Blog
May 9, 2018
It was a typical weekday. A Monday to be exact.
I woke up to the sound of my 3:15am alarm clock and hopped out of bed.
I did the usual - breakfast, coffee, boys - off to work.
My few steps into work that day were different.
It was my first day as a nurse.
ALONE as a nurse.
It was my first day off orientation.
As I walked into my unit, I had an overwhelming since of insecurity yet an odd feeling of confidence. Weird, I know.
I looked at my assignments for the day... four patients. Phew. Not bad.
Off I went on my nursing duties.
At one point, I was in a patient's room providing care. He had a procedure earlier in the day which required him to be on strict bed rest with a leg immobilizer and minimal ability of movement. He claimed he needed to use the urinal, but didn't know how he could alone. I offered help. I could tell in his crackling reply that he wanted to say no but he knew he couldn't do it alone.
While in the process of helping him, he questioned me...
"Why would you ever...
February 27, 2018
A healthy, balanced recipe that takes longer to eat than it does to cook!
This used to be a go-to breakfast of mine. It's SO filling and leaves you satisfied for hours. I literally ate it every single day for close to a year. Needless to say, I got a wee bit tired of it. I recently brought it back in the rotation a couple weeks ago and I'm so glad I did.
Some of you have already seen this recipe before but since it got wiped clean from my database when I switched website companies, I thought I'd share it again.
Hope you like it as much as I do!
ps: the best part - the toppings are endless.
Egg White Protein Oatmeal
Serves 1
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
- 1 cup water
- cinnamon, to taste
- 1 stevia packet (or sweetener of choice)
- 1/2 cup liquid egg whites
- 2 tbsp. peanut butter (optional)
Directions:
1. Add oats and water to small saucepan over high heat, stirring constantly.
2. Once the oats come to a boil, quickly add in the cinnamon, stevia and egg whites.
3. Continue to stir constant...
August 16, 2017
August marks the 5 year mark for the popular POPSUGAR Must Have box!
Lisa Sugar and her editors have been spending the last five years handpicking their favorite items in fashion, fitness, food and more.
This month is extra special. Along with a generous coupon, they are doing weekly giveaways for all of their subscribers. Read along to find out how to enter and to get your code!
These are a few of my favorites out of this month's box.
Goodie Girl Cookies
Cheers Lacquered Tray
Shoptiques.com $25 gift card
5 in 1 Bouncy Mask
There were also adorable gold glitter candles, a friendship bracelet and a pink journal that I l.o.v.e. You can see a picture of the journal on my instagram account.
Like I said before, if you've never subscribed, now is the time to do it! They're offering $10 OFF your first box (normally it's $5).
Click here and use coupon code PARTY at check out.
And on top of that, they're doing weekly giveaways for new and current POPSUGAR subscribers! Here's what you could win:
Week 1: Li...
August 7, 2017
Hi friends!
I just got back from a week long vacation in the beautiful Caribbean. I'll post on that in a separate post in a few days. It was magical!
If you follow me on social media, you probably saw that over the weekend, I attended an event sponsored by Popsugar and Starbucks at Boleo featuring Betty Who.
The weather was absolutely perfect and the atmosphere was even better.
They were highlighting their Refreshers and they had three cocktails involving the three different flavors.
We didn't get to the event until about an hour after it started and Betty Who was already rocking out so the bar was on hold. (Side note: Betty Who is amazing. The woman has a voice! I downloaded her newest album as soon as we left. Get it!)
Shortly after she stopped we found out we couldn't try the signature cocktails anymore so we grabbed some champagne and enjoyed the atmosphere.
The fine details were super cute.
They had a few hors d'oeuvres going around.
We tried a shrimp that was coated in quinoa and my frien...
June 27, 2017
Last week I attended the Drug Information Association (DIA) conference in Chicago.
I've discovered DIA is unknown to a lot of people. They appear to focus more on professionals in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device fields. However, you can earn continuing education (CE) credits if you're a nurse or possibly in another medical profession.
Considering I'll be graduating from nursing school in December, I was very excited and curious to find out as much information as I could. I was only able to attend one day, but the conference took place all week long. There were countless amounts of informational sessions you could attend, each having several additional subtopics.
I can see how this would be beneficial for large corporations covering multiple areas at once, but for me, several of the ones I was interested in were taking place at the same time so I had to pick and choose.
I chose to attend a session covering Pharmacovigilance with Vaccines.
The two speakers for the ev...
June 16, 2017
At the end of last week, I received a special invitation to Shernett Swaby's new store opening in Chicago.
Some of you might be wondering who she is.
Some of you may even recognize her from tv.
She was a top 5 finalist on the hit show Project Runway. Her first boutique opened in the city in 2009. You can read more about her in the bio section of her website.
(My gorgeous friend, Laura, who attended the event with me.)
She had so many beautiful pieces but the one thing that stuck with me the most was the fact that she offered lifetime custom tailoring on whatever piece you purchase.
So say you bought a pair of pants but then you wanted them to be shorts.. done. Etc.
She also offers closet consultations to make you confident that you're wearing the right clothing for your figure.
If you can't make it in to her beautiful boutique, she offers the option to shop online.
Thank you again for inviting me to share in the excitement, Shernett. Your designs are phenomenal.
March 24, 2017
You guys..!
Best of Chicago 2016 with Chicago Mag was so. much. fun.
I went to look up pictures and show someone the other day and realized, my post wasn't up. I went in the back end of my site and realized it never got posted. Wah!
The only nice thing about that.. I get to re-live it!
I invited one of my classmates to go up with me and we had an absolute blast!
We were early so we did a quick google search and found The Aviary.
Google said it was a "swanky cocktail lounge" and both of us had to agree.
Their drinks were very unique and reminded us of a science experiment.
We had our one drink and walked back to the event.
When you first walked in, you were greeted with a raffle ticket which granted you a chance to spin the wheel.
They had a lot of options on the wheel and no matter what, everyone was a winner. I won a night out at a comedy club and my friend won a gift card to a steak house.
Afterwards, we walked around the corner and BAM! We walked into a room full of vendo...
February 5, 2017
Who's watching the Super Bowl? Who are you rooting for?
Remember that kiddie "cocksail" I made last week?
I told you I also made an adult version.
Man is it good.
All you need is a beach and a fancy umbrella toothpick and wah-lah, you can be on vacation.
If you don't have those, close your eyes, take a sip, and let the fruity deliciousness make your mind think you're there.
Tropical "Cocksail"
Serves 2 small or 1 large
Ingredients:
- 1 cup ice
- 4 shots peach schnapps
- 4 tbsp frozen orange juice concentrate
Throw it all in a blender and mix that baby until it's smooth.
Enjoy!
January 30, 2017
Hi friends!
Can you believe January is basically over already?
I had quite a few people interested in the contents of this month's Must Have box after seeing it on my social media posts.
Here's the line up (in order on the video):
Glade candle (couldn't find the same scent but this one sounds yummy!)
Enjoy!!
PS get $5 OFF your first box HERE by using code SHOP5 at checkout.
Disclaimer: some of the links above are referral links. Thank you for your support!
January 17, 2017
I saw that on a tank top today. Too funny.
And true.
So true.
Well, maybe throw in some chocolate. Then we'd be talking.
A few weeks ago you may have seen I posted a picture to Instagram and facebook about six bottles of wine I got for just over $4 each.
That's right... FOUR dollars.
I don't know about you guys but I love knowing about a good deal so thought I'd pass it along.
I ordered this start kit from Groupon.
A week or so later, six miniature wine bottles showed up at my door step.
After you receive them, you register on their website. From there, you taste each and vote which one you like better, according to your personal tastes.
In the end, they create a wine profile of things you would or wouldn't like and then they ship you six full size bottles based off your profile. You have the chance to make adjustments before they get shipped.
A few weeks later and BAM..
They arrive!
**I've been waiting to post this because when I ordered, they had a special with an extra $10 off which is what made...
Featured Posts
I'm busy working on my blog posts. Watch this space!