend time watching people trickle up to the counter to try and haggle some information from the women standing at the check in desk. They will probably be rude and she will be exasperated. Next time you're travel doesn't go as planned try to be a little nicer to these women. They're job must be so difficult.

4. If you don't go up to the women at the check in desk you will spend countless hours watching her every move and waiting for her to pick up the intercom.

5. The night shift ground crew are a whole new species of human being. They are a rugged, bearded, and gruff group of individuals who are calloused with the countless freezing hours standing outside doing whatever it is the ground crew do. I'm sure they have their own secret society or something.

6.  Airport food is really bad...and really expensive. It's like they have figured out that you are trapped inside this building and they are going to get you for everything that you've got. Eventually you're hunger will win out and you will buy the $6 dollar stale bagel and watered down coffee.

7. At some point you will get so tired of sitting at the gate you will find yourself wishing they would just cancel your flight so you can sleep in some stuffy hotel room for the night. Maybe trying again tomorrow wouldn't be so bad.

Have you noticed anything strange while waiting to catch a plane? I'd love to add it to the list!

oxo Caitlin

My Week in Florida

I spent this past week in Florida on a much needed vacation from school. My family and I went down to Orlando where we did all the things that you should down there. We went to Harry Potter World, ate citrus candy, and sat by the pool for hours soaking up the sunshine. Here are some snapshots from the trip.

This is my sister and I at the airport before be learned that our flight would be delayed three hours. There is nothing quite like being stuck in a snow storm so close yet so far to 85 degree weather.

Day 1: Bok Towers

Day 2: Harry Potter World

If you are in Universal at all I completely recommend going to Harry Potter World. They did such a great job recreating everything and entering Diagon Ally is truly magical. I also highly recommend going on the escape from Gringotts ride first. The line goes pretty quickly and it wasn't too busy early in the day but it definitely got busier.

Day three was spent at Animal Kingdom and day four was spent hanging around the pool. I didn't take many photos but both days were truly amazing. It may seem silly but I have to say my favorite part about the entire trip was wearing shorts all the time. I completely forgot how great warm weather was. It reminded me of being in Australia.

I hope you all have a fantastic week! If you had or have a Spring Break enjoy every moment of your vacation!

oxo Caitlin

White Bird in a Blizzard Review

I have been watching a bunch of movies lately. It's really bad because I've been procrastinating on work almost every night this past week. Recently I watched White Bird in a Blizzard on Netflix. I mostly decided to watch it because Shailene Woodly is the main character. I also saw the trailer at one point and it looked weirdly intriguing.

The movie wasn't bad. A little weird but not bad. The film takes place in the late 80s and follows Kat Connors. She lives with her slightly awkward father and theatrical mother until her mother suddenly disappears one day out of the blue. The rest of the movie follows Kat as she deals with her mother's disappearance during her last years of high school and into college. The movie slowly gives us glimpses into the past until the end when the secret of the mother's disappearance unfolds.

The acting throughout the movie was alright but the dialogue was stifled and awkward at times. Shailene did a great job portraying Kat. What I enjoyed the most about her character was the subtle hints that she is like her mother. These added depth to the character that I don't think you often see in movies. I ended up liking the character quite a bit. It was refreshing to see a character develop pretty normally after the disappearance of her mother.

The ending was well done. I was not expecting the big reveal at the end. The only thing I will say is I wish the writers had devised a better way to show the ending without having it be a flashback. I think it would have made a better statement if Kat had been in the final scene.

Overall this was a good film. If you like mystery films like Gone Girl, I think you would like this. It has the layers of crazy that add suspense to the film. It also leaves you guessing. I was totally surprised by the ending and that says something good about the film.

Have you watched any interesting movies lately?

oxo Caitlin

Mad Hatter Tea

I don't know about you but this weekend has flown by for me. That's probably due to the fact that I have a ton of work to do for this coming week. But after that it is officially Spring break!

One fun thing I did this weekend was go to a lovely little tea house called the Mad Hatter Tea Room and Cafe in Rochester, NY. It was a super cute place that was all pink and pretty. I don't know about you but I love tea cups so I couldn't resist taking some photos of the cute ones they served tea in.

It was such a fun little place to visit. The raspberry scones were delicious and the little cookies at the end were so yummy. I was sufficiently stuffed after high tea. I almost fell asleep on the ride home from the food coma.

Apparently they also serve breakfast which is both inexpensive and yummy. Here is their Facebook page if you want to check them out. If you're in the Rochester area looking for a good place to spend the morning or afternoon. It's a great place to spend a couple relaxing weekend hours with friends.

What did you do this weekend? I hope it was a blast.

oxo Caitlin

Food Snapshot: Ham Sandwiches

I love food! Every aspect of food. Planning my recipes for the week is so relaxing. Walking through the grocery store with a list of recipes and an open schedule is one of my favorite things to do during the week. Unpacking the food and of course eating the food are all things I love to do. One of my favorite things is ham sandwiches on perfectly crusty bread with mustard.

This week while I was wondering around the aisles of the grocery store I picked up some super thinly sliced ham and sourdough bread from the bakery sections. The bakery section is one of the reasons I love Wegmans by the way.

Now sometimes I like to add a couple slices of swiss cheese. The slightly bitter tanginess of the cheese goes so well with the sweetness of the ham. I also like to add some mustard. If you're tired of the regular yellow mustard, though, I encourage you to get something a little different.

I picked up this whole grain mustard a little while ago to make this chicken recipe. Because I'm only buying for myself, I thought it was silly to buy a whole other jar of mustard so I've been using this one on my sandwiches. It adds a whole new texture to the sandwich and the little mustard seeds pop as you eat releasing their flavor.

Yum...that food heaven right there!

oxo Caitlin