november 2019: top three

medicine //

• This month I learned that urologists occasionally use hand assist in laparoscopic surgery - the pictures are wild!
• Axonotmesis: damage to the peripheral nerves in the body. Peripheral nerves can regenerate, growing 1-2 mm per day!
• Half of all newly diagnosed STDs are in teenagers. Condoms are our friends!

on the internet //

• Dani shares quick and easy tips on improving your photography! (I wrote a similar post a few years ago with a few of the same tips, but she expands on them and adds so many clever new tips!) 
• I love Anne's little boy room makeover - especially the wall prints and the nugget (something I'd love for Penny to have some day when she has a real sized bedroom!)
• Blair, one of the OGs of blogging, and usual person of few words, has a new Q&A that I found so interesting to read. 

spotted for me //

• I have never found Henleys to be super flattering on me, but I kind of love the feminine shape of this version - I'll take one in pink and the striped one please!
• I have owned these Zella leggings for at least four years now, and still wear them constantly.  Probably time to get a new pair since they are currently 33% off!
• I have been looking for a small case for jewelry for short weekend trips - ones where you only need to bring a few small pieces of jewelry and not like...the whole collection. Nothing caught my eye until I saw this adorable case from Loft of all places. I ordered it immediately. 

spotted for penny //

• While we are more of Old Navy/Target people for baby clothes...I can't help but realllllly want this fair isle sweater for this holiday season. I mean...at 30% off this weekend, I'm tempted. 
• I've actually found the cutest (inexpensive) items at H&M - like this cute bunny sweater...at 1/4 of the cost of the Boden sweater above. 
• I'm usually anti-ruffle butts...but couldn't say no to these fair isle pants. so so cute!

ask me anything //

• What is your biggest advice for someone planning on going to medical school?
• This is a tough one to answer because there are so many ways to approach this question. My biggest advice for someone who wants to go into medicine? Explore all other fields to make sure being a doctor is the thing you want - there are so many other jobs in medicine and the medical field, from optometry to dentistry to pharmacy to nursing to social work to technicians, that you want to make sure the sacrifice and time that comes with becoming a physician is exactly what you want. My biggest advice for a pre-med? Start volunteering early and find something you are passionate about - doing something long term means a lot more than doing a bunch of little things, and it gives you something to talk about during interviewed. Tips for just getting into medical school? Apply broadly, and be persistent.
• I'm a social worker interviewing for a student wellness coordinator position at a medical school. I really enjoyed following you through your med school journey and I think it's given me a great insight into the joys and stresses of student life - so thanks! I know it's been a couple of years, but I'm curious - were there any resources, education or programming offered by your school that helped you stay sane and maintain wellness? If not, what would you have liked to have seen/known?
• Ohhh, such an interesting question! I think one of the biggest thing that would have made a difference is probably something you can't control, which was that we took exams every Monday...which meant that every single weekend was spent studying. It would have been so nice to at least have 1 Friday exam/month so you know you got some free time...but probably not something you can control from your position! Wellness has become such a big topic in medicine...and I know everyone is doing the best at providing events and resources to students and residents, but so much of being well (or unwell) is from the stress of the job that can't be solved with free breakfasts or yoga events. I wish I had a better answer and something that you can provide for your students, but the unwell in medicine is so inherent to the job that the whole game needs to change before people are really well.
• I know on Instagram you mentioned compression socks you love. I tried looking for them so i didn’t have to message you but I probably didn’t look hard enough.
• I've been very loyal to Sockwell, and have recently also started wearing the Comrad compression socks. I plan on doing a full compression sock comparison post in the upcoming months!

on franish //

• on the blog: a review post on learning to dress my new postpartum body
• on the instagram: mommy&me saturdays
• on the twitter: having a hard time without my PCCB daily fix. 

at home //

• Happy December! This was supposed to be posted over the weekend but my husband worked all weekend and I was home with the baby alone and I forgot my charger at work and basically I just spent all weekend holding my baby and I know you'll forgive me for posting a day late (kidding, I know no one was holding their breath waiting for this post). I'm still trying to figure out how to occasionally blog while focusing on work and my family. I also don't want to fall back into the trap of just ordering a bunch of clothes to try on, even though they are always my most popular posts. Just the never ending battle of trying to find some kind of balance point in life!
• This month was so good! I was on UroGyn, which deals a lot with urinary incontinence and pelvic reconstruction and I learned so much. I feel so much more comfortable talking with and managing incontinence, something that is extremely common but not something a lot of women talk about, and I'm excited to now have a better understanding of how to help my patients. So not only did I learn a ton, but I also had fairly normal people hours this month, which meant more time home with Penny, so that was amazing. 
• As someone who is very typically a last minute present buyer, I'm trying real hard to stay ahead this year! I already got Chris's gift (...because we are buying the Nintendo Switch together so we can play MarioKart hahahaha), and my dad's and my Secret Santa's for Chris's family. Feeling accomplished while taking advantage of all these Black Friday deals!

postpartum review: learning to dress your new body

Hello! Coming at you today with a review of items I've purchased over the last month or so. We have a little random assortment of items here, from maternity items (that I wear as a non-pregnant lady), nursing tops, slipping pants, and winter jackets. A little bit of everything! A big lesson for me is now learning how to dress my "new" body. My chest is a bit bigger, my sides are a bit softer, and I'm working on figuring out what feels good when I wear it. I'm also trying to figure out what I can wear that accommodates nursing/pumping, which has definitely had it's trials and errors. What used to work doesn't always work with pumps on, and what I used to wear casually on the weekends isn't convenient for nursing in public, so it's been a rough go at figuring out what works for me!

For reference, I'm 5'9''. I'm currently a size 12/large in most items. 

recent beauty faves

I'm so excited to talk a bit about a few recent beauty favorites from the last six months. I have lots of holy grail items I've been using for years (my eyeliner, powder foundation, and dry shampoo, which currently comes with an extra mini bottle fyi) but I do love playing around with new items and finding new favorites. With Sephora's holiday sale starting today, I thought it would be a good time to share a few of the items I've really grown to love!

Amika Purple Shampoo // As a life long (highlight getting) blond, I only started using purple shampoos like two years ago! They make SUCH a difference! My highlights/balayage stays brighter so much longer. I've tried several different brands at different price points, and this has been my favorite - the actual shampoo is thick and a deep purple, lathers nicely for a sulfate-free shampoo, and one bottle lasts me about six months. For $20, I can't really complain! If you want a drug store conditioner, I've been using L'Oreals Ever Pure conditioner for years and really like it!

Beauty Pie's Vitamin C capsules // I have plans to dedicate a whole blog post about my experience with Beauty Pie in the next month or so (I'm putting in an order for a few more products on Saturday when my monthly membership renews), but I've already found several items I absolutely love. I've been a long time fan of Vitamin C products - they have helped lighten up my acne scarring and keep my skin looking refreshed (here's a more in depth article about the benefits of Vitamin C). I've enjoyed the Paula's Choice serum as well as Kiehl's, but Vitamin C is fairly unstable and needs to be in sealed and dark containers, which is why these individual shells is the perfect storage for this serum! I use it every morning under my moisturizer. I've been using it for two months now, and am re-ordering another bottle this weekend. It's my favorite skincare product of the last year! If you want to try out Beauty Pie, you can use my referral to get your first month membership for free.

Hourglass's Ambient Light powder // I first heard about this on Jaclyn Hill's youtube, and finally broke down last year, and bought the mini version. I ended up using it every day, and a few months ago bought the full size version. I use this on light make up days (ie at work) as an eyeshadow base, and then lightly swiped across my cheeks and nose as a light highlight. It's just so pretty and the regular size is going to last forever (I wish I had just purchased the full size from the get go - a mini is 1.4 oz for $24, and for $48, you get 10 oz!). Love love love. This would also make a great present!

Beauty Pie's Sleep Oil // I have been using face oils on and off for years now...but it turns out, I was using it ALL WRONG all that time! I was putting it on over serums and under moisturizer, but actually face oils don't moisturize your face, they lock in the moisture. derp. Anyway, since realizing my mistake, I've been happily using Beauty Pie's sleep oil correctly, and it's becoming my favorite step in my night time routine. I pat on a few drops all over my face and wake up with soft and glowy skin every morning. If you're thinking about trying out Beauty Pie, I'd definitely recommend this as one of your first purchases! A bottle probably lasts close to a whole year - I've been using it since August, and have barely made a dent in the bottle.

Ole Henriksen's Scrub // as a girl who grew up with St. Ive's apricot scrub, but also someone who has read enough posts about skincare to know that we shouldn't use abrasive scrubs, I can't help but really enjoy this scrub. I stopped using my retinol cream during pregnancy, and since restarting it after delivering Penny, my skin is going back through a bit of a shedding period while my skin gets re-used to the retinol. I find using this scrub just once a week, using very light circular motions rather than hard scrubbing it into my skin, gets rid of all the dead skin without causing a bunch of trauma to my skin. This would especially be great for anyone dealing with a lot of flakiness during the colder months! Again this will probably last quite a long time since you only need a little bit once or twice a week.

Kat Von D's eyeshadow palette // I've enjoyed KvD's eyeshadow palettes for years now, but this one has become a true staple for me. I am definitely not a make-up guru, I do basically the same thing every day, and have for basically a decade now, but this palette gives me everything I need from lighter every day looks to having a few darker colors to play with. The middle of the palette is what I use the most, from the base color to the highlight to the black for "smudging" my liquid eyeliner. And it's currently on sale (on top of the sale!), so you can get it for a steal.

Tarte's mascara // I'm forever looking for my holy grail mascara - I tend to use one kind for a few tubes, and then move on to the next. I prefer the brush mascaras (versus the plastic wands), and have found what I now believe is my favorite mascara to date. It just elongates, thickens, and isn't clumpy -it's like the holy trinity of mascaras! I always wear an eyelash primer under my mascaras, which helps, but am just such a fan of this mascara that I purchased several more during a recent Tarte sale!

Sephora's sale is currently going on, and ends on 11/11. If you're doing some early holiday shopping, one of my favorite items to gift is this perfume set - it comes with nine deluxe samples of perfumes, as well as a gift card for the full size version of one of them. You get 9 cute little bottles plus the full size version, which is great for any fragrance lover (especially since they can pick out their favorite in the end - I find it so tricky to gift fragrances!).