The Magic of Gnomes

I have a Swedish friend who told me the story of a traveling gnome. A family thought their garden gnome was stolen, until he sent them postcards for the entire year of his travels around the world. After a year, he came back home safe and sound. Maybe this is the idea behind the gnome for travelocity.com (or is it orbitz?). Anyway, I thought was a funny story but I didn’t think much of it until I received my own gnome.

I never thought I would be the owner of a gnome. Maybe that is why I didn’t give that story much more thought. However, my brother bought me a Hawkeye gnome when we moved into our first house. He has been sitting happily next to our door since we moved. I was worried the Hawkeye tailgaters might want to take him on a trip across the world (or more likely, another part or rural Iowa) without leaving post cards, but luckily he has stayed close by. I think the tailgaters respect Iowa pride (even if they don’t respect lawn chairs—if you remember one was stolen on game day last year).

I originally thought the gnome story was a fable, not unlike the Easter Bunny. A traveling gnome. That sends postcards. But lately I am starting to wonder about the magical talents of the gnome. Mine has turned out to have a personality, and he is quite festive.

The first time it happened I noticed we came home to find him wearing a blue surgical cap, not unlike the one below. He must have known I was coming home from a long day in the OR and was sympathizing with me. I wish I could find the picture but we just wiped our hard drive. I guess you’ll have to imagine.

Since that time he periodically has other ways of showing me he’s got a mind of his own. For example, he must have been unhappy with my lack of fall decor because he reminded me to celebrate Thanksgiving with this pumpkin.

A few weeks later he signaled it was time to put up the tree when he started wearing this Christmas sweater (a mug cozy).

Every time I see his new trinkets it makes me laugh. I’m pretty sure he has an accomplice, although I have yet to figure out who. I have a few ideas. I’ll have to share those on another day. Until then, I’m excited to see what he comes up with in the future!

Take a peak inside

I know, nothing keeps you  more interested than pictures of my closets!  But I was excited enough to post them. We moved into our house 18 months ago. We have very small closets and too many clothes to fit in them. I have never utilized the space very well because I was too clueless and unsure how to organize them. Silly to leave them empty because I was scared, but I did. This week one day after work I decided to at least try sorting things out. I feel like I made some progress and while I still have some empty cupboards and shelves, I am hoping to do better. I think they look pretty good considering I am totally inept at organization. And, I have tried to sort through my things and get rid of things I don’t need which is very hard. I worry I will become a hoarder but getting rid of a handful of things here and there has got to help a little! I try to remember that people may need my things more than I do. But I’d rather just get rid of Abe’s old stuff to make room for mine but I feel guilty doing that.

I feel like this New Year has been one of extra motivation so far. Cleaning closets, purging my life of negativity and clutter. I’ve had some successes keeping my house cleaner than usual, wearing makeup and spending a little extra time on my hair (even on early work days), eating better and exercising (although I did fall off the horse on this the past week or so), and studying more for work. I am hoping I can actually have a few resolutions stick this year! Some of them are very small and inconsequential (I made a goal to wear earrings every day. That is something I can do every day very easily and can give me a feeling increased discipline in my life).

I’d love to hear about your goals or any ideas for organizing.

Polished

When I was a little girl I used to love painting fingernails with my mom. She always had a big tackle box full of colors. When we were very little they were always pink or red. I remember there was one called “A touch of Amber.” I was jealous there was no color called Erin so my mom assigned a lilac one to me, “Lovely in Lilac  Erin.” I was surprised to see that somehow I have this color in my stash over 20 years later! (it’s not the original bottle, I promise)

I remember the first time my mom had a blue nail polish. We thought this was crazy and absolutely wonderful. Soon the tackle box was full of fun colors and remained this way through junior high and into high school. I guess I always thought it was normal to have a big box of colors. I was surprised in college when a girl told me, “You should only ever wear shades of pink.” I guess I have held the opposite mantra (I only have a few pinks in my stash). I was also shocked recently to learn that other people don’t have a collection of polish like I do. I bought a few girls at church nail polish after I found out they each only had one bottle of pink polish and nothing else. I am curious now if I am the weird one.

I think that while I used to relegate polish almost exclusively to toes, fingernail polish is pretty popular right now and I am lov-lov-loving it. Come on, even Justin Bieber has his own line.

Here are a few of my tips:

1. Basically, anything goes as far as color these days. But, if there were any rules I’d almost be brave enough to say my friend was wrong about the pink. Be daring and branch out a little. Don’t take yourself too seriously.

Glitter, darks, greys/browns, mattes all seem pretty cool right now.

Try some pretty pastels. The Sally Hansen Xtreme wear “Mint Sorbet” below on the far left is probably the color I have received the most compliments on ever. So pretty, surprisingly. If you go green/yellow, try to find a color that is flattering to your skin so it doesn’t look fungus-ey.

Black doesn’t have to be GOTH or EMO anymore. Dark purples or blues can give a similar look without being black. And add in some glitter. I love the Sally Hansen Diamond Strength “Black Diamond.” I also like the Sally Hansen Insta-Dry Umptempo Plum on the far right. Your mom may be intimidated but I think this is one of the coolest trends.

Metallics. I think the gold is pretty fun! And I found this itty bitty bottle for about $1.

And of course red is always classy and feminine. I think it you keep it a true red instead of a magenta you’ll stay away from grandma-ville. If you are feeling really brave pair it with some red lips to make your guy go wow. Something about red lips seems to attract guys.

2. Keep it clean, girls. No one likes to see that cracked and peeling look. You can get away with it on your toes but please not on your fingers. I’ve found I can go about 3 days before it starts peeling. You can try to add on a few days by touching up the tips or doing a new top coat. But at least when you take it off, you get the chance to try another color.

3. I often don’t remember to do my nails until I am getting ready to go out. Unfortunately, this means I do it right before I run out the door and inevitably end up with a smear. Until I found this stuff, Onyx 3-2-1 Dry!

It comes out as a cold spray and you can see the polish literally hardening before your eyes. It takes you immediately past wet and tacky and into that almost set stage. Amazing. It is so much easier to come out smudge free, or faster to move on to a second coat without drying in between. I’ve seen it at Walmart for a few bucks. And I kind of like the smell.

4. Vaselline. I tried this tip yesterday and I think it worked. Use a Q-tip to place a thin layer of petroleum jelly on the skin around your finger tips to prevent messy smears.

This is what my nails normally look like—can you see all of the places I smeared onto my cuticles?

This is what they looked like after the vaseline trick, without any touch ups. Awesome and almost flawless. I was surprised and impressed.

Even without this trick, I say go for it, quickly swipe a few coats on and enjoy the color. Who cares if it is a little sloppy—does anyone look that closely? It takes me about 2-3 minutes to do a full set of nails. It takes practice but I don’t think it needs to take all day.

5. Don’t be afraid to layer. If your polish if kind of a dud color, add a few more coats for a brighter appearance or add a layer of glitter to sparkle it up. Remember what I said about being daring? I think texture is pretty cool right now. I’ve been wanting to experiment with some zebra print which I created myself above in just a few minutes with ART DECO polish which comes with a very small brush you can use to paint designs. I also like the idea of leopard print and I’ve heard painting crackle polish horizontally can give this appearance.

6. Keep your cuticles healthy and trimmed. I’ve never been good at this but I recently received a Sally Hansen Push N Trim cuticle trimmer and it is amazing. I’ve been using it on my husband’s dry hands and I can’t believe how well it works. Online it says it is only $3.50.

7. Nail polish can be expensive. I really like the Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear polish. It comes in fun and trendy colors, is a slightly smaller bottle, and costs about $2.50. Mini polish bottles can also be a fun way to add some new colors in without breaking the bank.

8. Have some fun! Paint your nails different colors of the same shade, paint one fingernail different, do some wacky french tips, whatever! Pinterest has some fun ideas.

Here are a few things I am still hoping to try:

Opi Espresso. I really want a glittery brown.

Newspaper nails.

Anyone else into polish right now? What are your favorite colors or tips?

Lost

It’s been a long time! Where have I been? Mostly at work I suppose, but also I’ve been pretty uninspired lately. I guess there are topics I could write about but sometimes it feels silly to re-live my life through blog posts. Or I just don’t have the motivation. Here is a little update.

I was able to take a trip for the holidays to Utah to see my family. We were there for 7 days starting on Christmas Eve. It was great to see everyone and so wonderful to have a vacation for the first time since May. We left on the 30th so I could take call on the 31st but this was traded with another resident and miraculously I ended up with a 10 day vacation. This was a big deal as I am only allowed to ask for 7 days off. It was so great to have some extra time to recharge and we spent a day in Chicago on our way home for some fun on New Years Eve.

 

We were pretty crafty and made family stockings

And quiet books.

Abe liked his Christmas Eve PJ pants, which just happened to match his shirt. Notice in the background how patriotic we are on Christmas! (no idea what that is)

Catching up on the latest trends while family bowling.

Abe got to meet my grandpa Sterling who loved reminding us that “Sheffield’s are good athletes.” We learned all about the Sheffield’s from Wayne county who could beat up anybody and also Abe’s relatives who were basketball players for the University of Utah in the 1940s. My grandpa has a good and strange knack for remembering details. He can recite every member of his kindergarten class alphabetically and he does it every day (along with some other mind exercises) to help keep his mind sharp. I think this is amazing and a little strange. I can’t remember anyone in my kindergarten class. Except for maybe a girl named April who always wore dresses and a boy named Alberto who I thought was weird that his name was like Alberto V05 (that cheap shampoo brand) and his mom died in childbirth. Oh, and my sister Amber. I guess my memory is weird, too. Must be a Jackson thing.

I hadn’t seen my grandparents in years! With my sister Caitlyn who is growing up so fast! We went down to Gunnison, Utah, where they now live to visit.

I think this is a good picture for the new year!

I forgot to mention we spent a short time with Abe’s family in Chicago before Christmas as well.

Cheesy New Years Eve kissing picture. Still in love going in to another year.

Back home with more presents to open on New Years. You can consider this your digital Christmas card.

And just had to post this picture, Abby, because it made me laugh. What were we talking about? We both have a look of disgust or severe disapproval!

Work has been very busy lately. Reportedly we are 15% busier this year than last. I can feel it. I have been seeing many more patients each day and staying later and later finishing up paper work or other tasks. We are also seeing extra patients in the OR which takes residents away from the clinic and from seeing the extra patients there. Despite my crazy days, I am enjoying it. I can tell my skills are improving as a surgeon and over all am getting along well with the team. And I guess people must think I have a cool job because those wisdom teeth surgeries that go viral on youtube are my life every day…

Abraham has finished his board exams, his applications are in for residency, and we are much less stressed now. It is so strange that after 8 years he is finally going to be done with both of his degrees this May and we will move in to the triple doctor stage of our lives (Erin 1, Abe 2). It will be fun to work with him a bit in the hospital for the next few years.

And, we finally can get a break from the Iowa political action. Over the Christmas break I was receiving phone calls from Michelle Bachman, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Newt and Rick (both Rick’s) 5-10 times per day. We voted in my 2nd Iowa Caucus. This one was certainly more energized than last time. Four years ago I was there with about 12 other people from my precinct. This time we had a few combined precincts with probably 200 people there. Abe loves politics and we stay pretty involved. Here is when Abe met Newt’s back at the medical school. We also attended a Ron Paul rally, met Mitt Romney multiple times, and Abe went to a Herman Cain rally before he dropped out.

Cucumbers, bananas, and other inappropriate fruits

I’ve been pondering over the place of women in society. Deep stuff. I know. There have been a few things that have spawned my interest. The first I think is pretty silly. Did you see this?

I can’t seem to find the original article, but basically some religious leader wants women to be banned from handling particularly shaped produce. Ladies, stop eyeing those cucumbers, bananas, carrots in a sexual way. You know who you are. And if you really must have a carrot or banana, see if you can get your husband or other male family member to cut it into smaller pieces that wont give you such lustful thoughts. As a woman, this seemed ridiculous—maybe men think this way but I’d dare say most women are probably more worried about how ripe or colorful their fruit is than how much it looks like a specific body part. This is the part where I would go on a rant about how I have never had an inappropriate thought about a vegetable (or fruit)--but I did get the giggles after seeing this baby at the grocery store this week. Bad timing I guess!

So much so that I had to bring it home (after I purchased said fruit) for Abe to see. I feel like this is bordering on inappropriate, until I remember (and I hope you will, too), it’s a pear! There is nothing inherently inappropriate about pears (or cucumbers, carrots, bananas, etc) unless you assign it that role. Which I guess in this case, I did. Maybe I do need Abe to help me handle my produce, just in case. Either way, I feel lucky that I can handle and think of my fruit in whichever way I choose. And even if I choose to think of it that way, remember how I said it “made me want to giggle?” No lustful thoughts here.

On a serious note, I read an article about an Afghan women sentenced to prison for 12 years because she was raped. She clearly was having an affair with the man as she became pregnant and “everyone knows that you can’t become pregnant the first time you have intercourse.” Thus, she was obviously having an affair and brought shame upon herself and family. She was given the option to marry her rapist to legitimize her daughter and their affair or remain in prison for the full 12 year sentence. I am glad to see in this article http://edition.cnn.com/2011/12/01/world/asia/afghanistan-rape-victim/index.html?eref=edition that now she is being released without this condition. I was furious to read that this sort of thing (continues to) happen(s) to women. I find myself frustrated by my own sense if injustice that occurs to women in our own society, but it makes me sick to think of this poor women’s story which I am sure she shares with others. I don’t know what to do to help, but I wish I could.

And finally, a personal experience. Last weekend when I was on-call I was called to the ER to evaluate a woman about my age who had been assaulted by her boyfriend. I guess I am so used to seeing facial injuries that her black eyes and broken jaw, lacerations on her chin and scalp, large bruises on her cheeks didn’t really phase me. Then I looked at her arms which were severely bruised and gasped when I saw the whip marks on her back and arms that were clearly from a belt or some other blunt object. She had reportedly been beaten with brass knuckles and a belt. As if hitting a woman multiple times with your fist isn’t enough, really teach her a lesson with some of these:

 

I was angry to see this. I am grateful that despite what I see as perceived injustices towards women—glass ceilings, job discrimination, objectification/sexualization, that I have so many freedoms and that I have men in my life, especially my husband, who only use their hands to give me a pat on the pack or a gentle hug.

I have always wanted to volunteer for a women’s shelter or rape hotline but these have large commitment times for training. If anyone has any ideas of how to help, I’d appreciate the feedback.

Sweating it

I have friends who hate when their moms buy them clothes. They think that their gifts are hideous and unwearable. My mom, on the other hand, has told me her strategy for buying clothes for me: “I find something I think is really ugly and then I know you’ll like it.” It must be a philosophy that works because I almost always love what she buys for me! (Does that mean every one else hates me clothes, too? I just thought of that.)

Anyway, my mom bought me this sweater years ago. For like 90% off (shocker, I know). I think it WAS an expensive sweater to begin with, but I always thought it was hideous. (I guess mom did, too, so she gave it to me.)

It’s been sitting in my closet all of this time. Maybe it was the shoulder pads or the awesome fringe. Or the in-your-face red on black with a bold pattern. Or maybe it was because I like to “ROCK” statement pieces (what is this one saying except for UG!) that I felt I had to hold on to it. It has come out on very cold unfashionable days or 80s parties, but I’ve never felt very good about its public appearances. But, for whatever reason, I felt inspired this Sunday and wanted to “make it work.”

I dug it out. I think the crew necked sweaters are in right now so at least it had that going for it. I put a button down underneath it and paired it with an a-line (pleated) skirt and some fuzzy boots. If you remember my last post, I’m not a great (or uber picky about how I look publicly) poser but I think it actually looked decent. Oh, and I used some bobby pins to cinch the back and give it a more fitted look.

I don’t really like the idea of the people who post pictures of their outfits as if they are the fashion expert (unless yes, they really are), but I thought this one had a funny background story. Abe even complimented me and said he thought I looked really nice.

I’m still not sure about the fringe.

(PS would love to hear your thoughts on this or other hideous items you wear)

Picture Perfect

So when did we all become posers?

I think it has something to do with facebook. Do you remember the good old days when the only people who saw your pictures were your family or close friends? Or maybe if you had a really good photo op you could choose to share it with the public by one of those posterboad collages you did for school on your birthday. Now it seems anyone from our teachers, grandmothers, or dog walkers can see pictures from daily aspects of our lives and the pressure to uphold a (photogenic) image is getting harder and harder.

As kids we would stand awkwardly for the pictures. No cutesy curtsey or hands on hips take-on-the-world posture. We were lucky if we could all smile and/or look the same way.



Then again, look at these great poses! Maybe I am wrong.


I feel like kids now are always giving the camera some attitude. (I wish I had some examples but I don't feel comfortable posting other people's children's photos online for sexual predators to find.) Is this a new thing? Or did I just not notice when I was a kid (or know that I was supposed to be posing?).

Another example, a school dance picture. Today we would certainly be looking much hipper instead of like stiff, nervous teenagers--and I'm not just talking about our outfits. I would at least have one hip forward, feet crossed, or a hand on my hip.



Maybe I'm just clueless and the posing phenomenon has been here forever. But, here I am as recently as the few months directly after college graduation (which is actually getting much farther away than it seems should be possible). I'm obviously not trying to impress anyone except with the awesomeness of my surroundings. I was SCUBA diving every day for months in Central America, but you don't really pick up on that from my body language--maybe from my dreds and sunburn.



A few years later maybe you get a taste of it starting to happen. We're getting the hang of it more here:


I'm still not great at it, but I'm getting better.

Anyway, I guess my point is, suddenly people seem so much more aware of how they look in pictures. Instead of taking pictures for memories it seems as if we are always trying to impress those around us. We have become our own PR manager, sorting through unflattering ways of presenting ourselves to put out our best face, even when we are just having fun and trying to remember. I think this is fine and I do it myself to a point. It is also interesting to be on vacation or at an event and see everyone around you suddenly making like madonna and "striking a pose." So I know it's not just me.



***I wonder if this is just me: I get annoyed when I see pictures of beautiful people having great times with a disclaimer is about how awful they look (not to say I've never done this before). "I'm sorry my hair isn't absolutely perfect today and that it is only as pretty as yours usually is, but please don't judge, just had to show off my pictures of me eating oatmeal this morning." Let's give ourselves (and each other a break). If it is something worth remembering, who cares how your hair looked (see above picture of me at the Bears game with less than ideal photographic evidence); and if it isn't such an interesting moment and you look so bad you have to apologize, don't post the picture. I don't need you to reassure me you only ate one of the tootsie rolls from the bag you are holding or that your flat iron broke or that you are prettier than I will ever be but you are having an insecure moment showing a picture of you looking like a catelog model instead of your usual Supermodel self. I probably didn't even notice. And funny, now I that you pointed it out, you may be right.

Anyway, I guess my point is, I think it would be nice if we could all just try leaving an unflattering picture of ourselves tagged on facebook. Without any apologies. Especially if it shows you being you and having a great time.


Erin and Rachel, hot and sweaty Malaysia 2006