bakezilla!

so the holidays are THE BEST time to bake for several reasons:
- an excuse to give away the baked goods
- people will eat said baked goods knowing that new years resolutions are right around the corner
- it's cold out; the warm oven is a beautiful thing -- may not seem important to some of you, but baking in houston in the summer is MISERABLE.
- lovely seasonal recipes like gingerbread men (currently fresh out of my oven)
- baking is made infintely better when christmas music is playing in the background and the tree is twinkling in the living room

if you're anything like me, you are starting up a list of the must-have holiday baked goods. christmas is only a week away, and i've got to make sure to churn out all my favs :)

so far i've tackled:
- iced sugar cookies
- peanut-butter blossoms (personal fav)
- gingerbread men
- puppy chow
- white trash

possible upcoming adventures:
- snickerdoodles
- more white trash
- chocolate chip cookies (not seasonal but always welcome!)
- peppermint bark
- ... and currently searching for more inspiration

anyway, i thought i would share one of my favorite (and easiest) recipes: WHITE TRASH!

ingredients needed:
- chex
- m&m's
- pretzels
- peanuts
- white (vanilla?) almond bark

1) melt the almond bark in the microwave
2) stir in the other ingredients until coated
3) arrange in single layer on wax paper
4) allow to dry - if you can handle waiting
5) consume!

you can vary up the recipes and use different cereals and stuff - just make sure to get the sweet + salty in there!


anyway, happy baking! it's probably a good thing i have to work Mon-Thurs this week, or else I'd probably have dozens upon dozens of cookies in my kitchen!

H2O

so one thing i've consistently failed at is drinking the recommended amount of water each day. i've heard a hundred different recommendations: 8 glasses, one ounce per pound of body weight, etc. anyway, one of my coworkers challenged me (as well as herself) to drink a gallon of water a day. today was day one, and aside from the bazillion bathroom runs, it went well! not only did it generate conversation at work, it also kept me fuller. i generally start getting antzy for lunch around 11:30am (aka: way too early), but today I held out until 1pm, and even then, i wasn't starving as usual.

of course, calorie cutting is certainly NOT the only benefit of being well-hydrated. for those of you who care, here are the health benefits i dug up (article from organic facts.net) -- sorry, had to do it -- it's the future doc in me...

1) PH Balance

2) Metabolism

3) Prevention of: Constipation, Heartburn, Migraine, Gastritis and Ulcers, Rheumatoid Arthritis, CV disease, Backache

4) Avoiding Kidney Stones

5) Maintaining good Kidney Function

These are just to name a few... hooray for H2O -- gotta love our universal solvent!

p.s. - i totally may revoke this entry if i wake-up 184839358 times tonight...

so my impulsive move

of the week was to book a trip to dubai. nothing sounds sketchier than a 22 year old female going to the middle east alone, but in all reality, i'll be staying with family. though i may omit the family part to keep the shock factor :)... bring on the camel riding, arabic food, and outdoor markets!

anyway, you would think booking that ticket would momentarily quell my travel bug, but it has instead magnified it. i'm suddenly attempting to plan spring break in spain or summer in peru or camping in colorado. i don't know what is wrong with me, but then again, i love still being at that point in life where my idealism hasn't quite caught up with reality. at such a young age, it is easy to assume that i'll have time to eventually travel everywhere and conquer the world. and if i get my way, i certainly plan on doing both :)

hello, december

so i realize i have failed at blogging lately, so here i am, attempting to redeem myself...

just got back from thanksgiving in pennsylvania - it was a glorious 10-day break from work... which made going back to work today especially hard! after days of lounging and doing as you please, it is rather difficult to once again sit still and take orders, but i guess that's part of the deal

anyway, instead of a boring recap of my trip, i'm going to go with random thoughts:
- i love online shopping. if i never have to set foot in a store again, that would be okay with me. current favorite website: endless.com -- may or may not have ordered another pair of boots... but they were the deal of the day! 50% off, no tax, and overnight delivery? yes please.
- online shopping aside, i did go out for black friday. we hit up walmart at 12:01 am. the best part: i only bought a pair of sheets. granted, they are silk sateen 500 threadcount for $19.88, but really, who goes to walmart at midnight for sheets? tv? yes. sheets? no.
- totally fell off the diet bandwagon over vacation. probably ate a whole stick of butter on thanksgiving. didn't run at all. fail fail fail. despite that minor (major) set-back, i'm back on track. for now at least... until the christmas cookies show their ugly faces...
- witnessed a hit&run today. the car in front of me rear-ended the car in front of it and drove off like a crazy person. they almost hit me while they were trying to change lanes and get-away. so thankful i wasn't the one hit! esp after my little incident 2 months ago...
- i like christmas music just as much as the next person, but i feel like starting to play it on the radio 24/7 ALREADY is a little out-of-control. i was forced to listen to it for 7 hours straight at work today. i think i'm one of those people that can't enjoy it until the week of christmas. 3 weeks away + it still feels like fall + no snow + not doing holidayish things = not ready for jingle bells.

anyway, off to job #2... 10 hours of work a day is really too much

hypocrite

so i've been whining to my blog friends // being disappointed when there are no new blogposts on my dashboard, but then i realized that i haven't posted in a week.... so here i am, posting so that i can feel guilt-free about pestering others to post :)

randomness:
- yesterday i bought HARRY POTTER midnight premiere tickets!!! yes, i have to be at work at 8:30 am the next day. no, i probably won't get more than 3 hours of sleep before. worth the sacrifice? duhhh.
- i don't have to work another MONDAY for 3 weeks!!! that is VERY exciting.
- 4 days of work until i'm on a plane bound for pennsylvania :)
- surprisingly, i have stuck to my new healthy lifestyle: hello, week 4. the holidays are going to pose a bit of a challenge, but i'm hoping to still jog while i'm out of town. hopefully i can surive doing so in 30 degree weather!
- finally broke down and bought a pair of Fuggs. only $15 at target! and so toasty. no worries though: i have no plans of wearing them with leggings and nike shorts.
- shout-out to my friends who received medical school acceptances today!!! so excited for yall!!!
- true life: i was scanning down my mini-feed and saw that one of my FB friends posted a link to a pioneer woman pie she made. i got super excited and wrote a paragraph long comment. 30 minutes later, i realized that i mistook her thumbnail size pic and actually commented on a stranger's status. well, one of those random "we both live in the same dorm, so i'm going to friend you before college" people. yah, that was like 5 years ago, and we have never spoken: my life is awkward.
- in 8 hours, i'll be awake and getting ready for work: lame. can we please go to 4-day work weeks?

a case of the mondays...

after a wonderfully relaxing weekend, i should have seen it coming. but once again, i was blind-sided by monday. and let me tell you, it was quite the monday...
- woke up 40 minutes early thanks to mr. sun illuminating my room by 6:15 AM
- stumbled around because i couldn't find my glasses & ended up stepping on my laptop
- got smoothie on my WHITE shirt on the way to work
- forgot my sunglasses and had to stare into the sun for my hour of driving
- had tons of makeup work waiting for me since friday. still didn't catch-up.
- lunchtime smoothie was yucky
- cut my finger while trying to change the registration sticker on my car
- did a new client intake over the phone. the cray cray then called me back and demanded to know my first & last name since i had her information. um, no.
- lost my car key at the bank
- was ordering boots online, and between putting them in my cart & checking out, they sold out

anddddddd it is not even 6pm. i was thinking of going running tonight, but on second thought, i should probably lock myself in a padded room to avoid any other problems..

edit: 5 minutes after writing this post, i went to eat dinner. i dumped half my plate on the floor: fail.

happy weekend!!!

so after the longest week ever, it is FINALLY the weekend :)... and it is off to a great start!

-friday i hardly did any work. my boss wanted me to help her write clues for a scavenger hunt, and then i went with her to leave them at different places in a shopping complex. i probably only actually worked an hour the whole day. AND i got off an hour and a half early: SO HAPPY.
- between that + a glorious friday afternoon nap + dinner with the fam + watching "the office" + reading "the girl with the dragon tattoo" -- it added up to a perfectly relaxing evening!
- this morning, i drug my mom with me to the Y, and i jog/walked 3 miles in 37 minutes! slow by most peoples' standards, but hey, that's big news for the girl who has avoided running [slash feared the treadmill] her whole lifeeeeee. for those of you interested, i'm on week two of couch-2-5k: walk 5 minutes, then alternate 1.5 minutes of jogging with 2 minutes walking... all these turkey trots coming up make me wish that i were already able to jog a 5k! hopefully next year...

anyway, happy weekend to you! and SIC 'EM BEARS! beat OSU!

random thoughts

- i love people watching during my hour-long commute. the other day i had a lady following me with a snowcone in one hand & her cell in the other. i'm wondering how she was steering the car...
- i am SO excited that elections are over. if i had to watch another political ad, i was going to cry. i didn't realize how much i preferred food/prescription/etc commercials to these terribly made, slander-based ads.
- i've realized that i really hate receiving sympathy. i generally don't tell people what's going on because i don't want to hear "i'm sorry" - i know it is the socially acceptable thing to say, but i'd rather bypass the whole conversation. and i often do.
- i went on a wonderful run after work today. i really want to get into the whole running thing. i think it would be a great life-long stress reliever.
- i'm currently on a smoothie craze. for breakfast, i blend up a scoop of chocolate whey powder (26 grams of protein!) with a banana, ice, & soy milk. then for lunch, i mix yogurt + frozen fruit + milk... it is kind of weird eating (or drinking ) 2/3 meals of the day, but they're actually pretty filling & healthy!
- it's november! that means harry potter 7! and thanksgiving! and a trip to pennsylvania!
- today the high in houston was around 70 degrees. i wore a dress + cardi + tights + a scarf to work. what a happy day! i'm SO excited it has finally decided to be fall in houston!

hope everyone has a wonderful week!

for the record...

BAYLOR beat UT for the first time since 1997 last night: 30-22. To put it into perspective, I was in 4th grade in 1997, and now I'm a baylor alum, so it's been awhile! Not to mention that we beat them IN AUSTIN. Talk about double burn. Sic 'Em Bears!!!!!! SO proud.

health fest continues

i'm sure by now people are getting annoyed with my health posts, but i promise to post on something different soon! plus, i have had a lot of people express interest in joining the bandwagon, so forgive me just this once...

today was c25k day 2 - happily, the cough is pretty much gone and aside from minor shin splints, all was well! only problem: i have been running (if you can call it that) after i get off work around 9pm... and i get home super full of energy - not the ideal situation when you need to go to bed so you can wake up at 7am... but every time i try for 6am workouts, i snooze my alarm. so extra energy it is!

my co-worker and i also tried out the magic bullet today with success! enjoyed a blackberry/pineapple/greek yogurt smoothie along with my carrots/sugar snap peas + ranch -- note on the ranch: to avoid some of the nastiness (processing) that goes into the bottled stuff, i've started mixing a dry-mix ranch packet with light sour cream. i know it doesn't completely solve the processed food problem, but i'm still too much of a beginner at this health thing to forgo smothering my vegetables in something

i'm also trying to give up my afternoon pick-me-up: diet coke. i'm replacing it with iced tea. not as fun - i miss the ice-cold, throat-burning sensation, but i'm convinced that in 10 years the FDA (or some other agency) will release a report cautioning that aspartame has been shown to cause alzheimers in rats and consequently humans. you laugh, but i genuinely fear this & can certainly see it happening

ANYWAY, i'll try to think of something different for next post. if you're on a health kick as well, please feel free to share any healthy snacks/meals you have tried and what kind of workouts you are doing!

accountability

i mentioned the other day that i wanted to start the couch to 5k program... well, i did tonight! day one consisted of a 5 minute brisk walk followed by alternating 1 minute jogging and 2 minutes walking for 20 minutes... sounds easy, but when you are recovering from a month long breathing/coughing problem, your airflow is not quite up to par. either way, i survived and am now encouraged to keep going!

i'm also really excited because one of my co-workers today said she woke up at 4 am thinking "i need to give up soda and carbs" - immediately, i volunteered to be her accountability partner! so we are now planning on keeping each other on track with our shift to "healthier living" -- because "dieting" has short-term implications, and we're trying to get better long-term... AND we have a magic bullet at work, so we are planning on starting to make smoothies for lunch :)

anyway, i was just posting this as yet another form of accountability. having everyone know will make me think twice about eating halloween candy! if anyone else needs accountability, let me know! the more the merrier :)

HC, etc

thursday evening i found myself WACO-BOUND for my first homecoming as an ALUM! i left after work and enjoyed the most beautiful sunset along the way. whenever i arrived on campus, the clouds were a beautiful mix of pink and orange. i was going to take a picture with my phone, but then i almost got side-swiped by a fed-ex truck, so i decided to play it safe and focus on the road... too bad because it was rather picturesque. i might have even been able to sell it to baylor to use in their ad campaign...

ANYWAY, homecoming was wonderful. it was kind of weird experiencing the whole thing as an alum. while the events were the same, it felt like i was seeing it from a different perspective. we went to pigskin friday night, and they took turns making the alums of each decade stand up. it was fun to be a part of that and realize the connection you have to so many others. we even had an alum from the 40's there! way cool.

bonfire this year was particularly impressive. or particularly out-of-control, depending on your take. generally they only light it in one place, and it takes awhile for it to all catch fire. this year, they had 10 people torch it at once, and it got huge fast. that plus the wind... oh, and for a size reference, that bright circle behind it was the ferris wheel. so yah, it was pretty massive (props to the waco tribune for this picture)

overall it was just a great weekend to catch-up with lots of friends i hadn't seen in awhile (shout-out to mrs. smith who said she reads my blog!)

oh, and i also forgot to mention that baylor won the homecoming game (which i skipped - i'm a terrible alum, but with a 60% chance of thunderstorms and a tornado watch...) -- anyway, we are now bowl-eligible for the first time since 1995, #1 in the big 12 south, AND we are ranked!!! - super exciting.

now for the etc part:

- for those of you who have asked, i ended up skipping the doctor & instead bought Mucinex DM: 12 hr & maximum strength. though costing a whopping $1/pill, they work like a charm. my nasty, phlegmy cough is no more! hooray for modern (over-the-counter) medicine!

- heb >>> wal-mart

- baked pumpkin chocolate chip muffins today. if you haven't tried my recipe yet, you should: spice cake mix + can of pumpkin + cinnamon + chocolate chips... yes, that's it. and they are so legit.

- im scheduled to work 44 hours this week. i'm depressed already.

- i'm going to attempt the couch-t0-5k program again. i'm posting this as a form of accountability.

enjoy your last week of october!

playing doctor

so a sick part of me (no pun intended) actually enjoys getting sick because that means i get to figure out what is wrong. and as much as i HATE HATE HATE going to the doctor, i love love love trying to diagnose myself before the appointment. bonus points if i'm correct. last time i totally called it with strep throat (without even having the equipment to take a throat culture!). this time, i'm thinking that i have bronchitis. after a few weeks of having a productive coughing, i've developed this weezing noise when i try to take a deep breath. i've ruled out pnemonia because the cough is my chief symptom, and i don't have a fever/etc. i've also ruled out allergies because i lack the congestion/sneezing/runny nose. so clearly the wheezing noise indicates my malady has moved into my lungs. and because i'm not having any other symptoms, i'm putting my money on bronchitis. now to just wait until 10 am tomorrow for confirmation... is it weird that i find this game entertaining? oh to be a future M.D.

picturesque penn

maybe it's just me, but one thing i miss about fall in texas is the changing of the leaves... my mom's entire side of the family lives in pennsylvania, and my aunt posted this awesome picture taken in my grandparents' backyard

yes, they do have a mountain in their backyard. also something you don't frequently find in texas... i realized though that i have a picture of almost every season from that same spot in their backyard, so i thought i would share :) - here's winter

and here's summer! i've spent a few weeks almost every summer since birth running around here. definitely my second home.


i was just going to post those few pics from the same angle, but after looking through all the gorgeous pictures, i've decided to let myself get carried away... here are a few of my favorites

my great-grandparents' house


my grandparents' house

SO excited about visiting for thanksgiving! only 5 more weeks... i've never been for thanksgiving, so it is going to be fun to celebrate a 'new' holiday with the family! -- anyway, happy friday everyone! enjoy your weekends :)

things i'm loving...

i'm copying this idea from leigh anne because once again, i'm too lazy to come up with my own post idea :)

things i'm loving today:
- news of the rescued miners! so nice to watch the news and not have it solely be homicides/wrecks/natural disasters
- being finished working my second job for the week and only having to go to work ONCE tomorrow
- the smoothie i made for dinner
- cooler weather that lets me drive with the windows down
- sugar snap peas + cherry tomatoes + baby carrots + ranch dressing = latest lunchtime obsession
- knowing that baylor homecoming is about a week away!
- being able to go to bed at 10pm tonight.. hey, i worked 10 hours today
- this ridiculous commercial that i saw during oprah that had me laughing/totally creeped out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CMZdw5qozM

warning: graphic content

so last night caitlin and i bust out our old high school t-shirts and went to see our team play. i hadn't been to a game in 4 years, so it was fun to go back to the same old stadium and watch. after having one of my alma maters lose already that day, i was hoping my second alma mater would win. despite their undefeated season so far, apparently my being there sabotaged it. we left during the third quarter when the score was 6-46. geez. and it was our arch-rival. despite the terrible score, we were impressed with the new inflatable the players get to run through. definite improvement from the paper signs we used to have...

anyway, the REAL highlight of the night was once i got home. my sister's friend stopped by around 11:30, and i ran down the driveway to say hi. it wasn't until 5 minutes later that i looked down, and my toe was gushing blood. kinda weird that i totally didn't feel it. here's my toe before cleaning it up (but after i had made a blood trail through the bathroom)

this was post-cleaning... looks like a huge hook!

and then of course i had to document this morning... looking pretty good. i totally decided to nerd my mom out though by commenting that i must not be deficient in vitamin k because it clotted nicely. science majorrr. what's even grosser is that i captured this pic using the "food setting" on my camera. macro ftw. and i love the fact that camera companies picked up on the fact that people are always taking food pics and came up with a setting.

anyway, we were supposed to go hiking today, but i'm thinking that plan is out...

survey

leigh anne tagged me in this little blogpost thing, so i thought i would be a team player and answer the questions! besides, they were fun questions, so i can't say that i mind... andddd it keeps me from having to think of a blog topic by myself - lazy: yes.

1. What is your most favorite thing about fall?
pumpkin baked goods, duh.

2. How would you spend your perfect Saturday?
sleep in, enjoy the morning, lounge in pool if summer, go on an errand, lay around reading, and bake something of course

3. What is something you've learned recently?
just how much it takes to run a private practice - i'm thinking i might just work for a hospital and save the hassle of dealing with a/c repairs, taxes, carpet cleaners, bills, etc

4. Do you like the seasonal drinks at Starbucks or stick to your year-round favorite?
both. but only when it comes to pumpkin spiced lattes. and even then, i probably only have one a season. generally i stick to either coffee light fraps/iced green tea/iced coffee in the summer and coffee or soy lattes in the winter...

5. What is your favorite meal to make?
i'm well-known for my pizza, but i'd pick baking over cooking any day

6. How do you spend your evenings?
depends. tues/wed i work at the Y... and the rest of the days just relaxing after work!

7. Are you passionate about anything? Why?
i'm not a terribly passionate person. wish i were. i enjoy/take interest in a lot of things like traveling, baking, medicine, but i'm not overly obsessed with anything. i think that just has to do with my personality...

8. If you were given $20 to spend on anything, what would you spend it on?
i'd save it. for real. i'm that boring. but if forced, i'd probably head over to williams-sonoma... or buy something on amazon. amazon is my favorite website ever, seriously.

pumpkin muffins

so for once i actually remembered to take pictures for the blog, but for the past 2 days, blogger won't let me upload. so i'm sorry for a post sans-pics, but this will just have to do...

anyway, everyone knows i love to bake, and one of my favorite recipes is pumpkin bread. well, this weekend i discovered a much, much faster & healthier way to make it! and it only requires a few ingredients!

1) spice cake mix [don't add the oil/eggs/water]
2) 1 can of pumpkin
3) optional: extra cinnamon
4) optional: chocolate chips, raisins

all you do is mix the cake mix with the pumpkin & add a little extra cinnamon. seriously. that's IT!!! and then if you're smart like me, you'll stir in some chocolate chips. because honestly, what isn't made better with the addition of chocolate? you could also use raisins, but i personally find the combo of pumpkin + semi-sweet to be perfect. bake these babies in the oven at 350 (i like to make mini-muffins) -- take them out when you can put a knife in, and it comes out clean

these will certainly make your monday a little sweeter. because let's be honest, mondays just suck.

hello, fall...

while the leaves haven't changed colors, and the weather still lingers in the 80's, houstonians have declared fall's arrival -- we've ushered in october as if the calendar month alone marks the changing of the season (which we all know is NOT true in texas)... though i know it is not truly fall yet, i'm pretending along with everyone else! i've decided it is finally acceptable to bake pumpkiny things (not that i don't make pumpkin chocolate chip bread year-round) and to wear more fall-like colors! i don't know a thing about decorating, but i'm kind of obsessed with this m&m jar my mom has out... waytoocute


with 4 cans of pumpkin in the pantry, i got to work today making pumpkin pie squares... which i find to be 100x better than pumpkin pie! maybe it's because the pillsbury pie crust is replaced by an oatmeal/brown sugar crust, or maybe it's the pecan crumbles on top. either way, this baby is a winner...

other fall-like happenings:

- i ordered a latte last weekend at starbucks. a real latte, not iced.

- i bought a brown, half-zip northface. i might not get to wear it until december, but...

- i've been telling myself i'm going to start jogging in the mornings now that stepping outside doesn't feel like i'm crawling into an oven

- baylor homecoming is only 3 weeks away!

- i wore sweatpants to the grocery store today & didn't feel crazy

- next month is thanksgiving! and my trip to pennsylvania :)

anyway, hope you all are embracing fall as well!

i'll leave you with this. cloe has permanently taken up residence on my bed. i don't understand. she is 9 years old and has never before thought to do this. i guess she is getting wise in her old age...

guilt trip

a few people have mentioned that they actually check my blog, and i hate to be the girl who never updates, so here is an incoherent post just because...

- i hate when people drive below the speed limit. i also hate when people get to a stoplight and sit in the right lane even though they are going straight.
- apparently UTMB just released the details of the scholarship deal i received. even though i was offered it over 2 months ago, the whole deal was shady in that no one knew how many deferments were offered or anything like that. i guess it went public because i was watching the news the other night and saw a story on it. funny because i'm one of "the 15" - yay for sorta being on the news! you can watch the little segment here: http://www.khou.com/news/investigative/UT-Campus-Overadmit-Students--Offers-Full-Scholarships-103892033.html
- julie told me about a cupcake/muffin recipe where you mix a cake mix and a can of pumpkin. i tried it out with devils food, and the muffins turned out pretty good! they were a brownie-like texture, and i was impressed given the fact that there were no eggs or oil. just pumpkin. need to try it out with spice cake mix.
- last weekend was waco weekend! hana and i's excuse was that it was premiere, and now that she is a junior, it was imperative that she visit baylor as a prospective student. not that she hasn't seen the campus a million times before. anyway, it was a wonderful weekend and went by far too quickly.
- following my recent fage yogurt craze, my engineer of a dad decided it would be smart to learn how to make yogurt. he found directions online and embarked on a yogurt making journey. he converted our oven into an incubator, had to monitor the temperature hourly, and he had to meticulously control all the variables. the thickness was right on, but it lacked the creaminess of fage. i'm impressed, but i don't know why i can't just buy yogurt at the store.

anyway, happy wednesday! hooray for only 2 more days of work. this whole 40 hours a week thing is grueling. it's been 2 months, and i'm still not used to this...

schizo

not sure if i mentioned this or not, but after watching the TODAY show, i diagnosed myself as a schizophrenic shopper: frugal about most stuff but willingly splurges on random items. i don't see how this isn't logical. save money on what doesn't matter and spend money on what you love. anyway, i've decided to make a list of my schizo splurges because i can't think of a different blog topic, and i think it might be funny to see how crazy people think i am...

chocolate chips: must be ghiradelli. must be 60% cacao. unless it is for puppy chow or something else where the chocolate flavor is disguised anyway. then any old nestle or hershey will do.

greek yogurt. ate it in athens and just discovered it in the grocery store. after eating fage, i just can't go back to anything else. this stuff is incredible. it's the thickness of sour cream and so creamy with a slight tang.

cute shoes. within reason. sometimes you just can't say no though...

starbucks... especially for frappachinos. i tried drinking a local coffeehouse's frap, and it was terrible. all wrong. made me beg to drop the $3.50 for an authentic one.

cellphone. i've realized that spending more on a phone is totally acceptable because that device remains glued to you 24/7. cannot wait to upgrade. and no, i'm not getting an iphone. thanks verizon for totally making up the fact that you were going to start carrying them...
colas. must be name brand. i don't go for dr. thunder, etc. and i also don't count diet RC as name brand - you wouldn't either after 4 years of being subjected to that at baylor & having them claim it was a diet coke equivalent. FALSE. after trying to choke it down a few times, i finally transitioned myself to DDP, and life was good again.

ice cream. why bother if it isn't blue bell?

interestingly, clothes do NOT make the list. i'm not sure that i have ever bought anything full price. i can't justify doing so whenever i know it will go on sale. that being said, i can see having jeans on the splurge list. i'm sure i'll cave one of these days. those designer pairs are just so cute...

anyway, what makes it on to your splurge list?!

lesson learned

this week i learned that even if you're working full-time, you should take time during the week to enjoy yourself. before, i used to just come home and nap, eat dinner, and lay around until bedtime. it's true, working all day is exhausting. even though you're tired, i decided that is a sorry approach because then you are only allowing yourself to have fun on the weekends. and why restrict yourself to 2 days of fun? especially whenever this isn't your real job, and this is supposed to be your fun year off... so i took a different approach this week!

monday, caitlin and i went to chuy's after i got off work, and she got off jury duty! it was fun just sitting around talking. there's something really cool about having had a friend for 11 years. woah, that is half our lives! this pic was taken senior year. caitlin, please don't kill me!

tuesday, i got to skype with leigh anne! (insert happy birthday shout-out to mrs. swarbrick!) -- i love skype. and leigh anne. and sharing deal-saving ideas, haha.

wednesday, i failed at doing something fun. was too busy cleaning and getting ready because on...

thursday, cecilia came into town! the future dr. benz had an interview at UT-Houston Med, so she stayed with me for the night, and i took her out for meditteranean food. we also made a little pitstop in highland village - super nice part of houston that i had underappreciated until this point. after drooling over anthro's clothes and wandering through central market, we came home and crashed.

friday, cec came over after her interview, and we had pizza, then she went to stay with her old roomies. i wrapped up the night with a batch of homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and a good book.

overall, it was the best week i've had in a long time! caitlin and i are already planning an adventure in houston this week! then i'll be in waco next weekend :) - glad i'm finally starting to figure out the whole time management thing! happy weekend, blog friends!

simplicity

i love how a simple day can turn out to be wonderful:
- enjoyed my coffee instead of my weekday habit of chugging it while getting ready
- deposited my paycheck since i crashed a mile before getting there yesterday
- organized a huge pile of coupons that had been stacking up
- floated around the pool [the one pro for 95 degree weather in september]
- tried out a new chicken parm recipe. dad thought i made the sauce from scratch with fresh tomatoes. my secret: sauteed fresh garlic in olive oil then added a jar of barilla's tomato basil marinara
- decided i owed it to the jetta to wash & vacuum it - note to self: stop eating your breakfast in the car on the way to work. the crumbs were out of control

nothing spectacular, but it was such a perfectly low-key day. i've found that after working nonstop all week, by the time the weekend rolls around, i want nothing more than to slow down and relax. looking forward to another day of the same tomorrow!

oops

well, today marked a semi-monumental day in my life. i got into my first legit car accident. back in high school, i knocked the bumper off my old red volvo, but insurance wasn't involved, and there was no damage to the other car, so i don't count that. sidenote: everyone in high school was totally envious of my sweet ride: false. pretty sure i was the only one without a mustang.

anyway, i was driving home from work and headed to the bank to deposit my paycheck. i went to change lanes, looked, didn't see anyone, went to move over, and either i completely didn't see the car or it sped up - nevertheless, i sideswiped him...

so we pull over, and this kid who looks 14 gets out of the car. we're both fine - it was a super minor crash. he asks for my insurance, which i already have out. instead of us just switching info, he says he first needs to go call his mom because this is his first wreck. apparently mommy told him to call the cops. after waiting around for an eternity in 98 degree weather, the cop and his mom show up on the scene. the cop got both our stories and looked at our cars. he was rather annoyed that this kid decided to involve him whenever it was a minor crash. honestly though, i was glad he was there because i would NOT have wanted to deal with that kid's mom by myself. mediator = great.

anyway, so once again i offer my insurance information. at this point, we have been standing around 30 minutes. instead of switching info and moving on with our lives, his mom insists that we wait for her to call in the claim. seriously?! i'm annoyed. cop is annoyed. cop threatens me with a ticket because she is taking too long (apparently if an accident report is written and a ticket issued, the person at fault gets the ticket even if they weren't the ones to involve the cops)... 30 minutes LATER, we finally wrap things up.

oh, i forgot to mention the best part. the kid was driving a buick lesabre. AND it was purple. pretty sure he was trying to get in a wreck just so he could total it and get an upgrade. can't blame him. it looked something like this:

it was certainly no match for my beautifully engineered german car.

while the jetta emerged relatively unscathed (except for a dent by the front tire and a few small scratches), his buick was not quite as lucky. i made him show me what all happened so i would know when i talked to insurance, and i asked that he point out what was pre-existing (but of course NOTHING was there before) - funniest thing was that he was concerned that his buick emblem got scratched. really?! i could understand if i broke off someone's mercedes symbol, but are we really crying over the buick symbol? -- lesson: vws are sturdy. lesabres are not.

anyway, all is well, and my parents were overly chill about the whole thing. it actually ended up being a good night. dad got take-out kabob, our cousins came over, and we booked our plane tickets to pennsylvania for thanksgiving! absolutely cannot wait to go enjoy cool weather!

year off

there's so much hype surrounding a year off. i feel like i need to do a bunch of really impressive stuff before i start school in august (2011), or else people are going to think i'm super lame (which i will be if i just sit around working for a year straight). while i don't plan on backpacking through asia for 6 months or solving world hunger, i am hoping to take a few trips. ideas currently simmering in my brain:

1) dubai: no, i wouldn't dress up in ridiculous outfits like these. yes, i would go ride a camel. besides, i haven't been to the motherland yet... and while dubai isn't technically the motherland, it is part of the mothercontinent... which is enough for me because i don't plan on going anywhere near baghdaddy even if obama says "mission accomplished"

2) pennsylvania: for probably the millionth time. but how can you not love it?! just look at that gorgeous lake! i'm thinking maybe a thanksgiving trip (that would actually be a first) as well as a summer trip

3) carribean escape: i would love nothing more than to get the maas girls together for a trip before back-to-school. needs to happen.

4) colorado: can't believe i had never been until last august. ohmygosh: so in love with that state. after our summer trip, we talked dad into a ski-trip the following march. that was only 6 months ago, and i already feel the need to go back asap.

5) waco: i'm not sure that this counts as vacay, but i plan on heading up at least 3 or 4 times. i LOVE waco. and baylor. and my friends. and how could i possibly miss my 1st homecoming as an ALUM??? - and probably the last one until i'm OLD.

anyway, that's what i'm working on for now. definitely not the whole list. i certainly wouldn't say 'no' to a trip to HARRY POTTER WORLD. or a cruise. or hawaii. or... well, you get the picture. now off to bed. yay for only having a 4-day work week!

you don't go to med school to be a:

1) nurse
2) surgical tech
3) sonographer
4) ultrasound tech
5) physican assistant
6) physical therapist
7) vet tech
8) psychologist

people have asked me if i am going to med school to be all of those things. i don't know why they don't just call it doctor school; it would clear up a lot of the confusion. everyone else gets a clean-cut school name: nursing school, dental school, PA school, law school, etc.

also interesting to note that half the people who hear the word "cadaver" don't know what it means. i've had to explain countless times that dissecting a cadaver means a DEAD HUMAN. oh euphemisms.

wednesday's ramblings

- pumpkin spice lattes are back! too bad it is still 98 degrees outside. i can't imagine drinking one without it being cool outside and bundled in a scarf. aka: houston, cool front, now. and you're probably thinking getting it iced is a good solution. nope, tried it. not the same.
- i feel like a work-a-holic this week. working both jobs everyday. i get home from job #1 at 4pm and have to be at job #2 at 6pm... but then i realized i'll be working more than double this many hours a week in residency. and lives will be at stake while i'm running on coffee vapors. awesome.
- i saw an old man driving a mercedes convertible today. i decided that i fully intend on having an extravagant, unnecessary car when i get old. no grandma cadillac for me. kids don't need inheritances anyway - it'll just make them lazy... well, according to bill gates at least. and he's quite the smart guy. or at least i think so.
- i've decided to try & get into a workout routine. i want to pick-up reformer pilates again... and maybe some kickboxing and whatnot
- my dad just mentioned something about a disney trip this fall aka HARRY POTTER WORLD. i'm so excited you'd think i was a 5 year old.

well that's all for now. we're mid-week!!! hooray!

weekend wrap-up

i don't understand how people in the real-world who work all week find the energy to go out on friday night. or saturday night. or sunday night. after working 35 or 40 hours a week, i want nothing more than to lay in bed, read, bake, and catch-up on life. i managed to check all those off the list this weekend.

my big achievement this weekend was FINALLY cleaning my room. and it was a feat. after months of having every corner stacked with kitchen stuff or baylor apartment stuff, it is kind of amazing to see empty corners. glad that only took me 9 months. i think it was more of a mental thing though - i expected to have moved out by this point, so cleaning kind of resigned me to the fact that i'll be living here another year. which also brings up the fact that TOMORROW was supposed to be my first day of medical school. i'm starting to wonder if saving myself 60k (+ interest) by taking a year off is worth my sanity. probably not. too late though. p.s: look how pretty this building on UTMB's campus is!

in other news, hana and i went to HEB today, and i picked up the ingredients to make the wedding cake recipe abby recommended! mmm :) - winner for sure. hana insisted on the pink icing...

well, looks like it is back to work tomorrow. i REALLY hope that i love being a doctor, and that i LOVE going to work every day. don't get me wrong, i'm sure i won't love waking up at 3am to deliver a baby, but as long as i am fulfilled by what i do and get a sense of accomplishment out of it, i think i'll be happy.

twenty-two... and a half

i'm officially 22.5 today - i don't generally observe half-birthdays, but this year i actually remembered. and i can't say that i celebrated, but i did make a cake because really, i'll use any excuse to bake. i wanted to try out a wedding cake recipe from my new blogfriend abby, but i was too lazy to go to the store (typical) and decided to make something with things already in the pantry. i went with pioneer woman's sheet cake recipe. have i mentioned that i want to be her child? because i do.

once again, pioneer woman delivered excellent results. then again, how can you go wrong shoving 2 sticks of butter into an 8x8 pan. i'm thinking i should probably dust off my sneakers and reacquaint myself with the Y this week...

in other news, today is my first day off work in TWELVE DAYS. having to work last weekend was just NOT okay. i cherish my veg time way too much to go without it for so long. had a major "working mom" moment this week whenever i used REFRIGERATED SUGAR COOKIE DOUGH. granted, i made homemade icing, but still, i felt guilty. sidenote: has anyone noticed that the refrigerated sugar cookie dough is 1000x yummier than homemade sugar cookie dough (pre-baking)? i wasn't introduced to the wonder of eating store-bought cookie dough until freshman year at baylor when leigh anne & emily kept it stocked in their fridge... main cause of the freshman 15? i think so.

death to the copy machine

remember this amazing scene from "Office Space" ?? -- well, i found it funny when i first watched it, but i never truly understood their emotions until dealing with my own finicky copier at work. and by finicky, i really mean something else, but i'm keeping it PG (unlike the video clip itself - just be forewarned). anyway, i absolutely LOATHE the copier at work and would love nothing more than to inflict a slow, agonizing death on it. yes, i realize it is an inanimate object, but in the past two days, our copier has jammed more than it has printed, produced speckled copies, and destroyed countless expensive brochures. okay, rant over. thanks for listening!

best (or worst) analogy ever:

now that a lot of people i know are starting med school, it has been interesting reading their status updates/blogs/twitters because it is a good idea of what i'll be doing next year. my favorite thing so far: med school is like trying to drink from a fire hydrant. awesome, can't wait.

top10 reasons i'm ready for fall:

10. i'm tired of heat advisories & 100+ degree weather
9. changing of the leaves - oh wait, i live in texas
8. sweatshirts! - though this might not happen until winter
7. being able to get a hot beverage at starbucks & not feel crazy for doing so
6. snuggling up with a blanket and a book
5. season premieres of my favorite tv shows
4. fall marks the beginning of the holiday season
3. back to the routine. summer is fun, but i'm such a scheduled person.
2. fall = HOMECOMING! first one as a baylor alum = super exciting.
1. pumpkin!!! - one of my favorite & most versatile ingredients: pumpkin bread, pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin pie squares, pumpkin log, pumpkin pie, etc

top10 random thoughts

10. i came home this weekend to a jar of nutella: dangerous. never appreciated the goodness and versatility of "hazelnoot paste" until i studied abroad - nutella popsicles, nutella crepes, nutella gelato, etc - nom nom nom
9. my co-worker told me she put all 3 of her kids in cloth diapers because regular diapers have absorbency chemicals in them that can be bad for baby. i think that is a risk i'll have to take.
8. it is pouring in houston. i'm so going to wear cheetah rainboots to my babysitting job.
7. i'm currently obsessed with wheat english muffins + honey-roasted peanutbutter from heb (the stuff you grind yourself)
6. i'm starting to appreciate my daily commute. nice time to myself where i'm forced to do nothing but think. and not wreck. well, there's always the occasional text, but...
5. i opened a savings account today! 0.05% interest - lame. but 1.3% once i hit $2500. whoo- big bucks.
4. my little sister signed up for fall premiere at baylor next month. i went to the same premiere event 5 years ago. super cute. i've so got her brainwashed to sic 'em in her sleep.
3. being able to say i have 2 jobs makes me feel hardcore. even if i don't work full-time between the two. it still sounds like a challenge.
2. having a new job that requires dressing business casual has been a great excuse to buy clothes. it also coincided with good sales at ann taylor loft. can't tell you how many $10 - $15 dresses i've bought :)
1. need to stop blogging and go to work. i'm NEVER on-time to the childcare job even though that's the one i have to clock-in for. i'm ALWAYS on-time for the receptionist job that doesn't require clocking-in. and i can't seem to understand that.

top10 fatty fest foods

in my brain, eating on vacay is always calorie-free. completely illogical, yet totally irreversible. the following are the top10 indulgences of my latest trip:

10. pizza
9. (multiple) iced coffees
8. gummies
7. chips & queso
6. cake
5. baked ziti
4. java chip light frap
3. sweet potato fries
2. rolls & butter
1. dark chocolate covered coffee beans

wow - that was actually worse than i thought. i'm thinking healthfest this week to detox. good thing no more vacay for awhile. i'm sorry, digestive system.

top10 qualms with living at home:

10. half my laundry never makes it back. our washer = a vortex.
9. i have to park my car in the street.
8. food, or lack thereof. i shop; it disappears instantly.
7. sharing a bathroom.
6. my mom creeps on my FB & reads me my comments/wallposts.
5. no privacy. not even a bedroom door lock.
4. dramarama 24/7.
3. still being told i should be home before the sun goes down.
2. our alarm system: it beeps everytime you open the door.
1. being told to clean my room. when im 22.

then again, the trade-off is free room & board. and 100% of my paycheck going in my pocket. guess i shouldn't complain :) -- no bills in my name = traveling, starbucks, books, clothes, etc... oh and i guess i'm supposed to be saving for med school? about that...

top20 things laying on my floor

so my bedroom has been a wreck ever since i graduated. it was in the awkward transitional state of moving from baylor, taking a few months off, and then moving to galvy, so every corner in my room is piled with boxes. except for my 8 month vacay recently turned into 20 months, and now i just have no excuse... anyway, this is my attempt to shame myself into cleaning - doubt it'll work, but it is worth a try... so without further ado, i present to you, the top20 things laying on my bedroom floor (because 10 really wouldn't have even scratched the surface):

20. textbooks from last, last semester
19. old laptop
18. loads of coupons
17. voter registration card
16. cec's chili recipe
15. student organization flyers from utmb
14. half-unpacked duffle bag from gruene trip
13. random outfits for work i tried on & ditched
12. coffeemaker
11. at least 5 pairs of shoes
10. empty shopping bags
9. clean/not sure/dirty pieces of laundry
8. gum wrappers x a million
7. blue fabric from freshman dorm
6. empty water bottles
5. papertowels (from previous cleaning attempt)
4. post-it notes... in every color
3. black trashbag full of clothes to donate
2. bobbypins. bobbypins. bobbypins.
1. empty glass&spoon from afternoon froyo

okay, so i think that was counter-productive. now i'm overwhelmed and unmotivated. and the only cure for that is avoiding the problem and reading harry potter instead.

schrader valves

on saturday morning, my mom, hana, and i said goodbye to houston & took off for a girls' weekend. somehow i've been to san antonio 184903 times, but i had never been to gruene. we arrived around noon, and it was definitely 100 degrees outside. our first stop was the gristmill for lunch - certainly lived up to the hype & was a very neat location, nestled in the woods by the river! after a quick little walk around the town, we decided we weren't texan enough (hello, okie by birth!) to brave the heat, so we jumped in the car and headed to our hotel in san antonio

after appreciating the wonders of a/c for an hour, we ventured out to the quarry market - super nice outdoor shopping complex ... as if that wasn't enough, we hit the mall too... and walmart, twice... within 2 hours - typical mustafa behavior

the next morning, my mom insisted we go to the UT Co-op store to shop for my brother... ohmygosh: i was drowning in burnt orange and cream. and while i don't hate UT as much as A&M (hello, UTMB next year), my allegiance to my alma mater prevails... and with no sight of green or gold, and nothing but bevos for miles, it just wasn't pleasant...

we finally made it to the river though, rented our tubes, and set out for our first float. it was amazing - cold water + 100 degrees outside = perfection - unfortunately, we weren't the only ones that thought this made for a wonderful combo - everyone within 100 miles was floating with us - fun for people-watching, not so fun when you are actually bumping into the creepers' tubes... eeek - awesome overall though!!!

sidenote: per my usual graceful behavior, i found it necessary to jump onto my tube from the side of the river. note this now - it will be important later...

fast-forward to this afternoon... hana and i went shopping in the galleria, and i was trying on a dress. my back had been hurting since this morning, and i went to zip the dress and noticed a red splotch on my back. when i looked closer, i saw this (and yes, i made my sister hold up a pen so that you could tell the size of it):

my first thought - OHMYGOSH: some kind of parasite must have burrowed into my back while in the river - wouldn't surprise me with all the people and nastiness that comes with them... i was already imagining a trip to the doctor & feeling the pain of this worm being dug out of my back. just for kicks, here is what a parasite under the skin looks like:

as you can see, my theory was not far off. both pictures exhibit curved patterns and appear red and inflamed. lucky for me, in the middle of my panic attack in the urban outfitter's dressing room, my brains of a sister points out that it is bruised and probably resulted from blunt injury...

and then i remembered how i jumped and landed straight on the schrader valve, aka that pointy thing you inflate the tube with (i only learned the proper name after this recent incident) - in my defense, on my tube it was sticking straight out of the top & was 6 inches long. perfect for nearly impaling me.

imagine the relief of realizing you aren't harboring a parasite inside you: fantastic. we celebrated by buying the dress i was trying on, going out for meditteranean food, hitting up the biggest williams-sonoma store i've ever seen, and topping it off with my first ever trip to sprinkles. hooray for being parasite-free!

top10

was chatting with my friend who just started a blog, and she suggested doing top10 lists for entries! loved the idea and decided to try out that format. so here goes nothing...

TOP 10 WAYS TO WASTE TIME (i'm skilled at this after 8 months of vacay):
10. finally unpacking the trunk of my car from when i moved out of my baylor apt.
9. re-reading the hp series. actually, that's the most productive thing i've done.
8. researching awesome vacation packages and deals that you'll never go on.
7. reading random blogs. nothing says fun like following people you don't know.
6. online tv. watching anything and everything.
5. baking for no reason. and then finding ppl to drop it off to!
4. napping. being sleepy isn't required. just close your eyes and you'll doze off.
3. watching the TODAY show. nothing kills time & brain cells like kathy & hoda.
2. cleaning your closet & discovering boxes from when you moved in 8 yrs ago.
1. working jobs that will in no way prepare you for your future career.

hp therapy

after waking up at 6:50 am, getting to the Y at 7:45 am, watching crying babies for 4 hours, shoving down lunch while making the 30 min drive to my second job (what would i do if i couldn't multi-task?!), working 4 hours at the second job, driving 30 minutes home, and eating dinner... i can't think of a better way to decompress:

typical tuesday

officially survived the 2nd day of my new job! - i like the people and the office and all, but i HATE new things ... aka the process of learning how to be a receptionist. i have an issue with NOT being really good at what i do, so it is hard for me to try and accept that this is something that i have to learn, and that i will make mistakes. i'm way too much of a Type A personality for my own good.

my duties so far include: answering the phone/taking messages, filing, making labels for files, inputing massive amts of patient/insurance data into the computer, scheduling, putting together new patient files, calling insurance, etc etc etc... anywayyyyy - eventually i'll learn & life will be good.

in other news, i got to skype with Leigh Anne today - i love skype! it is way more personal than a phonecall (which i'm terrible about randomly calling people to catch-up) - i just love seeing people face-to-face... if we both had a cup of coffee, we could have pretended we were at starbucks!... here we are, silly freshmen at baylor! can't believe it has been 4 years!

after dinner today, i was feeling a little bit of a void in my baking life... i had a carton of blueberries from walmart sitting in the fridge that were getting soft, so i whipped up my homemade blueberry muffins - complete with a blueberry jelly filling & orange peel/sugar topping - gloriousness. one day i really will post step-by-step pics... no lie, i was pretty impressed with my camera for taking these pics though