7 quick takes: wedding pics, pagers, ballet...

1.       We got our wedding pictures back this week!! I haven’t had time to look through them all yet, but it’s so surreal to think that we’ve been married now for 3 months.

 

2.       I ran home in between clinic and call yesterday (we are renting a “medical school house” conveniently right next door to one of the clinics) and found these beautiful flowers and a note from my hubby “Just because.” Love him.

3.       My sister and I recently became obsessed with this spiced wine. I’m pretty sure it’s seasonal but I’m trying not to think about that. We’ve scoped out all the wine/grocery stores around town to find the cheapest price per bottle ($5.84) and make sure one of us always has some on hand.

4.       My littlest sister (age 9) has the Nutcracker tonight. It’s my secret dream to be a ballerina, so I’ll be living vicariously through her. 

5.       It’s been a crazy med school week and all the days are running together. Yesterday was a long day at an OB clinic two hours away, and when I finished clinic, I had start my call shift. Labor and Delivery was pretty quiet when I first got to the hospital and it was looking like I might actually get some sleep, but as soon as my head hit the pillow, my pager went off. We had a beautiful delivery (seriously, nothing beats obstetrics) and then I went home around 1 a.m. for a few hours of sleep before coming back to round at 6 a.m. (we have to round on all the OB patients before our attending physicians arrive). Needless to say, I’m ready for the weekend and some sleep, although I do have lectures and am on-call for any deliveries that come in. 

6.       To go along with #5, I’ve been having nightmares about my pager going off. And even better, I dreamt that I was having a C-section the other night. I vaguely remember telling the docs in my dream: “Close me back up!! Please, close me back up!” 

7.       J. Crew is having another 25% off sale this weekend, and this outfit is absolute perfection:

J. Crew sterling skirt

Linking up with Jen for the first time for 7 Quick Takes Friday. Happy weekend!

Polka dots and cozy sweaters...

 
I almost continued my sweatpants-to-scrubs routine today (so tempting) but since we had lectures this afternoon/evening, I forced myself to break out of my rut. I layered this chambray polka dot top under a cozy ivory sweater and found a way to wear my fav cropped pants without freezing my ankles by tucking them into my brown boots. Between my layers and fuzzy wool socks, I stayed warm on this chilly Wednesday.

 Leave it to J. Crew to come up with this epic combo of chambray and polka dots...perfect, perfect shirt.

 

 

 

Chambray polka dot shirt (J. Crew), Cambridge cable ivory sweater (J. Crew), crops (Gap), boots (Famous Footwear)

Linking up with The Pleated Poppy for What I Wore Wednesday...

No bad days.

That's what I’m telling myself today. I’m just getting home from the hospital after a loooooong, sort of painful day. I woke up at 5 a.m. with the realization that I forgot to do a required online quiz (due at midnight last night).  At 6 a.m., I got to the OB floor and realized that I had literally just missed the delivery of a patient I took care of yesterday (I’m nearing the end of my hospital weeks and still 3 deliveries short).  

Mid-morning, I discovered that I had forgotten my pager when I was called on the floor by the medical school office looking for me (medical school rule #1: always wear your pager). My husband is off today and so he brought me my pager; when I ran down to get it he looked at me and said “You’re having a bad day aren’t you?” I defensively answered “Um, no!” and then after thinking about it for two seconds admitted that I sort of was (he knows me too well).

I also found out today that I have to be at a clinic a two hour drive away all day Thursday, then take night call when I get back and that I have extra evening lectures tomorrow night and all morning Saturday. Later today, I got paged in the middle of a delivery that I was late for a trauma/surgery lecture which we this evening. And all day I was panicky that I wouldn’t make it home in time to talk to my brother before he leaves for Afghanistan tomorrow.

So, to end my rambling (complaining), today wasn’t the best. But putting it into perspective, today wasn’t a bad day. I got to help bring a new life into the world, come home to my ever patient husband, Skype with my brother before he leaves tomorrow, and finally get into my warm and cozy bed. Not a bad day.

What I Wore Sunday #1

 

 I woke up early yesterday morning to the sound of my pager going off, which would normally be a terrible way to wake up on a Sunday morning, but since I am finding out that I am kind of in love with ob-gyn, I was ok with it. I was lucky enough to get out of the hospital in time for Zumba (my favorite) and to see my sister before she caught her flight back to college at my alma mater, Steubie U.

My hubby and I caught a late mass last night and it was absolutely frigid on our way home. I was definitely thankful I had on this warm cowl/infinity scarf/snood/whatever-you-want-to-call-it. I found this at J. Crew Factory (huge Cyber Monday sale today) and wish I had it in every color, but chose grey since it's so versatile.

 

 

I enlisted my hubby’s help tonight to take an outfit photo (please forgive all the hands-on-hip effects, haha). I just love light pink and grey together (well, actually I love light pink with anything) and this denim pencil skirt is one of my absolute favorites: I wear it year around and it can easily be dressed up or down. I also got to wear my new black booties, they are weather-proofed for our insane snow and completely comfortable for long shifts on rotations.

 

Cowl: J. Crew Factory

Sweater: J. Crew Tippi in classic pink

Pencil: J. Crew Factory (old), Similar, on sale!

Booties: Clarks

 

Thanks to Camp Patton, I'm linking up with Fine Linen and Purple for What I Wore Sunday.

Happy Monday!

Chunky scarf weather...

 

I woke up today with every intention to go to a post-Turkey Day zumba marathon but walked outside to this:

 

 

I was back inside after one attempt to open my frozen-shut car door combined with blustery, snowy winds in my face. My post-Turkey Day zumba/step/pilates will have to wait until this weekend, and even though I wasn't planning on going Black Friday shopping, the blizzard outside would be enough to deter me.

 

I have to say that I am sad to see my cropped pants and ballet flats go until spring, but I did get to pull out my favorite winter scarf. My hubby says it looks like I'm wearing a giant blanket, and after looking at these pictures I kind of agree. Nevertheless, I love it's chunkiness, oatmeal color, and crazy warmth. I also love anything mustard and this black and white striped tee that I probably wear at least twice a week.

 

 

 

I tried to convince myself that I could get away with wearing my vegan leather (sounds so much better than pleather) boots with legwarmers, but since there is now about a foot of snow on the ground they were traded for my more practical snowboots.

Happy chunky scarf weather!

 

 

Mustard cardi (Target Merona, still available), striped tee (Shade), boots (Famous Footwear), scarf (Etsy)

What I wore to Thanksgiving dinner...

I can’t believe that it’s Turkey Day already! My hubby, sadly, is working until 7 so we’ll be joining my fam for a late Thanksgiving dinner. It’s our first ‘married’ Thanksgiving, and I can’t tell you how many people have asked me if we’re cooking. Based on the fact that I had multiple problems with the boxed dinner I attempted to concoct last night for us, the answer is no. Maybe someday?  I will proudly be bringing over a loaf of pumpkin bread (my mom’s recipe of course) that I made on my last day off, which seems like eons ago, and then stored in the fridge (hopefully it’s not stale).

Grace at Camp Patton had the lovely idea to link up Thanksgiving dinner outfits. She and I went to the same college for undergrad (Steubie U, a.k.a Franciscan University of Steubenville) and I found her blog through mutual friends. She never fails to make me laugh, and she always has cute, budget-friendly outfit ideas.  Also, her husband is doing his Ob-Gyn residency, a specialty I’m seriously considering, although Grace’s stories of his crazy call hours are a little scary.

On to the outfit! I’m seriously loving chambray lately, as I am this orangey-red.  I took another opportunity to wear my favorite slim cropped pants and Target wedges sans socks before a predicted massive snowstorm hits tonight. And I give credit to my old roomie Megan for the necklace: she taught me that chunky twisted pearls make any outfit more fun.

Sweater: J. Crew factory

Chunky pearls: J. Crew factory

Chambray: J. Crew

Wedges: Target

Crops: Gap

 

 

 

 

 

Ruffles and polka dots...

This shirt is a combination of two of my favorite things: ruffles and polka dots! I waited forever for a sale and then was so excited when I found a J. Crew Factory version on the clearance rack last spring (and I think the factory version is better than the original since it's machine wash). I'm loving it with one of the colors of this season, bright orangey-red (aka "vibrant flame," "modern red," etc.)





I think this is a great work outfit, but I wore this to church since I'm in scrubs everyday for my rotation right now. Yay for wearing workout pants to work in the morning! And I may or may not have gone straight from my bed to the hospital this morning...in my defense, I was at the hospital 14 hours yesterday and back at 6 a.m. I am also trying to take advantage of wearing these cropped pants with ballet flats and wedges as much as I can before we have several feet of snow on the ground and I'm forced to wear boots and wool socks...



Chiffon ruffle top (still available at J. Crew Factory!), open cardi (Banana Republic), slim cropped pants (Gap)

What to do when you get sick in medical school...

Let me start by saying that I have never missed a day of medical school from being sick. Until yesterday.

Most medical students and residents will tell you that it is practically unthinkable to call in sick. It's sort of an unspoken rule that to stay home sick is weak, slacker-ish, unprofessional, and just not something a doctor or future doctor would do. I'm not sure where this attitude came from, since as caregivers for the sick you would never think that we would be the worst possible people to take care of ourselves. But regardless, we always think that we need to keep on pushing ourselves, and when we're ill or tired we just need to push harder.

Mine started with a seriously painful earache (later discovered as probably referred pain from my tonsils, interesting), continued with my asthma getting worse, and culminated in a sore throat which led to me looking at the back of my throat in the mirror with a flashlight. Bad idea, since what I saw was (sorry if this is too graphic) pus dripping off both tonsils and the back of my throat. I kind of freaked out at this unpleasant and called to make a doctor's appointment. I was able to get into one of the family medicine residents who proclaimed when he saw me "Yeah, you know that something's wrong if a medical student or resident goes to the doctor." He proceeded to look in the back of my throat and got pretty excited "Wow, that's exudative pharyngitis if I ever saw it!" (a.k.a. probably strep throat).

I got my antibiotic prescription and then asked the million dollar question: should I go in to the hospital tomorrow? I was scheduled for a 24 hour shift: operating room until 5 p.m. for ob-gyn surgeries and then OB call from 5 p.m. until the next morning. I was pretty confident that my aggressive hand scrubbing and mask/sterile gear would protect the OR patients but I was worried about exposing a new baby to possible strep throat. The resident, just as we've been trained, told me to go to my rotation in the morning and mention to the attending that I was sick but had started an antibiotic. He didn't seem to think it would be a problem for me to go to clinical. Pretty typical, since most attendings will tell you that they can count the days they've missed in years of practice on one hand (or one finger).

I got to my rotation early, my throat was painful and I was wheezing up a storm, but I've felt a lot sicker and was fairly confident I could get through the day. My attending walked up: "How are you?" to which I replied "Well, a little sick but I started an antibiotic..." My attending's affect immediately changed: "Then why are you here?" He proceeded to give me a harsh talking to about coming in sick, exposing other's to being sick, etc. (not the reaction I was expecting). Needless to say, I went home.

I was a little shocked by my attending's "counter-cultural" reaction. Part of me felt defensive, "but my doctor told me to go in," "but I'm a medical student, we can't miss a day of our rotations." But part of me learned a valuable lesson: we should always have our patient's best interest at heart. It takes humility to go against the grain and call in sick, but if we are truly ill, we shouldn't hesitate to do so and protect our patients.

Chiffon dot top...

From the November J. Crew Style Guide

How beautiful is this blouse?! I was totally enthralled by it: it looks unique, comfy, and perfectly drapey. By the time J. Crew offered their 25% sale, the Dublin Green was already gone in all sizes so I decided to try the warm ivory. Although I was initially disappointed the green was gone, I think that the ivory suits this blouse better and makes it a little more versatile.

J. Crew Chiffon Dot Top

It's a really beautiful top in real life and I like that it's something I don't think I could find anywhere else. However, there are a few issues with it:
1. It's huge. I'm literally always a size 8 and the 8 in this is way too big. I know that it's supposed to be "peasant style" but I still think it runs at least 1 size big.
2. It's super sheer. Wearing it over a white tank is ok with me, but the price is steep as it is, let alone for a sheer top.
3. The sleeve cuffs are a bit tight. I have fairly narrow wrists but for someone with average or large wrists, I think it could be uncomfortable.

I'll be sending this back. It was really over my budget anyways, and I don't think it's worth the price because of the sheerness and fit issues. It is still a beautiful design (so classy and pretty) and fabric (the little dots look amazing on the chiffon) and so I'll be watching for this on final sale in a smaller size.

Review on the navy chiffon dot top by AJC here.
 

"Simple Virtues"

Inspiration for this week:

Simple Virtues by Erin Jang
 

 

 

Another week in the OR...

Scrubbing in for surgery:

whatshouldwecallmedschool:

Last week marked my first day in the operating room for my OB-gyn rotation.  I don't what it is about the OR, but it makes me a little (ok, a lot) ill-at-ease. I worry that I will make a mistake while scrubbing in or gowning/gloving and "unsterilize" myself, compromise over the sterile field, or (most frightening) get pimped on an anatomy question by an attending when I don't know the answer. 

I tried to prepare myself by scouting out the OR location and locker room when I got the case schedule the day before (it only took me appoximately 30 minutes and walking in circles twice to find it). Furthermore, I left our house at exactly 6:57 a.m. that morning when our first case wasn't scheduled until after 7:30 a.m. This was a big step for me since I am typically running exactly (barely) on time. I felt pretty proud of myself when I located the OR hallway at about 7:03 (and without asking anyone and only walking in one circle). Then I realized I didn't know which "staff only" door was the women's locker room. Because the locker room doors require a code, I decided to try out the code and hope for the best. Thankfully it worked.....and then I opened the door and smelled a distinctly male scent coming from inside. I then witnessed a glimpse of an unknown surgeon (probably one of my attendings) in nothing but some underarmour boxers. Fortunately for me, he was in the process of putting a scrub top on over his head and didn't witness by horror-stricken face before I hastily slammed the door shut again. Seriously, how do both the men's and women's locker rooms have the exact same code and have no labels?!

After I recovered from the locker room incident, I proceeded to scrub in and then gown and glove. Things were going unusually well and I breathed a silent sigh of relief until I attempted to adjust my gown and rip, there went my sleeve, marking the sad end to my short-lived sterile-ness. The day continued, with only a few more awkward incidents: walking through the OR with my mask half on (what was I thinking) and reaching over a sterile field (you’d think as a former nurse I’d know better).

And so ended my first official day  of scrubbing-in in the OR. I’ll end positively by saying that I saw an absolutely thrilling laparoscopic view of the uterus, ovaries, and fallopian tubes that day. And this week, I'm 100% confident that I can find the women's locker room and 75% confident that I can stay sterile after scrubbing in.
 

The sterile field:
whatshouldwecallmedschool:

After a long day of surgery:
whatshouldwecallmedschool:

Rainy weekend...

It was a rainy Saturday yesterday, on the gloomy side but a perfect day for wearing my favorite sweater and going shopping! My brother and sister-in-law are in town, so we decided to take advantage of the day and have a sisters' shopping trip while the boys watched football.

 

 

 This swiss dot sweater is probably my favorite item created by J. Crew and possibly my favorite piece of clothing ever. I've worn it on a beach and in a lighthouse on our honeymoon, wine-tasting, to church, to a rock concert, on my hospital rotations multiple times, to the grocery store, etc. etc. I like it with jeans, chino shorts, any color pencil skirt, black trouser pants, anything burgundy, sweatpants, and the list goes on.

Because it was raining and chilly, I pulled on some cozy long boot socks and my favorite boots, some vegan leather (a.k.a. pleather) ones I found at Famous Footwear last year. A pair of Hunter green wellies and/or some real leather boots are definitely on my wishlist for the somewhat distant future, but until then I'm happy with my versatile and comfy pleather favs.

Happy weekend!