Sunday, March 12, 2017

top three [03.12.2017]

snapshots from this week (ps. my shorts are from rag & bone!)

 on the internet
  • How precious does Priya look in this pineapple outfit?! I can never pull off casual cool on vacations. 
  • When is the best time to have a baby? Dani explores her own feelings, thoughts, and journey through this question. It was open, honest, and thought provoking - a definite must read!
  • Can you love talking about shoes, skin care, and politics on the same blog? Grace dives in deeper, and I'm 100% in agreement with everything she says. It's been one of my goals to be more informed this year, and hearing other women's takes on current events, is another part of that. Keep up the great work, Grace!

 spotted
  • I have always wanted a straw tote, but never found the one...until now. I love that this version from Macy's is able to be zipped up and has a bit more shape without looking like a work bag. I think we found a winner!
  • I think I've found my graduation dress! This dress was MADE for me, omg. Black with white polka dots?! Ordering now...at 40% off! (ps. just found a coupon code "INBLOOM" to receive an extra 20% off if you spend over $100!).
  • This is the year I actually will buy a pair of espadrilles, and what better way to jump into that shoe trend than with this adorable lace pair?! They would go with everything. 

 throwback

 ask me anything
  • I'm looking for some cute dresses for attending a few summer weddings. They won't be overly dressy, but I want something simple that I can recycle for most of the weddings and add jewelry shoes to switch it up. I'm pretty busty with a small waist, so I probably need a v neck or something similar. I look better in dark colors and am thinking something jewel-toned. Any suggestions?!
  • Do you think that it's okay if medical students in upper years buy and wear scrub hats for the OR? Did you do this? I'm worried I'll look like a poser and should wait until residency to buy them, but I hate the disposable caps!
    • Oh man, I hate those stupid disposable bouffant caps too - I think I look like a giant mushroom cap every time I wear them. Unfortunately, it's one of those unwritten rules that you don't wear a cloth scrub cap until you're a resident. Until then, you're basically a guest in the OR. It seems like a really silly unwritten rule for sure, and it's one of the things I'm very excited about getting past in a few months. I just really want a leopard print scrub cap, ya know? ;)
  • First, a confession: I used to really like floral-patterned things until a college boyfriend said they were too girly/cutesy and then honestly I quit wearing/buying them (and what's more embarrassing, we've been broken up for almost five years now and what he said still affects me!). I've realized that I want to start wearing flowered patterns again and am looking for blouses/skirts/dresses with an (ideally large-ish) floral pattern and longer sleeve/hemline. Ideally this would be also something I could wear to work. Do you have any ideas for me? 

 on franish

 notable sales

 at home
  • My youngest sister and I had such a nice time visiting my mom down in Gulf Shores this past week. We used to rent a house down in GS every spring break for years, and a few years my parents purchased their own. It's basically our second home, so it was so so nice and relaxing to be down there. We went on lots of walks, found heaps of shells, and had fun just puzzling and reading and watching Gilmore Girls. Take me back!
  • My mom and I are going to NYC at the end of April to do a bit of wedding dress shopping (!) and we finally booked out AirBnB this week. We'll be staying in Soho and I'm so excited! Keep an eye out for a Wedding Wednesday post.
  • Tomorrow's the day! Wish me luck...I am so nervous!
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Saturday, March 11, 2017

healthyish, vol. 11

This was the first week where I was considering not writing one of these. I've been down in Alabama visiting my mom, and we've been having a great time. We went on lots of walks, ate lots of homemade food, and had a really good week. But I didn't have as many traditional work outs as I typically have been doing, and I had a lot more sugar that I usually do too. But then I reminded myself that a week of not sticking to my typical plan doesn't mean I didn't do things to work towards my goals this week, so here we are!

exercise: 

  • Sunday: 1 hour spin class
  • Tuesday: 5.2 mile walk
  • Wednesday: 5.3 mile walk
  • Thursday: 4.1 mile walk
  • Friday: 4.0 mile walk

diet:
This week was full of my mom's delicious food. My mom eats a lot more fruit and grains than I typically do, so it was nice to indulge a bit more! We had great breakfasts of eggs, fruit, and toast, lunches of salads, thin crush pizzas, and veggies, and dinners of brats and sauerkraut, chicken and rice, and sushi. I made a few meals of butternut squash noodles and chicken meatballs before I left as well (I love butternut squash noodles!)...I really need to figure out how to cook a butternut squash instead of paying for the pre-spiralized versions at the grocery store. 

goals:

Last week's goals:
  • Walk 5 miles a day for 4 days : basically done! One day we went a little shorter because the sun was beating down, but it averaged out to around 4.5 miles every day!
  • Choose healthier alternatives while traveling: done! No fast food burgers for me :)
  • Do 20 push ups a day: Oops. This did not happen. To be honest, I completely forgot I even made this a goal. 

 Next week's goals: 
  • Take 2 group weight classes at my gym (I already signed up!...now I just have to go)
  • Cut back on sugar this week - no sneaking a few chocolates throughout the day
  • Don't emotional eat this week. It could be the most stressful of my life, or the best...we'll see

treats:

Depending on what we find out about the match on Monday, we are either celebrating or emotional eating. Fingers crossed it's a big celebration full of pastas and tiramisu and wine. 

weigh in: 

No idea! I think I'm going to take a few weeks off from weighing myself just because I don't want to live and die by what the scale says. We'll see how I'm feeling...




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Thursday, March 9, 2017

designer sandals at target prices

I was at Target yesterday before my mom and sister went to go see Table 19 (don't really recommend it), and as I wandered into the shoe section, I recognized so many styles that I've seen on sites like Nordstrom, Shopbop, and other department stores. It was really this style of sandal that made me go hmm...look at all of these designer dupes! Since it's now March and we can officially start thinking about spring (and spring wardrobes!), below are some of the best dupes I found! I like to think of dupes as the way of getting the look for less - not as pretending to be the original brand. I think it's a great way to get the style of what you want without blowing your budget!



$32.99 versus $170

$27.99 versus $79.95

$22.99 (love these!) versus $95.99

$27.99 versus $99.00

$32.99 versus $109.95 (but now on sale)

$32.99 versus $975 *they are exactly the same!

these aren't a designer dupe, but they are very similar to the sandals I got while in Santorini, so wanted to share with those of you who have asked about my pair!


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Tuesday, March 7, 2017

my all time favorite lip products

I love love love lip products - balms, lip sticks, glosses, treatments, masks. I am never not within several feet of several different types of lip products - some I even keep on me at all times! For someone who wouldn't wear lipstick a few years ago, I'm definitely embracing adding a bit more color to my lips. While I still stick in the safe zone of the pink family of color, I've tried a ton of different products over the years. There are several things I'm still hesitant to try (looking at you, liquid lipstick) and others I'm currently trying out (I just got my first order of Lipsense products) but the following are my ride or die products that I've replaced countless times.

LIPBALMS
glossier // clinique // blistex // kaplan md

Living in the Midwest with our extreme seasons, and working in hospitals with dry air, means my lips are dry quite often. I've tried tons (TONS) of lip balms over the years, from the cheapest stuff to the most expensive (although I've heard nothing but good things about Dior's rose lip balm, so maybe I will have to try that too...). I always have Blistex's Lip Medex in my car - it is the only drug store chapstick I've found that actually soothes your lips and doesn't leave a waxy film. I'm obsessed with it, and have probably purchased this over ten times. In my purse, I always keep Clinique's Superbalm. It goes on so smoothly, and feels really refreshing. When I'm at work, I always keep Kaplan MD's lipbalm in the little arm pocket of my Patagonia. The packaging is small, so I don't even notice it in the little pocket, and you only need a tiny amount to moisturize your lips - as you can see by the fading of the print, I use this all the time. It comes in a kit with a lip mask, and both have made a huge difference in how my lips feel. Lastly, I use Glossier's balm dotcom at night after brushing my teeth and washing my face. Even with a humidifier in our room, my lips get really dry because my retainers (#sexy) make me sometimes sleep with my mouth open. This stuff really lasts, and it's like a little treat putting it on at night. Plus the packaging is just so pretty - Glossier seems to do no wrong!

SUBTLE COLOR
dior // covergirl 

On days I'm not wearing a lot of makeup, I don't really like to wear lipstick either - it's all or nothing for me! But I do like a bit of color, so I got to these two sheer lipbalm-ish products. The first is Dior's Lip Glow - this supposedly works with your own pH to create a custom color. No idea how true that is - I just think it smells nice and adds a bit of brightness to my face. I also really like Covergirl's Oh Sugar! in Candy - this is EXACTLY like Fresh's lipbalm (same color, same flavor, same everything) but for like a fifth of the price. It smells soooooo good. 

LIPSTICKS
nars // lancome // bare minerals // ysl

As you can see, I don't really venture too much outside of the soft pink, "your lips but better" colors. The brightest of the bunch is Nar's Roman Holiday - this is my third tube, and I'm basically in need of ordering my fourth as that little nub you see is all that's left. This is a soft hot pink, if that makes sense - it's bright and fun without being super over powering and in your face. The next two colors are pretty similar. Lancome's Love It! is a little more subdued, while Bare Mineral's Tutu has a bit more punch to it. Last is my favorite lip product - it's YSL's Oil-in-stick in Nude Lavalliere - this is the epitome of the "your lips but better" color combined with a product that hydrates your lips (since it's 65% oil). It's such a pretty color in such a hydrating formula - definitely the priciest of all the products, which is why it continues to be a "special occasion" lip product, but one I can't help but love.

LIPGLOSSES
bare minerals // urban decay // clinique

I used to be a lipgloss queen - since I was a bit afraid of the heavy color that lipsticks have, I used them to add color. Now that I'm more comfortable with lipsticks, I only keep a couple of lip glosses around. My favorites are from Bare Minerals (that I'm just now realizing is discontinued! WTF), Urban Decay's Naked in Lovechild, and a Clinique gloss that was a free with purchase item that I feel in love with (in the color First Date). As you can see, they are all pretty similar in color, which is why  kind of just interchange them all!

And that's it! Nothing super crazy - I always play it a bit more safe with lip color. Like I said, I'd really like to find a liquid lipstick, but I haven't found one yet where I love the color and formula. I hope you guys have some suggestions!

ps. I posted on instagram stories yesterday about the make-up storage I use, and had so many people ask about it that I just wanted to discuss it quickly. I bought acrylic make-up organizers on Amazon, and it has made the world of difference when it comes to organzing make-up. I finally go see where everything is! Mine is two parts - the top part is this set, and I just added these drawers. 


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Sunday, March 5, 2017

top three [03.05.2017]

allllll the donuts!

medicine
  • Did you get the flu shot this year? The CDC reports that this year's flu shot reduced the risk of getting the flu and having to go to the doctor by 48%! 
  • ICD-10, or the "international classification of disease" is used to classify disease. The are some very strange ICD codes out there, including Sucked into jet engine, Pedestrian on foot injured in collision with roller-skater, Activities involved arts and handcrafts, Struck by duck, Walked into lamppost, and Burn due to water-skis on fire.
  • Uncombable hair syndrome is caused by a structural anomaly of the hair follicles. Here's an example, and here's a bit more information!

 on the internet:

spotted:
  • Fully embracing the German stereotype, I absolutely need these metallic Birkenstocks. Birks are basically all I wear in the summer, so BRONZE ONES?! hello, need. 
  • Part demure and part sexy, I kind of love this lace top from Express (especially in black and vintage pink!) . Do you think you could get away with wearing a normal bra with it? 
  • Still on the hunt for a dress for our engagement pictures - I love the pretty lace on this dress from Modcloth, but I don't know if that neckline/sleeveless situation would be the most flattering. 

 throwback to:

 ask me anything:
  • So I went to my first CycleBar class and burned a total of...276 calories...whomp whomp :( I was sweating and felt like my heart was going to explode! I just couldn't ever keep up with the instructor's RPM along with the resistance. I've seen your Apple Watch pictures showing a ton of calories burned during spin class. Did you always burn around that much? Or did it take a while to work up to? What about RPM versus resistance?
    • I'm going to tackle this question in several parts! 
    • As far as calories burned goes, several things factor into this. If you are using solely the bike monitor as a way of measuring your calories, that doesn't take YOU into account at all. My bike monitor tells me I burn like 300 calories at each spin class, but since my watch is calibrated to my height and weight AND uses my heart rate, it is a lot more accurate than just the bike monitor (and according to studies, the most accurate wrist HR monitor out there). This morning I overheard my instructor tell a new rider that the monitor on the bikes are way off, and you actually burn about twice what the monitor says. Also, keep in mind I may be a larger person than you. My friend came to spin class with me on Wednesday - I'm about half a foot taller and many more pounds heavier than she is, and although our average HR was almost identical, I burned 150 more calories than she did because I'm just a bigger person. 
    • Second, it definitely takes time to work up to the amount of calories I sometimes burn in class. In early December, I was burning around 500 calories during one hour classes, but now I sometimes can exceed 700 calories. I like seeing the calories burned not as "yes, I should lose this much weight because I burned this many calories" but I use it more as a measurement of how hard I worked that class, if that makes sense. The more you cycle, the more you'll get used to the feel of the class and your body will improve in its capabilities in the class. 
    • Third, I would suggest trying to match the suggested RPMs in class, and slowly work your way up to the suggested resistance. I haven't been to a CycleBar class, but I assume it's kind of like Soul Cycle or FlyWheel where you cycle "together" as a class and match the instructor, so I'd suggest lowering your resistance and then over time build it up! That's the thing I actually really love about spin class - you really can work out at your own pace because you're in a dark room. I've slowly worked my way up from the back row to the front row at my studio now that I know I can keep up with everything being asked for by the instructor. In the end, the most important thing is that you're improving your health by getting that cardio in, the benefit of burning calories is just a nice second ;)
  • Love the Wedding Wednesday feature as an MS3 getting married next year. Do you have a wedding budget set?
    • We do have a general budget. Both of our parents are chipping in certain amounts, and I had saved up some money from blogging, and we start working this summer, so while we are paying for the majority of it, we do have a bit of help from our families. Once we knew what we were starting with, we started setting budgets for all the individual things that come with having a wedding. We used this as a starting point, and then put the categories into our large google document to keep track of what our budget is, what we've paid, and what we have left to pay!
  • I'm graduating from medical school this year, too! Maybe it's a bit early, but what are you planning to wear under the regalia at graduation? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
    • YAY!! Congrats, fellow almost graduate! I've definitely thought about what I want to wear, and while I don't have anything actually planned yet, and am also planning on writing a post about this in the future, I have several ideas! I do want to wear a dress this time around - I wore pants for my white coat ceremony, but want to be a bit dressier for the graduation. Right now, Vince Camuto's sheath dress is at the top of my list because it looks super flattering, isn't too informal, and I love that you can wear a normal bra with it (v important!). I'm also a big fan of this tweed fit and flare, although it may be too short on me. A third option is this scalloped sheath dress - wouldn't it be so cute with some colorful flats? I love them all! Amazon also has several cute options - I love the neckline on this dress, and I think the lace on this dress is so beautiful!

on franish

 notable sales
  • J.Crew Factory: up to 50% off new arrivals + extra 20% off over $100
    • Why don't we all already own this gingham blazer?! If it came in a tall size, I'd immediately order it. So cute!
    • Ugh, I love this tweed mini skirt. I have no where to wear it to, but I just think it's darling. I'd wear it with a white tee and a jean jacket for a casual weekend look!
    • I have the dark dots in white background version of this dress, and it's so cute! Be warned that it runs pretty short though. 
  • Loft: 40% off everything!
    • You guys know I'm not really diving into the one shoulder/off the shoulder trend, but I think that I could maybe pull off this pretty stripe and lace top. Wouldn't it look so cute with some white jeans? 
    • And while I'm at it, I could maybe even do this striped dress - the straps mean you can get away with wearing a normal bra! The reviews so far are very positive. 
    • A short sleeved black dress is like my closet staple, but my current one is about six years old and needs to be replaced. I love that this version comes in all three lengths, so I'm going to order the regular and the tall to see how they fit!

at home:
  • We watched Hacksaw Ridge on Friday night, and I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, I felt the acting and some scenes were pretty off and unbelievable, but I would say the last one third of the movie was incredibly inspiring when you know that a real man did what he did. What a hero!
  • And that wraps up another rotation - officially three left until we are done! This was definitely an interesting rotation because I didn't really get to do a ton or learn a lot medically, but I learned so much about the business side of being a doctor. It was very interesting to see how different private practice versus working for a hospital is. 
  • I'm so excited to spend some time with my mom and sister in the upcoming week. A little girl time is exactly what we needed!
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Saturday, March 4, 2017

healthyish, vol. 10


I can't believe we are at week 10! I really have to thank all of you for sticking with me through this, sending encouragement, sharing your favorite recipes, and motivating me to keep going. I feel really great about the progress I'm making, both weight wise and how I physically feel. While the scale this week doesn't reflect progress, I feel slimmer, my clothes are fitting better, and I can tell I'm able to push harder in my work outs.

exercise:
  • Sunday: 100 flights + weights (I accidently missed my scheduled spin class so I was less than motivated at the gym, but I'm glad I went. I was pretty sore for a few days after!
  • Monday: 1 hour spin class
  • Wednesday: 1 hour spin class
  • Thursday: 45 minute spin class
  • Saturday: 1 hour spin class

As a side note, I just discovered that my gym offers classes run by the trainers there, so I'm excited to add more weight lifting time to my work out routine in the near future. I am also finally signing up for a kickboxing class, so as much as I really love my spin class, I think it'll be really good to add some variation (and weight) to my current routine!

 diet:
I try to live by the 90/10 rule of eating, but I feel this week I was more 80/20. My attending took me out for sushi on my last day, I had some amazing tater tots when we went to trivia, and had a few more pieces of chocolate than was probably necessary. Not a big deal, but just an observation and maybe an explanation why the scale didn't really change this week. I did have some great meals this week though. Breakfasts were mushroom and scrambled eggs with turkey bacon (my current favorite!). For snacks I had egg muffins (recipe here), habanero bbq almonds, and grapes. CR and I went out to lunch on Tuesday at a local vegan restuarant - I had the pho, which was okay but probably not something I'll have there again. For my other lunches I made bang bang chicken and fried cauliflower rice with vegetables - it was so freaking good! Dinners included bunless burgers with a fried egg and sweet potato fries, chicken sausage with vegetables, and left overs.

 goals:

 Last week's goals:
  • Make these mini egg frittata muffins for snacks: done!
  • Hit 20 works outs in February (I did 17 in January and want to beat it!): While I beat January, I did 18 work outs in February. Close! Definitely shooting for 20 in March though. 
  • Don't step on the scale until Friday: done! 

 Next week's goals:
  • Walk 5 miles a day for 4 days (I'm going to Gulf Shores to visit my mom and sister)
  • Choose healthier alternatives while traveling
  • Do 20 push ups a day

 treats:

 I have been doing so much laundry because I really only have 2 sports bras I like and a few tops and pants. This week I ordered two of these sports bras, a pair of high waisted cropped leggings, and my new favorite work out top. I get so excited to put them on...plus it's nice to step outside my all black work out clothes comfort zone. Reviews of all three coming up this week! I think in five pounds my next treat are going to be a few pairs of pants from Gap - I want to try these tri colored ones (yes, they are black but there's grey and white so it doesn't count!) and these amazing cutout leggings.

 weigh in: -0.0 lbs (total: 9.0 lbs)

Some weeks you lose more than others. Like I said, while the scale didn't move, I'm feeling really good about the progress I'm making. I'll be away from a scale for two weeks, so we will see where we stand in two weeks!
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Wednesday, March 1, 2017

wedding wednesday: finding our photographer!



So it's been a hot second...or three months...since we last talked wedding plans! And that's because...we haven't done a ton of planning since we booked our venue. Since our engagement is 18 months long, we have a lot of time to really work out a lot of the details. But there were certain things we knew we had to do right away, which included finding the venue and our photographer.

One of the issues with getting married in a city you aren't from is that you don't have a lot of people to reach out to about their own experiences with vendors. So I relied on the internet! I started off with a simple google search, which lead me to Wedding Wire and The Knot. Nicole, whose job is working for Junebug Weddings, also sent me several great suggestions. Using our trusty Google document, I wrote down all the information I could find about each of the photographers - where in upstate NY they are located, what packages they offer, the prices of the packages, and what is included (second shooter, albums, rights to pictures, and so on).

When CR and I first started working on our budget, he was shocked by the cost of a wedding photographer. Which, I mean, some of the prices were a bit outrageous, considering some of the fees would have been a third of our entire budget! I was less shocked, and was definitely willing to spend a bit more on our photographer. As a very visual person, and someone who loves to document through pictures, I wanted to have pictures of our wedding that I really loved. So we agreed that our budget for our photographer was $3000 but would really prefer to stay closer to $2000. Setting a price limit actually really helped cut down our list of potential photographers.

From there, I looked closely through all of the portfolios, websites, and social media accounts. I read reviews, and clicked through hashtags. I, of course, have a bit more of an opinion when it comes to what style of photography I want at our wedding. I want the pictures to be intimate, crisp, and timeless. I want pictures that catch us at our happiest, and ones that capture our loved ones in their best light. Looking through dozens of websites and instagram accounts, I really fell in love with Becky's work (it was really this album that sealed the deal for me!).

I sent her a message to see if she was even available for our wedding date, and she got back to me quite quickly and said she was! Since she's located in Rochester, NY and we live in Ohio, we agreed to have a FaceTime date instead of meeting up in person. I loved that we did this, because it really gave us a chance to hear how her side of this process works, and it gave us a chance to share what we were looking for in a photographer. CR and I had discussed our likes and dislikes quite extensively - he was adamant about the photographer not being "in his face" throughout the day, as we had gone to wedding once where the photographer was super distracting throughout the ceremony and reception. We both dislike the really posed and cliche shots - we don't want any jumping pictures, fake "surprise!" pictures, or trying to be funny pictures. Becky suggested having a list of all the groups of people we want pictures with, which I know will be super helpful in the rush of trying to take pictures during the cocktail hour.

We pretty much decided right after hanging up the phone that we were going to hire Becky to be our photographer. I sent her an email to say we would love to book her, we signed the contract, put the check in the mail, and now have our photographer!

For those of you who have gone through this process, is there anything you wish you had done differently when it comes to working with a photographer? Is there something that surprised you? Would love to hear about your own experiences!

Up next in the series is something I'm possible the most excited about in the wedding planning process...the dress! I'll be sharing a bit about how I'm approaching the ultimate try on process and hopefully get to share some pictures from my upcoming appointments!

*pictures found on Pinterest
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