Today I'm going to answer a few more of the questions you guys had during my survey in April. You can find previous ask me anything posts here! These questions are all more about my personal life. Anything not answered below? Let me know in the comments!
How do you deal with your online presence? How do you balance your professional aspirations with having a significant online history? I consider you a tactful and professional blogger but just from a privacy standpoint, I know that as an engineer I wouldn't necessarily want my identity/personal preferences over several years readily available to colleagues/potential clients/employers. How do you feel about writing as a to-be-doctor and your patients being able to see your posts? Does this ever influence what you write?
I've always tried to be as professional as possible while letting my actual personality shine through in my "online personality". I always think about the fact that I have no clue who actually reads this blog, so I always want to put my best foot forward. In real life, I tend to cuss a lot more, and I've had a lot of personal things happen over the past two years, but those aren't things I want attached to my name for the rest of my life. Someday I will be a doctor, and people will google me - I don't want a patient to find an old post where I'm complaining about my career choice or what my ex-boyfriend did.
I also don't share a lot of super personal details, like religion or political beliefs - partially because this is and always has been a style blog, but also because again, I don't want future patients to find that out about me unless I have a direct conversation with them about it. A few people have mentioned that they feel like they don't "really know me" because I don't share the super personal details about my life, but there's also a reason for that. My life is more than my blog, and eventually when I'm no longer blogging, it'll still have my name stamped on it (and a very easy to google name at that!). So yes, my future in medicine absolutely influences what I do and don't share on here.
What is your favorite non-school related activity?
I really enjoy bike riding, going on walks with my dogs, and binge-watching TV shows with my boyfriend. Before I moved, one of my favorite activities was the night after an exam, just sitting around one of my girlfriend's apartments with a glass of wine in hand, and catching up.
How did your parents get to stay in the USA?
Same way everyone who isn't from here gets to stay - by getting a green card! We moved to the US when I was five, and applied for permanent residency. Germany does not allow dual-citizenship, so this is the best of both worlds. I get to keep my EU passport, and no one can kick me out of the US ;)
Would you do a home tour? maybe that is TMI or too personal, but i'm always interested in how people decorate.
I totally plan on it! We are still waiting for our carpet to be replaced, but I'm hoping that soon after that everything will fall in place.
How do you make time between school and studying for your dogs?
My first two years of school were actually probably the best two years of Hans and Baer's life. Previously when I was working, I was gone at least 9 hours every single day. When I started school, I was home most days. I also had a really great roommate who loved my dogs as if they were her own, so she was a big help on days that I was studying at the library and she was studying at home. My friend Caitlin also got a dog during the middle of first year, so we always used puppy play time as an excuse to see each other.
I want to hear more about the boy! I know there is one and I know you are moving in together but I want to know how you met, what he is like, why you like him, etc. If you aren't comfortable sharing I understand but I am a romantic at heart.
This was like my number one most asked question on the survey! CR is such a great guy, and I'm so lucky to have him in my life. We met on the first day of medical school as our last names are alphabetically in order. We were anatomy lab partners, but never spoke outside of school. We both ended our longterm relationships about the same time, and it was nice at the time to have a buddy to chat about that with, but it was always just like a friendly thing. Over the spring semester, we started just seeing more of each other, and here we are! He is so kind and funny and patient. We very rarely fight, we're very much on the same playing field, and have the same life goals (something that I now know is super important!).
Ok, so this is nosy: CR - Is he 'the one'?
It would be foolish for me to probably say that on such a public forum because who knows what the future holds, but lets just say we are very much on the same page when it comes to our future :)
What does CR stand for??? :)
They are just his first two initials - nothing crazy ;)
If CR is also in med school (which I believe he is), do you have plans for how you'll handle rotations? Are you able to stick together?
We are able to stick together...kind of. Our hospitals are about 20 minutes apart, and I'm going to do quite a few rotations at his hospital over the next two years. We picked our rotations so that one of us would always be on an easier rotation (or as close as we could get to that) - so last month when he was on surgery and working 14+ hours a day, I was on an easier family medicine rotation. This month I'm on surgery and he's on family med. So one of us is home to take care of the animals and do more house things while the other is still at work.
I'd love to know how the preparation for moving in with your boyfriend is going! That's a big step. Do you have any reservations, or are you just excited to finally share the same space?
I am so excited about our place together! We basically lived together for the past year, but just in two houses. We spent very little time apart, and it was more of a hassle just to schlep everything (including dogs) back and forth. We already know each other's habits very well, so it has been the easiest transition ever.
Plans to get married? It seems lots of other bloggers are.
While I don't make my life decisions on what is currently popular in the blogging world, yes, I do hope to get married :)
What happened in your last relationship? I went through a break up it seems around the same time you did so I'm mostly just curious.
It was one of those relationships where we stayed together because we had been together for so long - we had been dating for 5+ years, had lived together for four, and had dogs. In my heart, I knew it wasn't "the one" but what do you do if there isn't a major problem? Once I moved away to start school, we grew apart even more as he didn't seem to have much interest in my new life. Our breakup was very mutual and quick, and although there may have been a bit more going on with him than I knew at the time, I really don't think about it anymore. It seems like a whole lifetime ago.
Where do you live?
Ohio!
Where are you from originally?
I was born in Kiel, Germany, and lived in Wisconsin for twenty years before moving for school. I grew up in a small town of 1200 people an hour west of Madison.
I would love to know if you've made any good friends at school? You speak a lot about your blog friends and the boy, but we don't hear much about the other folks.
Absolutely. I actually have the best group of girlfriends a girl could ask for. They included my roommate, and then three girls who lived across from us in our townhouse complex. They were my absolute rock over the past two years. We all went through a lot, between relationships, family, and health, and we've just come out stronger on the other side. We're all spread out now, and don't get to see each other every single day like I was used to, so I'm really anxious to see them in hopefully a few months. I like can't even verbalize how thankful I am for their friendship.
I'm a UW grad too - I'd love to hear more about your time there!
Ugh, wasn't it the absolute best?! I could not have loved my time there more (so much I stuck around for a victory lap haha). I was in the marching band, so we got to do so much crazy stuff (the good, none-probation kind of fun!). I went to the Sweet 16 in New Orleans, most of the stadiums in the Big 10, and went to the Rose Bowl during my last year. Steenbock was my favorite library, followed by the cages in Memorial. Camp Randall is my favorite spot on campus. Cookies and cream is my favorite Babcock icecream, and I would give just about anything to sit on the terrace right now with a spotted cow.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Married, mother of a few children, and hopefully loving my career in medicine.
What's your daily make-up routine?
Well, before I started this surgery rotation, it was the following products:
Stila eyeliner (the best liquid eyeliner!)
Anastasia eyebrow powder (a must for all blondies)
Too Faced mascara (a miracle worker)
Now that I'm on surgery and no one really cares at all what I look like, I don't wear foundation, concealer (unless needed obviously), or eyeshadow. The rest I can put on in 5 minutes and that's worth it to me, even at 3:45 AM ;)
Do you feel pressure to stay at your current size? You seem to be losing quite a bit of weight, yet a lot of people follow you because you "look real". What will happen to the blog when you aren't "average size" anymore?
I haven't lost a lot of weight. I lost 15 pounds last summer/fall, and have kept it off since then. I will never be a small person - my structure is tall and broader, and with possibly having PCOS, losing a ton of weight is very difficult for me. My blog has never been build on being average - I don't define myself by my size, and so I don't define my blog by it either. Hopefully you guys follow me no matter what size I am.
What's your healthy eating/diet philosophy?
Cliche, but everything in moderation. It's something I always struggle with, but have really gotten much better about the last year. By allowing myself a cheat day for 2 meals on one day, but eat more healthy the rest of the week, I stick to a healthier lifestyle and still get to enjoy those really delicious cheat meals once a week like intended. I very easily could eat cheeseburgers every single day because I love them, but I know my arteries will thank me in 20 years. Once a week is a much more acceptable way of eating delicious burgers.
What type of exercise do you do?
Currently, none :/ But after standing for 12 hours, the last thing I want to do is go work out (I really just want a back massage!). But before this month I was going to Pure Barre 3-4 times a week, and before that I was going to the gym with a girlfriend and did the elliptical for 30 minutes and then light weights, about 2-3 times a week depending on our schedule.
How is the Invisalign going?
Really good! I have about 3 months left, and can't wait to be all done. Next step is hopefully getting my front tooth fixed (my sister pushed me down a water slide when we were kids and chipped it, so it's half fake and now a different shape and color than the rest of my teeth).
How do you manage having two dogs and a cat and roommates? Are your dogs just really mellow and well behaved or is there a lot of separation or crating involved? (Or are midwest houses just *that* enormous!)
All of the above! My dogs are super chill (that's happened over time, as they are six years old now), so they will happily just lounge around all day. They are crated at night, and I know they prefer it as they often put themselves to bed. We got really lucky that my dogs get along well with CR's cat Lucy. She's very much the boss of the house!
What's your favorite dessert?
I still can't decide between my mom's tiramisu, my mom's cheesecake, or apple pie. I love them all!
How old are you?
27. But I don't look a day over 25, right? RIGHT?!
What does your family think of your blog?
I think they think it's really interesting in the sense of what it has become. My extended family thinks it's crazy that someone can make money off the internet. My dad says it's great that I've found a way to earn extra money, because he knows if he wrote a blog that no one would read it. My mom follows pretty religiously and always blames me for tempting her to buy new things! She's also happy that I found a place to write - I have always enjoyed writing, and was almost an English major in college. I think it's also a great way for them to see what's going on in my day to day life and maybe hear about things we wouldn't have talked about otherwise. I don't think my sisters really follow my blog that much, but we're pretty active on each other's instagrams and snapchat. We're all spread out and don't get to see each other a lot, so the internet really keeps us updated on each others lives!
Dress: Loft [similar black and white options]
Belt: Gap [very similar]
Shoes: Frye [exact]
Watch: Kate Spade [same style]
My dress is no longer available, but Loft currently is offering 40% off sale items, so here are 5 other sleeved dresses that you can get for a steal. My favorite is this black (or pink!) dress that looked so great on Nicole.
