What I Wore Easter Sunday

The Easter vigil mass last night was beautiful. The past few years, I have felt like Easter came way too quickly and I didn't have a chance to truly fulfill my Lenten resolutions or prepare my heart. This year wasn't really an exception, but instead of feeling disappointed, I tried to recognize the small strides that I did make this Lent and also have a prayerful Holy Week. I spent some time alone in front of the tabernacle this week, and I experienced a peace that I haven't felt for a while (things have been way too hectic lately). Stephen and I were also able to go to mass and confession one night which was just what my soul needed. The priest saying mass that night made an analogy that I loved: he said that just as the sun lights the moon, we need to allow Christ's light to be reflected in us. And on another side note, the priest and I started to talk about medical school in confession; it turns out that his sister is a high-risk specialist OB-GYN (so a sign that I should do OB? I hope so). 

The temperature hit a whopping 40 degrees yesterday, which meant that I could forego my normally obligatory sweater tights for more respectable pantyhose (I took things a little too far today though and wore flats with no socks, ending up with snow in between my bare toes). I think the colors of my outfit slightly resemble an Easter egg, but I still love it... I can't think of a better combo than mint and peachy pink (and lace!)

 Cardi: thrifted

Lace top: J. Crew Factory

Necklace: Loft

Mint skirt: J. Crew Factory

Since we went to the Vigil last night, I wore a more casual outfit for Easter brunch and dinner today. Easter and spring are an excuse to pull out all the pretty pinks and pastels that I have in my closet (I could really use less of those colors, more neutrals) and I'm not complaining.

Oh, how I love this pink blazer! And I love even more that I found it for $30.

Scarf: Etsy

Pink blazer: J. Crew clearance; similar here

Jeans: Loft outlet

Happy Easter! I hope that it was beautiful and blessed. 

Linking up of course with the ladies at Fine Linen and Purple along with Grace and Plane Pretty.

Leopard Scarf 5 Ways

I had every intention of joining Franish for 5 Days, 5 Ways this week; I've been working on remixing items in my closet and this seemed like the perfect opportunity/motivation. But then my surgery rotation got really busy...and our research project (which we have to present next week) turned into one big headache...and then we had this meeting on residency applications/interviews that sent my stress level sky high (I'm still uncertain on my specialty). So I'm joining Franish/Along the Lines of Style for just one of five days, and probably the easiest: Accessories.

According to Rachel Zoe, leopard is a neutral. So it wasn't hard at all pulling together five looks with my leopard scarf but it was hard to find time to snap some pics, which Stephen did in between trying to cook dinner last night (we do things gourmet, as in spaghetti). Even when I'm not in scrubs, I don't usually wear scarves to the hospital or clinic (it just seems too high maintenance and infection-prone) so it was fun to pull together some outfits that I don't normally have the opportunity to wear.

Leopard scarf: J. Crew (last year, same one available now in the Factory store), other options: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4

1. Neutrals: leopard scarf + cozy sweater

 Sweater: Forever 21

Pants: J. Crew Factory ponte pant (the best!)

Boots: Carlos Santana (on sale here and here)

2. Mustard/pink

Skirt: J. Crew (similar here and here)

Pink tee: Loft

Open cardi: J. Crew Factory

Shoes: Madewell

3. Pattern-mixing: Leopard scarf + stripes

Striped top: Shade (old)

Jeans: Madewell wideleggers via Ebay

Mocs: Target

4. Military jacket + booties

Military jacket: Old Navy (old)

Jeans: Madewell

Fringe booties: Sam Edelman, thrifted via Copious

5. Leopard + green (worn here)

Top: J. Crew chiffon dot

Pants: these again

Boots: Madewell Archive (on sale!)

Linking up with Along the Lines of Style, the Pleated Poppy, Kiwi Style, Rolled Up Pretty, Style Elixir, Allison, and Vodka Infused Lemonade.

What I Wore Palm Sunday: Navy + eyelet

We went to a beautiful Palm Sunday service today, presided over by our bishop who was newly appointed archbishop and will be leaving for his new assignment next week. My family has known him since he was a young priest and so he married Stephen and I...we are pretty thrilled that we were married by an archbishop :)

I've been slowly trying to clean out my closet, and I found this white eyelet dress tucked away. There are some happy memories attached to it, since I last wore it for Stephen's confirmation two years ago, when I was his sponsor:

I had to sort of 'winterize' the dress by adding a navy cardi and tights since we still have tons of snow outside (and also Stephen informed me that I looked like I was going to my First Communion when I first put it on by itself). Credit goes to Martha for the nude wedges + grey tights; I was so excited to get these shoes on sale a couple months ago, but thought I would have to wait until late spring/summer to wear them since I didn't think I could pull them off with tights (Martha proved me wrong).

Wedges: J. Crew Factory

Cardi (last worn here): J. Crew Factory

Necklace (last worn here and here): J. Crew Factory

 Dress: J. Crew clearance rack a few years ago 

Chunky pearls + navy cardi:

I've never really been a 'shoe' person (I wear ballet flats or moccasins 85% of the time) but I loved, loved the nude Martina wedges that J. Crew came out with last year. Unfortunately, they were way, way over my budget. I found these on sale at J. Crew Factory a couple months ago (pretty much a replica of the Martina's, color and all!) and they are now my absolute favorite shoes:

J. Crew Factory Sylvia Wedges in bronzed clay

Happy Sunday! Linking up, as always, with Fine Linen and Purple. Also linking up with Plane Pretty.

Friday Quick Takes

As always, joining Jen.

1. These are my new surgery goggles, lovely right? I finally purchased them after a harrowing experiencing of my disposable face shield fogging completely while I was trying to manipulate the camera during a laparoscopic surgery (I couldn't see anything). Also, these ones have mint on the sides (and mint is the color for spring, so maybe they are somewhat stylish? Ha.)

2. It's so hard figuring out shoes to wear to work with all the snow we have here (I can't wait for spring and the return of my ballet flats) and a lot of times I default to these Keen 'snow shoes' and then try to change when I get to the hospital. One day this week I was running a few minutes late (thanks to the mound of snow on my car when I got up that morning) and forgot to change them. I was hoping that my attending wouldn't notice, but halfway through rounds he definitely gave my feet a long hard look...it was very Meryl Streep in the Devil Wears Prada (when she sees Ann Hathaway's clogs). 

3. My attending physician started asking me all about the history of the Franciscans this week. It started because he asked me where I went to undergrad, which was Franciscan University of Steubenville. and his wife is Catholic (he is agnostic). I told him the story of God asking St. Francis to rebuild his Church, and St. Francis taking it literally and restoring a little chapel in Assisi (which I got to see years ago when I went to Italy) before he formed his order to actually rebuild the Church. It's neat how little opportunities to share our faith come up in our daily lives.

Via

4. One of Stephen's favorite dinners is breaded perch, and a while ago he had bought some perch that we had sitting in the freezer. I decided to surprise him one day this week and cook it on a day that I got out of surgery early. I had never made breaded fish, and so I called his mom who said I just needed to beat an egg and then coat the fish with the egg and some breadcrumbs/flour. When Stephen walked in the door, I was trying to stick the egg/breadcrumb mixture, which had turned into a bowl of mush, onto the fish. Stephen informed me that you have to dip the fish in the egg first, and then coat it with breadcrumbs. He ended up frying the perch himself. 

5. I've never been a fan of Dancing with the Stars, but when I heard that Sean of Bachelor fame would be participating, I had to turn it on while I was studying surgery that night. I only watched Dorothy Hamil (I used to figure skate and was obsessed with all things figure skating) and Sean, but he actually held his own I thought. Stephen thinks the whole concept is weird, and was like "Don't you think Catherine takes offense that he's dancing with his partner like that?"

Via

6. Besides the Bachelor, my other guilty pleasure is the Rachel Zoe Project. I've found that since I started medical school, I've gone from enjoying medical shows like House and Untold Stories of the ER to enjoying mindless TV like the Bachelor and Rachel Zoe. My sisters came over last weekend and I convinced them to watch the latest episode Rachel Zoe with me. 9 minutes later, we had to turn it off because they insisted that they were feeling dumber by the minute and Rachel had said 'Maj' (translation: 'Major') for like the tenth time. What can I say, I need something to balance out those hours of studying.

Via

7. No surgery call this weekend, and Stephen and I are hoping to snowshoe to these amazing ice caves about an hour drive away. We last went a few years ago and it was beautiful:

Happy weekend!

Winterize It

Apparently we've had 176 inches of snow so far this year...yikes. And even though yesterday was technically the first day of spring, it sure doesn't feel like it here with 40 inches of snow still on the ground and temperatures in the teens. On the plus side, I'm becoming an expert at winterizing my wardrobe. 

How I made it through the winter:
- Sweater tights under skirts and dresses (wearing my favorite Target pair here)
- Boots (my trusty black pair which I water-proofed or the always reliable Hunters)
- Chunky cowls (ie here and here)

For Bri's Third Thursday link-up, I challenged myself to winterize two items that I usually only wear in the summer:

Exhibit A: Winterizing a summer pencil skirt

I have three wool skirts for winter (here, here, and here) and several cotton J. Crew Factory pencil skirts for summer. I've always stowed the cotton ones away during the winter, but I decided to try a bright blue one with sweater tights, Hunter boots, and my favorite zip-up sweater (a Banana Republic Factory find that I wear at least twice per week). 

Exhibit B: Winterizing a maxi skirt

I'm definitely a maxi skirt girl, but I always thought of them as a summer-only deal until Sydney convinced me otherwise. I added sweater tights, a chunky cowl, and of course, Hunters.

Despite all the winterizing, I have to admit that I'm majorly looking forward to spring: ballet flats every day and no more marshmallow coat!

Linking up with Work Clothes, I suppose.

Lace + Mustard and Poppy Jeans

I don't really have any inspiring stories, funny moments or wise (maybe?) words today, just a couple of outfits that brightened my week (all photos by my lovely sister).

Numero uno: Lace + Mustard

I've always loved lace (my wedding dress was all lace), so I'm thrilled that lace is supposed to be huge for spring. I'm all over it.

This mustard skirt is one of my favorite things to wear to work since it's not-your-average neutral pencil skirt. and I love this lace shirt (a J. Crew Factory sale find last year). Originally I had a mint cardi on too (mint and mustard!) but my sister convinced me that simplicity was better (and she was right).

Necklace: Ann Taylor Loft

Top: J. Crew Factory (old), similar here and here

Skirt: J. Crew (old), similar here and here

Shoes: Madewell

Joining Marionberry's Trend of the Month: Lace!

More lace loveliness (via my Pinterest)

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Numero dos: Poppy jeans + stripes

Like the striped dress, this is another 'cheater' outfit since I'm definitely not wearing this today on my general surgery rotation (and again, you probably don't want to see my OR scrubs and stylin' goggles/booties). But I will hopefully be wearing it this weekend (no call!) 

I wasn't so sure about the colored jean trend at first, but Kate Middleton convinced me: 

Via

Love her. And now I want them in every color: I definitely came home with this pair from Target, but they're going back since it just doesn't make sense for me to have multiple pairs of colored jeans that I can't wear to the hospital (or in the OR).

Scarf: FashionABLE (love their mission)

Top: Forever 21

Colored jeans in Poppy: J. Crew Factory (on sale!)

Boots: Famous Footwear (old) but this year's version

Have a lovely Wednesday!

Linking up with The Pleated Poppy, Style Elixir, Wardrobe Wednesday, Marionberry Style, Rolled Up Pretty, and Allison.

What I Wore Sunday: Dublin green + leopard

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I'm on call this weekend, partly because none of the other medical students wanted it (I'm assuming they wanted to take part in some of the festivities in honor of today). I was fine taking it since Stephen is working, and we wouldn't have been partying anyways (although I wouldn't have minded a green beer). I'm counting my blessings since I was extremely lucky to not have any middle of the night calls (!) over the weekend. We did have a major surgery this morning (massive bleeding inside the abdomen) which scary enough to take away any small inkling I might have of being a general surgeon. 

St. Patrick's Day makes me think of Stephen's roots. His grandparents came here from Ireland, and one of the things on our bucket list is to travel there someday...

Top and scarf: J. Crew

Pants: J. Crew Factory

 The color of this shirt is called "Dublin green" so I thought it was appropriate to wear today. This is one of my absolute favorite blouses; I wear it with dress pants to work all the time, but it works just as well with jeans and boots for a night out. I also think it pairs perfectly with leopard (something about green + leopard print). And for anyone else who religiously watches the Bachelor, Sean's sister definitely wore this shirt on the finale in Thailand which makes me like her even more (you should definitely check out her blog which I'm pretty sure I found via Grace).

Linking up of course with What I Wore Sunday. Also joining Plane Pretty and the Woestmans.

Surgery recaps (Friday Quick Takes)

Joining Jen for Friday Quick Takes and Alissa for Coffee Date.

Since I have little else going on in my life this week, this Friday's Quick Takes are recaps of my surgery rotation so far. And since I feel like I need a picture, I'm sharing this one from my work in Haiti to remind myself why I am doing this and why it's worth it even though I'm dang tired today (and on call all weekend).

1. My semi-enjoyment of this rotation went rapidly downhill this week, precipitated by the time change making my 5 a.m. patient rounds seem like 4 a.m. and exacerbated by my night of call this week which involved midnight surgery and the couple hours of sleep afterward consumed by me dreaming either about resecting bowels or my pager going off. And 5 a.m. rounds the next morning hurt. Really hurt.

2. We have now done two laparoscopic Nissen fundoplications, where basically you suture the top of the stomach around the esophagus to increase the pressure around the lower esophageal sphincter (and therefore improve severe acid reflux disease and hiatal hernias where the stomach creeps up through the diaphragm). Anyways, my job during the surgery is to hold the liver up with one hand using this laparoscopic probe thingy and manipulate the camera with my other hand. And it's so hard to hold that dang slippery/heavy liver up for two hours: I dropped it three times the first surgery and once the second.

3. Although my liver-holding skills are sub-par, I am now proficient with stapling wound incisions. Ok, there's not much to it. But I also am getting better at a running subcuticular stitch, which closes the skin internally and puts the skin together almost perfectly (at least when my attending physician does it). I'm pretty excited about this because if I do go into OB-GYN, I really want to close my C-sections up like this since it limits scarring. Anyways, I am now in charge of stitching up the laparoscopic sites after surgeries. Yes, they are tiny, but it's a start.

4. My attending informed me that I should have played more video games growing up. Apparently it would have helped me with my camera-manipulating skills during our colonoscopies (which are in need of some serious work).

5. The nurses realized that since my attending gets like a bazillion pages and can't possibly answer all of them that they will page me instead. I admit it, I felt a little 'special' when I first got my pager. That feeling has way, way worn off. I also am the official writer of all of my attending's patient notes (admit notes, progress notes, discharge notes). I have probably done over 100 notes in the last week, which is exhausting but will probably pay off when I start residency.

6. Every day of this rotation has involved rapid fire questions from my attending at some point. It's hit or miss; one day I answered every question right during our breast cancer surgery (it was a short-lived but proud moment) but the next day I could not remember anything about cholangitis/choledocholithiasis/hyperbilirubinemia. Seriously though, when the question came of "What is the thickness of the upper part of gallbladder wall in millimeters?" I kind of gave up.

7. I have met some patients that have really touched me this last week. There was the older couple so in love dealing with a remission of the husband's lymphoma. Then a young couple facing a diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer with a lot of courage. And an older woman who's entire family was ecstatic after my attending was able to remove her entire breast cancer during surgery so that she wouldn't have to go through radiation. Finally, an Afghan war vet in his 20s who was shot 4 times while on active duty and has multiple medical/surgical problems as a result...he proudly professed his love for our country to me.

So yes, this is all worth it.

J. Crew-inspired: Forever 21 shirts

 

  

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My new favorite hobby is finding J. Crew look-a-likes at Forever 21, and I was thrilled to discover these shirts since I find myself gravitating towards button-ups more and more lately. They are so versatile, perfect for layering, and a great way to spice up your wardrobe.

1. Heart Throb (Forever 21 version): I fell in love (no pun intended) with the heart throb print at J. Crew last year, especially the skirt (below), but it never went on sale enough for me to purchase it. I wasn't convinced of how versatile it would be either, but it sure is cute! The Forever 21 version of the heart throb top is the perfect way to get your heart fix and not feel bad when the trend passes.

J. Crew

Forever 21

2. and 4. Gingham (Forever 21 version 1) (Forever 21 version 2): Gingham has been everywhere lately. My absolute favorite styling (below) is J. Crew's lovely pairing with a ruffle cardi and pearls. I do have the first Forever 21 version (which is available in navy and aqua), and it's great. It fits well (although I always do go up one size in Forever 21) and seems durable enough. Plus it was about 75% cheaper than the J. Crew version... and yes, I've worn this shirt about 15 times in the last month (evidence here and here).

J. Crew

 Forever 21

3. Polka dot (Forever 21 version) : J. Crew's polka dot popover is serious perfection. I have the Factory version of the popover (available here) which is not too pricey if you wait for one of their regular sales, but the Forever 21 version looks very similar. This is the perfect top for colored jeans, pencil skirts, and layering under just about anything.



J. Crew



Forever 21

5. Buffalo check (Forever 21 version): This print has been around forever, but now it's trendy! The Forever 21 version looks spot on with the one that was available at J. Crew this winter.

J. Crew

Forever 21

6. Chambray (Forever 21 version): I think every girl should have at least one Chambray shirt. The J. Crew version is a great staple, but the Forever 21 version looks like an excellent substitute.

J. Crew

Forever 21

All images are from jcrew.com and forever21.com