Patriotic Wednesday

 White jeans: J. Crew Factory

Stripe tee: J. Crew Factory

Cardi: J. Crew Factory (old) this year's version

Necklace: J. Crew Factory (old)

Here's the truth about this post:
- I was at the hospital way too late last night (we had three hospital admissions after we got done with clinic at 6 p.m.) so please excuse my ramblings.
- I actually wore the top outfit on Memorial Day...the bottom outfit was what I planned on wearing before I changed my mind.
- I could say something about these white jeans being appropriate now that Memorial Day has passed except that I have already worn them at least 12 times over the last 6 weeks.
- My sister snapped these pics at the last minute when the lighting was baaaad...and the Bachelorette was about to start so it took definite priority over good pics (what did you guys think of the first episode??)
- You can clearly see that my hair has been frizz city lately...to try to combat this, I wanted to try Moroccan oil but since the stuff is $20 for 0.85 ounces I settled for this. I'll let you know how it goes.
- The crystal necklace and suede pointy flats (Madewell skimmers) are what I wear 90% of the time. I need to branch out a little when it comes to accessorizing.
- These outfits aren't anything earth-shattering; basically they just prove my obsession with J. Crew Factory and 50% off sales. And patriotic colors.
- I promised myself that I would never wear a shirt with anchors on it...and then this happened.

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

Anchor blouse: J. Crew Factory

My favorite necklace: J. Crew Factory

Linking up with Agi, The Pleated Poppy, Alison, Shanna, Wardrobe Wednesday, and Style Elixir.

Friday Quick Takes

Joining Jen.

1. Our camping trip last weekend in pictures:

2. Most essential item in our hiking packs? Probably the mini plastic bottles of wine. Just kidding, probably our freezing temp-rated sleeping bags and sleeping pads (please note how Stephen's pad is 20 times bigger than mine).

3. The infamous small town newspaper article that caught me completely by surprise. I've had multiple patients exclaim when I enter the room that they saw me in the paper. And yes, that is a large picture of my face (also I just realized that physicians is spelled wrong).

4. My sister sent me this adorable link recently and this picture is by far my favorite. She said that this was me as a child and I'm very flattered even though that little girl is definitely way classier than I ever was (or will be).

Via

5. I'm obsessed with lace and this Loft lace tee (left) is a dead ringer for the J. Crew lace top (middle) that I wore on Wednesday (I'm wearing the outlet version).

 

6. I'm more than a little excited because this lovely lady and her husband are coming to visit us this weekend. She's one of my best friends and we've been through thick and thin together as well as lots of life's important moments (including standing in each other's weddings last summer). 

7. Happy Memorial Day weekend! Here's to family time, saying yes to wearing white pants until Labor Day, and a long weekend.

Lace + small town medicine

Yesterday was a crazy/good day. I got to help bring two new babies into the world (my favorite) in between seeing patients in the clinic, rounding on our two hospital patients, and taking care of a newborn. I'm getting sold on this small town doctor thing...unfortunately Stephen is still a city boy to the core (working on him).

This lace top is one of my favorites. I wore it to work with dress pants but it transitioned easily to dinner out (Stephen came to visit last night). 

Lace top: J. Crew Factory (old), Loft version

Jeans: J. Crew Factory toothpicks

Purse: T.J. Maxx

Shoes: Clarks ballet flats (most comfy/cute work shoes ever)

How I wore it last:

Linking up with AJ Wears Clothes, Agi, The Pleated Poppy, Style Elixir, Alison, Shanna, and Kiwi Style.

Another blazer + celebrating the Sisters..

If my eyes look a little droopy today, it's because we got back from our camping trip this morning. It was both exhausting and refreshing at the same time: 45 degrees doesn't lend itself to great sleep, but it was a gorgeous hike through the woods and our campsite was remotely located right next to a raging river...peaceful. There's also something about hiking in with just a backpack for the night that's very freeing. I'll share some pictures later this week!

If you didn't already guess from this and this post, I've been a little obsessed with blazers lately (they're an easy outfit-maker). I also can't contain my excitement about this blazer: I found it at secondhand on a website Twice (thanks to my cousin Jenny for telling me about it) that is my new favorite place to shop (lots of secondhand J. Crew, Gap, etc.). What is even more exciting than the fact that it is chambray with polka dots is that my friend bought the same blazer from Gap while we were in Madison for $90, and I paid $20 for this one. So to whoever bought this adorable blazer in my size and than changed their mind, thank you.

Blazer: Gap via Twice (click here for a $10 referral credit)

Shirt: J. Crew Factory (old); Black crops: Gap (old)

Today our church had an extra mass celebrating the Sisters of St. Paul de Chartres, as it's their 50 year anniversary of working in the United States. The Sisters have a special place in my heart because I spent about a month and half total working with them in Haiti. We worked together in an emergency tent for two weeks in the aftermath of the earthquake in 2010, and I returned twice to work in their medical clinic located in a small town in the mountains of Haiti. Sr. Mary Ann is a physician who works tirelessly in Haiti full-time (she's to my right in the picture below) and Sr. Rosalyn is a nurse (to my left). These women are my heroes. 

Sr. Rosalyn and I were reunited today after mass, and she also got to meet Stephen. We were pretty ecstatic to see each other :) 

I hope your Sunday was as beautiful and blessed as mine! Joining Fine Linen and Purple and Doranda. Also linking up with Delusions of Grandeur for Favorite Fashion Friday.

One blazer eight ways

It all started with this blazer that I found during my girls' weekend in Madison for a mere $35 on sale. And then Fran had the idea that since Anne, Kimmie, Fran, and I all had the same blazer, we should share eight ways to wear it. So here it is, one amazing blazer eight ways:

Fran / Kimmie / Anne

 

I love the style of all these ladies, so I was excited to see how they wore it! I've now worn this blazer on the blog with stripes and skinny jeans and today with white jeans and a grey tee. I've also worn it to work with grey trouser pants and out in Chicago with a fun black/white scarf, boyfriend jeans, and wedges. Who knew that one great coral blazer could be so versatile?

 

  

I'm headed home for the weekend after clinic is done today and I can't wait to see Stephen. We're going camping on Saturday night with some of the other medical students so I'm crossing my fingers for warm-ish weather (forecast right now is 40s). It's also supposed to rain, which has happened way too many times that I've tried to go camping, and during our last camping trip ended in a trip to the Laundromat to dry out our sleeping bags. So we shall see.

 

 Crazy bun: unintentional

Blazer: Gap

Grey tee: J. Crew Factory clearance rack three years ago

White jeans: J. Crew Factory

 

Have a lovely weekend!

Wedding inspiration: pink + mint

I'm guest posting at Stephanie's beautiful blog this week and here's a peek at what I chose for her wedding inspiration board! Check out the post here for more wedding inspiration and my style interview with Stephanie.

Wedding gown: J. Crew

Bridesmaid dress: Shop Sosie via Kerry's World

Pink shoes: Manola Blahnik

Other pictures via Style Me Pretty

Missing Stephen and a yellow sweater

So even though I'm overall really enjoying my rural medicine rotation, I'm also really missing Stephen. So much so that I spent a total of six hours in the car over the last two days so that I could go home for a night and see him. It scares me a little because this is kind of a foreshadowing of this fall: I am doing an away rotation in St. Louis in August (way beyond driving distance) and tentatively one in Tanzania in October (way, way beyond driving distance...although I am hoping that Stephen can come for part of this one). And that's only the beginning since I'm sure that residency will be 1000 times harder on us than this (and if there was any doubt in my mind, Grace's post yesterday convinced me otherwise). But one day at a time, right? 

I'm not normally a yellow girl, and this striped sweater is the only item of yellow clothing that I have in my closet besides one t-shirt. It's a recent find from J. Crew Factory (like the polka dot sweater yesterday, another excellent copy of a sweater from last year that I loved but never found on sale) and a perfect mix of sunny yellow and a neutral beige. I think this made it more appealing to me as a girl who never wears yellow?  And the timing was perfect for Marion's yellow trend-of-the-month.

Stripe linen sweater: J. Crew Factory

Boyfriend jeans: Gap

Necklace: J. Crew Factory

Shoes: the ones I always wear

Joining Marion, Alison, and Shanna.

Small town anonymity and a bright pencil skirt...

Oh, small town life. This morning I was more than a little surprised to see a large picture of my face in the local newspaper along with an article about my medical school's rural medicine track and a little blurb about me working here for the next two months. It's so funny what little towns fill their paper with (and also pretty funny that I had no idea that they were running the story). There is definitely no way to be anonymous here (or probably in any small town). I'm loving it though; every day in the clinic is different from the last and I feel privileged to get a glimpse into the patients' lives along with some of the struggles that go with living in a small town: economic hardships for many families and a definite shortage of physicians/health care.

 As they say, hindsight is 20/20, but I definitely should have ironed this skirt (and probably the sweater). The truth is that Stephen irons most of my clothes (if they really have to be ironed) and he was working last weekend.

I don't think that work clothes have to be boring, and hence my slowly growing collection of colorful pencil skirts. The camel polka dot sweater was sort of an unintentional pairing with the bright blue skirt, but I think it works. This sweater is the J. Crew Factory version of the regular store version last year, and I snagged it the minute that it went on sale + 30% off (I loved it last year but it was too pricey). It's a fun neutral and a light linen knit that's perfect for spring.

 Camel polka dot sweater: J. Crew Factory

Blue striped button-down: Gap

Cobalt pencil skirt: J. Crew Factory

Joining Bri for Third Thursday Threads: Workwear and Mix and Match Fashion for What I Wore to Work.

Also linking up with Style Elixir, Kiwi Style, The Pleated Poppy, Rolled Up Pretty, Adrienne, and Tucker Up.

What I wore Mother's Day: Navy blazer + mint scarf

Like always, this weekend passed by far too quickly. I'm back to my rural medicine rotation tomorrow and missing Stephen already. Poor guy was sick all weekend, he texted me from work yesterday to tell me that his ear felt like it was "going to explode" so like any good medical student I got my otoscope ready. After looking in his ear (and confirmation by a real professional, my dad who is a physician) he definitely has an ear infection. I feel bad that I'll be gone all week but I was a good wife and made one of my three successful recipes in the crockpot before I left (tortellini sausage stew) so that he at least has something to eat while I'm gone.

It snowed on and off all weekend (seriously) and my ankles almost froze today in my flats, but I refuse to wear boots in May (and with the blazer they made my outfit look too equestrian anyways). This is the blazer I found from Land's End with my tried-and-true white jeans (I've been wearing them constantly, forget the "no white before Memorial Day" rule). Also, I love mint and navy together.

Blazer: Lands End

Scarf: Target

Tee: J. Crew Factory

White skinnies: J. Crew Factory

Shoes: same as always

Pinterest inspiration for today's outfit...there's just something about a navy blazer/scarf!

Via

And Happy Mother's Day to my amazing mom. She is the most selfless person I know, has encouraged and inspired me in so many ways, and is beautiful inside and and out!

I love you mom!

Linking up with Fine Linen and Purple for What I Wore Sunday. Also joining Doranda and Jenni.

Chicago, small town life, and weekend inspiration

Joining Jen for another round of Friday Quick Takes (and my usual randomness).

1. I wish that I would have remembered to take more pictures in Chicago last weekend, but Stephen and I had an amazing time. We spent the first night with the friends who introduced us (my old roomie Megan and her husband Pete, Stephen's close friend) and the second at the Embassy Suites downtown. This was the view from our hotel room in the morning:

2. It was so nice for Stephen and I to have a mini-vacation together. We enjoyed every minute; Stephen works every other weekend and it's hard for me to to relax on his weekends off when I'm in the middle of a rotation, so we fully cherished the time that we get to spend together last weekend while I was on my break.

 

 

3. I just finished the first week of my rural rotation and I loved it. I am now trying to convince Stephen that we should move to a small town after I finish my residency...it's going to take a lot of convincing, since he's definitely still a city boy.

 

4. Stephen came to visit me this week, and going out to dinner at a restaurant in the town nearby didn't help my cause of trying to convince him of the merits of small town life. I had to call to get directions which consisted of "Go to the stop sign [as in the only stop sign in the town] and turn left." Once we got there, the restaurant was like something out of an old movie, and definitely a cultural experience.

 

5. Despite my potential aspirations of becoming a small-town doctor, I admittedly am happy to be home for the weekend where there is not only 3G but also a Target and more than one stop sign.

 

6. Loving these J. Crew pencil skirt styling ideas.

 

Via

 

7. Something to think about.

 



Via
  

Have a lovely weekend!

Striped tee + jeans: Day to Night

 

For our trip to Chicago last weekend, I wanted to keep my packing to a minimum and so I decided to wear my jeans (J. Crew Factory toothpicks) and striped tee (H&M for $9.95) two ways.

My 'day' outfit included my favorite brown boots, new chambray blazer (thank you 50% off J. Crew Factory sale), and a neutral scarf.

Chambray blazer (J. Crew Factory for 50% off)

Striped tee (H&M for $9.95!)

Toothpick jeans (J. Crew Factory)

Boots: (Famous Footwear)

Scarf (Fashionable)

For our night out in downtown Chicago, I switched out my chambray blazer for a black one and added a chunky pearl necklace and nude wedges.

Black blazer (Nordstrom Gibson, thrifted via Ebay)

Striped tee: (H&M $9.95!)

Pearl necklace (J. Crew Factory)

Toothpick jeans (J. Crew Factory)

Nude wedges (J. Crew Factory)

I've been a little blazer-happy lately and I think for good reason: they are the perfect extra layer for spring, dress easily up or down, and come in so many fun colors and fabrics!

Linking up with Style Elixir, The Pleated Poppy, Wardrobe Wednesday, Shanna, Alison, and Adrienne.

What I learned about medical school from watching Fashion Star

 

*Linking up with Medical Mondays*

 

My Friday night guilty pleasure is watching Fashion Star. Usually I watch it on my elliptical trainer (best $100 I've ever spent on Craig's list) but last Friday I was recovering from a rough final week of surgery exams and I watched it on the couch with a glass of wine. One of my secret dreams is to be a fashion designer (it started while flipping through Delia's catalogues in middle school) and I think that's why I enjoy watching Fashion Star. Most of the styles aren't that great (at least in my un-fashion-educated opinion) but it's fun to watch the designers work under pressure and see what they come up with...it's kind of a spin-off of Project Runway, but the winning styles are actually available at Macy's, Saks, and Express after the show each week.

At the end of last week's Fashion Star, Sylvia was sent home. She was one of the most talented women's designers on the show and everyone was sort of shocked when she went home. It came down to the fact that she just didn't deliver that week on her design even though every other week her designs had been at the very top. I expected her to be really upset at being sent home; her personality on the show was very passionate and she always held herself to high standards. But when she left the stage, she said that she was really happy with how she had done in the past weeks of the show and how much she'd grown as a designer. She then said that she had discovered "You don't have to be scared to make mistakes, mistakes are human."

I needed to hear that. I felt devastated after I didn't honor my surgery oral exam last Thursday. Being in medical school has turned me into more and more of a perfectionist, and I felt like I almost reached a breaking point last Thursday before my oral exam. I was fortunate to score at the top on my Step 1 boards, average above a 90% my first two years of medical school, and honor most of my third year clerkships so far. But the pressure kept building and I kept going over in my head how I had to honor my surgery oral exam in order to honor the clerkship (and I am scared to death of oral exams). And when I got to the exam, I tanked (at least that's what it felt like). I fumbled around, drew blanks on a lot of questions that I should have known, and was extremely anxious through the whole thing. And at the end of the exam, I passed but I felt like a failure. I still had my written exam to take the following morning, but when I got home from the oral I couldn't focus...I just kept going over all the mistakes that I had made.

After some reflection (and watching Fashion Star, ha), I think I learned a valuable lesson. I'm not perfect and I can't ever be perfect, no matter how hard I study, no matter how hard I try. I made mistakes last Thursday, but what matters most is that I am trying my hardest to be the best doctor I'm capable of under the circumstances I'm given....and that I accept my mistakes as human and learn from them.

Chicago and a crazy skirt

Stephen and I got back from Chicago tonight. It was the last weekend of my med school spring break and we decided to take a mini-vaca in the windy city. We stayed the first night with our close friends (the couple who introduced us!) and the second at a hotel downtown. It was complete loveliness: being in the city, meeting up with some of our best friends, good food (including an Argentinian steakhouse and an outdoor taco joint), and spending much-needed time together before I start my rural rotation tomorrow. 

Stephen tried to snap a couple Sunday outfit pics outside our hotel before mass this morning...we attempted to be inconspicuous but it was no easy feat. The bellhop approached me afterward and asked me in a thick accent: "I see you taking pictures...you a model?" Awkward/flattering/hilarious all at the same time (mostly awkward and hilarious).

Sweater: Gap, Skirt: J. Crew clearance rack, Boots: Famous Footwear (old)

And this is the new skirt that I think I'll call my crazy skirt. I found it in Madison last weekend on the J. Crew clearance rack very marked down (it's this skirt), and it happened to be my size (yes it had my name all over it). I don't own anything else this crazy (or this color combo), and I kind of love it.

Happy Sunday! Tomorrow is the first day of my rural medicine rotation, so I have a few butterflies that come with being a new town, at a new (tiny) hospital, and meeting my new preceptors tomorrow. I also think it's noteworthy that I went from Chicago this weekend to the town I'm staying in of approximately 1,293 people.

Linking up with Mandi in lieu of Fine Linen and Purple (congrats Emily on your wedding!). Also joining Jenni and Doranda.