5 Favorites: Golden Globes edition

Like many, I watch the Golden Globes for the dresses. I don't really care about the awards, since it's guaranteed that I haven't seen most of the TV shows or movies that are being awarded. Also, I'm clueless enough that Stephen and I had a conversation that went something like this:

Me: What are the Golden Globes for anyways?

Stephen (watching football): Not sure.

Me: What's the difference between them and the Grammys?

Stephen: The Grammy's are for music.

Me: No wait, I meant what's the difference between that and the Emmys?

Stephen: I think you mean the Oscars.

Me: Yeah that one.

Stephen: Not sure. Wiki it?

The only part that I really care about is the E News fashion commentary, and the football playoffs won over that this year (what can I say, I'm a good wife...and that's what the DVR is for). 

On to the dresses though! There were some really beautiful ones this year, and was it just me, or did they seem overall classier than usual? My favorites gravitated towards classic lines, shimmery neutrals, or pops of color:

1. Guiliana's was my absolute favorite: a beautiful shade of burgundy, A-line skirt, and classy sheer top instead of strapless. Loved it.

 2. I thought Zooey Deschanel looked fun and chic but still formal enough (and the shoes!):

3. I'm generally not a fan of strapless, but Taylor Swift pulled off her dress perfectly. It was just simple enough and the skirt is so, so pretty.

4. I had to google who this girl (Tatiana Maslany) was (apparently she played Mary in The Nativity and guest-starred on Parks and Recreation). Anyways, her dress was minimalistic and classy and I love the way it draped.

5. While I'm not a fan at all of the plunging neckline, the silhouette, cap sleeves, and perfectly placed gold pattern make Julianna Marguiles dress a favorite.

Two more that I personally liked but got mixed reviews: Julia Roberts and Clare Bowen. It was risky but I think that Julia Roberts pulled off the shirt/dress combo; I like that she modified a strapless dress and I also like the black/white combo and sparkly belt. Clare Bowen's dress was really unique with a fun color combo and flattering fit.

               

And since preggo looks are relevant to me right now, here you go. Kerry Washington looked beautiful but I thought her dress was too matronly (kind of looks like a mother-of-the-bride dress with the sleeves cut off?) Olivia Wilde is the clear winner of the three in her flattering, form-fitting dark green dress (also we are due around the same time). Drew Barrymore's dress was such a gorgeous pattern/fabric/color combo but the shape ruined it for me; I think that something to define her waist above her bump would have transformed it completely.

Linking up with Hallie. What were your favorites?

All images via huffingtonpost.com and latimes.com

What I wore Sunday + 22 weeks

22 weeks! There's no hiding it now; two people asked me about the baby this week which is exciting and a relief at the same time (no more wondering if people can tell or not). It's kind of interesting being pregnant as a fourth year med student. People seem to have varying thoughts, but I do feel like there's an attitude that pregnant physicians-in-training aren't quite equivalent to non-pregnant ones. Maybe it's just me (too much watching Grey's Anatomy aka the Christina/Meredith feud?) or maybe it's the fact that I am 50% more exhausted than normal at the hospital...

The most exciting moment of the weekend (and one of the most exciting of the pregnancy so far) was Stephen feeling the baby kick! It's so nice to be able to share it with him instead of only feeling him move myself. And the baby wriggling around along with my growing bump makes everything that much more real...

I was doing a mixture of elliptical, Zumba. and this video before I got sick, and I definitely feel like I need to get back to exercising (I got the ok from the doctor on Thursday). I was planning on going to Zumba today, but then I remembered that a trip to Target yesterday completely exhausted me so an hour-long Zumba class was probably not smart. I'm hoping to sign up for a prenatal yoga class next week, and also considering this prenatal pilates video (it has mostly good reviews on Amazon and is divided into 10 minute segments, definitely a plus). Suggestions are welcome...

Grey cardi: Banana Republic outlet (old)

Lace top: A Pea in a Pod (recent but I can't find it online anymore?)

Pants: J. Crew

Shoes: Madewell skimmers (old)

On to what I wore Sunday: this lace top is probably my favorite maternity purchase so far (I've worn it three times this last week). I cleaned out my closet today, banishing the majority of my pre-pregnancy wardrobe to the basement (almost all of my shirts are either too tight in the chest area or too short at this point). It was a nice relaxing weekend overall; Stephen and I went out to dinner Friday night, watched The Great Gatsby, and did a few things around the house. We also made a little trip to the baby section while we were at Target just for fun :) We're headed to my last couple of residency interviews on Tuesday (I'll be breathing a sigh of relief when it's all over).

Happy Sunday!

On maternity jeans, snow boots, and cardiothoracic surgery...

Joining Jen for some Friday Quick Takes.

1. We live way up north and I needed boots that were a little more heavy duty after almost slipping on the ice a few times. I found these last month and stalked them online until I found them on sale in my size (the style is Sorel Joan of Arctic). I love them. They couldn't come fast enough with the crazy cold we've been dealing with...happily they are rated to -25 (and it came dangerously close to that this past week).

2. I finally found maternity jeans!! The credit goes to Grace and Britt because I never would have found them if Grace hadn't worn them on her blog (and Britt hadn't sent them to Grace). Anyways, they are this style and I found them for more than 50% off at Pea in a Pod...they only had one size left (mine). They were more then I wanted to spend on maternity jeans, but they fit better than any others I've tried (and I probably tried and returned 12 different pairs). I think what made the difference is the side panels instead of one huge over-the-belly panel. They still slip down a little but not as much as the others I've tried (if anyone has found maternity jeans that don't slip down at all, I'm shocked). My sister was super surprised to see me in jeans: first time not wearing leggings in three months people. I was so ready.

3. Hello almost-6 month baby bump!! I got asked yesterday for the first time when I'm due which, frankly, was a relief (I kept worrying that people just thought I got fatter). It seemed to take forever for a for-sure bump to appear and I was worried that the babe wasn't growing enough...well, Stephen informed me yesterday while looking at my stomach that "I definitely don't think you have to be worried that the baby isn't growing enough now." Ha.

 

4. I underestimated how hard cardiothoracic surgery would be while pregnant. I was originally supposed to have this rotation in April (when I'll be 9 months preggo) and I'm so glad that I switched it. I've hardly had any aches or pains during the pregnancy so far...but standing for 4+ hours holding retractors and organs and scopes has brought out new back/leg pains and exhaustion. I do think that I'm still getting over being in the hospital a couple weeks ago (they told me it would probably take 6-8 weeks) which might be the reason for the fatigue. Cardiothoracic surgery is amazing though; I've gotten to scrub in for a couple open heart surgeries, and hold a live heart! So it's been worth it overall.

5. I'm feeling the baby kick and move around so much!! He especially seems to kick while I'm standing in surgery (I don't think he likes when I stand in one spot for too long) and he went crazy when I didn't get to eat lunch yesterday (or maybe it was just my imagination, haha). I finally felt him kick from the outside too, but Stephen has yet to feel it. I can't wait until he does...

6. My last two residency interviews are this week. I'm definitely ready to be done interviewing, but it also means that I have to make a decision on what to rank programs. Unfortunately, the ones closest to family haven't been the ones that I've liked the most (so far) so it's not going to be an easy decision. One of the residency program coordinators at a place I interviewed said that one of the most important parts of the decision is to sit down with your significant other, look them in the eye, and ask where they think the two of you would be happiest. Residency is especially tough on spouses...

7. I finally got to go through thousands of wedding pictures over my break (our photographer edited around 300 but gave us all of the pictures). I found some really amazing shots in the unedited files, including this one:

I just love him :)

Happy Friday!

21 weeks + what I wore Sunday

Bridget did these letters to baby/bump pictures and I thought it was so sweet, so I'm going to *try* to write one from now until week 40...actually, hopefully until week 37 or 38 since I am praying this little guy comes a tad early so that I can have more time with him before I start residency...

I kept worrying that I wasn't showing enough, since until week 19 or so there wasn't much of a bump to speak of. But now there's no doubt and I'm quite happy with my little-ish bump since I know it won't be long before it's much bigger...

We got the full results of our 20 week ultrasound last week and the baby looked good (despite all the meds I was given in the hospital, poor little guy). They did see a marginal placenta previa, which will mostly likely resolve with time as my uterus grows. I'll need to have extra ultrasounds to follow it which is just fine with me :) He is measuring just a couple days smaller than he should be (and I know that it is not because of dating since because of NFP I'm 100% confident in our due date)...I'm telling myself that this is probably a good thing since I've assisted with enough births of 9 pound plus babies to be afraid of them.

Tomorrow is day one of a month of advanced surgery. I haven't had a rotation since October because I've been off taking boards and interviewing for residencies, and I'm starting this one off with a bang consisting of two weeks of cardiothoracic surgery. I feel kind of rusty, and honestly not really ready to go back. I've been fighting a sort of overwhelming exhaustion lately, which I'm pretty sure is residual from my influenza A/severe asthma hospital stint. Maybe it's pregnancy too, but before I got sick I was feeling mostly great (they do say that the second trimester is the best).

In other (not really) exciting news, Juan-uary starts tonight (I've been waiting months for this). Best of all, my sisters are all still on college break so we will hopefully be partaking in the Bachelor premiere festivities tomorrow together.

And what I wore Sunday (linking up with FL&P):

Cowl: Nordstrom (old)

Dress: H&M maternity clearance rack (I scored some major finds there on my trip to Baltimore)

Belt: Ann Taylor outlet

Boots: Frye

New Year's Round-Up

We had a quiet New Year's Eve last night with my family. Even if I hadn't just gotten out of the hospital a few days ago, the sub-zero temps outside would have been enough to discourage us from going out anywhere. I did pretend like we were going on a New Year's date: curled my hair and wore a new-ish shirt that I found on clearance at Anthropologie (it has a nice, forgiving fit for a 21 week baby bump). I barely made it until midnight, falling asleep for an hour on the couch while my family was watching Monster's University and then waking up just before the countdown (I'm pretty sure that Stephen took a little snooze too, we're definitely a lively couple in our [late] 20s ha).

2013 was mostly good to me and definitely a year that I won't forget. It wasn't always easy, with almost 5 months of med school rotations away (I appreciate Stephen now more than ever), 2 board exams, and a slew of residency interviews at the end. It was a year of big decisions (OB/GYN or emergency medicine) and monumental life changes (I still am trying to wrap my finger around the fact that we are going to be parents...so unbelievably exciting). I learned more about marriage, mostly just that it's better than I ever thought it would be (although of course not always easy).

Some noteworthy happenings:

Our Chicago trips....

Niagara Falls getaway...

A newfound love for running (although I never got to do my 10K, I'm sure that it will happen in the future...and then hopefully a half-marathon?)...

A wonderful month rotating in St. Louis, helping bring beautiful babies into the world...

A life-changing announcement...

This little guy...

And my entire family together for Christmas...

On a more superficial note, some of my favorite outfits of 2013:

(Notice how I'm wearing these shoes with almost every outfit?)

Four more favorite outfits: one, two, three, and four

And some outfits that I'd rather forget here, here, and here

I really enjoyed working with Dansko here and here...

My most viewed posts of 2013:

1. How to Date (or Marry) a Med Student (although granted a lot of the hits came from searches titled something to the effect of "I want to date a med student").

2. What to Wear for Residency Interviews (I still need to follow this up with a post on what I actually wore to residency interviews).

And my own favorite posts of 2013:

1. An Announcement (kind of goes without saying)

2. 7 Things I Learned on Family Medicine

3. Remembering Haiti

So there it is, 2013. 2014 is sure to be an exciting year, with May bringing both med school graduation and a new baby! We are most definitely blessed. Happy New Year!

20 weeks and It's a....

No actual Christmas pics this year since I spent this Christmas in the hospital, but we did snap one in front of my parent's tree last night (our tree, sadly, was long dead when we got home from the hospital). My 20 week baby bump is starting to round out nicely (Stephen: "no offense, but your belly's getting way bigger"). And what I wore Sunday (linking up with Fine Linen and Purple): this sweater (don't judge me that it's from Vicky's) and some black leggings, my 5 month preggo uniform.

We did a little gender reveal with my family after my ultrasound and my sister Ingrid made this lovely cake...

It's a BOY!!! So in the very beginning, I was convinced the baby was a girl (Gianna Marie, to be exact). But as the pregnancy progressed, Stephen was more than convinced it was a boy...he even started referring to the baby as his son. He had a dream a few days before our ultrasound that he was rocking our baby boy to sleep...and after all of that, I was pretty much convinced too that it was a boy. Funny thing was that the ultrasound tech initially told us that it was a girl and neither one of us believed him...a few seconds later he informed us it was definitely a boy (we have the picture to prove it).

I just love his profile. I have to be honest that pregnancy has induced a new level of anxiety in me that I didn't know was possible. And getting sick enough to land myself in the hospital hasn't helped. But he was wiggling around on the ultrasound, and his heartbeat has been strong, and I'm pretty sure that I'm feeling little movements now...

My entire family was together this Christmas for the first time since Stephen and I got married: all 8 kids, one sister-in-law, one almost-sister-in-law, one brother-in-law, and one nephew.

Happy Monday!

Playing catch up...and happy Christmas.

I can't believe that I almost went the entire month of December without posting. I actually didn't even realize it until my sister said "I keep checking your blog and you haven't posted one time this month!!" It's kind of hard to summarize an entire month into one post but here are some of the reasons to explain my lack of posting..

1. Interview season continued...I got to visit Hopkins, which was every bit as amazing as I imagined it, and managed to squeeze in a day to explore Baltimore with one of my best friends.

Hopkins

"Christus Consulator" in the dome at Hopkins

Baltimore

2. I got stuck in the East Coast blizzard on the way back from my interviews which meant postponing my Step 2 boards to mid-December (I was so sick of studying by the end). I finally got them over with, and let's just say that a 9 hour computer exam and an almost-5-months-pregnant bladder are not very compatible. But yay it's over!

3. My belly finally started to grow. It's still not that big (my little sister keeps saying "ok I can finally see it but when's it really going to explode?") but Stephen and I can definitely tell a difference. And thank God it's finally rounder-enough to look a little less like I've been eating too many carbs. I've been wearing leggings every day since I'm not quite big enough for maternity pants but my old pants definitely don't fit, and this sweater has been my savior.

16 weeks

17 weeks

18 weeks

19 weeks

4. Christmas snuck up on me faster than any year before. Stephen was working...and I ended up in the hospital. It started with a little cold, and then progressed to a bad asthma flare, and then ended in an ER visit Christmas day after hours of struggling to breathe. After IVs and monitors and respiratory meds, a swab revealed influenza A. Influenza A is not kind to pregnant women or asthmatics, so with both against me I earned a hospital stay. I'm home now, and we've been staying with my parents a few days while I recover. Today was my first attempt to venture out of the house. I'm still feeling pretty bad if I'm honest...it's hard to walk up the stairs, and I have to sleep sitting up so I can breathe. But I'm happy that I'm home and that the baby seems to be holding up ok (which has been my greatest fear through all of this).

We did get our first real Christmas tree this year despite all the craziness

5. So we exchanged gifts on Christmas night in the hospital (Stephen stayed overnight with me...hospital policy normally wouldn't have let him, but it was Christmas...). I didn't ask for anything this year, and Stephen completely blew me away with an amazing black leather Coach bag. I was shocked when I opened it; it's the sort of thing that I would never buy myself (or ask for) and he came up with it all on his own (partly inspired by his observation of the $30 pleather bag I've been bringing to my residency interviews). He is just the most thoughtful, sweet husband.

6. And for our best Christmas present by far: the one bright thing that ensued from my hospital stay is that our ultrasound got moved up and we got to see the beautiful babe again...kicking and somersaulting and looking just fine despite it's sick momma and the myriad of medications making their way through my body for my unhappy lungs.

7. So we now know what we're having! And am I terrible to leave you with this? More details to come...

Lovely gender reveal cake courtesy of my sister

Linking up with Jen and hoping that everyone had a beautiful and blessed Christmas (and maybe less eventful than ours).