celebratory, at blackbird, after work.

hannah – very good – dry, very crisp, green apple-esque. little to no aftertaste. it’s very sharp when i swallow… and that’s all i have.

haley – excellent – crisp, light, green apple. exactly what i want in a sauv blanc.

Summer’s cruising by too fast. With boards in June and my first rotation in July, I’ve had to really focus on enjoying the occasional lazy afternoon and soaking up the summer sweetness.

Enter, boozy popsicles. Possibly the best idea ever. I mean… icy boozy fruity goodness? That’s summer, dude.

I went a little overboard buying cherries last week, and we had a bottle of limeade hanging around. Perfection.

cherry limeade ice pops.
makes six pops using these molds

• 2 c fresh cherries, pitted
• 2 c limeade
• juice of one lime
• 2 oz vodka (we used tito’s)

Tonight, I am thankful for my yoga practice.

This was a tough day. First day as OMS-3. First day of peds rotation. Exhausting. Amazing.

And after a day filled with unsure footing and self-doubt, I was able to spend 90 minutes grounding myself. My practice allows me to find my center and reconnect with the grace I so desperately need these days. I can’t imagine facing this new journey without it.

We’ve had highs above 100 for the last few days, and these temperatures are here to stay. Summer is hitting Oklahoma hard… so it’s time to retreat to an air-conditioned ice cave, or muck up and find a way to embrace the heat.

Enter, iced coffee.

I’m a cold-brew convert. No need to boil water or add any unnecessary heat to my kitchen. No bitterness. No watered down iced coffee. Done. Magic.

There are tons of cold-brew tutorials out there. America’s Test Kitchen has a lovely step-by-step explanation of all things cold-brew, if you need to get your nerd on. I’ve been using my trusty bodum to make a batch every few days. For a large-scale cold-brew operation and some add-in ideas, check out PW’s perfect iced coffee. I take mine with a splash of almond milk and plenty of ice… perfection.

Sometimes, after a very long and complicated adventure, you wind up at the lake with a 6-pack and a tackle box. No matter what else happens, the weekend should be considered a success. There will always be other weekends in which it makes sense to do lots of exciting things, so take a moment to appreciate the lazy weekends. They just don’t happen often enough.

I had a revelation in the produce section of Whole Foods the other day. I picked up a package of sprouts, and realized that I could no longer justify paying $3+ every few days for a sprout fix. I’m a green-thumbed-do-it-yourself kind of girl! And I grew sprouts in college! What was I doing with my life??

So I ordered this bad boy and some of these lovely seeds, and got my sprouting on.

I’ve sprouted several batches of alfalfa, mung beans, and others. It’s so incredibly easy… better than the mason-jar-cheese-cloth situation I used before. And I’ve totally paid for my investment while enjoying some delicious salads and sandwiches.

I had to get the word out. This is a solid situation.

I’m at this incredibly amazing, fabulous, beautiful point of transition. I mean, I still have no clue what I’m doing in life. I don’t. But things are moving and changing and falling into place in the most glorious way. A really big exam happened. A ring happened. All the things happened.

And now I’m relaxing back into life things. Laundry and cooking and sleeping and reading.

I read two whole books yesterday. Walked to the library, checked out two books, came home and inhaled them. Medical school may have stopped my pleasure reading for two whole years, but reframe: I’m now a superhuman speed reader. It happens. Making up for lost time.

And I’m catching up on podcasts. All the podcasts. I have weeks and weeks of Savage Love and Joy the Baker and This American Life to catch up on. I realize now that this is a strange mix… but whatever. I’m just well-rounded.

And then there’s this thing. I want to blog about everything, but the last six months of my life have been so miserable and chaotic and insane that I am only now starting to sort things out. And I’m certain that no one needed to see that. No one needs to witness the second half of second year. It’s ugly and it’s hard and it involves a lot of crying about unimportant things. But now things are different. And third year rotations are starting soon. And omigoodness it will be amazing. I’m sure it will be hard and ugly and all of those things, but somehow it seems easy to put a positive spin on anything that doesn’t involve 16 hours of studying every single day.

I just listened to a JtB podcast where they gave their listeners a homework assignment. They wanted people to post pictures of their five favorite things. I’m about 100 years late, but it made me want to blog… which is a good thing. But I couldn’t limit myself to five things. Let’s try seven.

1. I survived Level 1 COMLEX. And then I drank champagne. Like a grown-up. And then I partied down with my girlfriends. And then I fell asleep way earlier than anyone else. It’s all good.

2. I’m totally obsessed with succulents now. I might need an intervention.

3. I’m actually the luckiest girl ever. How did I find this dude? How did I trick him into sticking around forever?

4. I’ve perfected my version of the moscow mule. Someday I’ll share my secrets.

5. This fortune. Oh man… I totes broke into song in a restaurant.

6. My sister is my favorite. Always. She’s grown up to be the most incredible person. I am so incredibly fortunate to have her in my life. She makes me proud every single day.

7. This happened. The boys dig it.

J – good- very nice, mild, fruity, the wine cork particles give it a fascinating texture.
H – ok – fruity, slightly sweet, a little flat. destined for a lovely pitcher of sangria.

sunday dinner. more fun than pharmacology notes.

It all started with the nail-biting. Doctors can’t chew on their hands. It’s gross. I turned to nail polish to help me kick the habit.

And that it worked! I haven’t bitten my nails in months! But now I have these bad boys… and things haven’t been the same.

**To clear up any confusion, I solemnly swear that I only paint my nails while listening to lectures from home or watching the television. No useful study time is wasted in this endeavor (so there, mom).