Personal Stylist and Cookies and Cream

If I could open my closet and find one thing... It would be a personal fashion designer. Fashion is not my forte.  (Unless you consider matching my running outfits.  Then I could probably hold my own.)  I have always admired people who look like they walked out of Vogue magazine no matter what they are doing or where they are.  I can't remember the last time I wasn't wearing a hoodie and yoga pants when I went to the grocery store. On the rare occasion I do feel inspired, it is because of a little site called Pinterest. I usually find a great idea for an outfit and I falsely say to myself, "Oh, you could totally pull that off!" Somehow when I put on a comparable outfit... It just doesn't look the same.

Perfect Examples:

Why I could never pull off these outfits:

1.) I couldn't walk in the high heels if my life depended on it

2.) We all know that nail polish wouldn't last 5 minutes because I'm too impatient to let it dry completely
3.) I own 2 purses and neither would match any of the outfits
4.) There is far too much white clothing in those outfits.  Unless a bleach pen is included in the purchase of the outfits, those shirts stand no chance with me.
5.) The only girl in this planet that can pull off neon yellow shorts is the girl above.
6.) There are far too many accessories that are needed to complete these outfits and I would, without a doubt, lose all of them.

Since I've been feeling rather uninspired in the fashion department lately, I did something really irresponsible yesterday.  Some call it retail therapy, I call it spending money on things I really don't need and really really have no place buying since my fashion sense is that of a 12 year old girl.  Two hours and a lot of money later, I had a bag full of adorable new work shirts.  I immediately felt buyer's remorse and will be returning all of them tomorrow.  A grad student should not be buying new clothes.  Oh well, some day when I actually money I can go on a shopping spree!

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We had our Pinterest Potluck on Friday and it was a huge success.

Here were the goodies that the other girls brought:

Egg Baked Potatoes

Pizza Cresent Rolls

I was in charge of dessert and after wasting far too many hours on pinterest, I eventually came up with my own recipe.  Introducing... Heavenly Cookies and Cream Bars.  Aka, it's-hard-not-to-eat-the-whole-pan-in-one-sitting-Bars.

Yummy.

Heavenly Cookies and Cream Bars

1 1/2 cups Oreo crumbs (or other cookie of your choosing)

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 (14 oz) can of sweetened condensed milk

1 cup of coarsely chopped Oreos 

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup shredded coconut or other nut (optional)

Wow, my iPhone takes really great pictures. (or not)
Note:  The two missing bars were the victims of my roommate's midnight snack

Instructions:

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 9×13″ baking pan with cooking spray.

- Combine Oreo crumbs with butter and then press mixture into the pan evenly

- Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over crumbs.

- Sprinkle Oreo cookie pieces, white chocolate chips and chocolate chips evenly over condensed milk. Press everything down lightly with a fork.

- Top with shredded coconut and try not to drool.

- Bake for 25-30 minutes until lightly brown and bubbly. Allow to cool completely before removing from pan.

Notes:

- Do not use fat-free sweetened condensed milk because a.) Clearly this is a low-sugar, low-fat recipe and you shouldn't waste your time trying to save calories and more importantly, b.) it will not set and you will end up with a pan of goo. 

- I never measure the chocolate chips because I figure: the more, the merrier.  I've also made this bar with variations such as: butterscotch/chocolate, cranberry/white chocolate/macadamia, and I'm sure all of you nut-friendly people would love peanut butter/chocolate. So play around with the proportions and flavors.  You won't be disappointed.

Bon Appetit!

A Whole New World

What is it about being at home that makes it so hard to focus on studying? When I got home yesterday from studying with my good friend Alia, somehow the following seemed far more urgent than opening up the books again:

1.) Doing my roommate's dishes while listening to Aladdin in the background.  (And by listening, I mean watching intently).

2.) Looking at recipes on pinterest for our "Pinterest Potluck" this Friday. (Anyone have an awesome pinterest find to share?)

Don't worry Centro Medico del Carmen friends, you know I would never use vegetables in a dish for you. 
That would be far too healthy.  This does make me drool though.

3.) Since the recipes made me hungry and drool all over my laptop, of course I had to stare into my fridge longingly and settle for a delicious lean cuisine.

Note: Lean Cuisine meals are not the same as this-

Red Velvet Cheesecake? Heaven on a plate.

4.) My delicious dinner was interrupted by a spot-on performance of "Prince Ali" sung by yours truly at the top of my lungs, followed by an awesome rendition of "A Whole New World." Man, I love that movie! It's a good thing I was home alone.

I could probably write a book on the subject of Procrastination. A perfect example is the words you are reading.  I like to think that writing on my blog is a stress management technique but let's be serious here, my books aren't going to study themselves and I'm just postponing the inevitable.

LOVE those adorable laughing babies.

After procrastinating for long enough, I reluctantly dragged myself upstairs to my study torture chamber as the Disney movie marathon of Cinderella and Lion King continued. My rafiki, Katherine, will agree that Lion King is the best Disney movie of all time and that not watching it was quite an accomplishment.

Katherine, we need to buy this shirt.

I had a few successful hours of studying, but was then distracted by another important task: updating my resume. Eek! Talk about a chore! If anyone wants to write it for me I will pay you with approximately 15 candy bars of your choosing. Any takers?

Resume writing made me think of the question I get from most people these days: "What do you want to do after graduation?" My initial answer is "never work again" but I don't think that's going to pay the bills...

In all reality, I have no idea what area of medicine I what to make a career out of!

- I like family practice a lot, but it is also a very challenging job.  Not trying to be harsh, but every day is like ordering diabetes with a side of high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and obesity.

Oh medical humor....

- Surgery- love love LOVE it and could definitely make a living doing it.
- Anyone who knows me, knows that I love babies more than the average person, so naturally I love OB/GYN. However, in Alaska it is more of a NP driven field, so I'm not sure what opportunities will be available.
- Ortho? Hmm... I do love being in the OR....
- I also learned that I love hepatology (liver specialty) after my rotation in liver transplants at Stanford. But I'm not so sure I could find a job in Alaska in such a specialized field.
- ER medicine? Love it as long as nobody is flatlining.

See my problem? I like it all! I suppose it just depends what job openings there are for new grads!

The other interesting question I get from almost everyone is, "Are you moving back to Alaska when you graduate?" Apparently it seems completely reasonable for me to work in San Diego and Jake to work in Alaska and have a successful, healthy marriage.

What do you think, Jake? Do you think it'd work? Ha! Don't worry, I'm coming home the second I get my diploma. I miss you far too much. :)