Special Birthday Touches

It was Kevin's birthday yesterday and we had the usual crew over for some BBQ and cake. I made this Martha Stewart Cake which turned out beautifully however, I do not recommend using whole wheat flour, it just wasn't as sweet as I was expecting.

the cake ready to go into the oven

In selecting a nice bottle of wine for dinner I could not help but select this one Home Grown with such a cute label. I will admit like most of my wine selections the cuteness of the label was a major factor in my pick for dinner. 

And of course the flowers! I couldn't help but snap up these beauties so full and beautiful. I love them. I cannot wait for spring and for May 7th the day we move to our new house so I can plant a garden full of beautiful flowers and fragrant herbs. Spring please come quickly. 

Prints for the Kitchen

I just ordered these lovely and creative prints by Winterberry Cottage from Etsy for our new kitchen. I think they will be the perfect addition. They can be found here.

Neutral Colors

Well since the last update our offer has been accepted on the house! We have our home inspection on Wednesday and should if all goes well close by the end of April. The current kitchen is a very bright red. Red is really not my color. I am often drawn to blues, grays, greens. I have been searching for decorating ideas and color inspiration. Currently I am loving the idea of a muted gray. It seems like a great back drop for adding my own personal touches and pops of colors. Thanks Martha Stewart for the ideas.

This room looks like the perfect place to take a nap

Sneak Peak

It is underway! An offer is out there and if the housing gods have us in their favor maybe they will grant us our first home to own. After much searching we found the place we want to make our home, bright red kitchen and all. I will be consulting my personal designer Lizzy to help tame the red. Fingers crossed. I am in love.

Talk about gardening potential!!!

The Last Class

Next week I start my very last rotation of medical school and probably my last class ever as a formal student. I have been in school for what feels like my whole life. I started pre-school at age 3 and had one year between earning my MPH and starting medical school where I worked a normal full time job so I have been in school for 25 years of my life. Now I know that learning is life long and I will forever have board recertification and continuing medical education courses as a part of my job but never again will I be a full time student. And while the thought of finally being free is incredible, I have very much honed my skills as a professional student. Hand me some highlighters and a text book and I could outline the heck out of it. Give me a spreadsheet to memorize and I could probably do it in one day. Tell me to give a presentation on some trivial medical topic, no problem, I can do it at while working an overnight shift and present it at rounds the next morning. In my 25 years as a student, I have learned books and books of material, been pushed to be a better person, a stronger thinker and taught to build more robust arguments. I have also learned that in the end very little of the details matter, that knowing how to analyze information, to synthesize arguments and to evaluate the quality of research is really the meat of knowledge. I have also learned that there is very rarely only one answer and that the experts often disagree.

Kevin and I were walking by the Library of Congress the other night, among the very first pop of cherry blossoms, and I had a slight feeling of loss knowing that I will probably never again have to camp out at a library for months at a time. I am ready for a new chapter in my life and even more ready for a pay check again, but a part of me is sad at the finality of it never being a student again and the idea that now I am the "expert." I will probably still carry around a highlighter in my pocket and might try to color coordinate my lecture notes for the medical students I will soon teach.

Girl Scout Cookie Season

I think my absolute number one down fall in the world is Thin Mints. I could careless about the other girl scout cookies but give me a box of Thin Mints and man am I in trouble. I try not to buy them because the box does not stand a chance. No amount of will power can keep me from those crisp delicious cookies. I prefer them in the freezer cool as can be. I am also a huge fan of the Thin Mint ice cream. When I am old and no longer care about coronary artery disease I am going to eat Thin Mints and cheese cake each day on an alternating basis. I am currently enjoying the reduced fat version of Thin Mint ice cream which is still very enjoyable and oh so tasty! I highly recommend you get yourself some Thin Mints. Happy Girl Scout Cookie Season!

Surviving the Match

After some of the most stressful and anxiety producing hours of my life, I got an email with FOUR little words: "Congratulations! You have matched." I thought that once I had this email all of the knots in my stomach would go away, that I would feel a wave of calmness and happiness wash over me. Oh no... those knots are still there and the anxiety although orders of magnitude less is still gnawing away. Three more days until the final word of where I will be. The countdown continues but at least we know that the outcome no matter what will be a job in July. Time for a glass of wine or two.

Three Years.

Today is Kevin and my anniversary well the one we currently acknowledge  until we get married. And by acknowledge I mean give each other a hug. I say "happy anniversary," Kevin says, "I am a bad fiance." But he really is not. Today has been awesome and will continue to be awesome. First, I ran a St. Patrick's Day 8K with my friend Kristi. We got decked out in our shamrock gear and wore lots of green as we ran it out for an hour this morning. I have not been running much lately and the fact that I could, without any training, wake up and pound out 5 miles was pretty awesome.

Pre-race

We followed up our morning run with a trip to a favorite breakfast spot, Busboys and Poets where Kevin met us and treated us to a tasty tasty breakfast. I don't think I could dream of a better start to the day. We spent the afternoon touring some neighborhood open houses which was exciting and depressing at the same time when we realized what our budget could buy us in Alexandria which is not a whole lot.

Tonight we are hosting our regular neighborhood Sunday dinner and I have been cooking up a storm. Our apartment smells delicious! As a special anniversary treat I made my mom's famous Texas sheet cake.

Half nuts just like my mom would make for my sister and me

Sal's Texas Sheet Cake:

The Cake:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 stick butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup water
1 tsp vanilla
4 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk

Set oven to 350
Sift together flour and sugar, set aside. In a sauce pan over low heat melt 1 stick of butter, shortening, 4 tbs cocoa powder and 1 cup of water. Stir to combine and take care not to let the mixture burn. Cool until the mixture is warm but not hot. While the mixture is cooling, add eggs, baking soda, buttermilk and vanilla to the flour mixture and stir to combine. Slowly add the warm chocolate mixture and mix well. Pour the cake batter into a buttered and floured sheet pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

While the cake is baking mix the frosting:
Frosting:
1 stick butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 lb powdered sugar
6 tbs milk
4 tbs cocoa powder
Walnuts (optional)

In a sauce pan, melt the stick of butter, add the milk and the cocoa powder and stir to combine. Once melted and combined, remove from heat and let cool slightly. Slowly add the powdered sugar and the vanilla. Mix until it is a fudge-like consistency but still liquid. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven pour the chocolatey goodness over the top. You can add chopped walnuts or sprinkle some powdered sugar on top if that is your thing. Pop open a regular Pepsi and you have yourself a "Sally Special."

Keego Harbor Kickin' Chicken

On Friday after a long day of work, yoga and the stress of anticipation for next week, I opened my fridge to find some raw chicken staring me in the face. I was feeling super uninspired and unmotivated to cook dinner but had a very tired and sick fiance who needed some nourishment. I went to my usual source of inspiration for nights when I have no idea what to make, The Food Network or Epicurious, but couldn't find anything that sounded good and that I had the ingredients on hand to make. Then it dawned on me that I had Keego Harbor Kickin' Chicken dry rub in my spice basket. Suddenly dinner was do able. So I grabbed those chicken breasts bone and all and threw them on a cookie sheet. Then I doused them with the Keego Harbor Kickin' Chicken from the Milford Spice Company. Next I rubbed them all over with Greek yogurt and threw them into the oven at 400 degrees for about an hour. While they were baking, I chopped up some carrots, seasoned them up with salt, pepper and a dash of olive oil and threw them in the oven as well. When it all was done I heat up a pouch of rice pilaf, popped open a bottle of pinot and dinner was ready!

The breasts coated in Greek yogurt and Keego Harbor Kickin' Chicken dry rub

The final product!

The New Blender!

I finally got a blender and have been making smoothies almost every day. A smoothie is a great way to load up on fruits and veggies and travels well for a breakfast on the go. I also love an ice cold smoothie after a nice soul drenching sweat at Down Dog Yoga. The above smoothie includes the following yummy goodness.

Seeds of a pomegranate
1/4 cup orange juice
1 cup baby spinach
handfull of strawberries
handfull of frozen peaches
1 banana
1- 0% greek yogurt

The blended goodness!

Cold as Ice

A friend just returned from two weeks of backcountry skiing in the Teton Mountains with NOLS. I personally could not imagine anything more incredible than waking up each morning to snow capped mountains and spending the day shredding some powder. The catch to this incredible adventure: outdoor sleeping, at altitude, in the snow. Mind you, I love the snow, love skiing and could spend days outdoors as long as I am well bundled and this is the key part... have a warm place to go at the end of the day, preferably with a big pot of my mom's piping hot soup on the stove and a cracking, roaring fire in the fireplace. The idea of crawling into a cold sleeping bag, in a shelter made of snow and ice does not sound like the most relaxing end to an incredible day in the snow. I am always game for an adventure and I am sure I could get over my dislike of sleeping in the cold for an opportunity to spend 14 days in the backcountry.

It seems that sleeping on the ice is all the rage. Both Sweden and Japan have ice hotels. What do you think, does a week stay at the Ice Hotel sound like a vacation to you?

This bed is beautiful but I am not sure it is really where I want to snuggle up for the night.

Kevin is not very keen on roughing it. He prefers to have running water so he can wash his hands and take out his contacts. Although in my college years I spent plenty a night sleeping under the Maine stars, a toasty warm bed is always my frist choice. A while back Green Wedding Shoes posted this great idea of an upscale camping vacation. I am pretty sure I could talk the good doctor into this. 

Now that's my idea of a beautiful camp site. It is a little like Harry Potter or Mary Popins where magic makes carrying anything with you including your slate tile bathroom and enormous wooden bed. A girl can dream!

One Week!

One week, 7 days, 168 hours. Match Day 2011.

Party Planning

I have quite a few things to plan soon. A dinner for Kevin's birthday, a post-graduation BBQ and of course in some far off time a wedding. I was searching in the blogosphere and found these cute party ideas at Party Perfect.

Now if I only had an unlimited budget and time to craft away. I love the idea of a lobster bake birthday party. I am keeping my fingers crossed for a backyard in our future where we can host barbecues and maybe one day our very own lobster bake.  YUM!

Off Beat Bride

My friend Regan gave me this book. It is also a fantastic wedding blog which I frequently read. I love the idea of going with the flow, planning a party that is representative of you and your partner and giving the middle finger to tradition.

It is a great book. Has some fantastic examples of wording for invitations, wording of vows etc. And is the perfect example of how beautiful a wedding can be without being religious or traditional. I highly recommend it for anyone who is not into the same old thing. It is a good, quick and funny read. Perfect for a rainy Sunday. You can check out the blog here. 

Something Blue...

Thanks Martha for the beautiful flowers.

March!

This is a big month. Many big and exciting things happen in March this year. First, Kevin and I will celebrate our three year anniversary. Who knew that on that day three years ago in a coffee shop in Arlington, VA I'd meet the love of my life. That cute coffee shop is no longer there but has been upgraded to a more sleek and sophisticated wine bar and coffee shop. Second, I find out where I will match for residency on March 17th. The same day we celebrate St. Patrick's Day a very special holiday for my family and one where we celebrate my Grandma. And finally, Kevin turns 32! Also, spring is coming! Big month for sure!!! Here is the count down: 12 days until our anniversary, 16 days until Match Day and 29 days until Kevin's birthday.

A picture of my Grandma on her favorite holiday in a super awesome outfit. Sure do miss her every day. Hope March brings you lots of luck.