Short & Sweet - Happiness

What makes you happy?  Maybe it's a quiet night at home to binge-watch your favorite shows or a long and relaxing bubble-bath.  Some of my favorite things are a great dessert, a new scented candle, and a great bottle of wine.

My mom came and stayed with me this week while Chris was gone on his OB rotation.  I decided to take a half day on Monday so we could go to Roanoke and do a little shopping a try out a cafe and bakery.  We tried Wildflour Cafe for lunch and picked up a couple pies from Piety to bring home for our late night dessert.  Piety never disappoints me!  This was the second time I've visited there and will definitely not be the last.

She introduced me to a new favorite go-to for red wine on my list!  Mark West Pino Noir is a must try for anyone who hasn't had it before.  We picked up a couple new candles from Bath & Body Works and this new scent sweet caramel comfort is delectable!  Smells as good as a Thanksgiving pie baking in the oven!

Now that Chris is home for the weekend, we're topping the week off with Mellow Mushroom for dinner.  Here's to a table full of great gourmet pizzas and craft beer.  I hope everyone has a great weekend!  Keep your fingers crossed for spring weather soon!

Short & Sweet - XOXO

Valentine's Day is known as the day of hugs and kisses.  Being affectionate and appreciative towards each other.  Chris and I spent the day like any other day - doing housework and researching rotation site options for this fall.

Instead of going out to dinner at a fancy restaurant, we stayed in and cooked a nice meal together.  Started it off with appetizers of cheese and crackers with shrimp cocktail.  Since we had negative degree wind chills last night and snow, I knew I didn't want to grill a steak outside.  After searching online for a top-notch steak that you can cook inside, I found Steak Diane and got a great recommendation for a recipe from a co-worker.  Our main course was Steak Diane, sautéed green beans, and roasted red potatoes.  I knew I had to make the perfect dessert - it's a tradition that I make a great one each year for Valentine's Day!  I decided to make an Italian dessert for my Italian boyfriend - mini cannoli cups.  They were delicious!

I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day celebrating with the one they love!

When Dreaming Becomes A Reality

This time one year ago, I was writing my first blog post Joyful versus Jittery.

Chris and I were also spending night after night comparing and ranking rotation sites for his third year of medical school.  Well, third year is more than half way over now and I can attest that the whole experience of rotations has been joyful and jittery!  Chris was thrown in immediately, learning on the fly how to adapt and think on his feet.  I was also thrown in immediately learning how to adjust to him not being home until 9 or 10 at night, and leaving at 6 or 7 the next morning.

I think the most important thing I've learned this past year is that having a supportive family and friends is key.  Having friends that understand what you're going through is essential - they are either going through the same situation or they've been there in prior years.

Over the past week looking at residency programs and helping Chris narrow down his specialty choices, dreaming has definitely become a reality.  It's really hit us hard that we only have a few months to choose a specialty for him, pick audition rotation sites for the fall, and apply for interviews.  As I referenced in the title of my first post, this past year and this next year have and will be the epitome of joy and jitters!  I am extremely excited to see where we could end up for residency and jittery at the same time of making another move and starting fresh in a new area.

In honor of my 1 year blog anniversary, I'm also debuting this new template!  Very classic in my opinion.  I hope you like it as much as I do!  So here's to celebrating 1 year of blog writing, making it half way through third year, and another year of exciting updates from our lives!