Sun-Soaked Saturday

Is it really January?  I could have sworn it was the dead of winter, yet the weather outside feels more like early spring.  I was definitely that girl laying out on my back deck this afternoon in shorts and a tank-top soaking up every last warm beam of sunshine.  Seriously, the day was absolutely PERFECT!  65 degrees and bright sunshine at the end of January - I'll take it!

This is really where I would like to have been laying out, but a girl can't be too picky.
By the way, t-minus 15 weeks until I really will be staring at scenes like this!

While it may sound nice to be a lazy bum in the sunshine all day, I actually had much bigger things on the agenda.    I'm taking USMLE Step 3 this week, which means it's non-stop studying going on around here.  Fortunately, the studying is quite amenable to happening in the sunshine.  This is the last USMLE test I have to take, thank goodness.  All medical students are required to take Step 1 after second year and Step 2 during fourth year.  Finally, you take Step 3 as an intern.  The test covers everything related to patient care, ranging from internal medicine to pediatrics to ob/gyn to surgery.  As a surgery resident, it's been a long time since I've studied lots of those topics, so it's been a whirlwind month of review.

I'll be really happy to toss this book in a corner and never look at it again.

I broke my studying up with a strength session at the gym around noon time and then a 90 minute bike workout before dinner.  Exercise is always a good way to break up the monotony of studying.

Speaking of dinner, here's a really quick and simple vegetarian-friendly meal idea.

Mixed Up Kale Salad

Ingredients:

• Brown rice (cooked earlier in the week and leftovers chilled)
• Trader Joe's Marinated Bean Salad
• Scallions
• Kale
• Bean Sprouts
• Bell Pepper
• Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette (you could easily substitute a dressing/balsamic vinegar of your choice) 

I quickly blanched the kale, bean sprouts, and bell pepper in boiling water for approximately 90 seconds.  I then quickly rinsed them in cold water.  Combine all your ingredients and mix well.

Dinner is served!  The crisp cool salad perfectly matched the sunny day.

Enough procrastinating.  Back to studying.