The [May] Month of Great Change

So not only did I graduate this past month with my final, most awesome degree but I have since moved to a new place and am about to start a brand new job.  It was quite the crazy last few weeks.  So let’s start close to the beginning, shall we?

First off, I had to say good bye to everyone amid packing up the entire apartment.  I don’t know about you all but packing up everything in your life is incredibly displacing and uncomfortable.  Not to mention busy, chaotic, and just downright messy as all else.  It is definitely one of my least favorite things, ever. 

Saying goodbye, or see you later as the case may be, to people you love and have spent so long around, is difficult.  I think it almost made it worse too because I didn’t just have one party where I said “so long” to everyone in the same night.  I took the draw-it-out path and had individual dinners and things with those important people.  While this gave me a chance to hang out with everyone individually, it meant that I had to suck up the tears multiple times before leaving behind my life there.

Never-the-less, these people were worth it, and I’ll miss them terribly!  They’ve all been such an integral part of my life these last seven years.  But, I’m sure there will be new friends and new things waiting for me here in my new city.  Never to replace the old, just to add on the new.

By the end of the month, the 24th, it was time to actually move.  We had a rocky start to the 23rd, the pack-the-truck day.  Budget Truck Rentals called me to tell me that they simply didn’t have a truck for my reservation.  I’m sorry, what?  What the heck is a reservation for?!?!  The only silver lining to this was that they called me a half hour before the pick-up time, rather than having us go all the way there to find out there wasn’t a truck waiting for us.  We managed to find another truck, thanks to the lovely people at Penske. 

We packed things up in the truck, with many thanks due to Jack and a new friend Eric.  I treated them to lunch in exchange.  Jack and I then returned to clean our way through the apartment before handing in the keys.  Sadly this took even longer than it took to pack the whole place up!  How crazy is that.  Thankfully, Jack’s mom came to help us out.  Couldn’t have done it without her.  After that, we were more than hungry so we met up with another friend and indulged in some great Greek food as my last meal before leaving.

I had some delicious vegetarian sampler plate, some of the flaming cheese, and a piece of the best baklava ever.  And with this food baby in my belly, we slept it off and woke up bright and early for the move day.  Jack and I made the entire move in one day and by the time we got here and unloaded everything, we were completely wiped.

The mess was just unbearable so we left and got food.  We went to a recommended pizza place and immediately sat down to order waters and a cream cheese pesto dip.

Then we had some drinks and a bacon cheeseburger pizza.  And yes, it was as incredible as it sounded.  Seriously delicious.

When we returned thankfully we had already made the bed so we could crash immediately.  No joke, if you do one thing the day you move, make your bed.  You will be ever grateful to yourself and your forethought.

The rest of the weekend was spent unpacking and getting things that I had determined to simply buy new on the other end.  I managed to get the entire apartment unpacked in a single day.  Sunday was a full 8 hours of work but it was nice to finally have everything done.  This cause for celebration meant another night out.  We headed to a local stellar burger joint and ordered a bunch of yummies.

I had the andouille chicken sausage burger with watercress, blue cheese, and onions.  Jack had a burger with a parmesan crisp and a fried green tomato.  On the side was a trio of sweet potato fries (with herbs and brown sugar….amazing!), truffle tater tots, and ridiculous onion rings.  The whole meal was insanely good but we decided shakes would make it better.

And my peanut butter marshmallow one certainly did.  And again, nursing food babies, we went back home and crashed again.  We were so tired from all the unpacking and stuff.  Moving just takes it out of you!  Also, Jack was kind of getting over a sickness (which he eventually gave to me and I haven’t stopped sniffling since) so that didn’t help either.

But, in the end, we were finished.  And I am moved.  And the rest of the adventure was (and is still) just getting started.  In other news, Memorial Day also turned out to be a pretty stellar day.  More on that in another post though, probably tomorrow.  Believe me, it’s a sparkly surprise.  =D

Questions: How do you get through moving?
Where do you get your recommendations for places to eat in a new city?

Day In The Life + WIAW

This post could also be titled “If I Blogged Every Minute Of The Day” and I figured it would be a funny alternative type of post.  So here we go.  This is my WIAW post combined with a detailed look at a day in the life of busy genetic counseling student.

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5:40am - alarm goes off

5:41am - out of bed

5:48am - out the door, to the gym

5:57am - in the gym, on the elliptical, practicing my prenatal presentation

6:43am - back to the apartment

6:50am - shower time

7:00am - dry off, get dressed (realize my new tailored pants fit great), makeup and hair

7:20am - make breakfast (peanut butter honey yogurt with strawberries and chia)

7:32am - done with breakfast, eaten while watching last night’s Hell’s Kitchen

7:35am - out the door, to campus I go

7:45am - park the car

7:53am - arrive at the student room after a very long, very cold walk from the parking lot to our building

7:55am - log onto a classmate's computer because mine was taken by my first year deskmate

7:56am - begin the day by looking at recipes online...waste.of.time
(looks yummy –> http://www.ragu.com/recipes/detail/25121/1/1-2-3-cheddar-broccoli-casserole)

8:00am - switch to Facebook

8:05am - work on an outline for one of tomorrow's morning patients

8:30am - go to class

8:45am - be real tired in class

9:07am - get midterm

9:10am - realize everything is going to be fine

9:20am - bathroom break while people argued for points

9:30am - class resumes and continues to be not the most exciting thing in the world

10:00am - switch classes from molecular to population

11:15am - technology breakdown in class and we continue class from handouts rather than a projected presentation on the board

11:38am - back to the student room

11:40am - applied for a job in Arizona

12:00 noon - heat up lunch (pumpkin and black bean chili with tempeh and an unpictured apple on the side)

12:30pm - MFM presentation time

12:43pm - actually start my presentation

12:50pm - the majority of people noisily arrive

1:08pm - finished

2:30pm - set up for my thesis seminar practice presentation

2:32pm - find out some promising job news (hopefully more on that by the end of the week!)

2:50pm - finally give my thesis seminar practice presentation

3:30pm - finish my PowerPoint five minutes too early, dang it!

3:50pm - head to my old place of work for fried goodies made my an old co-worker

3:53pm - significantly improved mood

4:15pm - begin prep of Thursday patients

5:12pm - still working...

6:10pm - give up the ghost and go home

6:20pm - get home and change into more comfortable clothes

6:30pm - make dinner with veggies for a "fried food detox"

6:50pm - actually eat dinner (salad beast topped with bleu cheese and steak seasoned TVP and jalapeno hummus dressing) while watching How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days

7:30pm - get angry at my iPhone for being broken somehow and unable to be backed up or synced (grumble, grumble)

7:43pm - dessert in the form of Peeps as it is that time of year

8:01pm - finish this post and decide I really should be doing something academically productive

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Questions: What would your life look like if you blogged every moment?
Are you a fan of Peeps?

Anniversary Times Three

Yesterday was one of the best days ever.  Seriously, it was fantastic.  Jack and I celebrated our three year anniversary in style.  The day started off with a wonderful breakfast made by my dear while I was working out.  He used some biscuits, mozzarella cheese, and egg whites to create these little bombshells.  We had an array of toppings from sour cream, ketchup, and mustard.

Great way to start the day and a nice way to refuel too!  We then waited around for the cable guy to come and figure out what was wrong with my DVR.  This is my fourth cable box/DVR combo in a month.  I’m less than pleased.  I just wish things would work for longer than a few days or weeks!

The first unexpected thing happened just before the cable guy arrived.  I received some promising correspondence from a job opportunity!  I don’t want to jinx things so I’m going to keep it under wraps for now.  Please keep your fingers crossed!!

New DVR installed, we took off to a doctor’s appointment for me.  We arrived a bit early and got coffee to kill the time.  I got the new hazelnut macchiato and Jack had a java chip frap.  Yay caffeine.  After the doc visit, we hit up Walmart for some groceries.  I do love shopping with this man.  It feels so normal, like we actually are around each other for more than two days at a time.  Upon completion of said grocery shopping, we stopped by a local Qdoba for lunch.  Jack had only told me that we had dinner reservations at 7:15 so we both needed something to tide us over.  I ordered a taco salad with chicken and salsa verde.  Sour cream and salsa picante ranch on the side for dipping and dabbing.

Obviously I liked it.  It was half gone before I remembered to photograph it!  It also did it’s job and kept me satisfied until dinner.  Just before we left for dinner, the second piece of unexpected awesomeness happened.  I found out that I’M GOING TO BE PUBLISHED!!!!!

The American Journal of Medical Genetics picked up my graduate project for publication.  I’m going to be a first author in a national journal.  How amazing?!  Hard work really does pay off.  I’ll admit I cried a few tears of joy.  I was overcome with emotion.  I really needed some good news and this was perfect!  Little did I know I was going to cry a few more times over the course of the night.  I’m such a sap!

Jack and I headed to dinner and had a hard time trying to figure out how to get up to the penthouse where the restaurant was located.  Fairly sure we tried three sets of elevators.  We did finally make it there though and Jack had a bottle of sparkling moscato waiting for us. 

What a sweet man.  And a handsome one at that.  Just look at him!

With him looking so dapper, I had to doll myself up to match.  I chose a dress for the occasion and was pleasantly surprised that the restaurant was warm enough that I didn’t need a sweater the entire time!

We decided to take our time and order to our hearts content.  We know how to do long dinners, people.  Our average time at The Melting Pot is somewhere north of three hours.  Here at The Eagle’s Nest, we spend just as long.  We began with a pair of starters: the crab cakes and an arugula and roasted pear salad.

The crab cakes were amazing with big chunks of crab and not too much breading.  And the salad, holy smokes!  The pear was stuffed with a herbed goat cheese and then wrapped in smoked pork belly.  Plus I swear the pecan balsamic dressing was crack.  It was probably the best part of the whole thing!  Next up, and maybe a half hour later and that much darker, we had the parmesan truffle steak fries.  I mean seriously, were we supposed to pass these babies up?

So glad we didn’t.  They were lush, crisp, and steamy.  Plus, how can you not love the cute little ketchup that came with them!  At this point the restaurant had rotated enough (yes, the entire penthouse rotates 360 degrees for a totally unique dining experience and a full view of the city) to bring us face to face with some real tall buildings.

Gorgeous views the whole night.  Around this time we had contemplated our entrees and asked our server for a wine recommendation.  After some discussion, we got a nice bottle of smooth pinot noir. 

Turned out that this wine was the perfect compliment to the big plates we ordered.  Jack got the filet and lobster tail with parmesan potato gratin and a sherry thyme reduction while I indulged in the pork osso bucco.  I had a ridiculously delish mascarpone corn polenta pillow underneath my pork too which was easily the best part of the dish.  I could swim in it!

There was also some fantastic crusty bread and soft rolls with sundried tomato butter and lemon butter.

I wish you all could have tasted this food, seriously.  Every bite was incredible.  We both didn’t want any of it to end!  Thankfully, we still had half a bottle of wine and dessert left to go.  =D  Now, no judgment when I tell you that we ordered three desserts, okay?  ‘Cause we did, and it was oh-so worth it!  Kahlua crème brulee, warm apple tart with dulce de leche ice cream, and chocolate caramel cake with chocolate ganache and almonds.

They were all so decadent and rich.  The kahlua crème brulee was the perfect consistency and the chocolate cake was to die for.  The apple tart, and I’m not a fruit dessert kind of person normally, was wonderfully light and cinnamon-y.  Last but not least, Jack finished off the night with an “Eagle Eye” made of Kahlua, Bailey’s, coffee, whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

I nursed the rest of my glass of red wine and we ended up walking out of the restaurant fifty minutes after they closed.  Don’t worry, Jack tipped well and honestly, everyone was very, very sweet and never once made us feel rushed out the door.  All in all, it was beyond a fantastic evening and I’m not just talking about the food.  Like I mentioned earlier, I cried several times thanks to the sappy and very real conversation that accompanied our delicious bites.  Hard to believe it’s been three years.  We’ve come so far and been through a bunch.  I cannot wait to see what’s coming up for us.  =D

Questions: What is your favorite way to spend an anniversary?
Ever ordered more dishes than there were people at the table?

A Quick Hello

Once again, I apologize for being so absent.  This rotation is just kicking my behind!  I hope to be back in action a little more once I switch to my final rotation in a little over two weeks.  We’ll see.  Until then I really appreciate you all sticking around.  I ‘m going to try and post shortly about a great night I had out with the Yelp squad and my friend/first year Jessica tasting some great wine.  But for now, let’s do the What I Ate Wednesday thing.

Breakfast was a big jar of chocolate protein oats with cottage cheese mixed in.  I love how the hot oatmeal steams the peanut butter and makes it melty.

That was followed up by lunch eaten in a hurry in front of a packet about ethnicity based carrier screening.  I was learning all about sickle beta thal disease.  I had a bowl full of TVP coconut curry chili made from this recipe.  Honestly it was a great recipe.  I loved how simple it was (bag of this, can of that, one whole onion, etc.) and it tasted delicious.  I used TVP to replace the ground turkey and it worked like a charm.  Protein packed!

I also had an early afternoon snack of celery and carrots with TJ’s chipotle pepper hummus.  This was eaten in the middle of a maternal fetal medicine specialist meeting so no picture of those eats… I wasn’t hungry again until much later in the day.  I was thankful for this because it allowed me to focus and make incredible progress on my to-do list through the afternoon.  I was also the only one in the student room.  People bolted real quick today.  We just finished our midterms…

…so I can see why the ladies were itching for time away from school.  Spring break is coming up soon and we’re all counting down the days. Only two left!  When I finally did get home, dinner happened shortly after.  I had half a baked sweet potato with some marshmallow fluff on top (hello guilty pleasure) alongside steamed broccoli with mustard and a TJ’s veggie masala burger with sour cream.  Needless to say, it was a stellar meal and didn’t last long.

I indulged in dessert a bit later in the form of a loaded caramel rice cake with peanut butter marshmallow fluff and butterscotch/dark chocolate chips.

This was good but honestly wasn’t quite as great as last night’s last ditch effort to eat much needed calories.  I woefully underate all yesterday so when it came to be 7:45 and I realized I had only eaten something like 700 on the day, I made myself chocolate almond milk protein pudding with some marshmallows, butterscotch chips and sauce.  It was divine.  I also stirred in some melted peanut butter.  Awesomeness!

So there you have it.  My quick stop-in to the blog on my way to bed because I’m worn out.  I hope you all sleep well tonight and I’ll see everyone soon for a recap of the super-fun Yelp event from last week.  Also, before I head out, I wanted to mention that upon finishing New Rules of Lifting For Women I have started a new lifting program that I’ll be calling Simply Shredded after the website it’s from.  My first day was yesterday and it was upper body.  Lordie, when I woke up this morning I was just so sore I didn’t want to move.  I guess that means it is working!  Also, in addition to lifting sessions they have a cardio program they call “stubborn fat cardio” that you do on off days.  I tried it out this morning and it had me sweating like whoa!  Going be a good three month program I think.

Questions: What is your favorite lifting program?
Do you have a go to meal when you realize you haven’t eaten much during the day?

Bright and Bad

Last week was one of transition.  It was the first week I had counseled in my new prenatal rotation clinic site and it was a very big change.  The expectations were different, the counseling styles were new, and the critique fresh.  Needless to say, it was a hard couple of days.  Bright spots included cookies and chocolate chip waffles while studying for the population genetics midterm (which I rocked by the way)…

…lots of great eats…

…several dates with my love, Jack…

…great HIIT workouts…

…red velvet lattes to even out all the critique I’ve been hearing, pick me up, pick me up…

…and good times with friends…

Like I said, good and bad.  Bright times and bad times.  I will get better.  I will learn from this.  I will make it through.  8 weeks and counting, ladies and gentlemen.  And with that, I have to go and continue my studying for the molecular genetic midterm next week.  One tune (an interesting cover) before I go:

Questions: How do you balance the good and the bad?
Any plans for spring break? It is coming FAST!