Exercise Endorphins

   Last week, I finally started to get serious about trying to lose weight.  I mean, I have a bridesmaid dress sitting in my closet that I need to fit into by May!  It almost zips all the way, it's just a teensy bit too tight (due to a bit of extra weight from interview feasts + holiday feasts).  I have plenty of time, and I know I can do it, so I'm not too worried.  I just need to do it.

   So anyway, last week, in addition to my usual running the puppy every other day (BF and I trade off), I finally joined this dance studio I've been stalking online for years.  I ended up going 4 times in the week, and I loved it!  I forgot how happy it makes me to dance.  And I love how concentrating on technique and the routine completely clears my mind, which is hard to do to a medical student.  So I can't wait to keep going for the next two months while I still live here.

   Last week I did really well.  I stuck to my diet, I worked out 6/7 days, and actually worked out twice in one day a few times.  I felt like a million bucks.  Then, I took a break from dieting for a day so that I could pig out enjoy Superbowl snacks, which was fine because I planned for it.  But then Monday, I think a combo of not getting enough sleep, transitional exhaustion from actually having to be on a rotation again, and the temptation of leftover Superbowl snacks in the fridge was the perfect recipe for an unplanned binge TERRIBLE diet/exercise day.  I ended up feeling like crap all Monday, Tuesday, and first half of today.  It was so hard to get back into the zone I was in last week - until I went on my puppy run.  I felt so much better afterward!  It was like an instant mood boost!  I think I may have crossed over to that point I've always heard people talk about, where you become "addicted" to exercise and feel crappy when you don't do it.  I've never been like that before!  Anyway, now that I know how much better I feel if I just get out there and DO something, it won't be as hard to drag myself to do it.

The last month has started off a little rocky...

I can't believe how good I was last month.  I ran almost 30 miles! 

Mission Bridal Shower - Accomplished!

   And it turned out pretty well! Congrats F & C! :)

Cooking Up A Storm

   One of my favorite things to do to relax is to cook.  Oh yeah, and I guess it doesn't hurt I love to eat too.  I love trying new recipes, returning to old favorites, and best of all - EATING IT ALL YOU CAN'T HAVE ANY!  Just kidding, I always share.  Here are some of the fab things I've cooked in the last few months.  Can't wait to cook (and eat) more! In case you are feeling adventurous, or just hungry, I've included the links to some of the recipes.

Homemade bread bowls, Jalapeno corn chowder

Ok, I didn't make this one. Apple cider bar by my cousin, pumpkin cupcake by my sister.

Thanksgiving offerings: Apple pie by BF, rosemary bread by me, blackberry thyme goat cheese ice cream by me.

* Rosemary Bread

* Blackberry Thyme Goat Cheese Ice Cream

Eggs benedict for BF's bday

* Eggs Benedict 

MSFC potluck at my house.  Gruyere herb scones, rosemary bread, and cucumber sandwiches by me

* Gruyere Herb Scones

Beet burgers

Habanero mango hot sauce

* Habanero Mango Hot Sauce

* After posting this, I realized how much cooler it would be if I actually linked you to the recipes! So, I've included the ones that are available online! Unfortunately, some of them aren't online, but if you're DYING to know, I can email you or upload them somehow :)

I'm Going To Atlanta, Y'all!

   I recently applied to be able to attend this special MSFC Activist Leaders Institute conference.  It's held on a weekend in May, in Atlanta, and if picked to attend, all expenses are paid.  If you know me well, you know how much I love MSFC, and how involved I've been with our school's chapter.  This next year, my hopes are to become more involved on a broader, national level - and I think this conference is the first step in achieving that goal.  Not to mention, I always love learning more about reproductive rights issues, and there is always more to know about ways to advocate for women's health issues.

   Anyway, I was ecstatic to find out yesterday that I got picked!  I am so excited for this opportunity, and I absolutely can't wait!  It's the weekend after I take my Step 2 CK, so I'll be free and ready to mingle with other passionate and intelligent women's health leaders.  Eeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!

   Now enjoy some photos of genital baked goods that appeared at a "genital bake-off" that BF and I held a few months ago...

Uterus cupcake

Vagina cupcake

Uterus ganache made by my friend, E (complete with IUD in place)

Oh You Fancy, Huh?

   So far I am loving my new car. My only complaint was that it didn't have cup-holders, but then BF pointed out to me where they were (oops), so now I can't even complain about that! I know most people don't think Volvos are very cool, but I love mine. And I'm not gonna lie, I feel pretty cool driving it haha. I have leather seats and a SUNROOF! Coming from my '96 Chevy Blazer piece-of-poop, I feel like I'm driving PURE LUXURY. Anyway, for some reason my CD player won't play burned CDs (it might be too old), and I love Christina and all, but you can only listen to "Durrty" so many times before you get bored with it.  So I bought this fancy piece of equipment to fulfill my musical needs...

   Also, this is totally unrelated, but I wanted to share this with all my fellow foodies out there:

MAC AND CHEESE PIZZA WITH MOZZARELLA STUFFED CRUST

    Yep, I made it.  And yep, it probably took a few years off my lifespan.  Do I regret it?  Not for one second.

Food Adventures In My Free Time

   One of the great things about being on psych is that you get evenings and weekends off.  I was lucky to be able to get Mother's Day off, so BF and I went hiking with my mom and sister.  As one of my presents for my mom, I made rosemary pineapple sorbet from scratch.  (And yes, I do in fact love putting rosemary in everything).  

My beautiful mom!

Me, mom, sister

BF, me

   This last weekend, A (my "partner in crime") and I made a delicious fondue feast for BF and Y.  It was super gluttonous, but sooooooo worth it.  I don't know if you can see in the picture, but I made some delicious rosemary watermelon lemonade from scratch with my juicer.  Like I said... rosemary all up in errrryyything!  

Nerding Out While Getting Ready

So I'm not a huge cereal person (I'm more of an egg-whites-for-breakfast kind of gal) but when I do eat cereal, I eat this super healthy one from Trader Joes. It's called "High Fiber Cereal", so no thrills there! It looks a lot like catfood...

Anyway, I've noticed that when you get to the bottom of the bowl, the last couple of pieces look like chromosomes. And they kinda float around in the milk, so it totally looks like mitosis. Just sayin!

The Inauguration Of "Cold Hard B*#&$"

    If you read some of my earlier pre-boards posts, you might remember that I promised to reward myself with the ice-cream attachment for my KitchenAid mixer when I finished boards.  I ordered it with just enough time so that it was poetically delivered exactly while I was taking my test.  

    Once my friends and I started to get stand mixers, and we figured they are beautiful pieces of machinery that deserve names, we came up with this fun little tradition of giving them annoying/naughty/provocative names.  It started off with E's mixer, which is a beautiful Tiffany's blue color.  E got the mixer as a gift, and was super excited to use it for the first time, when she came home to find her roommate dirtying it up without even asking her if she could use it.  Her roommate's name was Robyn, so much to E's dislike, we all decided her mixer's name would from now on officially be "Robyn's Egg", since Robyn broke it in.  Next to get a mixer was C, who LOVES pink, so naturally her mixer is pink.  We tried to come up with a name to annoy her, but eventually gave up and came up with "Pink Taco" when we couldn't find one that annoyed her.  Most recently, I was the one to get a mixer, and I chose black to match the rest of my kitchen appliances.  Her name is "Black Beauty", which you can interpret as you'd like.  Finally, in anticipation of my ice cream attachment, we decided that such a big/important attachment deserved it's own name too, and the first thing that came to mind was "Cold Hard B*&$%"!

     The first batch of ice cream turned out pretty good, especially considering we had never made ice cream before.  We made 2 pints bacon/bourbon ice cream!

Meet Black Beauty and Cold Hard B*%$&

Our finished product in Baskin Robbins pint containers I conveniently had

    I probably won't get a chance to make another batch until after I get back from my trip to Peru, but next on my list to make is some sort of strawberry/rosemary sorbet/gelato concoction.  Mmmm, I'll let you know how that goes.

Spreading The Love

    Valentine's Day, to me, is a day of spreading the love, not only to a significant other (if you have one), but also to your family and friends.  To me, it is a day no different than any other day, but a good opportunity to stop and reflect on all of the wonderful relationships you have with others, and how lucky you are to have those people in your life.  

   This year, one of my friends and I decided to bake Pink Champagne Cupcakes from one of our favorite blogs: "Eats Well With Others".  They took a long time, especially after I screwed up the frosting by adding regular sugar instead of powdered sugar.  Oops!  We ended up using the messed-up frosting to make pink cookies, and we just made some pink whipped cream to top the cupcakes.  They turned out quite tasty!    

            

   We then proceeded to make homemade Valentine's Day cards for our friends (I mean, it's not like we had ANY studying we should have been doing, right?!).  We had such a good time; it was so worth missing out on a few study hours.  The absolute best part was when we surprised our friends and delivered our baked goods/cards directly to their doors.  I didn't get pictures of them all, but I managed to get a few of their reactions:

   I think our friends appreciated our Valentine's goodies, and I know we got a lot out of making and giving them.  Who says you can't have a life in med school?!