2016: a year in review

For many people, 2016 was not a great year. Between the election, some of our favorite celebrities dying, and whatever else the year has brought, I think many people are excited to have a fresh start. 2016 was definitely an interesting year for me, luckily one with more ups than downs. The beginning of the year brought a ton of learning opportunities, and the chance to do two months of ObGyn that solidified my decision to pursue it as a career. Over the summer, CR and I kicked Step 2's ass (and scored the exact same score #soulmates), went to my ten year high school reunion, and have since spent the past six months living apart as we each did our sub-internships. It was a great learning experience for our relationship - it required us to focus on our communication skills, we learned to cherish our limited time together, and in the end, we are coming out of it stronger than ever...and engaged! We spent weekends camping and catching up with Dave. The fall brought us to California for a long weekend, and the chance for me to visit ObGyn programs for residency interviews all over the eastern side of the country. 2016 was a good year, and I have a feeling 2017 may be the best yet. Between Match Day, graduation, moving for residency, starting our careers, and planning our wedding, it may just be the busiest yet! But before we look ahead...we have to look back, at the good, the not so good, and everything in between. Thank you for being such an encouraging part of my life - I hope 2017 is your best year yet!


favorite outfits

one | two | three | four

five | six | seven | eight

2016 was the year that I blogged the least amount of outfits - there were many weeks where I didn't post a single one! Most of my rotations this year have been hospital based, so I wore scrubs all of those rotations (9 out of 11 rotations this year), plus busy months of studying for Step 2 and living away from home for sub-internships - all together, it left little time to wear real clothes, much less take pictures of them! I did manage to get in quite a few I loved though. It's quite interesting to look through the previous year in review posts, and see how my style has changed over the years. My wardrobe now is very neutral based - the colors I do wear are either blush or blue, with red accessories mixed in. This means I can mix and match more, and it also makes it easier to shop! 

least favorite

There is nothing really inherently wrong with any of these outfits, but as I looked through the last year's worth of posts, these are the ones I was mostly meh about. Sometimes that's what it's like to wear your normal clothes in your real life - sometimes they will be just fine outfits, but maybe not really worth putting on the internet. Finding that balance between sharing every day outfits with trying to keeping it interesting is definitely something I'm still working on.


best purchases

These were pretty easy to pick out, just quickly scrolling through the last year's worth of budget posts. The poncho is one I love to wear, and pack with me on every colder weather trip we go on (see it on here). I wear my Michael Kors loafers constantly. The J.Crew blazer is definitely the best purchase I made this year (see my review here and it on here). I haven't shown my Coach purse a ton on the blog, but it's currently my go-to purse on the weekends.

regret purchases
My least favorite purchase was the flared jeans I bought earlier in the year. I never grab for them, and it was definitely one of those instances where I fell prey to the trendiness of it. Lesson learned!


most popular posts
Looking at my stats for the 169 posts I've written this year, the ones that always get the most views are ones related to school or review posts. The highest viewed post of the year is a post about what to wear on clinical rotations, followed by posts about what a day on internal medicine is like and a 24 Ob call. My review posts are always the most popular of the month - I'm not sure if it's because people like to see how truly awful some clothes look on me, or if it's because google searches bring people here. Either way, I plan on continuing both types of posts in the future as they are clearly what people are most interested in!

beauty
This was the year I really started to incorporate more beauty and skincare posts, and it's been one of the things I'm most excited to write about nowadays! I'm always looking for the next best mascara / dry shampoo / face mask, so having a way to share those with you has been so much fun for me. Highlights included:
    - How I wash my hair only twice a week (with this lifesaver of a dry shampoo!)
    - A review of Essie's new gel couture line (possibly my favorite beauty product of the year)
    - How to trick people into thinking you have thick hair
    - The easiest way to apply self tanner
    - Before and after pictures using a tretinoin gel
    - My current skincare routine
 

medical school
Now in my fourth and final year, life was very busy, and now is very awesome. The first part of the year involved taking Step 2, doing three sub-internships, going on residency interviews, and now it's about enjoying the last five months until graduation! Posts throughout the year about school include:
    - A day in the life on Internal Medicine
    - 24 hour Ob call
    - A day of Step 2 studying
    - Great discussions about residency interview suits
    - Essentials for clinical rotations
    - Gift guide for medical students


in written form
I've always enjoyed writing, so I definitely enjoy writing longer posts once in a while. Longer posts this year included:
    - How we found our wedding venue
    - Thoughts on being curvy
    - Our engagement story
    - Real tips and tricks for growing your blog
    - My experience with Invisalign (complete with before and afters!)


favorite instagrams

Still my favorite social media app of choice (although snapchat is getting up there - follow along @ fhasselhof). This is an older post about how I edit pictures, although I've changed a few things. Any interest in an updated post?

resolutions for 2017
I like the idea of coming up with a few things you want to work on every year. Not vowing to become a whole new person, but just a few things to improve on. This year I want to:
    - Not wish my time away. I'm excited for our future, but want to enjoy every month of the year.
    - Start a wellness series on here, mostly to hold myself accountable to stick with cleaner eating
    - Read real books. for fun. First up: the history of cancer. Should be a quick read ;)

P.S. 

2012 review

2013 review

2014 review

2015 review