Wishful Wednesday Link-Up: Pinterest-Inspired

Pin-spired wishing, if you will...


Today I'm linking up with The Vintage Apple (for the first time! Hi!) for Oh How Pinteresting Wednesday.

Every commute I pin. I repin. I comment. I like. In fact, I typically LOVE. Here are a few outfits, products, travel destinations, recipes, and images that caught my eye:

Source: Uploaded by user via Mary on Pinterest

I never thought I would want a chambray shirt or would think to wear white pants, but lately every time I see either piece I want it. And here I am, drooling over this outfit.

Source: dailylook.com via Mary on Pinterest

Again, another trend I never saw myself in, but lately I am gravitating toward colorful denim. I don't think my thunder thighs can pull off the look, but I really like it!

Source: shoeboxdwelling.com via Mary on Pinterest

I really need this to reuse all of my bags!

Source: italyguides.it via Mary on Pinterest

All I want to do is sit at this outdoor cafe with Andrew.

Source: browneyedbaker.com via Mary on Pinterest

My ass just grew after looking at that image.

That being said, I want to give this a shot:

Source: toneandfit.wordpress.com via Mary on Pinterest

Has anything pinteresting caught your eye lately?

Little Bit of Class Tuesday: Classy Look to the Blog!

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

I have found myself checking my blog more frequently than usual today. Why? Well, I can't get over how fantastic my new header and buttons look! It's all thanks to the expertise of Miss {av} from Long Distance Loving. Last night, {av} and I had a Skype blog consultation. For an hour she and I had a fun and insightful conversation about the design and content for Little Bit of Class Little Bit of Sass. It was fantastic to "meet" a blogger who I admire and who I have followed for over a year! {av} was quick, professional, cheery, encouraging, and just as sweet as she seems on her blog. She is also the brain behind the Friday's Fancies theme that I have posted about many a Friday. Please go visit {av}'s blog and enjoy!

Here is a classy picture for your Tuesday. When I saw it on Pinterest I audibly gasped on the L.

Source: life.time.com via Mary on Pinterest

Whimsical, beautiful, and undeniably elegant, these two women epitomize class. Do you have any style icons? These two ladies are mine!

Lunchtime Blog Post: Weekend Instagram Shots

This weekend was fantastic and oh how I wish it was Friday so I could go back to it.

Fun rings from vintage stores in Wicker Park. I strolled around for a while before I got a haircut!

Tada! That's a whopping 4 inches shorter! So weird!

Saturday was full of lounging and hanging out with Teddy.

Sunday night watching the Oscars on the couch.

Is it Friday yet?

All images via my Instagram

Favorite Oscar Moments

OK so the fashion was great (Gwyneth's dress sans cape, Penelope's gorgeous-ness, Michelle's cuteness, Brad and George, etc.) but I have some other highlights:

1. Red Carpet awkwardness. I love nothing more than the horrible questions, awkward pauses by the actors accompanied by perplexed faces, and then the rehearsed, yet bumbling, answers. I loved the "how do you do it?!?!" questions followed by the, "umm, well my dress was by so and so...uhhhh...". So grand. I love when there aren't scripts. Oh and the whole Bisquick/Seacrest "accident" was great. I truly dislike Russel Brand, but at least he provides good banter.
   
2. Billy Crystal. Nine hosting gigs makes for nine great opening monologues and jabs. He was almost good enough to erase the terrible Franco/Hathaway combo in 2011. *Shudder*
3. Bow Ties. The Artist dog sported a bow tie. To me, that pup should be on the "Best Dressed" list. There should be more dogs in bow ties at the Oscars.
   
4. Cymbals. God Bless Will and Zach. I was crying with glee. If they could grace the stage of the "Your Name Here" Theatre from now on, that would be great.
   

Yeah, that's about it for me. What were your favorite moments? Any favorite looks?

Ask Dr. Murph Part II

{cute medical image via}

Happy Friday! I am excited to share the second part of the post that I started yesterday in the Ask Dr. Murph series!

As a reminder, my sorority sister/doctor friend (her nickname is Dr. Murph) has agreed to let me publish her answers to my many random health-related questions. Since I take a bunch of vitamins I was curious if I was on the right track or way off base. The first four are in yesterday's post, and please read below for the remaining answers!

Real quick, though, please read her Disclaimer and Vitamin Definitions.

DISCLAIMER- I have an M.D but I am far from an expert! The following is what I have synthesized from med school and residency lectures, attending mentors, textbooks, and journal articles. Many doctors have differing opinions on vitamins because there can be an overwhelming amount of unfortunately small studies that show opposing results. To me, this seems to be the case with anything that enters the arena of "complementary or alternative medicine." I will try to differentiate what is accepted as medical fact and when I venture off into opinion. If other health care people read these answers, I'm sure plenty of people will disagree with me. (I think I could fight with Dr. Oz for a week straight about almost all of his opinions!) Overall, I tend be on the skeptical side - As one of my favorite attendings taught me - Read the study and Ask yourself, What does this author WANT to be true?

Vitamin Definitions:

• Fat-soluble vitamins - surplus stored in the liver, extremely high doses can cause toxicity - A, D, E, & K
• Water-soluble vitamins - not stored in the body, kidney simply excretes the extra - such as B vitamins and vitamin C, and others.

On to the questions!

5) I heard that Vitamin E is good for my skin, so I take it every day. Right or wrong?

I'll just give you some opinions for this one - Besides important biochemical functions in the body, Vitamin E is another antioxidant that can actually be delivered by your body to the skin via the sebaceous glands. In my opinion it seems like Vitamin E could help based soley on that mechanism of action. Anecdotally, the plastic surgeons and dermatologists that I have worked with seem to frequently recommend topical formulations containing vitamin E.

7) I heard Fish Oil helps you lose weight. True or False?

Fish Oil is another one that somehow seems to cure everything! The important part, as you probably know, is the omega-3 fatty acid, specifically DHA or EPA (ALA does not seem to help) which is an essential molecule that your body cannot synthesize. I remember the craze started with trials showing benefit in the area of cardiac and stroke risk and I would highly recommend fish oil for those patients. (Sidenote: extreme high doses can increase bleeding risk). After that, there seems to be a lot of money and time spent on possible benefits with immune function, weight loss, cancer, and neurologic disease, and there is less consenus. However, my personal opinion in reading some of the stuff is that at least they have proposed mechanisms of action for how extra omega-3 fatty acids can have those health benefits. I am also slightly biased because I buy it and take it myself so I have to rationalize the cost, I suppose! One more note in my area of expertise - Recently there was a surge of these products as prenatal vitamins because some study showed DHA prenatally helped the baby's future IQ and brain function but that has since been debunked! Sorry babies.

7) OK so a quick recap: I take Vitamin D, Calcium, Vitamin B Complex, Vitamin C, and Vitamin E. Are these good vitamins for me to take? Aside from adding Fish Oil and probably deleting Vitamin D, what else should I add/delete?

The OB/GYN in me wants to say: If you are of childbearing age then make sure your multivitamin has folic acid in it.

8) I heard that taking a Cinnamon vitamin (saw it at CVS!) helps you lose weight. True or False?

I think Dr. Oz says true but I say false :)

9) Finally, I am participating in Weight Watchers and P90X. Should I take any supplements for better results? The jacked up dude from GNC talked me into getting a giant tub of 100% Whey Protein to take after my workouts. It was a ridiculous encounter considering I had sported curls, pearls, and a dress when I went into the store. I kind of feel silly with that monstrous tub in my kitchen.

Hahahah, this story makes me laugh. Love you Mary :) I guess you'll be the experiment to see if you get just as jacked after taking the supplement!

THE END!

That's all for now! Do you have any follow-up questions or any other health-related questions for Dr. Murph? Let me know! Have a great weekend!

Ask Dr. Murph!

{cute medical image via}

As promised, here is the first in a new series on Little Bit of Class Little Bit of Sass: Ask Dr. Murph!

Through college and every now and then I have asked my sorority sister/brilliant doctor friend random questions about health and fitness from a medical point of view rather than typical blog and magazine suggestions. Dr. Murph is a great sport and agreed to let me publish her answers to my most recent random questions.

The topic today is vitamins. I take quite a few and wondered if my vitamin regimen made sense. Have fun reading our conversation below. Yes it's long but I assure you it is totally worth it (that's what she said!). In all I had 9 questions, so here are the first four. I will post the next five tomorrow.

Have questions for Dr. Murph? Let me know! Let's keep this series going!

First, her disclaimer:

DISCLAIMER- I have an M.D but I am far from an expert! The following is what I have synthesized from med school and residency lectures, attending mentors, textbooks, and journal articles. Many doctors have differing opinions on vitamins because there can be an overwhelming amount of unfortunately small studies that show opposing results. To me, this seems to be the case with anything that enters the arena of "complementary or alternative medicine." I will try to differentiate what is accepted as medical fact and when I venture off into opinion. If other health care people read these answers, I'm sure plenty of people will disagree with me. (I think I could fight with Dr. Oz for a week straight about almost all of his opinions!) Overall, I tend be on the skeptical side - As one of my favorite attendings taught me - Read the study and Ask yourself, What does this author WANT to be true?

Okay, on to the questions!

1. Will taking Vitamin D in the winter prevent winter blues?

Unfortunately, this will probably not help. Many studies show that depressed people are more likely to have low levels of Vitamin D, but whenever they try to give people vitamin D for depression, it doesn't work. Association does not mean causation. It makes sense to me that the depression comes first, which results in people staying in and getting less sunlight, which is your primary source of Vitamin D, so then your levels are low. The same thing comes to mind with the studies that associate higher Vitamin D levels with healthy body weight - The running around outside probably came first, eh? One thing is for sure: Vitamin D is essential for the absorption and metabolism of calcium and phosphorus, which have many important functions in the body, especially maintaining healthy bones (We'll get to this later.) When its sunny, most young healthy people get enough Vitamin D to get by, but Ohio isn't exactly sunny for a good portion of the year, so I do think its a good thing to have in your multivitamin. The most common recommendation is at least 800 IU per day.

2. I take Calcium because women are supposed to. Right?!?!

Yes, you're supposed to! To prevent osteoporosis.. a potentially debilitating disease, as well as a major obstacle to living well into your 80s, 90s, 100s. A women only has until age 30 to build her peak bone mass. From there, we start to lose bone at a slightly faster rate than we can build it. Finally at menopause, without the support of estrogen, bone mass really starts to decline. After your peak at age 30, you will end up losing half of your trabecular bone mass (think inside spongy bone) and 30% of your cortical bone (think hard outside shell). So make that peak as high as you can! And keep taking your Calcium and Vitamin D to keep the decline as slow as you can. Other risk factors for osteoporosis include white race, smoking, low BMI, lack of exercise, and steroid medications. Try to get 1,200mg per day and bump it up to 1,500/day at menopause. Dietary Calcium is great, but I have found that many of us need to supplement if we are trying to watch our calories as well. (If only this gave us permission for unlimited cheese, milk, yogurt, and ice cream yumm)! Calcium supplements come as calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate, or calcium citrate. On the bottle there will be a milligram of the tablet, but what you care about is the milligrams of elemental calcium to meet your daily goal. If you want to be really obsessive about it, Calcium can also be tough for your body to absorb all at one time, so separating out doses can help. Calcium carbonate needs food to absorb but most supplements are calcium citrate now, and those can be taken without food. As an OB/GYN I beg you, take your calcium. Osteoporosis sucks.

3. I take B Complex because I was told it helps with digestion...oh and P.S. why does it make my urine the color of yellow gatorade?!?!

lol - I'm not sure If I've heard this one before! I was wondering what you might ask about B complex vitamins because they seem to be touted as a cure for pretty much anything and everything. B vitamins are important for countless biochemical processes in the body, but overall I'm not sure if there is convincing evidence for supplementation.

Time out! for a quick high school bio review of vitamin definitions:

• Fat-soluble vitamins - surplus stored in the liver, extremely high doses can cause toxicity - A, D, E, & K
• Water-soluble vitamins - not stored in the body, kidney simply excretes the extra - such as B vitamins and vitamin C, and others.

So the answer to "why does it make my urine turn into the color of yellow gatorade?" is essentially, that it is all the B complex that you paid good money for that your body didn't use.

A much less skeptical view is this -- B vitamins have many complex functions in the body, so it is difficult to be sure what the manifestation of a "deficiency" would be. So each day, you take a little extra to make sure your body is "topped off" and your kidney gets rid of the surplus with possible benefit or no harm done. :)

4. I take Vitamin C for my immune system. I started to take it every day when I moved to Chicago and haven't been sick yet! Yay!

I hate to break it to you, but its definitely not the Vitamin C. I say this confidently because in medical school for some reason they taught some literature searching topic using the question "What vitamins and supplements can help with the common cold?" The result was many many painful presentations of journal artciles, including at least a few fairly well done studies, showing that Vitamin C made no difference in immune function. That being said, Vitamin C is a moderately good antioxidant, and my comments about B vitamins also apply to this water-soluble vitamin. (You may choose the skeptical version or optimistic version)

More tomorrow!!

Little Bit of Class Tuesday: What Winter Blues?

I can't feel blue with these fun pieces that arrived at work for me today! All from Old Navy, all on sale. I promise that I will not wear any of them together but I will wear all of them often.

Shoes | Belt | Shirt

Jet-Setting - Meant to Post on Friday!

OK not really. We are still getting out of town for the weekend, though! We're headed to Detroit to visit Andrew's family and friends, eat some great food, and attend a Red Wings game. I am so excited!

{via}

Today over on {av}'s Long Distance Loving, the theme is "Let's Fly Away," and I would love to wear all of those gorgeous get-ups and travel to any of the locations other bloggers are dreaming of visiting. I didn't have time to add a set on polyvore, but I do want to send you over to {av}'s blog to share in the fancy! My favorite was #95 from Use Your Words, Little Girl. What's yours?

Also, next week I am featuring a new series on Little Bit of Class Little Bit of Sass. My sorority sister is a doctor and is willing to answer questions regarding health and fitness! Her nickname in college was Dr. Murph, so the series is called "Ask Dr. Murph!" Next week will be all about vitamins. I take quite a few every day so my questions are pretty silly and random. Do you have any questions for Dr. Murph or any ideas for later installments? Let me know and I will ask her for you!

I hope all of you have great weekends!

Example A

Remember the card topic on yesterday's post?

Well here are the two Andrew got me. Excuse me. One from Andrew, one from Teddy.

He bacon me crazy, too.

Little Bit of Class Tuesday

Today I'm supposed to be classy. That just isn't going to work for me. Not with the outfit and sassy nails that I'm sporting today. Plus, this day is full of wishing people I love a happy day...and when I do that I am as classy as Cookie Monster. (mmmm...cookies...)

Example A: I gave Andrew a card this morning from Teddy. I even put the card next to the cat and the signature was a paw print. Example B: Laura and I reminisced about the hilarious and ridiculous Valentine's Day we spent with our single sisters and a box of wine sophomore year. Example C: my co-workers and I gave out fun valentines sporting Miss Piggy and friends. Example D: I have read more some e-cards than normal cards. Example E: While we're on the card subject, Andrew's card is not sentimental. The closest to sentimental we get is a card with puppies or kittens. That's just not how we roll. Yes there is neon and glitter this year. Unfortunately I went to CVS last night which was a fail - they were not only all out of baby animal cards but also burp and fart joke cards. Jerks.

Welp, on that note, Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

{via}

{via}

Mary's Musings Monday

Hey everyone!

Today I'm linking up with Holly from Running in Stilettos and Chelsea from Hello Miss Chelsea for their "Make It My Own Monday" link-up party! I picked a pin from pinterest, thought to myself, "Self! You can you that!" So I did!

Here's my pin-spiration:

Source: simplyme091909.blogspot.com via Mary on Pinterest

Here I am!

The duds:
Blue button-up: ages ago from Value City c/o New York & Co.
Sequin tank: Express around the holidays
Blazer: years ago from Ann Taylor Outlet
Jean: Gap - love the wide-leg trouser. This pair is thunder thighs-friendly.
Boots: Nordstrom five years ago
Necklace: J.Crew Outlet years ago
Earrings: Francesca's - it's a blessing and a curse that it is on my street.
Watch: You know it's my dream watch from Santa! :)

Can you tell I get pieces that I can wear for years? Promise me you'll tell me if anything is outdated! Admittedly the gal's getup from pinterest is so much cuter, but alas I did what I could do with what I've had for at least five years. I wasn't sure about a sequin tank as a layering piece, but I felt cute and got so many compliments on the outfit that I think I should rock it again! Thoughts?

I hope all of your weeks are starting off well! Are you going to rock pink, red, both or neither tomorrow?

Three Things

First, my sister and I watched the same movie last night while chatting on Facebook. She lives in LA, Lizzie was asleep, and her hubby was out with the boys. She popped some popcorn and we both bought an On-Demand Movie to watch "together." Have you ever seen "I Don't Know How She Does It" with SJP? No? Don't. Unless you do what we did which was predict every single scene and laugh at the wretchedness that was that movie. We certainly had a fun Saturday night together, two time zones apart! :)

{via}

Second, I tried the sock bun today and LOVE it! My co-worker pointed me to pinterest where I found the how-to. It's so simple! I picked one of my many socks without its partner, cut the toe, and twisted my hair around it! It's fun and looks so much fuller than when I try to don a bun sans-sock. Andrew gave it a pat of approval.

Source: threepinkdots.com via Mary on Pinterest

Third, have you tried the new Oreo? It's BIRTHDAY CAKE! Two cookies and three points later, I'm salivating until I have my next fix serving.

{via}

Lazy Saturday

Source: timothybuckwalter.typepad.com via Jasmine on Pinterest

Today has been bliss.

Why?

I spent the whole day with Andrew and Teddy. We never left our cozy apartment to brave the cold. It was glorious after a long week. I've been in Old Navy Performance Fleece all day and couldn't be happier. Today I worked out, we made a yummy lunch (Gina's Mac & Cheese Soup! Crazy tasty!), watched Mad Men, ordered in Indian food (YUM!), and lounged. I didn't have time this week to read my Google Reader, so I caught up on all of my favorite blogs today as well! The only problem with sitting around all day is that I also shopped. I held back on mostly everything I wanted but I definitely ordered these cute flats!

{via}

How are you spending your Saturday?

Source: weheartit.com via Marcella on Pinterest

Another New Look

What do you think?

Halftime = Blog Time: 11 Questions. Answered.

Well cal from If You're Bored Then You're Boring recently answered my 11 Facts post questions. So of course she tagged me in her 11 Question post soooo here I go!

1. what's your favorite sports team and why?

The Pittsburgh Steelers, of course! My parents are from Pittsburgh so I grew up a fan, among Bengals and Browns fans (poor souls).

2. if you could only wear jeans or dresses for the rest of your life, which would you pick?

Dresses! I hate trying on jeans. Hate. I have more luck with dresses, and the jeans I like are always too pricey. No thanks.

3. name the top 5 states you would still like to visit. (ohio better be on your list if you consider yourself my friend and have never been here.)

Hmmm 1) Hawaii; 2) Florida; 3) Oregon; 4) Washington; and 5) Maine

4. what's your biggest guilty pleasure?

I enjoy eating Better 'N Peanut Butter straight from the jar while watching horrible television.

5. if you could fly anywhere in the world for 10 days, all expenses paid, where would it be and who would you take with you?

I would go to Spain with Andrew so he could show me where he and his family have enjoyed many trips together.

6. what's the best present that you've ever given?

I'm pretty proud of the gift I gave Andrew for our first anniversary. I conspired with one of his best friends - She went to a Detroit Tigers garage sale at Comerica Park and got a couple of things from the team for me. She shipped it to me and I hid it for a couple of months. I hadn't even met her yet, either! It was so fun and he was really surprised :)

7. what's the best present that you've ever received?

The first year Andrew and I dated he completely surprised me with Steelers tickets at Heinz Field! I was SHOCKED! We had only been dating for three months and it was incredibly thoughtful. A silly blizzard kept us from going to the game, but it really was the best gift. Sure the game would've been amazing (actually it was - The Steelers came back and beat the Packers!) but it was the thought that counts!

8. name the person who comes to mind when i say "best friend". what makes him/her so wonderful?

Girl: Callie. Not just because I'm answering her questions, because we talk in some fashion pretty much every day. Our friendship is proof that distance doesn't make a difference if you're both willing to put something into it. Oh and it also helps that we have desk jobs and love to talk about nothing and everything.

(This picture was taken by the new sign to our alma mater...we graduated from Otterbein COLLEGE, hence the thumbs down motion and forlorn looks.)

Boy: isn't it obvious? His name rhymes with Schmamdrew.

9. tell me someone awesome (and not annoying) to follow on twitter.

@Chex_Mix. It is written as if the mix is writing it. So cute!

Another good one on a different level is Ashley from @The_Shine_Project. She is inspiring!

10. who's your celebrity crush (pictures appreciated)?

Well, let's just say that I have no idea what Andrew was saying to me during the David Beckham underwear commercial. I don't like tattoos or guys who look angry, but on David? Yow.

{via}

11. give me a good quote to live by.

I started to follow a blog recently and the title of her recent post was this quote:

"If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space."

I kind of love it.

Oh and I just have to say that I wrote this post during Halftime of the Super Bowl. Madonna is awesome.