New favorite breakfast

I finally bit the bullet (yes, pun intended) and bought a magic bullet! Perfect blender size, easy to use, and perfect for one. Now, I'm using Amanda as inspiration and make banana pancakes every morning for breakfast! Super easy and sooooo delicious. Here is my version of the 3-ingredient recipe, which is really more like 5-ingredient. I like my pancakes a little thicker so I add the oats and baking powder.

Ingredients:

- one ripe banana

- two large eggs

- 1/3 cup of oats

- 1 teaspoon baking powder

- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Blend the oats on their own first to create a powdery mixture, this is the essential first step otherwise the oats won't be able to break down right and the texture of the pancakes are off. Then add everything else and mix until smooth.

Put non-stick pan on medium heat. Create small pancake sizes, otherwise they won't flip or cook properly and one side gets burnt. I'd say mine are usually 3 inches in diameter. 

And voila! Enjoy :)

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Sorry

I've had an issue with my blog name, but with a little edits I've been able to bring it back up. I'm afraid I will have lost a few followers this way but hopefully you will find your way back to me. So sorry about this!

Love,

Roxi

I need you in my closet | Kitchen edition

These magnets for my fridge... Hi, my name is Roxi and I am an epic dork.

Splurge | Save

Splurge | In between | Save

This chopper

What do you wish you had in your kitchen? I'm also considering getting a crockpot, but not sure what's the best. Anyone have any suggestions?

How I Met... This Dress

I absolutely love the idea of How I Met Your Mother. In case any of you never watched the show, it's the story of how Ted meets his future wife and is telling the viewers every step and every decision and event that got him to his wife. And it makes so much sense. If he had met her when the show started, they would not have liked each other. It took him years to become the man that deserves the Mother, and they fell in love. Hard. (Now let's ignore the part where the directors and writers decided to completely screw up the season finale and leave it at that.)

Near the end of the series, we get to meet the mother, FINALLY. And I absolutely loved her. Best of all, I loved her style. I would get everything from her closet if I could!

That last dress? It's in my closet!! I actually bought that dress a few weeks before that episode aired and as I watched it I had to do a double take! It was MY DRESS! I'm so excited to have a dress that's shown on TV and from a character I loved. I found it on sale at Madewell for $85.99 a few years back.

I wore this outfit out with my family, but I can't wait for the cooler days so I can combine this dress with a denim jacket and leather books. This dress is so versatile, so here are a few similar options if you are looking for a great floral dress to wear year round!

I kinda want that first and second one in my closet too... is it wrong to have too many dresses??

I need you in my closet | 8

This bag

These sneakers

These wedges

This dress

A few of my favorite beauty things

Today I'm going to share a few products that I have learned to love over the past few year.

Clear & Clear Dual Action moisturizer: I've always had issues with acne. Over the years, it seems to migrate from spot to spot on my face, and I've been self-conscious for a really long time. I tried a few things like Proactiv and Accutane, and still it seems like it really likes my face like a bad needy ex-boyfriend. But recently, a friend of mine showed me this product (I have the "Up & Up" brand, but it's essentially the same product). The active ingredient in this product (salicylic acid) is the same one used in many face cleansers, so when Laura suggested using a lotion if needed, I thought it'd be a good idea to try. Try this out!

Olay Regenerist Cleanser: This cleanser has the same active ingredient as the moisturizer, it has a really great smell and doesn't irritate my skin. I also feel "clean" after using the product. It has little beads but it doesn't scratch. Combining this with the moisturizing has really helped clear things up.

Burt's Bees Sensitive night cream: Night treatment. I slap this on right before I go to bed and I wake up feeling like my face is hydrated, clear, smooth... like a baby's bottom. Is that weird to say? As I'm starting to age, I want to make sure I'm doing it gracefully and with the long hours I'm going to be working, the stress, and the fact that I'm a face-down-pillow sleeper, I'm doing what I can to help my body!

Garnier Fructis Style Sleek & Shine Hairspray: A lot of the hairsprays I've used in the past would keep my hair in place, but after I used it I would have to shower right away because my hair could not move. It was like I sprayed glue on my hair. This spray keeps things in place, especially the fly away hairs. But at the end of the day, I brush through it and feels like my natural hair. It smells amazing too!

Davines OI All In One Milk: Now, I hope you've been sticking with me because this is the product you want to try if anything! This is one of the products my hairdresser started using on me and I always felt like it calmed my itchy scalp, and made my hair super smooth. Compared to the It's a ten Leave-In Plus Keratin product, it actually starts to make your hair better over time! One of my coworkers started playing with my hair and asked me how I kept it so nice and smooth. It's all thanks to this product. I can keep blow-drying it and straightening it, and I still feels healthy at the end of the day.

Are there any products you can't live without or that's totally changed your life?

I need you in my closet | 7

That dress

This dress 

These shorts

Those shorts 

These shoes!

Currently

playing: with ultrasound machines. Last month, I learned how to find veins in the upper arm with the ultrasound machine in order to gain intravenous access (in other words: give the patient an IV to have access to their bloodstream). Now I'm learning how to use it for other aspects like checking for fetal hear sounds. I also just found this video from one of the clinical providers in my department discussing the usefulness of ultrasound machine in the Emergency Department.

going: on a lot of road trips. The month of May ended up being a pretty adventurous one, and in a few weeks I'm heading off to the beach once again. I'm finally enjoying life before I head to medical school and will have to study 24/7. And trust me, I'm loving every minute of it. If anyone has a suggestion for my next road trip let me know, I'd like to do one more in July before it's too late!


wearing: so many dresses! Spring is in the air and that means that the weather is mucky and humid. The only way the stay comfortable is to wear less clothing, but I'm not a fan of showing too much skin. Solution? Dresses! I didn't realize this until I put my latest purchase into my closet next to the others, but I have 10 dresses in my closet. This is a sickness... I need to STOP. BUYING. DRESSES.

sipping: delicious, fancy, drinks! At Harry Potter world, they have several amazing drinks and I have too many likes to call them my favorites. The best on a hot day would be the peach iced tea. It is not overly sweet and tastes exactly like peach and tea, as if the sweetest of the fruit balances the bitterness of tea without any added sugar. Butterbeer is delicious too, but I prefer the frozen and hot variety. Finally, I am a fan of their pear cider drinks mainly because you don't often see drinks made of pear. The flavor is subtle but so yummy! Earlier last month I went to a VIP event at the National Zoo where there was food and drinks galore! My new loves are the Licor 43 and Bird Dog Whiskey (Peach flavor). If you get the chance to get your hands on them, do it!

reading: fiction novels. I really enjoyed the movie Eat Pray Love but as I began reading the book I found that I absolutely loved the book. And I'm glad I waited until now to read it because it wouldn't have made such a big impact a few years ago. After my recent breakup, reading about somebody else's experience with ending a relationship made me feel like I wasn't alone. And as Liz began to heal through her journey, I did too while reading it (Rating: 5/5). I'm in the middle of reading The Zookeeper's Wife. Set during WWII in Poland at a time when the Nazis were trying to "purify" the world, the zookeeper and his wife do their best to keep up their zoo until it too succumbs to the destruction of the Nazis. In turn, they begin to use the land as an underground safe house for friends and strangers alike. This book is a real account of the events that occurred, and the historical accuracy is very enlightening. I do have an issue with the flow of the writing because it sort of reads like a fiction novel, but gets chopped up with bits of history which abrutly cuts up the flow of the story in my opinion. Because it makes for a difficult read, I'm currently giving it a 3.5/5. I'm gonna need to find another novel to begin soon, so if you have suggestions feel free to comment below or shoot me an email!

PS. I'm linking up with Anne and Jenna to let you all know what's currently happening in my life!

Outlet Outing

On my last day in Florida, my friends and I decided to head to the outlet stores. We hadn't had a specific plan while we scheduled our stay and after seeing 3 or 4 outlet shopping malls during our drive, we thought it'd be a good idea to see if there were any good sales around. We absolutely forgot that it was Memorial Day weekend and therefore were lucky enough to see major sales everywhere. However, with a little weight gain comes the issue of realizing that shopping sucks. I'm not saying at all that I am huge and I hate my body. For a few years, I have had a body that I am quite content with, but in the last few months I have gained a few inches in certain places and that makes me uncomfortable in my skin. I feel like my body should not be like this and I'm currently remedying that with better dietary control and exercising.

Here are the only items I deemed worthy enough of taking pictures in order to remember the pretty and forget the ugly. I had also tried several jeans from Lucky Brand, several shirts that looked nice but didn't fit my personal style, and saw some awesome leather jackets before realizing they were way too expensive for my budget.

This dress here is from Ann Taylor and it has this navy-like attitude. the fabric is a soft and rich jersey texture. If I had more of an hourglass figure I would say this would be a lovely dress for a warm spring or summer wedding. Eventually, I decided against buying this dress because I couldn't justify buying it and I didn't feel quite comfortable in it. The fabric showed every inch of my body. (Unfortunately, I can't seem to find a link of it online which makes me think I'm going mad and I didn't try this at Ann Taylor, but I really thought I did!)

This next one is the denim jacket from J. Crew Factory that I discussed during my May budget review. So excited to finally have one! The jean fabric is pretty stretchy, which I love especially since I have larger upper arms. The dress, from Old Navy, is one of the items I had my eye on for a bit and sales brought it into my life :)

How cute is this floral dress?? I am so happy that I snatched it up and cannot wait to attend a fancy event so I can wear this out! It feels amazing against my skin, and although it does not have any stretch to it whatsoever, I like the structure of it. It fits well around the waist and flares out right above the hips. And it's got pockets! Accessorizing won't be too much of an issue, but I'm having a hard time finding a good shoe to match with this dress. If you have any suggestions, please let me know!

I'm posting these two pictures side by side to show the difference between the two dresses and how my body looks in each. Because of the sleeveless shape and V-neck with the dress on the left, my body appears much smaller at the top and provides a nice symmetrical body type. The dress on the right does not provide the best balance between the top half and the bottom half of the body, and the round neckline isn't very flattering. So while I loved both dresses online and on the mannequins when I first saw them, clothes are not always perfect for someone's body type no matter how big or small you are. If you've had a similar experience about clothes, I'd love to hear your experience or see pictures.