Week 4 - Colors

It's been another week and so here I am :)
This past week flew by. Seriously. It started Monday when a present arrived all the way from Sandy, UT...

WAHOO THANKS MOM!

Monday was a dreary rainy day. My good friend took me down to the pier to pick up this baby, but the truck was late due to the rain. We needed to kill some time so we did what anyone else would do at 9AM on a rainy Monday....went to Federal Donuts on 2nd and Federal for some hot, fresh delicousness!!! (Lina had never been)

Indian cinnamon and lavender vanilla!

She loved them :)

Such a good friend to give me a ride then wait it out with me in the rain. Thanks again, Lina! I was feeling under the weather this week so I decided to get on the juicing thing - need those anti-oxidants to stave off cold/flu/allergy bugs! I am obsessed with FUEL restaurant's Hulk juice so I recreated it for my first one...Delish! Then I started getting fancy: beets, carrot, pineapple, ginger, aloe, cucumber, kiwi...so many options! Here are some I made tonight and my first juice, the hulk!

So so good! Addicted!

Carrot and Beet juices! Love using old kombucha bottles!

The weather cleared out eventually so I did some backyard yoga one day after being too lazy to trek over to Old City for yoga class... At least I did it, right? I went to Easter dinner with my friend Kristen tonight - we got Pho from my favorite place near my house. So yummy! As Kristen dropped me off after dinner, she surprised me with an early going away gift - a pineapple corer/peeler!!!! 
 

Deck yoga > no yoga

Newest kitchen gadget! Thanks Kristen!

 














It is the niftiest kitchen gadget - it peels and cores the pineapple in 30 seconds! Plus the juice collects inside on the bottom of the pineapple "shell" so you can use it for juices, smoothies, etc. I immediately opened it and used it to peel the pineapple in my juices pictured above! She is a great friend and is so supportive of me in my studying. She cheers me on and reminds me that, "I got this". Which brings me to this week's quote:

I don't always agree with Lou (crazy old man - but his bowl season picks are solid every year!) but this is great. Attitude has been so important this last week. I wasn't feeling well but found ways to stay on track and be positive about what was happening. This is my last week for studying. I'm scared, excited, nervous, and sick all at once. I am so excited to finish, but more importantly, I want to finish this week strong, confident, and ready for next Monday. We're so close, we've worked so hard, just 7 more days. 

Hasta Pronto-
L

Week 3 - Theos

Staying up to post this - Last week's was going to be posted literally every day ...oops. well now you get two posts in one day - hooray!

The last week has been a good balance of studying and time spent with important people. I will relay storied tales of my adventures after we acknowledge the point of this post -- 

I'M HALF-WAY DONE!!! AHHHHH. Ok momentary freak out is over. But can you believe it?! I take the USMLE Step 1 in only two weeks. I don't know whether to be relieved or throw up :S or both

Ok now on to more fun things. This week I enjoyed my very first water ice ever. And for those who will ask I got vanilla custard on bottom - pina colada water ice - chocolate custard on top gelati. and it was bangin.

I went and got burgers with my friend Levi at Burger.Org - a kosher place in Rittenhouse. This was the first place I have been to on the east coast with pre-made frysauce in a bottle on the table!!!! Amazing! Their burgers were good but the sweet potato fries were literally to die for. NOM.

Selfie!

Nom! So good!

I stopped in to the new bakery in Chinatown - Audabon Bakeshop. They make french macarons with almond flour, local ingredients, and have flavors with an asian or paleo twist! I got candied bacon (I was hesitant but they were surprisingly awesome) and Chai - both great. They also make puddings but I didn't try those. Definitely worth a peep if you are in Chinatown. They are on 11th and Race - cash only. 

The candied bacon one got slightly smushed - still great though!

Lastly, My friends in the hip-hop group BFR had a show with Lyrically Fit at the Trocadero! It was great to see friends and relax a bit after a long day of studying. Here are some pics from their show. Check out their music videos on their youtube channel Bullfight TV

That's all for now!
Hasta pronto
L

Week 2 - Leos

Sorry this post is so late! The days are starting to blend together and by ten pm I'm ready to pass out! The first week of full time board study went well! Was still able to take breaks to see a few friends and get gym and yoga sessions in - gotta stay sane! Reviewing all this material has really come to show me how delicate the interplay is between all the systems in our body. A lot of diseases or mutations have a domino effect on other organs. Which leads me to this week's inspirational quote :

It is all connected - I think that is relevant even to my life outside of medicine. My attitudes are connected to everything from my interactions to how I feel physically. Choosing to embrace positivity will only lead to more positive in your life. You don't have to ignore negativity - I acknowledge those feelings but understand that they are a waste of energy and let them go. Redirecting my focus to positive thoughts is a constant effort but one that I find to be paying off.

In other news this week -

I wasn't able to run in my race this past Sunday, which was quite upsetting. I have been training for 3 months to be able to run 15k with a competitive time and all that got washed away by a single muscle and a ton of inflammation. The good news is that all I need to recover is time and a lot of stretching /foam rolling. But it was a bummer nonetheless. This week I made butternut squash risotto and spaghetti squash with turkey meatballs - needless to say my squash cravings were...squashed? Ok ok bad pun. I made a pitstop in to vitamin shoppe the other day... this was the result - 
 

Quest bars are the bomb.

Game of thrones is back!!! Just in time to be my Sunday night ritual! The season premiere was great aside from one small detail... They replaced hot Daario with a less hot version of daario!!!! Very upset about that. But still excited for the next ten weeks!

Left: new Daario --------- Right: Old Daario (much hotter)

Anyway no big news here aside from pushing forward in my studying and trying to not let my mind go to mush. Oh, then this happened...

Hasta Pronto!
L

Week 1 - Lo empieza

This post begins my weekly posts on Sunday nights during the study period before the national board exam I take at the end of April. Check in for updates, stories, and motivational quotes that are probably more for me than they are for you but I hope you enjoy it all anyway ;)

Today is the first day of my study period for the USMLE Step 1 exam... 

and what a day it was!

The weather is miserable outside. It's been raining for two days now. I hope it isn't an omen for my NBME exam tomorrow!!! Today was a light studying day focusing on high yield topics. But before I started studying, I had quite an interesting morning. I went to Walmart for the first time since I moved to Philadelphia today. And it was great! They had lots of produce, the aisles were stocked, and everyone was really nice! I will attribute part of it to going at 8 AM because anyone up at that hour on a Sunday in the pouring rain has to be a morning person :) I found some spaghetti squash (finally!) and that made my day! I got two hehe. They had awesome pineapples and cheap kale - it was great! (Plus they had super cheap Cadbury mini-eggs but I'm still pretending like I'm not addicted to them.) I was also able to snag some things for my upcoming move for pretty cheap too. 

Once I got home I was starving! I resisted the urge to stop in at Dunkin' for a donut (been seriously craving a donut for weeks!) but I was feeling like something hot and fresh. I had seen a recipe for pancakes that are just two ingredients: a ripe banana and two eggs.... could it be true?? Oh it is, and they are delicious. I cooked them up in a bit of coconut oil and they seriously hit the spot - however I did add a bit of vanilla extract.

Then it was 10 hours of review. Okay minus a 45 minute nap. But I finished so now we hope for the best. For day 2, I have a predictive exam that is 5 hours long. So, no studying tomorrow! But I'm definitely going to make sure that I'm happy with my study plan, get my meal planning set for the week, and get general organization things done. Maybe I'll even pack a bit if I'm feeling ambitious - emphasis on ambitious.

Each week I'm going to post a motivational quote - it's partly for me [ to remind myself that I can get through this next month] but I hope that it will speak to you too.

Coming in to this month with a plan in hand (Thanks Casey!) has really helped to ease my stress. I know exactly what I need to do and I'm really excited to get started... never thought I'd say that haha. 

I have the plan, I have the goal, now it's time to work!

See you next week 

L

This is the rhythm

A lot has happened since I posted last! We've covered GI and now hematology pathologies in school - which has been interesting. The weather has been horrendous. It got above 40 degrees this weekend and it was like a sign of the apocalypse...but I totally indulged in it. I actually spent this past weekend in Arlington/DC with my cousin and her cute family and my best friend. I had a race on Sunday in DC so I made a weekend of it. The race went well considering I am fighting a pretty nasty cold. There were over 4,000 runners - it was the biggest race I have ever done and gave me a taste for what to expect with my next race that is in just under a month. I am a bit nervous for that one because it will be much closer to the upper limit of how far I can run. 
The light at the end of the tunnel is near - my board exam is scheduled for April 28 and my flight to paradise is scheduled for April 30. The hunt for housing in Pittsburgh is still ongoing - I will feel a lot better once that is squared away and settled. Still, trying to keep up with school and life is getting tiring. I am kind of over it and just want to get started with my board prep and get it done and over with. I only have 21 days to go until that starts. Yay? 

So, I know I am late to the party, but I recently discovered the band Bastille (I don't listen to the radio so I have to find new music by chance).  Anyway I am really in to them. Their album is great. I like every song -which hasn't happened in a while for me. They posted this song several months ago but seeing as  I am an '89 baby, I had to share it with you. The concept is a bit creepy but the cover is bangin'.

L


Oh and here are a few pictures from this weekend:

The only race related photo I took - showing off my green socks

My most recent purchase.

My best friend is gorgeous.

Especially when she eats Pupusas. Ha

How I feel with a final approaching...

Psychosis, pediatrics, pudding, and posting

It has been my usual two month break from this blog but no more! One of my new years resolutions is to blog more so hooray for you, the readers of my blog. A lot has happened since I last posted. Let's recap.

Thanksgiving with my best friend was amazing. Everything I thought it could be. And leftovers fo days. NOM.
I chose a date for my board exam aka D-Day.
I got to spend more time with my man friend than I ever would have thought possible when he moved away in July.
I spent a little over a week in Utah for Christmas and new years which was nice. I was a huge bum and watched many movies and had leisurely mid morning runs with no traffic and amazing scenery.
Here are some pictures of said events - 

My cooking on Thanksgiving. All from scratch.

Backseat selfies on NYE

So very sleepy.

BFFF

Me and Erica on Christmas

Momma bear

 

Hamming it up with my lil Bro

Thanksgiving Touristy Time

  Now to this year :
I have a few important new years resolutions to share and then an insight and a story. (they are are linked I promise)
I am training for a 15k race 6 days a week and doing yoga 2-3 times a week. These are two of my resolutions. They also help me achieve my third of being on a time efficient schedule for studying for the boards. So far it has been working out really well! I feel energized and really productive with my days. But I will say that I can't be happier that thursday is my rest day! My quads need some tlc!
Another resolution of mine is to be positive and thankful every day.
This month in school we are learning abnormal psych and neurological pathology. I have never realized how lucky I am to wake up every morning and know who I am, to not hear voices, or to not suffer from some irrational delusion. I am now thankful for my sanity. Every day.
I was at a recent outpatient session and the faculty I was working with kept using the phrase, "the proof of the pudding". He said it probably 5 or 6 times in a few hours. I got curious and looked up where the phrase comes from :

 'The proof of the pudding' is shorthand for 'the proof of the pudding is in the eating'. it is a proverb that goes way back to the 1400s. In this proverb, "proof" means test so it basically means that to fully test something you need to experience it yourself.    

Even though I think the Doc wasn't using it in the way it was intended, I think that the proverb itself is a really valuable lesson. I mentioned before, one of my resolutions is to be more positive about life - well until I try it myself, I can't label anything with a judgement, particularly a negative one. It is a great mantra to have to encourage yourself to try new things, meet new people, and get out of your comfort zone! And it makes me want dark chocolate pudding... nom.