Belated Christmas

Better Get my Tuesday post in before I'm an entire week late! Christmas was fantastically relaxing, and I'm stuffed to the brim with gluten free cookies and Reuben dip thanks to my glorious mother.  Heading out for another interview tomorrow (when will these end?), and spent the night vegging and catching up on Glee. Love it.



1. When do you put up and take down your Christmas decorations?
I try to put them up after thanksgiving, but I usually wait til at least December. It takes me a while, because I must do a thorough cleaning before I decorate. Dust and tacky xmas junk is not a good combo for my psyche. I usually leave them up till after new years, but not till epiphany. I'm ready to declutter. I have on occasion left ONLY the snowflakes up until February though!

2. What do you do to simplify the holiday season?
Well lets see. This year I took boards right before Christmas, so I simplified by almost totally ignoring it. I bought presents for the little ones, and my mom...and that's it. sorry everyone!

3. What do you do to remind yourself and your family what the Christmas season is all about?
I think making it a priority to just spend the day with those you love is the best way to remember to always keep love in your heart.

4. How do you spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day?
Christmas Eve is spent with my dad's sisters and assorted cousins. Christmas day is reserved for sitting around in my pjs and playing trivia with my family! And of course, a smorgasbord of appetizers is provided. yum.


5. What is your favorite Christmas tradition?
I love how my mom wraps toiletries up for us in our stockings. We actually don't stick to many steadfast traditions. I do love the pickle rolls on Christmas eve. those are mandatory :)

6. Did you do the whole Santa thing growing up? What do you like/not like about continuing the tradition?
We had Santa, but nothing overly elaborate. One year my Dad rang jingle bells outside. Most memorably, we would go downtown and see Santa, shop and eat fast food by a gigantic fountain. One year, nick absolutely freaked out and bolted off Santa's lap into the towel section of Daytons. HAHA. I had Santa all to myself :)


7. What is your favorite Christmas cookie?
Hands down, my grandma's lemon sugar cookies. I would just lay on the couch with a tin of those babies! yum. no GF substitute however, tear. But I do love my mom's buckeyes, and this year we got wonderful gingerbread cookies from Bittersweet Bakery.

8. How do you take your egg nog?
I've never "taken" it. However, one year at midnight mass a sorry parishioner imbibed a bit too zealously on the creamy stuff and lost his nog in the pew, aisle and potted plant during silent night. Sick. Lost my desire to partake in that sticky sweet vomity traditional beverage. 

9. What is your favorite Christmas carol and why?
Hmmm. Hard one. Probably Do you hear what I hear, I can sing a mean harmony to that one.

10. When was the last time you had a white Christmas?
Well this Christmas was about 16 inches of whiteness! In MN this is usually not a problem.

sleepy

I'm so sleepy. A quick post to wake my mind? Then back to the books.

25 foods you would never miss.

1. twinkies
2. Ho Hos
3. Hot dogs
4. Kraft mac and cheese
5. milk
6. walnuts
5. Hot pockets
6. frozen pizza
7. redi whip
8. sprinkles
9. egg mcmuffins
10. neopolitan ice cream
11. maraschino cherries
12. jelly donoughts
13. malt o meal
14. black licorice
15. candy corn
16. chow mein
17. regular pop
18. pimento loaf
19. bologna
20. toaster strudel
21. angel food cake
22. egg bakes
23. instant coffee
24. cafeteria turkey gravey
25. fish sticks

10 on Tuesday!

Back from the windy city, ready for tuesday!

1) If you could change anything about your physical appearance, what would it be?
Well let's see. I think I'd add wings.

2) Is there a habit in others that you find annoying?
Being late. period. Super freaking rude.

3) What is your favorite recipe using ground beef?
gross. I haven't used ground beef....ever. However, i will submit for the sake of 10 on tuesday. My daycare mom made some fan-freaking-tastic mac and cheese hamburger casserole.

4) What was your favorite book as a kid?
A -la the Abster- Roald Dahl.  Matilda. I love this book. I checked it out from Shannon Park Elementary too many times though. I was actually banned by the check out lady from checking it out for a short while. I did however handcraft a bookmark with a fantastic drawing (by yours truly) of Matilda atop a pile of books stating-"Matilda reads, you should too". I did think of that, thanks. Oh yes. I won the 4th grade bookmark competition and that fabulous creation was printed for the entire school's bookmarking pleasure. Ahhh. to peak in 4th grade...

5) Did you work as a teenager. If so, where?
Teenager. Why yes I did. I was a marvelous secretary and impeccably honest "money counter" at Midwest Vending! Great job, complete with all the expired pop you can drink!


6) Did you work in college? If so, where?
I did. My freshman year I filed junk at the office of admissions. Then I got serious. HA! I made peptides. Then I inactivated cytochrome P450s with nicotine. I also graded signal transduction/gene expression homework. Huge nerd. whatever.

7) When you go to sleep do you need total darkness or semi? When you go to sleep do you need total quiet or is some noise okay?
I like total darkness and total quiet. When I was little I used to be kept up at night by a twitching noise. I could not for the life of me figure out what it was. I was convinced my eyelashes were the culprite, despite literally grabbing my eyelash to stabilize the sucker. Only after a nearly complete medical education to I realize it was my pulse. temporal arteries y'all.

8) When doing laundry, fabric softener or not?
Hello. Obv. who wants scratchy socks?

9) Open toed or close-toed shoes?
Right now, given the frigid temps and snow I'll opt for closed.

10) Would you rather be blind or deaf?
Whoa nelly. I do not know. Ultimately being the progeny of 2 music teacher's I think i'd rather be blind. A world without Chopin. No thanks.

11) Dangle or stud earring?
Traditionally I love diamond studs. Thanks to a diamond friendly ex boyfriend, I'm pretty set in that dept. However, when I want to feel like a glamazon, dangles are a necessity.

12) Bottled water or tap?
I always drink tap water. I do sometimes worry I will get lead poisoning. Wait a minute. No I am not a hypochondriac. I literally see chunks of metal in my glass....on occasion.

13) What do you put on your pancakes?
I like one with butter and syrup and one with butter, cinnamon and sugar. Don't stiff me. Give me two!

14) On a long trip would you drive or fly?
If I'm with my family driving is fun. Otherwise, flying! Just got off a plane 2 hours ago!

15) Do you prefer classic old movies or new?
New. Unless I'm sad or at leech lake-then give me some Judy Garland.

Double header

A double header! Why? Because these two recipes are so brainless I can successfully post them after having my butt kicked by bio-statistics this morning. The positive predictive value that you will like this post increases if the pre-test probability that you are lazy is high. Or something.




Recipe numero uno. Super fancy tomato soup. I created this concoction while studying for my neuro final. I wanted a savory snack, and this honestly couldn't be easier. Heat up a can of TJ fireroasted tomatoes (spicier than muir glen and cheaper, choose your own adventure). Then add a dab of garlic and a glug of balsamic. Pop back in the microwave or a sec and-voila-enjoy. I love chunky tomato soup. YUM. I do not miss Campbells tomato soup at all. It tastes like vomit. enough said.





Recipe numero dos. Easy snackage. I peeled and chopped a bag o carrots into fry shaped wedges, then sprayed with oil and baked at 400 ish (my oven is possessed) for around 30 min. They browned up a bit and taste delish-especially smothered in ketchup. I am the CONDIMENT queen! Also pictured on the cutest plate ever is a fuji apple and a wedge of laughing cow cheese. Have you ever dipped your apple in this cheese? You haven't? Hop to it! Alright. Cardiology questions are calling my name, I will submit-begrudgingly.

whew

Big interview today. I am thinking positive thoughts, you should too! Puhleaz! Heading out on the road again tomorrow. Man I am tiring out and I'm not even half way done! Keep calm and carry on. I have to recipes for you lovelies. But I'm tired, and I need to log some boards studying time today, so I'll have to leave you "in suspension".

10 on Tuesday! Blizzard edition.

"Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather."

John Ruskin

Brrr. Please God be kind. I have my interview at MN tomorrow. I really do not want to crash or be snowed in! Yikes. Please, let's add to the anxiety. I did however join LA fitness. Holy buckets, nice gym. I finagled a deal, lower initiation fee and an even lower monthly payment than any actual plan offers. I was pretty proud of myself. Jon thought I caved too early. Oh well. I've done two treadmill workouts there while rocking away to my katy perry pandora station. Love the iphone. seriously, how did I exist without that thing.

There we go...




1. Cost aside, if you could go (back) to college for anything besides what you currently “do,” what would you study?

I'd be a band teacher. Yep for sure.


2. What do you do for a living? Do you love it/hate it?

I don't actually make a living. I sold my soul to government loans for the next 500 years. I'm in medical school. Mostly I love it. Unless you ask me at 2 am while you are either a)puking b)sneezing or c)bleeding on me. Then I'm not a fan. If you want to bleed on me at noon, ok, I don't have qualms with that. But 2 am. nope, girl needs her beauty rest.



3. What is your favorite Christmas ornament? If you don’t celebrate Christmas, what is your favorite holiday tradition?

I LOVE this strange and ugly princess inside a purple plastic diamond type egg, hung by a green pipe cleaner. My grandma McDougall let me pick an ornament and that's what I chose. My brother tries to hide it every year. I find it an put it front and center. It's hideous though Nick, I will give you that.

4. Name something you could literally do without for the rest of your life.

Being on call? I think this question aims for you to pick something that you surprisingly don't like that others do though.... hmmm. I could easily live without, football, the lottery, cardiology, and GLUTEN.

5. If you were going to have any kind of “cosmetic procedure,” what would it be?

Well, I'm going to defer this one till after I have children. I may or may not be totally willing to get anything floppy and saggy tightened up at that point. Don't judge me. unpurse those lips.



6. Do you have any “collections”? (comic books, shoes, etc.)

I collect biochemistry texts. No kidding. Let's see. I have a beach glass collection that's pretty out of this world. I "collect" tons of crap because i'm a packrat (thanks dad) with attachment issues. But I wouldn't classify them as collections per say. As in, my collection of 50 cheap a**target shoes is of no monetary or sentimental value. I do however, have a buttload of them.

7. At what age did you get your first cell phone?

I'm not sure actually. I sort of "claimed" a cell phone in about 11th grade. My parents had 2 and I had one for the most part. My parents got me a cell phone for my birthday my freshman year of college that was 100% mine. So I suppose I was 19 exactly.

8. What is currently in your purse (or pocket or backpack if you’re a guy)?

I will have to answer this by summarizing the wad of stuff that I switch from purse to purse -aka the essentials. Yeah, I switch purses faster than Tiger switches mistresses. I'm quite the fashionista! ha.





-wallet-which holds money, lip gloss, burt's bee's and free floating ibuprofen. I always have ibuprofen with me, but when someone asks to use some I always feel like a very sketchy drug dealer digging around in my purse for loose pills. I should probably invest in a dollar section travel sized jar. Oh well. life goes on.
-a bag of almonds, and or an apple depending on how big my bag lady purse will be that day
-crystal light! yes. you never know when you'll have to whip up a delicious fruit punch
-Kleenex
- keys
-cell phone
-then depending on the purse you may find remnants of days past, concert tickets, cds, flyers, socks, pins, earrings, whatever. I'm not one to clean those babies out very often. I even have love letters from OLD boyfriends in a HS purse. I bet it will stay there forever!


9. Are you a neat-freak or a slob ? *this applies to house, office, car, etc.

Well, clearly I don't clean my purse or have much control over my shoe closet. I try to be clean. I'm sort of anal about my bathroom and kitchen. If I have a normal life, ie weekends and nights off I am very clean. When I am insanely busy my clothes get out of control and end up all over my apartment. I am not proud of this, but it's the way it is. My car is incredibly clean, as in, no visible junk. If you park in HCMC parking ramps overnight, you better not have anything out or your car windows are toast. Do not however, under any circumstances, look in my trunk. There is definitely firewood, a few plates, some boots, tons of books and windshield washer fluid back there.

10. What kind of parent do you think you will be? If you’re already a parent, what is your style?

I hope to be a good parent. I hope to bring my children up to be hard workers with love and music in their hearts. I think that's about all you need. Pretty vague. If I need more specifics I'll probably just call my mom and take notes.

Your turn - answer some, all, or none!

SOS or POS?

SOS. I need help! I'm drowning in neurons... Q: What does a med student do when she is SO OVER studying? A: Make crap in the kitchen!

I get home and try to study seizures, but end up having some sort of spastic "spell" in the kitchen. My cortex says...hmmm I want pumpkin pie but I only have pumpkin and condensed milk. That wont work will it? My inner chemist starts thinking, well no eggs will make this task sort of difficult. The spazzing cells deep in my brain-where? not sure, my amygdala? quickly suppress logic. They decide : sure this will be fine. Mix a can of pumpkin, a big glug of condensed milk and some pumpkin pie spice in a Pyrex bowl. Obviously use Pyrex, you're studying, then you can just lid that baby up straight from the oven and save mucho time.



Did it work? Sure. I wouldn't send this recipe into the pioneer woman or anything. But if your thinking more like Sandy Lee quality eats, there you go. Just look at that tablescape...




Speaking of tablescapes. Check it. TJ flowers still going strong. 2 1/2 weeks!!!! And only $4.



Back to neurons. I'm at neuromuscular disorders. Once I finish I might try to demonstrate my very own neuromuscular disorder by attempting some p90X. Maybe. Or maybe I'll eat some pumpkin mush instead.


At least when this test is over I get some free time (to study for boards, major YIKES) But Saturday is the doomtree blowout. So at least I've got that going for me, which is nice...
this video does in fact have some bad words, so mom, be forewarned :)

10 on Tuesday!

Whoa. I missed a whole week. I think I was in a GF food coma. I didn't make anything, so I can't post in good conscience. I am still stuffing my beak with turkey every day. Holy smokes, smoked turkey was delish. Check out the chef's blog. She's a GF goddess herself!


Another video to help you pass the time?





The BLENDERS!!! It's December. Christmas music is absolutely allowed.

1. What was the last concert you’ve been to?
The vangobots. the last 14 concerts probably!

2. Is it easy to make you cry?
Yes. absolutely.

3. Do you ever feel like people underestimate you?
They do for sure. It's ok. It's part of my cover. Let them relax and think you're no threat, then sneak attack!

4. Name 7 completely random things that you like:
-diet coke
-furniture polish
-glade scented candles
-balsamic vinegar
-clean sheets
-moss
-Judy Garland



5. What’s your favorite reality TV show and why?
Whoa. This is an extremely defining question. I watch TONS of reality TV. Holy moley. I am going to have to go with gasp, Real Housewives. (OC or NYC...I can't even go there right now)

6. What is your favorite hair care product?
Aussie 3 minute miracle. I wish I was rich and could buy a ridiculously expensive hair straightener. That is my dream hair care product...hair care item?

7. What’s your favorite song at the moment?
Syreeta Wright: harmour love. I'm pretty sure I want this song as my first dance at my wedding. Unless I've found a new song I'm lovin in 42 years...

8. What’s the number one thing on your Christmas wishlist?
hmmm. giftcards I think. I can't really say. Give me 5 minutes on ETSY and I could probably come up with something :)

9. Have you ever lost your cell phone?
I have. I sought solace in a bathroom of our county hospital one cold day last winter. It was the only time I could have a second to breathe on a busy day. So I check my hair, pull out my iphone and check my emailz, then set the phone down and take a potty break. I wash my hands and exit the restroom, back to the craziness of HCMC. Why yes, I did leave my phone in the bathroom! I noticed about 10 minutes later and RAN back to the lavatory. My phone was gone :( I called security and what do you know... Someone had turned it in :), and called my mom and jon from my phone. Good people are all around !!! I got my phone safe and sound, along with emails from mom and jon telling me to go pick up my phone and try not to be such a space cadet...

10. Did you attack the hordes of shoppers for Black Friday?
Did I attack the hordes of shoppers? No. I'm not a violent individual. I would never attack a single shopper let alone a horde of them. I did however go to Target and get some pajamas and apples. That might count.