Inspiration and Bracelets

I'm not really sure why, but lately I've had an obsession with inspirational quotes and bracelets.  I like wearing at least 10 bangles.  Gold AND Silver...MIXED...and sometimes I even throw in a Pewter bangle or two.  So, the newest addition to my collection is the perfect combination of both. I'm a little behind the times and just discovered my obsession with Etsy.com.  I can spend hours browsing through the thousands of items including jewelry, scarves, wall decor and anything else you could ever imagine.  Anything and everything you'd like monogramed or personalized, go here.  I bet you can find it.

Designed by me
Made by Spiffing Jewelry
Customize yours here!

I've always loved the quote "c'est la vie" for various reasons.  I'm sure many of you are well aware, but if you don't know, in French it means "that is life."  I frequently remember this phrase as I often catch myself dwelling over something I cannot change.  For example, I hate living in St. Louis and can't wait to move far, far away.  But I then try to remind myself I am only here for two and a half years and in the grand scheme of life, that's nothing.  And these short two and a half years are going to define who I am in the future.  Plus, how could I forget all the wonderful new friendships I've made since I've been here?  We're not always happy with how our life is unfolding, and it may not be how you always imagined it would happen, but it's what you make of it that counts.  That is life.

Bad things happen to good people.  That is life.  I drive myself crazy wondering why I feel like I have the worst luck in the world some days.  Days when it seems like nothing is going your way.  I wonder why I've lost so many great people and young lives to tragedy.  Billy Joel said, only the good die young.  It never seems fair, but that is life.

Sometimes I hate how much I care about people who go through their lives without thinking twice about anyone but themselves.  I've wished on SO MANY stars that people like this would change.  But they never will.   That is life.  So it becomes my decision to remove those people from my life, no matter how much it sucks...and believe me it sucks..A LOT.   I naturally tend to care more than I should or they deserve.  That is life.

Less often I wonder why I'm still single and the person next to me is married, living happily ever after with a wonderful husband, children, a house, a dog and a white picket fence.  Those thoughts are quickly replaced with a nauseous feeling reminding me I'm no where near ready for any of that.  I remind myself when I'm ready, someday my prince will come and all the tears I've cried over other boys will be long gone.  I'll be happily living life as "the one who got away."  That is life.

Many times I fail at all of the above.  But then again, I'm only human.  But with one quick glance at my wrist, I can be reminded, that is life.

I'll leave you with these words that I repeat to myself frequently...one of the lines which will most likely will be found on my next inspirational bracelet. 

I can choose happiness whenever I wish no matter what my circumstances 

I am loved by myself and others

I will face and conquer my fears today

I will believe in myself and others will follow

I am my own unique self - special, creative and beautiful

Stay Sassy, xo

         

To Catch a Predator: Facebook Style

EXHIBIT A: THE RANDOM FACEBOOK FRIEND REQUEST

The answer to your question is yes. Yes, Mark, I am scared to be your "friend."  Because I have no idea on Earth who the hell you are.  We have ZERO friends in common.  You live no where near me.  And the fact you noticed after at least three months that I still haven't accepted your friendship creeps me out even more.  You even have the balls to inquire why your request is still pending.  So no, I'm sorry, we will not be Facebook friends anytime soon.  You are the reason I have my profile set to private, removed my last name, and the most personal information you can obtain about me are my favorite quotations. 

EXHIBIT B:  THE GUY WHO CLAIMS TO BE FROM YOUR HOME TOWN WHO YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF & SENDS YOU A MESSAGE

First off, Aaron, that's really sweet of you to send such a nice message to me based solely off my profile picture.  I'm flattered.  Really.  Just an FYI, I went to Kansas.  Therefore, I have a slight hatred for the K-State Wildcats.  Also, being a Chiefs fan, I'm a Raider Hater.  Sadly, I won't be friending you.  Not only because messages like this give me the heeby-jeebies and leave me wondering how often you send messages like this and/or touch yourself inappropriately while Facebook stalking....but also because you've now de-activated your Facebook account which also worries me.  I will not be sharing anything about myself with you nor do I have any other questions about who you are.  I hope you didn't do anything stupid waiting for friendship requests from all the cute girls you send messages like this to.  Oh, and btw...double smile faces from a guy...ehhh...no bueno. 

EXHIBIT C: THE SARCASTIC ATTEMPT TO CASUALLY CREEP

Jon, you seriously take the cake for being the absolute biggest creep I've ever encountered on Facebook.  If there were a prize for being a Facebook Stalker, you'd win the equivalent of the Publishers Clearing House Mega-Jackpot.  Not only is this message ridiculously fabricated, if you would have taken a second to stalk a little harder beyond my profile picture, you would have noticed that I am a graduate student at SLU (a private school).  So, if you'd like to split half of the money I don't have...you can take and repay half of my student loans -  about $35,000 give or take a couple grand.  I'm totally cool with that.  I hope you never thought of me again after sending this disturbing message.  Next time you decide to approach a girl like this, I suggest you think twice...and instead of closing your eyes and hitting send...save your dignity and click the cancel button.

-Stay Sassy, xo

Red & Blue | KU | Red & Blue | KU

Them Kansas Girls...Make You Say 'My God'

For better quality - click here - ROCK CHALK!

And to download the song --> HERE!

-Stay Sassy, xo

P.S. Thanks to A.H.'s A.I. for sharing this bomb find with the Jayhawk Nation!

With All Do Facebook Respect

It's clearly known the virtual world has changed our lives.  It's hard to remember what life was like before the internet.  My family didn't get a computer until I was in middle school but I remember as a gradeschooler going over to my best friend Kelsey's house and playing games on her computer for HOURS!  We didn't put in a CD-ROM, we didn't go to some website like MSN and play Bejeweled...we typed in a MS-DOS command that lead to our favorite game.  From high school, I remember the days of ICQ chats until 3 in the morning, specifically with my secret friend Liz.  We would talk for hours about who knows what.  I still know my ICQ account number - 20802802.  ICQ was quickly replaced by MSN instant messaging and then in college I replaced that with AOL.  My roommates and I would chat with each other from our bedrooms, too lazy and/or hung over to get up and verbally speak.

Then came Facebook.  I can seriously remember the day I signed up for Facebook.  We were sophomores and living at High Pointe.  My roommate Kelly called me in to her room and told me all about it.  She had just signed up and gotten her account.  Facebook was reserved for college students only - you could only sign up using your college email address.  Most of my friends from home couldn't even have an account yet because Pitt State wasn't one of the universities it supported.  I can guarantee Kelly was my first Facebook friend, probably my first wall post and possibly my first "poke."  

Speaking of pokes - I remember when that was the coolest thing you could do on Facebook.  What the hell is a "poke" anyway - it sounds dirty to me.  Before the days of uploading and tagging photos, Facebook chat or the "Like" button, it was just another way to send drunk messages.  Now, you can almost do anything on Facebook.  Post your latest status, check in at your most recent location, upload pictures from last night...whatever.  But how far is too far?  I know there are tons of other blogs/artitcles out there about "Facebook Etiquette" so I'm not going to waste my time going in to that (this is one of my favorite bloggers - and here's her take on FB Etiquette).  I have only one complaint today.  I know it's fun and exciting when something new happens in your life and you can't wait to share with the Facebook world and all your pseudo-friends (you know, the ones who HATED you in high school or haven't talked to you since you were in the 6th grade).  I actually do enjoy catching up/stalking people's lives through their pictures posted and relationship status changes.  It's cute to see new couples becoming "Facebook Official" and then advancing to engaged and married.  

Yes, I want to see pictures of your new engagement ring so I can gawk over the size of it or affirm it's not big enough for me.  Yes, I want to see your engagement pictures and how happy in love you look.  Yes, I want to see your wedding pictures since I clearly wasn't invited to the party because we're clearly Facebook pseudo-friends only.  And yes, I will tell you congrats on all of the above.  But when baby time comes around...PLEASE DO NOT POST A PICTURE OF YOUR F*CKING PREGGO TEST!  Announcing you are pregnant is enough.  But I DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT need to see the damn EPT stick saturated with your urine that confirms you're expecting.  I can't even remember who it was who did this - and if you're reading this and it was you..I'm sorry.  But that's just SICK.  I get that you're excited and happy your family is expecting, but please keep the urine stick to yourself.  A simple status update will do.  I'll tell you congrats and follow the progress of your baby bump you document weekly - that's cute.  Baby bumps are adorable.  Sonograms are exciting.  4D sonos are creepy.  But it should stop there. 

When your baby finally arrives, I'll look at all the pictures.  Even the disgusting ones you post right after he/she has been pulled out of your vagina covered in vernix.  Even that's too much in my opinion.  I do not need to see any of your bodily fluids no mater what orifice they come from.  Nonetheless, congrats on your newest addition and I promise you, when I get knocked up, if Facebook even still exists, you won't see pictures of my EPT stick or my child covered in cottage cheese.

-Stay Sassy, xo     

True Life: I'm in Love with Mila Kunis

"Playing coy is silly.  Speak your mind.  If a man gets turned off, he's the wrong man." -Mila Kunis

Mila Kunis....You are my newest lesbian girl crush.  I am far from considering myself a lesbian...or even bisexual...but mygoodness.  Mila Kunis is HOT.  After her dark and mysterious, yet sexually confident role as Lily in "Black Swan" I immediately became infatuated with her.  Her gorgeous big hazel smokey eyes, olive skin and plump DSLs are to die for.  So you can imagine, when I saw her on the cover of February's Cosmo, I just had to purchase it.  I've blogged in the past about women being too aggressive and immodest so when I read her personal interview, I loved her even more.  When asked about dating and playing games, she's quoted as saying "I think playing coy is silly.  Speak your mind.  If a man gets turned off, he's the wrong man."  Amen to that!  I couldn't agree more.  Coy is not my personality.

Moreover, she describes herself as a "sweatpants kind of girl" and she even admits to burping...two things I can relate to.  The minute I get home, the first thing I do is change out of my clothes into a big pair of sweats two sizes too big and a hoodie (although I've recently added a few pieces of lingerie to my wardrobe and have felt quite sexy wearing it for no one but myself).  I've also been known to burp...outloud...gasp.  How unlady-like.  I know.

Finally, another reason I'm crushing...her confidence in her body.  She reportedly lost 20 pounds for the role as a ballerina and hated the way she looked.  She went down to 95 lbs on her 5'3" frame and couldn't stand it.  In an interview with Nylon, she says, "I could see why this industry is so f*cked up...I would literally look at myself in the mirror and I was like, 'Oh my God!' I had no shape, no boobs, no ass...all you saw was the bone.  I was like, 'This looks gross.'  It took me five months to lose 20 punds, but it took me just five days -- days! -- to gain it all back."  In today's stick thin obsessed society, nothing is more refreshing to hear than a star embracing her curves, tits and ass.

If you haven't seen "Black Swan," I suggest you do so.  I loved it.  Not only because I have a dancing background and love ballet, but because it's a good psychological thriller...for any male or female.  And guys, if two hot chicks in a psychological thriller isn't enough for you, you'll at least be entertained by the lesbian sex scene between Mila and Natalie Portman.

-Stay Sassy, xo

Excuse me...have we made out?

Remember when you were in college and it was the start of a new semester?  You walk in to the lecture hall and find your seat.  If you were like me, the first day of class you were always a good 10 minutes early - just incase.  If you were late, forget it...for the purpose of this story you were on time.  Just as class is beginning to start in the lecture hall of 500 students, a few final stragglers come walking in through the door....some still smelling like last night's drink specials.  Distracted by the door, you realize
the last guy (or girl, depending on your gender and preference) to walk through the door looks extremely familiar, but you can't put your finger on why.  He sits down next to you or within the vicinity.  For all intensive purposes, in this story, he sits right next to you...and you start to get a little nervous.  You're positive you know him from somewhere...but you just can't recall.  Then again, you and your roomie did have a few too many cocktails this past weekend.  Oh well.  Your professor's voice babbles in the background as you attempt to finish the UDK crossword puzzle and read up on the latest Free4All calls from the previous weekend when all of a sudden....BAM!  You remember!  Your heart starts racing...you feel your face flushing as you realize in your mind, "Shit....that's that guy I made out with at bar close a few months back."  You exchanged numbers that night, he texted you a few times, but nothing really came of it.  Then a few months later...of all places...he sits right next to you in class.  You sigh as you realize it's going to be a long semester....

Flash forward to present day.  This whole scenario... yep...that's exactly how I felt this past week.  I was minding my own business walking through the halls of the hospital when I passed a man in scrubs whose face looked awfully familiar.  But why?  I continued on with my day.  And then I realized....shit...that's the guy I made out with several months ago at bar close.  The rest of that hazy night and its events begin to come back to me.  I remember him telling me he worked at the hospital.  We swapped phone numbers and exchanged texts a few times before we lost touch.  Due to busy schedules we were never able to go out for drinks.  Did I ever think I'd see him again?  Absolutely not.  But of course, much to my surprise I am now continually running in to him and have seen him 3 times since then in the past two weeks.  Each time we politely smile at one another and walk by continuing on.  I'm not sure if he even remembers who I am.  Even if I was slightly intoxicated and visually impaired that night, the good news is he's gorgeous stone sober.  Maybe next time I'll speak up and say hello...and maybe I'll see if he's still open to the idea of happy hour.  But then again...maybe not...

-Stay Sassy, xo

It's May! And Mother's Day is this weekend!

“Wherever the art of medicine is loved, there is also a love of humanity.” - Hippocrates

Week one is almost over of inpatient internal medicine and I couldn't be happier!  Don't get me wrong, I have a great medical team who have all been very helpful and educational, but these long hours on my feet are not exactly what I'm looking for in the future.  On a side note, I've discovered how great geriatric patients can be.  I used to not like working with "old people" because they were so grouchy.  But now I have a whole new perspective on these one of a kind patients. 

All of the patients I have seen have made me laugh and smile; one in particular.  And how could you not smile when you ask your patient what day of the week it is and she tells you it's Saturday (when really it's Wednesday), it's May (clearly not) and Mother's Day is this weekend and she can't wait to celebrate!?  When I remind her in fact it is January she perks up.  "What is the date?" she asks me every day.  And each day I tell her.  And that's when she remembers.  "My birthday is coming up!" she tells me.  So I ask her how old she is going to be.  Most times she tells me 80, when in fact she is going to be 81.  But what the heck...you're only as old as you feel right?

Although she's not as sharp as she once was, she can tell you all about her husband, how long they've been married, their kids, her family, where she lives...anything.  But when I ask her when her last BM was....well, she's just not sure.  And that's the way it should be.  When I'm the ripe age of 80, I hope my face lights up when I talk about my 50-plus year long marriage, my children and my grandchildren like it all just happened yesterday.  While BMs are important in medicine, especially geriatric medicine, it's just a minor detail in the life of this magnificent 80 year young lady.  And it should stay that way.

As I left her this morning, she reminded me to never lose my smile and she told me she will pray for me.  She might forget to pray for me but I'll try my hardest not to lose any teeth.

-Stay Sassy, xo

So what brings you in today?

On PA School:  "Medical training should be like a good mini skirt. Long enough to cover the subject, but short enough to keep it interesting."

Holy crap.  In less than 12 hours I am officially going to be starting Phase II of my PA Education.  Tomorrow marks my first clinical rotation - Internal Medicine.  And let me tell you, I am so nervous it's donkey.  You'd think after being a medical assistant for two years, working in the medical field since I was 20, and mentally preparing for this day for the past 18 months, I'd be ready for D-Day.  But oh no, I'm not.  Thankfully, I'm not alone in this mess.  I've talked to several of my classmates and I'm pretty sure all of us feel the same way.  I feel sorry for those who suffer from stress-induced IBS...I won't name names! ;)  

PA Plouv

I can't even compare my feelings to anything because I've never had to make medical decisions for anyone but myself (traditionally based upon the guidance of an educated physician).  As of tomorrow, someone's life will more or less rest on the knowledge I've gained over the past 18 months.  And now it's time to throw it all together and make educated medical decisions for my patients, under the guidance of my attending of course.  Ah...the art of medicine.  In medicine there's no such thing as always or never.  Each patient paints a different picture and there are no two masterpieces alike.  And now it's time for me to prove myself as a healthcare provider and shove it in the faces of a few certain people who've doubted me along the way.  

Over the next 12 months, I hope to share some of the highs and lows of clinical year.  I know it's different than my typical posts about being a young woman searching for myself, her prince and all the silly choices I make along the way, but medicine is a major part of who I am.  It's only a matter of days before I perform my first rectal or prostate exam on a real patient.  Jealous?  You should be.  My fingers are a lot smaller than your doctor's...especially if  your physician is a male.  So bend over, relax and enjoy the ride...Do you think it's too early to start the countdown until graduation?  I think not!  Three hundred and forty-five days.  Here we go...one rectal at a time...

-Stay Sassy, xo