GREEN MACHINE!

Soooooooooo.. I found this blog (I can't even remember what it is called) but the lady is like a health advocate/personal trainer/dietician-ish kind of gal and she is ALL about "green smoothies." I absolutely LOVE smoothies, but they are pretty high in calories because of all of the sugar from the fruits and the juice so I rarely drink them.

However, I made my own version of her GREEN smoothie today and included:

1 small banana

1/2 cup unsweetened frozen peaches

1/2 cup unsweetened mixed berries

2 big handfuls of fresh spinach leaves

2 cups of ice

and a splash of water

1 splenda packet

Total calories: 252 cals

I also bought a little tub of 0% Chobani (only because it was cheaper than Fage by almost $1.00) to add a scoop of. One cup of this Greek yogurt has 23g of protein (compared to regular Dannon yogurt that only has 8g). I didn't add it this time because I was nervous about how it would turn out but .. it was GREAT! I even made my roomie, Cat, try it and she had no idea there were leafy greens in my drink! It had kind of a nasty color because of the red/blue berries and green spinach but YUMMY! I will be making one tomorrow for breakfast :) 

Here are a few fun pictures!

mid-blending :) banana and frozen fruits on the bottom and green spinach getting chopped in!

nasty colored smoothie!

DELICIOUSNESS!

Happy getting-in-wedding-day-shape!  Between my recent gym-scapades and counting calories on myfitnesspal, I am feeling great. Yesterday I went nuts on the cardio machines and paid for it today when I could hardly lift my legs.  BUT! both days I have had calories to spare and should lose a few lbs if I keep it up! YAY!

235 days!

by Marissa ♥

i carry your heart.

I just came across this poem by E.E. Cummings. It reminded me of "In her Shoes" - the movie with Cameron Diaz. 

At the end of that movie, someone (I believe it was actually Cameron Diaz) read that poem at a wedding and I thought (way, way back in 2005 when I was most definitely not the wedding crazed woman I am today) "one day when I get married, I want this poem read."

I just read it again for the first time in a very long time, and well, I think I still want it read at my wedding. 

PS. I am so flipping excited to marry Colby I could just squeal!!

(just like this little piggy!)

by Marissa ♥

It is official!

Well, after having completed 74 of my 90 weeks of clinical rotations I FINALLY, as of noon time today, have the rest of my rotations on my schedule and have an official END DATE. This has been one of the biggest headaches ever and many of you have been victim of my yelling/screaming/crying/venting about this whole process. 

Well, here is it. My clinical schedule in its entirety! I am still pissed about having to repeat three rotations, but, I won't let anything get in my way of heading back to California ASAP (I actually think Colby would call off the wedding). 

Right now, I have 4 weeks left in this crappy Peds rotation in Brooklyn, NY. I am totally not a NYC girl. I see the allure and I do think its an incredible place, however, it is totally not MY incredible place. Some guy mouthed "thank you" for me letting him cross the crosswalk (while he had a little "WALK" man flashing) and I almost peed my pants. "A New Yorker just said THANK YOU?!" it really was quite shocking.

My next rotation in Phoenix is one I set up on my own to get exposure to the residency program there. They call these "audition rotations" so hopefully I impress some important people and things work out in my favor!

Basically, I will be MARISSA LYN BLACK, M.D. on February 17, 2012! 

That's all for now. I have lots on my mind/plate right now but - this just happened and I am STOKED!



by Marissa ♥

Decisions, Decisions!

So, wedding planning is in full effect! That is GREAT, except that means making decisions and for THIS bride - that usually isn't an issue. I am loud mouthed, very opinionated, know what I like/what I want .. except when it comes to planning, evidently.

I have met with my florist twice and she is amazing and I have no doubt it is going to be GORGEOUS. I would have nothing but peonies if possible, but anyone who knows anything about flower prices knows what I mean when I say that is DEFINITELY not happening. We WILL have lots of them, but there will be some bigger, cheaper flowers to help with cost.  So flowers are covered .. now I just need all those little details that I see daily on wedding blogs of these GORGEOUS weddings that I just "oooohhh" and "ahhhhh" over and just die inside because they are SO fabulous and think to myself, "how the hell am I going to do THAT? and THAT?! and THAT?!?!?!" Time isn't necessarily the issue - we have just over 8 1/2 months for crafting and finding and all that jazz. I just feel like a bomb of ideas has gone off in my head and I can't think straight. Lindsay, BM extraordinaire, is a wedding planning queen (she used to do it for a living and is currently planning what will be one INCREDIBLE wedding) is going to help me by approving/veto-ing things and helping me keep things cohesive..  and unfortunately for her, there probably won't have a single thing she hasn't already seen by the time our big day rolls around :)

Done freaking out, now on to some exciting news! I finally pulled the trigger on a bridesmaid dress. I had been VERY into the idea of each of the girls wearing a different light pink dress (no satin, yes chiffon or organza, above the knee) that they liked. I thought it would be good to let them pick a dress they liked, in their budget and that still does sound fabulous however, there are the few weddings I have seen on my many wedding blogs where this has been done and it looks HORRIFIC. Like .. puke on my keyboard .. how could you let that be in your wedding photographs .. WTF was that bride thinking?! Now, I have more faith in myself (as I had already decided I WOULD have veto power) and also in my BM but, what if they just didn't go together?! 

Then I found (what I think is) the most amazing bridesmaid dress known to (wo)man.  Or at least I think so and as I have been reminded by a few good friends and a few fabulous bridesmaids and even that dumb bitch on Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta, Lori, it is my wedding (well, Lori said the bridesmaids need to "pay up and shut up" which is funny because having been a bridesmaid 4 times and will be two more times this year, I do agree in the end, that is true - but again, that is just her being the big bitch that she is!) and the dress fits my vision, will look great with my fabulous gown and I think my girls will look bangin'. They are all fabulous and I know they can pull this one off :)

We got two hotel blocks in SB! That is exciting - another thing to check off the list :)

Andddd my beautiful, fabulous, cute-as-could-be Save the Dates arrived yesterday and  I LOVE them! 

(don't worry, ours look NOTHING like this!)

I am having one little issue with what to do about our return address because I got these cute return address labels and well, the space for a return address label is non-existent, even if I trim the edges (gross) of the label and smash it in the corner. I guess I will just have to bank on people giving me their correct address!  Look at these cute little stamps I made and was SO excited about .. 

until I realized that they wanted $0.85 per $0.29 stamp - LAME! Oh well, to the post office I go today to hopefully find some cute ones. 

One last SUPER exciting thing! I found this awesome girl through, again, you guessed, one of my many wedding blogs, who does planning for no fee! She sent over 4 different places for us to look at in our budget and now I feel like I am deciding between the impossible - they all look like a little slice of heaven to me. Oh! Decisions! Decisions! :)

I think that is all for now - time for breakfast!

by Marissa ♥

Four years!

Yesterday was mine and Colby's FOUR YEAR anniversary. I wrote that in caps because I am just baffled at the fact that it has been four years since this all began. It all started the summer after I graduated UCSB - I was having such an amazing summer with my girlfriends, going out dancing, beach during the day, working a job I knew I wouldn't stay at just to pay the bills and live the good life for a while. Colby was living the California dream living with 4 other guys in a house on the West side.

Medical school was always my dream and I knew I would go one day but after not getting accepted to start in the fall of 2007, I decided to take a leap of faith, apply to Ross in January 2008 and the rest is history!

Here is a little recap of our nomadic lifestyle:

April 2008 - left Santa Barbara (I remember the drive to my mom's house clear as day)

May 2008 - moved to Dominica for 1st semester

July 2008 - Kim && Warren came to visit us on Dominica :)

August 2008 - vacation to Barbados, just the two of us

Sept 2008 - 2nd semester on Dominica

December 2008 - came home to CA for Christmas

January 2009 - moved to Grand Bahama Island for semesters 3 && 4

(June 2009 - broke my leg - shit!)

July 2009 - Colby moved back to WA to start working and wait for me to get there

August 2009 - Basic sciences complete! Back to America!

Sept - Dec 2009 - Saginaw, MI for me, WA/ID for Colby

Dec 2009 - SAKE JOINED TEAM BLACK-BROWN!

Dec 2009 - March 2010 - back together in Coeur d'Alene, ID

March - April - Lake Forest, CA

May - Dec 2009 - Atlanta, GA

-- Colby has stayed in ATL working but I have been everywhere --

Dec 2010 - Feb 2011 - Worcester, MA

Feb - April - Augusta, GA

April - June - Long Beach, CA

... and for now I am currently back at home, enjoying life post-Step 2!

Next up: Brooklyn, NY --> Phoenix, AZ --> ?? Houston, TX --> Augusta, GA --> ?? Norwalk, CA --> DONE!

So that is my horrific, nomadic life. I am DYING for residency to start for more reasons that one but a biggie is being stationary. Having a home that we both come home to every night (well, most nights), knowing 100% that we will be there, in that same city, together, for 4 years is magical.

Now we are just 263 days until the wedding! I have been crazy about planning and looking at pictures since I took Step 2 last Monday and I literally feel like a bomb has gone off in my head with ideas. In addition, I found an awesome girl who is helping us honeymoon plan and she sent over 4 resort options last night so now we have to decide on that - SUCH A HARD DECISION!

I feel like this post is all over the place but that is okay -- that is what my brain feels like.

Off to get finger printed for the DoJ and FBI! Yay California medical licensing! :)

Here is us last night at a great little restaurant called Sprig

by Marissa ♥

ABCs of me.

My friend posted this a while back and I just came across it. And since I am laying in bed and avoiding going to bed for some god awful reason .. here we go!

A. Age: 26
B. Bed size: Queen
C. Chore you hate: Dusting
D. Dogs: Sake Bomb!
E. Essential start to your day: Shower, I literally can hardly function without showering (and I usually shower before I go to bed too!)
F. Favorite color: Pink!
G. Gold or silver: Silver, definitely.
H. Height: 5′6″
I. Instruments you play: None! oops!
J. Job Title: Medical Student
K. Kids: Not yet! Not for a long time!
L. Live: Atlanta, GA
M. Mom’s name: Debbie aka Big Deb
N. Nicknames: Bear, Mariss, Mar Mar
O. Overnight hospital stays: When I broke my leg/had surgery in June 2009
P. Pet peeve: A messy house, dog hair on my black car interior
Q. Quote from a movie: If you know me, you know I don't know ANY!
R. Right or left handed: Right
S. Siblings: Matty
T. Time you wake up: Depends on the rotation.. I usually can't sleep past 9 even with nothing to do.
U. Underwear: Shopping obsession. I have millions and want millions more! I love to buy them 15 at a time! YAY!
V. Vegetables you dislike: Eggplant has the most awful texture ever; cooked mushrooms, collards
W. What makes you run late: Not much, I am quite punctual!
X. X-Rays you’ve had: Right knee, right leg, hips
Y. Yummy food you make: Colby is the cook but my artichokes and enchiladas are better! I also make many other delicious dishes :)
Z. Zoo animal: Manatee and giraffe!

by Marissa ♥

Marissa = Nomad

Well, its official. After waiting 10 days to get in touch with the only people at Ross I am "allowed" to talk to for scheduling, I have a schedule.

8/15/11-9/23/11 Peds remediation - Brookdale Hospital Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY

10/3/11-10/28/11 OBGYN L&D sub-internship, Maricopa Medical Center, Phoenix, AZ

November : UT Houston OBGYN elective, hopefully!

12/19/11-1/27/12 Family Medicine remediation - Augusta, GA

Psych remediation after that and I am D-O-N-E.

Yes, 18 weeks of remediation because the hospital in GA that I did them all at the first time has it's accreditation under review by the California Medical Board and because I am so close to being done, I have to repeat them all so I have no problems with my license. WONDERFUL! And, in order to do these exciting electives in Phoenix and Houston, I am doing 8 extra weeks of clerkships. AND before all this crap happened, I would have been done in November and now I'll be done in March. F.M.L.

On a happier note, wedding reception venue is booked and I received the preliminary contract last night! I notified the florist/planner, photographer and videographers that the date was FINALLY set in stone. My dress should be in soon and hopefully I will still be in GA to try it on. And I am officially in wedding planning bliss :)

Time to get a facial and enjoy these last 2 1/2 weeks of freedom. Can't wait for Colby to get back from WA/ID - I am SO sad I didn't get to join him.. and now I totally could have because I am not starting until the 15th of August. UGH!

by Marissa ♥

COUNTDOWN TO DREAM WEDDING!

Created by [url=http://www.momentsofelegance.com]Wedding Favors[/url]

by Marissa ♥

I AM FREE!

I AM FREE!!!

I just took my USMLE Step 2 CK exam which is the 2nd part of the medical licensing exams (Step 1 was last March, Step 3 is taken during my first year of residency).

Guess what that means? Full blown wedding planning will now ensue (sans guilt). Best news coming up? It is almost August 1st - which means we can finnnnalllly book our reception venue. Let's all cross our fingers, toes and everything else that I get the venue on 4/21/12 (since we already changed the date from 5/12/12 when the ceremony site got stolen!!!!).

Here's a cute pic of a cute dog for you to enjoy :)

by Marissa ♥

myfitnesspal

In honor of our upcoming wedding, I decided that although I am not starting my "wedding diet/exercise regime" it would be a good idea to try and not get any more squishy before that time comes. Right now, with moving around, I don't have a gym membership because I can't find a gym that is everywhere that I am (24 hour fitness is in CA, but not GA; LA fitness is in Atlanta, GA, but not Augusta, GA; neither of them were in Massachusetts and so on) and since I have no idea where I will be spending my last 22-26 weeks of school - I am not up for paying for a membership that won't be used! So the working out will have to wait for now but in the meantime..

I discovered the greatest thing in the whole world. I was sitting at the library last week eating my lunch when I was searching through "Top Free Apps" on my phone and saw "myfitnesspal" -- it had great (and lots of them) reviews so I thought I'd download it because, hey, it was free! Turns out - best free app I have ever "purchased!"

This thing has almost every single food you can think of already available for you to choose and if it doesn't have something - it is super easy to add. Japanese Katsu Curry from Tin Drum just happened to be one thing it didn't have (although it DID have many other of their dishes) so I went online to the Tin Drum site and added it myself - easy peasy!

You start with creating your profile .. how much do you weigh now? how much do you want to weigh? how many pounds do you want to lose/week? how tall are you? what is your usual activity level? etc..

Then it gives you your "GOAL CALORIES" .. you add your exercise (it even had "walking, 3.0 mph, moderate pace; walking dog" - wonderful!) and logs all your exercise too. (Now I need one of those calorie counters for when I DO start back in the gym!!!)

My first day, and I absolutely HATE to admit this, I went over by 1522 calories! We had pork tacos (which I honestly didn't think were THAT bad) and chips and guacamole (oops) for dinner and my yummy breakfast of cereal + 2% milk + banana was over 600 calories - WTF?! Screw you blueberry almond crunch!

Yesterday, and every day this week, I have been UNDER my allowed calories. I am super proud of myself and although I am not "on my wedding diet" I am trying to take care of myself and I feel pretty awesome not eating double what I am allowed per day! It gives you little projections at the end of every day about if you "ate like you did today.. this is how much you'd weigh in 5 weeks." Like I said, PRETTY AWESOME! This girls' #1 WORLDS BIGGEST FEAR? NOT BEING ABLE TO ZIP MY DRESS AT MY FIRST FITTING (well, that is #2, DAY OF is most definitely #1).

So here is a little sneak peak at what I had yesterday! (I did so well I even got to treat myself to a homemade strawberry shortcake!)

YAY MYFITNESSPAL!

by Marissa ♥

I'm back!

Well, I am back. Maybe it is because I officially banned myself from Facebook for these next few weeks until I take USMLE Step 2 CK or maybe it is because we have so much going on that I actually feel like I'll have stuff to talk about.. hmm.

Recap:

- We (well Colby) live in Atlanta, GA

- Colby is working at his 3rd store since we got here, but is doing really well

- I have 18 (maybe 26) more weeks of medical school and I am officially done; I am possibly doing some extra weeks for OBGYN electives

- Sake is the best! He is almost 21 months old, weighs 50 lbs and still won't let most people pet him :)

- We got engaged! November 13, 2010 was one of the best nights of my life and Colby popped the question at his work Holiday party. It was incredible!

- I have been in full planning mode and most of the big stuff is all taken care of! Only thing left, make sure we get the reception venue for April 21, 2012! I can FINALLY book the venue August 1, so keep your fingers crossed!

Anyway, I am going to make this first post short and sweet because it is study time. I woke up early, took Sake for a walk and got ready for the day. Tonight we are going to Colby's old boss's going away party and tomorrow we are hopefully going to start our wedding registry!

Sake our walk this morning in the neighborhood. I really love where we live.

What a pleasant surprise! It has be SO hot lately that even an early morning walk is practically a death sentence.

More soon.. :)

by Marissa ♥