Matt and I are talking about taking a European vacation for a bit when I have a little time this fall. It seems ludacris that we would be planning this so quickly while his parents have been planning a trip to Spain around that same time since last summer, but we are still young and spontaneous! And I also wanted to see a country I haven’t seen before, but whenever anywhere in Europe is mentioned it would take all my willpower not to give in. Europe is like that friend where you always know no matter what you doing when you hang out you will have a blast. Right now Matt for sure has his heart set on London due to his unwavering desire to see his number one obsession (Chelsea FC ) play a game. I love London and have friends there so I am not opposed. Plus the look on Matt’s face when he walks into that stadium will be worth a million dollars. Then we talked about going to Paris (Paris with your fiance….is anything more romantic?) or Scotland or Italy or somewhere else that I know will be great. Matt and I ‘s first date was for tapas because we wanted to reminisce of our travels in Spain. He went to Europe for 6 weeks with a buddy after college and I studied abroad and went on a few trips here and there. I went to visit friends in London at about the same time he was there- funny coincidence! 

anyways, there’s a good chance we won’t go, or end up going somewhere else with a beach and cheaper airfare, but I live to daydream of strolls down cobblestone sidewalks, the hot beating sun while everyone else is taking a midday nap, cheap bottles of wine, and the best cheese and bread you will ever find. 

yellowonesdontstop:

3rd Semi-Annual Beauty Giveaway Is Here!

Click through the pictures above to see all the goodies you can win. There are 16 bottles of nail polish, gel nail stuff (including one big starter kit), tons of hair frizz stuff, hair protectant, conditioner (including one very expensive brand), moisturizers, bronzers, some MAC lipglass (one in Pink Poodle and one in Russian Red) and more. There is even a Revlon ceramic hair straightener. All new, all unused/unopened. I bought everything for cheap at my magazine’s beauty sale, and am giving it ALL away to ONE lucky winner. Retail value: Roughly $525 WINNER TAKES ALL!

Rules to Enter:

1. Follow this blog
2. Reblog this post
3. One entry per person
4. Likes will not count as an entry
5. Contest ends MAY 2nd, 8pm EST.
6.  Winner will be chosen using random.org and announced at 9pm EST. 

GOOD LUCK! May the odds be EVER in your favor!

Not only has the weather been nice lately in Chicago, but I have been able to have 2 fantastic weekends. I usually am not up to much on the weekends because of school but last weekend:

Friday: went to a barn dance themed party in honor of one of my good friend’s birthdays. There was like 8 tons of hay on the floor- not so great for my allergies. I caught up with my newly married friends- we were the “boring married” people in the corner but I can’t wait to set up double dates. 

Sat: pounded out a presentation after working a couple hours, then headed to Rick’s apt for some day drinking St. Patty’s festivities. Met up with Terra and Dave. It was awesome seeing all my friends having a great time with each other. Minus the drama later and the tiredness that sent me home at 1 am …it was worth it. 

Sun: went to the Oswego area to celebrate Matt’s grandma’s 80th birthday. Good seeing the whole side of Matt’s family. Came back to dinner at Nellcote with Terra and Dave. Was a disappointed- a nice space but as far as food flavor and portions go there are way better restaurants in Chicago- hence why I tried to move our fatty party to the Girl and the Goat. But then we just ended up drinking and eating candy at Dave’s office

Fri: finished the neuro shelf and went day eating/drinking at Big Star. That place had the most delicious tacos- must go back to sit outside later. Ate dinner with Matt at Vera- a new tapas place in the West Loop area. Amazing dinner. Matt was annoyed I ordered a 21$ ham plate though. So tired so watched “Like Crazy”- reminded me about when I was young and crazy in love. I liked that it realistically portrayed the infatuation and how it isn’t as always as perfect as it seems

Sat: 2 hours of martial arts, followed by Navy Pier with Lia to pick up the Shamrock Shuffle packet- that was an adventure. Had a great time. Then went to West Town Tavern with our parents. They had a bottle of champagne waiting. The food was superb- simple, but flavorful- I had the duck with carmelized brussel sprouts. We talked some shop about the wedding. They congratulated each other on having great kids finding a great partner and how they are lucky the respective in laws won’t be crazy. We went through quite a few bottles of wine. There is talks of a Charlie Trotters outing in the works and I hope it pans out! Then came home to watch “Young Adult”- an interesting black comedy

Sun: ran the Sham Shuffle- a nice day to run although it would have been fun to run with someone. Came back to read Hunger Games- only 2 hours to read it. It was good, but a little perplexed on all the hype. At least it didn’t suck majorly like Twilight and I could get behind the female character. It was nice being able to chill and read and not worry about school. Haven’t done that in awhile. Went to the grocery store and now I have all kinds of deliciousness to eat. Watching “Melancholia” now but not really into it. Planning to cook lasagna and get ready for “Mad Men”- can’t wait!! 

Very sad my weekends are over. Hope next one has some fun times in store. 

Super excited: Matt and I finally got engaged!

We had been talking about it, even going ring shopping once. I knew that there was no one better out there that I could possibly find that I would want to spend the rest of my life with :) 

I was thinking maybe this summer would be the time, but he surprised me on our trip to Costa Rica. I had kind of been keeping one eye out for a ring box, but to no avail. Even on our super romantic Valentine’s Dinner in the mountains when the photographer told him he looked like just the kind of guy to do a “special pose” and with another couple getting engaged, nothing happened (he admitted he had the ring in his pocket but never found a moment alone). 

I had about given up thoughts when I snooped through his backpack while at the pool. I didn’t find a box, but found his sunglasses case, which was giant. I thought it was the perfect spot to hide a box and I peeked…and there was a box in there! I freaked out and got really dizzy and couldn’t even look at the ring, and still had doubts that was what it was. 

So that evening, as we strolled on the beach at sunset and sat by a secluded tidal pool spot, I kind of had an idea what would happen. He gave a whole speech about how he wants to travel with me since this was the best vacation ever and how he never wants to be without me blah blah. I think even he surprised himself by how nervous he was. He got on one knee and pulled out this beautiful ring. I was sitting ( I had always pictured myself standing but whatever). I was really happy, but no tears or anything (I thought maybe my engagement would be the one to do me in, but I just can’t get myself to cry about anything sappy like that!). I was really happy and we went to a really nice beach hotel fish dinner to celebrate. I kept looking at my ring. That night we went swimming at our hotel and just enjoyed our time together. I was really glad I had no feelings of dread but just feelings of pure happiness and love. I especially loved calling our parents and having them get choked up and telling us how much they love the soon to be son/daughter. I love his parents and know Matt loves mine and also both our sets of parents have become fast friends with each other. 

Now is for wedding planning…it is really complicated because I am trying to accommadate everyone’s schedules. And we are really aiming to do a destination wedding, so even deciding on a country is a challenge. But I know the end product will be worth it so it is what it is :)

I am running the Disney Princess Half Marathon. I am excited because it is a reunion of some of us Disney folks. I decided to just write some random things about training/exercise/diet in general because that is what we are all writing about. To be honest I have been bad with specific running training because I am so addicted to martial arts. Whenever I have free time I go to the gym and take 2 classes. For whatever reason, our service on this rotation has been slowing down and we’ve been getting out early so I was able to go to 8 classes last week woo-hoo! I really need to run though, and so have been doing it Sundays which means I have been working out like 6 days per week. I will say that the girls living in the south are at a major advantage. Chicago is full of snow/ice or is cold. I don’t like doing distances in the cold, although a few weeks ago I ran 10 miles at a “warm” 40 degrees. It is hard to do any distance when I am relying on the treadmill- I usually only go like 4 miles because I am slow and that takes me like 45 minutes. I want to try to run maybe 10 miles in Costa Rica but I could see Matt getting crabby about it, there not being any good running trails (in Cali I ran 10 miles around the resort down service roads haha), and also were really busy with excursions and other physical activities. So I guess I’m pretty much relying on going slow, being in shape to get me going. i ran 9 miles with Nancy without trying and although I was slow it wasn’t too bad.

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1. I have a lady crush on Gina Carano- she is a great female MMA fighter. Now she’s in the new movie Haywire and I can’t wait to see it. I am super into martial arts right now and she is an inspiration. Haha speaking of that, my gym wants me to do a video taped testimonial tomorrow…I am nervous but excited for my on screen debut (kidding!). On a sort of related topic- I wish I had money to buy Lululemon clothes. That is what everyone at my gym wears it seems and it makes me covet the pieces I think are super cute and flattering. 

2. I loved the movie “Mao’s Last Dancer”. It is on Netflix instant. I think Matt even liked it. I am a sucker for ballet movies. I love Center Stage because although it is cheesy, it has great dancing in it. I am very particular about my ballet. Although I am not amazing by any means, I have been doing it since I was 3 so I am pretty keen on picking up techniques (I liked Black Swan but the dancing was meh. Esp. Natalie Portman- not surprisingly. On the flip side, The Company had great dancing but a blah story line). The lead from Center Stage is also in this movie although she seems to have lost her luster. Anyways, an inspiring ballet film.

3. I have not been sleeping well. I have practically the easiest two weeks of med school right now but they are coming to an end and that makes me nervous. Plus during these easy weeks I should be studying or something but of course that hasn’t been happening. Matt’s work schedule is probably changing which makes me fret about having him live with me all day every day. On top of all this, the surgery is Friday and the closer it comes to that day the more out of sorts I feel. 

Time to reflect on the past year and figure out how I will write 2012 when it is taken me this long to write 2011 when writing the date. This year had its high and low points, but overall was a great year. I feel like the years keep getting better. I am very happy and hope to have this outlook for the rest of my days

Highlights:

starting 3rd year of med school (actually seeing patients!)

traveling : Orlando, New Orleans, Florida Keys, Miami, Minnesota, and Palm Springs/San Diego. 

living with Matt

New pets: getting hamsters and my brother getting a cat and turtle

excitement: the imminent wedding of one of my good friends, Matt’s friends’ wedding, and the arrival of baby Alayna. 

hanging out with friends: Chicago visits from Nancy and Terra, visiting them in Florida, random times with the southside crew, many nights with the college crowd, spending more time getting to know my fellow med students

hanging out with family: family trips (grandpa’s 90th birthday reunion and San Diego Christmas with the cousins), spending time in New Orleans and Crystal Lake with Matt’s family, and the brother finally coming back to Chicago.

hobbies: running (shamrock shuffle, soldier field 10 mile, hot chocolate 15k, turkey trot), joining a martial arts gym (plenty of boxing, krav, jiujitsu, MMA), reading lots, watching lots of movies, cooking way more (made things like paella, eggplant parmigian, chili, shrimp scampi)

lowlights:

starting 3rd year of med school (actually have to get out of bed and sometimes work 80 hour weeks and get yelled at!)

studying for boards (even though i didn’t buckle down as hard as I should have, I still studied more than I ever have before)

5 cancer diagnoses 

pets passing away

random crabbiness! 

Overall the good outweighed the bad. 2012 is shaping up to be a year of decisions. Decisions of what I want to be and where I want to go do it and also decisions of who I am going to spend the rest of my life with. More traveling to Costa Rica, Orlando for the Princess half marathon,  Fort Myers, FL, Newport Beach, CA, and Mexico. Chicago Marathon 2012? New friends? who knows what the future will bring, hopefully not the end of the world though

I hate cancer. I feel like everyone gets it, and it is only a matter of time. I hate to be so depressing, but I just found out another person I love has been diagnosed. I am so scared- I can’t lose him, I just can’t. I never thought I would be having to deal with 2 cancer diagnoses in the same few months of 2 of the most important people in my life. It seems like it is in the early stage, but it cannot be certain until a radical surgery is done followed by radiation. Surgery freaks me out enough to begin with. I am just going to worry until then, and I don’t know how I’m going to focus on school right now.

I try to be as healthy as I can, but I know there are parts of my life that could be improved. I am pretty good on the exercising, but I am going to try to focus on revamping my diet and other things like taking vitamins, being diligent about sunscreen, etc. And also one of the most important things is to be up on preventative screening when the time comes- catching things early is a game changer.

This past week has been tiring and awesome at the same time. I love having visitors but it is tiring working around 2 schedules when you are working as well! (now i know why my mom freaks out when my family comes to visit). One of my best friends Nancy was here from Florida for a seahorse conference of all things. It was nice getting to spend some uninterrupted time with her- all of us friends know how she likes to lame out sometimes :) We ate dinner at the Rosebud, had pillowtalk, ran a race together, met my friends at a bar, went to Second City, ate at RJ Grunts, and got Dim Sum. All and all a great time had by all.

The Hot Chocolate 15k was rough. I have not run in like 2 months at all. Not to say I’m not active- I am probably more active now than I have been with my martial arts membership. I had hoped that would translate into good running but alas it did not. I felt bad because I definitely had to walk a few times and slowed down Nancy and her brother Nick (who was running backwards lol) I am a slow runner but not usually that slow! oh well we had fun and got to eat yummy fondue. I hate waking up for races but love the feeling I have when I finish. Next up is Turkey Trot which starts literally a block away from my parent’s house. Every year I run it I get a mini asthma flare up due to the cold air which seems to trigger my asthma. I should bring my inhaler this time. Then I have the Disney Princess. I can’t wait to run with my girls but can’t slow them down- we don’t want to get picked up by the slow truck! I have no idea how to train for it though in the CHicago winter- I don’t think I can run 2+ hrs on the treadmill without wanting to off myself.

Right after Nancy left I got a last minute house guest for the night. My friend Helen from Nottingham where I studied abroad was in Chicago for 2 nights only and wanted to know if she could stay at my place one of those nights so she wasn’t stuck in Rockford with her cousins. It was great seeing her and really made me miss my other English friends that were in our group- even though there is FB and things, we really haven’t been good about staying in contact even though we were so close over there, and I visited a year after I studied there. I would love to visit again, which might be possible since Matt is the biggest Chelsea fan ever and would probably sell his soul for a chance to go to a game. It was cool to compare notes with Helen (she is a doctor in England and younger than me! they do it so differently) like how she gets paid to do rotations (um America take note!) and how all surgeons have to get PhDs. She also just got back from climbing Mt Kili and you all know that is on my bucket list so it was amazing to hear about. I would love to do that :)

So that is all that happened…the next few weeks are devoted to family. Haha that is funny because I start my Family rotation in a week-ish and am going to MN to celebrate my grandpa’s 90th and then of course my favorite holiday Thanksgiving :)