Summer Book List

If I have any time between my pediatric clinicals and multiple presentations for health promotion (ugh), I'd gonna grab these guys from the library for a little escapism.

The Birth House by Ami McKay

Affluenza by John De Graff et al.

Bossypants by Tina Fey

From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris

Happy Weekend

Image via Tartelette

What is everyone up to this weekend? I finally got around to using my birthday gift card and I had a wonderful spa day yesterday including body scrub, facial and a Swedish massage. It was much needed after these past few weeks of school. Tomorrow, I'm going to get up bright and early and scope out the farmers market. I hope to get some delicious veggies and maybe some flavored balsamic vinegar for summer salads. Then I'll spend the rest of the weekend preparing for my last OB exam on Monday, which apparently, I need to study for more than I have been. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Stuck in my Head

This song has been stuck in my head the past few days. I love the message and the blusey, motown vibe.

 

Aloe Blacc - I Need a Dollar

What do you think?

Happy Birthday

Just wanted to wish my big brother A.J. a happy 30th birthday. I think you'll find 30 to be a wonderful year.

Love you!

Summer

Yesterday marked the official beginning of summer, and although I'm stuck inside on this rainy day and bogged down with school work, the thought of summer food is carrying me through until our mini vacation over 4th of July weekend.

 

Sliced tomato salad with mozzarella and basil

Grilled corn on the cob with cilantro, lime and queso fresco

and a strawberry and watermelon salad

I just have to make it to next weekend...

image 1 via Domestic Reflections,

image 2 via Oprah.com, 

image 3 via Wholesome Cook

Just in Case

I failed my most recent OB test, which is astounding to me as I'm the person reading OB books and watching birth videos for fun, and at first I thought "I'll be fine, I just have to get a 75 on my next exam for a passing average", but then I thought "there is a small chance I won't pass this course" and instead of blowing that thought off and staying positive I settled into that small chance and began to think about what would happen if things didn't go the way we planned. The thought of dropping to the traditional nursing program (I'm in an accelerated track), and graduating in 2013 is more than I can handle. Plus, with my clinical experience sort of turning me off of becoming a labor & delivery nurse (more on that later), I don't think I would do it. Yes I want to be a nurse, but I want to move to Michigan and start having children more. Maybe I could be a doula (my sister in law Kate and I could do it together), maybe I could become a lactation educator or childbirth educator. Maybe I could somehow find a way to turn this blog into a business of sorts. Thinking about this alternate path is scary and exciting at the same time and I guess, now that I'm half way through nursing school, I'm a little burned out. Nobody in my family read this and panic. I'm sure I'll pass this course (see? optimistic), but if I don't, I think it only makes sense to prepare myself for the possibilities, and be willing to let go.

image via Pinterest, original source unknown.

Happy Friday

Style Me Pretty via Pinterest

What is everyone up to this weekend? Tonight, Mike and I are heading to an outdoor wedding (hope the weather cooperates). As for the rest of the weekend, I'm off from clinicals (one of very few weekends) so I'm going to be sitting on my patio doing homework, hopefully fitting in a bike ride or too, and getting together with some friends for lunch on Sunday. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Pinterest

You may have noticed a new innocuous looking link in the "check me out" section for "Pinterest". 

What is Pinterest? Well apart from my new obsession;

"Think of Pinterest as a virtual pinboard — a place where you can create collections of things you love and "follow" collections created by people with great taste.

People use Pinterest to collect and share all sorts of things -- wedding inspiration, favorite T-shirts, DJ equipment. You name it, people are pinning it".

Since I started pinning a few months ago, I've gotten so many amazing ideas for decor, recipes, style, baby gear, inspiration, you name it. It's just a great place to store ideas in a visual, inspiring way, without using up your hard drive or cluttering your bookmarks. Pictures from around the web can be pinned with the pinmarklet (a link installed in your bookmarks toolbar), or you can simply repin the images already pinned by other uses by perusing Pinterest. 

Below is my "decor" pin board, which gives a pretty clear picture of my style "woods, white tones, grays, silvers, natural element, etc." It's so nice to see everything laid out and accessible; by clicking on any image, image will open up on a new page with a link to where it is from. Genius! 

So feel free to head over to Pinterest and peruse my boards (I have 14 - from gardening to party inspiration). Or sign up yourself. You have to "apply" and you'll get an invite in a few weeks. Totally worth the wait. Happy Pinning!