Some yummy bread from last night

Parsley, buttermilk, cheese.... so good

Mom's amazing clove cabbage meatballs

The wine bar is finally up

I'm going to say it- it's not the way I would've aligned the shelving but it's his gift so I am claiming the buffet for decorating purposes. That is only fair.

On another note, I miraculously convinced Sean to put away the stereo system, which only gathers dust, as we prepare for our photo collage around the wall (no flat screen yet). So I'm slowly getting my way. As for the stereo system, since he believes it will be a cool thing to have 20 years from now- god help me- I just dumped it in his office. (Really?) I'm so mean.

Back to the buffet; looking forward to getting all those frames off the buffet top and replacing it with a fabulous large lamp, moving the current lamp to my new desk, and balancing that with some neat faux flower/brancy things and the ostrich egg bowl for some much needed color in this living room. It's going to look great.

Here are some pictures of the Pottery Barn wine bar I bought for Sean's birthday. Mind the blue block under the couch leg- just had the carpet cleaned professionally.

FYI- not sure why we are even decorating. We are planning on moving next summer to a bigger home anyways! I hope??

I look forward to hosting my salad in the invitro fridge

After 5 days of bumming on the couch I am delighted to say that I have found a new job! A week ago I lost my job because my previous company had to make some cuts to survive. I honestly anticipated it and was as holding my breath to not be inconvenienced mid semester but in my heart just new it was time to find something relevant to my future career interests. The change was needed- a person can only do so much admin.

I found a job at the University of Michigan to work in the MSRB II. I get to make eyes at the lab animals (and hope to become friends with a chimp or 2) and will be a part of the team that provide the chemicals to the researchers who are changing medicine with their incredibly prestigious NIH funded support. I look forward to hosting my salad in the invitro fridge.

I'm excited about this new faze in my life. How fantastic.

I love plug in arc scones!

Oh someone please send me $5000 for a mini home makover. I'm just dying to do something to our blank canvas of a condo. It's just so blah. Reminds me of Sean's white coat. I found these fabulous scones online at Pottery Barn. $229 for 2 plug in scones. They are amazing but even more so because they have these long "stems" that allows you to hide the wire hanging from them. So if you are smart about it, and your side tables for your bed are tall enough they probably won't show very much wiring. Just look at these. Alternatively there is a smaller but more traditional design on sale currently (as seen in first picture). What do you think? I want these for Christmas.

Fall in Ann Arbor

Technically, it's winter to the rest of the country but who is keeping track?

After my mind went into overload yesterday about how absurd things are around here I thought I'd follow that up with a follow up post about the actual events in my life as apposed to focusing on the craziness of what I am observing and hearing.

Things are actually going pretty well so far.

Still in school, taking my 11 credits. Still working (so grateful to have a job in this economy). So I think that means all is well.

I have this behavioral psychology class- so boring. I am surprised at my uninterest but it's just painful to sit there for 3h. I'm currently maintaining a A for that class (FYI A in the US is 90% and up)and I'm not sure how. Chemistry is super fun. The labs are tough but I really enjoy them and then there is Biology. I am working very hard in this class and can just not get a perfect score on my exams which is really frustrating. I am really nervous about not maintaining my 4.0 GPA this semester. So nervous that I'm blogging instead of reviewing some Bio of course. That being said, I can't believe I'm already about half way into my semester. It's amazing how time flies when you are so busy with work and school.

And then there is November. It is our 3 year wedding anniversary in November. Sean has a week off over Thanksgiving and will be flying out to Houston a day before me. I'll be flying to Texas that Tuesday afternoon at 3:15p, detouring through Cincinnati (let's just hope I don't get stuck if not in Detroit but in Ohio for a blizzard) for a 7p arrival in Houston. That hopefully gives us enough time for a late night anniversary dinner.

We are super excited about our new bedroom furniture. We are getting an Italian made King size bed- finally! We'll have it in a couple of months which is good- because that should be at the end of my semester and should hopefully give me adequate time to clear out that disastrous clutter on my nightstand. Seriously. OK, in my defense, the stuff on/around my nightstand is due to my not having my own personal office like Sean. And the crazy closet of mine is due to my not having a walk in closet anymore or a dresser for that matter. Because every stupid shirt Sean has ever owned has to be kept. Well, that's what he thinks. I just toss them out slowly. He is such a hoarder. I'm so bad at piling. The balance? I don't keep anything that I don't use or that is old.

And to solve my "piling habits" as Sean refers to it, I can only thank Leslie for deciding to get rid of her white Pottery Barn desk and passing it along to us so that I have a place to store my books and notes at last. Not that the office is being shared with me, oh no. I get to use it in the bedroom. Which is OK because Sean is delusional if he thinks that I am going to actually get any studying done when he is doing dictations in my ear.

October will be the month for a few things:
Painting the bedroom; and hopefully Sean will put up his wine bar before his next birthday. I swear. He kills me sometimes.

And then December we will have our bedroom furniture and my desk. Yeah. Oh and super excited about getting new linens. I found these fabulous 1500 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets (See picture) but just can't decide on a color or if the 1500 will be too heavy and if we should just get the 1200. I need Jeff Lewis to come visit my home. I'm lost.

OK time to study- not getting an A+ for bio if I don't work for it. Genetics is so darn hard.

Ps. Promise to put up a photo of the wine bar once it's up!

Update: Holy crap got a 100% for my exam! I'm proud!

The stress of residency- someone get me out of here

The last 2 months have been about as pleasant as, wait, I forgot what pleasant is? This is going to be a frank blog so hold onto your skirts.

NTE is the service from hell. No really, the devil would feel comfortable on that rotation. For 30 days our boys work themselves to death. And let's not even get started on them being over their hours on that rotation because I don't have the energy for that. All you deal with is a doctor who gets 4h of sleep at night for 4 weeks straight. Grumpy. Unshaven. Grumpy because they got shit for being unshaven. What a pleasant sight. This year was a double shitty one. NTE might have tossed a few extra hours our way but then that was followed by Thoracic. 20 Pages one night later followed by my blood shot eyes for an 8a bio class on a Sat morning and his derriere has been booted to the very comfy couch. I thought I was sleeping next to a crying baby the other night. Only this one you couldn't smother with a pillow.

And then their is life outside the hospital. Stress. Tempers. Irritation. Craving a nice meal. Craving sleep. Craving a latte. Craving an ear to bitch to. Sigh.

And then for the brief moment when things are going well for you then it isn't for others. And before you know it you are sucked into the concern of your surrounding observations.

This ones husband is exchanging texts with some nurse tech who is desperatly trying to climb the stature ladder. That ones husband tried to hook up with a girl at a bar at an out of town conference. Another wife is complaining because her husband is not home enough. While another divorces his wife for some intersting looking bleach blonde who posts her 8 weeks pregnancy bump (gut?)as her FB profile picture. A husband tells a friend he is thinking of cheating on his MD wife because he is bored. Another one pushes his wife around behind what he thinks are closed doors. Another is overdue on the baby promise. Some oddly dressed asian girl at the hospital is trying to practice her dry hump moves on 4 married men at a bar in one night all to the other real wives amusement,dirty stares, and snickers. Whoah. Take a breath. That's a lot of drama. A lot of naughtiness. A lot of skankiness.

So what does one do? Accept it? Fight it? Prevent it? No. You don't worry about it. You just focus on your relationship. When things are as dreadful as they are for them in the hospital, you make those moments you have together magnificant. Life is not meant to be micro-managed. It's meant to be experienced and lived in. You appreciate what you have, cherish what you have, and when the shit hits the fan you put on your big girl panties, offer that friend support, and thank god it's not you. This time. Don't get sucked into a bundle of concern because of what you observe. Or because you are scared it might happen to you. It will devour you.

Then you get up, do your fabulous wife thing and remind yourself that we are all human. Eventually we might make a mistake. But you remember one thing. We are married because we are adored, special, meaningful, and fabulous. Yes fabulous. We are Martha Stewart's in the kitchen and our husbands mistresses when we need to be. And when we are single, it's because who are upgrading. And we are always upgrading.

So for the love of God go to your closet.
1. Get rid of your damn flannel PJ's.
2. Get rid of your playground friendly capri's.
3. Get rid of the comfy sweat pants and high waisted jeans.
4. Stop missing your waxing and hair appointments because your kid has a cold and because there is no clean laundry.
5. Stop being a professional stay at home mom. Your relationship doesn't want a woman who wipes a kids behind all day and wears kid friendly clothes for the juice stains.
6. Stop going to those mom playdate groups- send your nanny instead. It's OK.
7. Put on your cashmere and silk dresses.
8. Wear your high heels until they hurt.
9. Get a nanny for weekly date nights if you have kids.
10. And make time to work out. Always.


Because you should be fabulous.