Chicago: Hot Doug's and The Bean

Thrifted Forever 21 cashmere baseball tee sweater // Thrifted Ragorama black high waisted shorts //

Forever 21 sparkly sandals // Nordstrom ombre green and brown sunglasses //
Ruche brown messenger bag //

Thanks Karyn and Marie for helping with outfit photos!

On Day 0 of Lolla, we drove the 6 hours from Columbus to Chicago and made our first stop at Hot Doug's, a corner hot dog place serving everything from their famous foie gras (duck liver) to deer meat. The foie gras hit the spot, adding a rich creamy texture to a simple hot dog (though it costs $10!). Then we walked along the bustle of Michigan Ave to Millenium Park and The Bean for some silly pictures. Afterwards, it was time to terrorize the people of Chicago with our bike share beachcruisers until we finally found a beautiful bike trail that hugs Lake Michigan and rode to our hearts' content. The bikes have to be returned at a station every 30 minutes, so it was like a stressful touristy version of the Amazing Race on wheels. We ended the night at Pequod's for some serious deep dish pizza.

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Sweet Patisserie | Pistacia Vera

H&M mint green skater dress (buy) // Goodwill thrifted gold tip white belt //

Forever 21 black wool beret with stud detail // Predictions for Payless white low heel pump //

F21 gold spike bracelet and pearl bracelets // Revlon Lip Butter in Lollipop //
Black faux leather purse (gift) //

Photography: Cassandra Morecroft King

Catching my breath after hours inside anatomy lab to bring you an outfit inspired by my favourite things: pastel mint green & kitschy French things (10/21). This beret my Mom gifted me two Christmases ago as part of a French-inspired outfit, my college graduation dress in my favourite shade mint green, white and gold accents. Committing "me time" is important to enjoy every day even if it's hectic, feel excited about discovery like watching my first DIY crystals grow in elementary school, be thankful for my supportive friends for propelling me forward after setbacks. The best revenge for the baseball cannons pelting you with lemons is to get up, add sugar to the wounds, and live a really good life. There will always be someone who you wish you could trade with because of their success, intellect, birthright, material wealth. But you will get to where you need to be by not forgetting who you already are.

I am grateful for spontaneous giggling fits about wishing our arms were 6 feet longer to avoid smelling eau de formaldehyde, childhood best friends still being here for each other even as we traverse into the daunting new chapters of our lives, JJ coming to visit this weekend and share more adventures, catching up with an inspirational old friend with hovering mustaches and laughter, late night reliving the 90s kid experience of Power Rangers/Ultraman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle shenanigans with the best faux-bro I could hope for (conspiracy theory blood relation pending). Cassandra's selflessness and good company, taking the time to drive up and put up with me and my fanciful ideas that usually involve pointing a camera in front of every half-decent tree, house, fire hydrant, younameit. I had been wanting to check out a French pastry shop in German Village called Pistacia Vera to try out their macaron selection, and boy were they tasty! My favourite flavour was their namesake pistachio, sweet but savory. My goal by the end of this first year of med school is to make my rounds in the coffeeshops around town, portals to my happy place.

Laughter, singing, writing are powerful healers.

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The Last Summer

CALI FUNKY FRESH. Nothing like locally-grown fruits and veggies that are cheap and naturally sweetened with good ole California sunshine (if you live in San Diego, North Park Produce is where it's at). Chilled in the fridge and popped straight into your mouth - a sure switch from the college menu of chicken & waffles, half and half, and root beer floats so big you need 3 mugs to split it realistically. I've been sick with a cold since Senior Week, and finally recovering with jasmine tea, mints and a candy store variety of cough drops. My days are spent catching up on TV, relearning driving, watching Berkeley 2005 Anatomy lectures on Youtube (lol why am I already studying again?!), and lying by the pool reading the complete Sherlock Holmes. This is the summer to do whatever the heck I want before I sell my soul back to school and the hospital, markedly different from the hectic chaos last year.

My blog sale also launched, so there are many delicious items up for grabs right now. Please check it out for brand new to lightly used clothes, shoes, accessories that would love a new home!

Look who made Chictopia frontpage yesterday :) Hint: on the right

Readers - what are you doing this summer?

 

Coachella Bella | WUStock

Forever 21 grey button down (S) // DIY denim ripped shorts (Junior 3) //

H&M crochet fringe vest (4) // DIY/Converse All Star checkered sneakers (5) //

Forever 21 maroon felt floppy hat (steal) //

Erin Wasson Low Luv silver knuckle ring (5) (c/o Suzy) // Turquoise cluster ring (gifted) // 

H&M multicolor bracelets // CLAWS Jewelry turquoise and gold necklace (c/o WhitWatWear) //
Urban Outfitters double face watch // Silver inspirational cuff (gift from Alice) //
Claires feather beaded earrings (old) //

Photography: JJ

VIVA LA BOHEMIA. Okay, this wasn't Coachella but it's as close as we'll get in the Midwest excluding SXSW. I must be feelin' the Cali cool because I've been baring peeks of midriff more and more with my 90s knots, definitely venturing outside of my comfort zone (4/7). The Gym Class Heroes were swell at WUStock 2012, my college's spring music festival - they had a lot of energy and I enjoyed listening to some of their lesser-known songs. With our modified stereo heart signs and pumped up fists, we felt some of the hippie love comin' on hahaha. Free food trucks topped it all off with Korean BBQ tacos and an assortment of beautiful cupcakes (almond creme!). We spun shutter shades on wheels and splattered colourful paint on them, swung on swings and hammocks until the ground was the sky, and threw caution and care to the wind. These rare moments are the ones that stick with me while I'm blogging from home in San Diego, but home away from friends feels so foreign. St. Louis really has been home to me for the past four years - yup, the nostalgia is already kicking me.

Thank you for all your sweet words throughout graduation and in my last post. Many of you have asked if I plan on continuing this blog during med school. The short answer is ... "helllll yeaaa!"

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Supermoon Saturday Snapshots

Photography: JJ and me

THE AVENGERS !!! If you have not gotten your butt to a movie theatre yet, do so because this was 2.5 hours of in-your-face pure awesome. The actors were phenom (everyone loves some Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans, right?), comedic relief right on the spot, and interesting plot quirks ("ohhhh it all makes sense now") for those who have watched paid attention to all the Marvel movies. Not to worry - I have friends who haven't seen anything besides Ironman and they thoroughly enjoyed and followed the film. Stay after both end credits for two extra scenes.

Also, tonight is the SUPERMOON, the biggest moon this year. It's 15,300 miles (24,600 km) closer to Earth than usual and shining white and bright. Makes me want to track things in the woods by moonlight all folklore-style. Here are some photos JJ took with his mad cam skills (confession: I'm still having trouble figuring out where all my buttons are, let alone using them in manual T__T)

Went to Starbucks to study in an Express denim romper from Goodwill ($3 baby). It was well over 90 degrees and humid today, so lots of sweat was involved. Fear not, half off Frappucino Week is here (May 4-13, 3-5 PM) and we got a hugeee Mocha Cookie Crumble frappucino for free for JJ's bday. Will be there at the crack of dawn to hustle for a good table and get some neuro studying on, full throttle. Found some interesting things at Urban Outfitters too like flamingo flats and a studded fanny pack (nerd meets rocker - awesome). Picasa and Flickr codes don't like each other. After two hours of tinkering with code ... kthxbai

As always, my Instagram username is @pandaphilia. Follow me for foodporn and daily snapshots!

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I Met Bill Nye the Science Guy

Photography: me 

INERTIA IS A PROPERTY OF MATTER. You know your life is complete when Bill Nye the Science Guy approves your research thesis. Swank! Today Bill Nye came to speak at the renaming of our Geology building after some rich family who donated. It was in the midst of finals but tons of people still came, and there was standing room only for the screen broadcasting his speech from the auditorium. He is super adorable and such an entertainer. Sporting his iconic red tie but not his powder blue lab coat (he's grown out of that), Bill looked a bit older and more refined. "Change the WORLD!" I remember watching him as a kid and starting my roots in science. I owe a lot of what I've accomplished so far to him! He used to work at Boeing and studied as an engineer but what brought him to fame was his passion and quirky TV personality. That was a moment of affirmation for me - over the next few years in med school I need something fun to hold onto, so I'm packing this blog to bring with me :)

They had this thing catered to the teeth. Candy painted to look like space rocks, star and moon-shaped croissant sandwiches, chocolate martinis, a pink chocolate fondue fountain, what what our graduation better be half this good! Whoever organized this did such a creative job, the waiters were all very friendly, and the "adults" didn't chew us out for stalking him all over the building. There were food and drinks on every floor and at the top a live jazz band swooned the crowd. The earth and planetary sciences are so underrated at WashU. As a kid I also really liked learning about rocks and minerals and grew a bunch of crystals at home and for science fairs. Scoping out the building led me to pastel fluorite, fossils, and even glow in the dark stones that looked like they were splattered with neon graffiti. Awesome.

I felt bad that we all stalked him everywhere as he was trying to tour the place. Basically he just got his soda and we started tightening the circle like little zombies. But no shame! YOLO and Bill Nye has been our generation of science geeks' idol forever.

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Fish Tacos in SD

SAN DIEGO SNAPSHOTS. What did I do after pulling an almost all-nighter in the bio library for my first last-semester final, napping on sofa chairs with my legs flopping off the edge? Oh, nothing, just watch a crap ton of America's Next Top Model and Jenna Marbles on Youtube. It's funny how motivation to not sleep flees the scene when there's studying to be done but after the test, all the energy reappears and this is why I'm still up trying not to break my blogging chain (6 days and counting). Meanwhile, check out this sweet feature Kitty Cotten surprised me with as I scrolled through my feed. This girl knows how to design  graphically pretty and embellish photographs. Thank ya :)

Homigah I'm graduating college in two weeks. Two weeks until my friends disperse all around the world and move onto the next chapters of their lives. Two weeks until sweating in our emerald robes and crying when it hits us. Two weeks til San Diego - you and I are going to do this summer right. These are old snapshots of when JJ and I went to explore downtown and the Gaslamp District last Thanksgiving Break, mmm fish tacos. Can't wait to meet up with local blogger faves and learn how to surf!

P.S. It's raining fire in St. Louis. 90 degrees every day for the next two weeks, probably lost 5 lbs today to sweat. Dipped my legs into the dorm pool and indulged in an ice cold Coke. *snap* *gulp gulp* ahhhhh ....

Enter my CLAWS Jewelry giveaway for a beautiful handmade designer necklace!

Tuesday Treats: Mini Cheesecake

JJ edited this with the app After Focus to give it the bokeh effect. Taken with a camera phone!

 

Yummy mini cheesecakes with berries and creme. My last Tuesday Tea at 3 ever :*(

As always, my instagram username is @pandaphilia. You can follow for daily doses of picture ogling of shiny things I come across and little breaks in the mundane. Leave your username too so I can follow too. Meanwhile, just finished my anatomy and neuro exams. Onto cell biology and physics of the heart #whysciencewhy. It's crazy to think about, but 3 days of classes left and 3 weeks until graduation!!

Tuesday Treats: Hello Kitty Mints + Mini Scones

Nerdy Hello Kitty raspberry sours, gift from Sarah

Mini scones at Tuesday Tea at 3

Carvary wrap with house & spicy BBQ sauce

Happy Tuesday, folks. It's been one crazy long weekend finishing my 29-page research thesis, staying at Relay for Life from 6PM-6AM (saw the sun set and rise outside in the same sitting, slept under the stars, had difficult moments of remembrance), studying for the straggler exams before finals and graduation. Thank goodness for Instagram for snapping the yummy moments of everyday. My username is @pandaphilia. Outfit posts soon!

Readers - do you Instagram?