This past year living in Michigan for rotations has been such a blur. It is very different from Des Moines when I only lived four miles away from school. Now I live at least 10 miles from everything like work and my favorite restaurants.

What I’ve found to help me explore my new neighborhood is subscribing to Groupon! The daily deals are a steal and give me a starting point to try new activities and taste new foods in town. I just recently bought 24 yoga classes for $24! I’ve also bought gift certificates for Nordstrom Rack, hair salons and local restaurants. It makes trying new things very appealing!

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If you’re seeking for advice on how to prepare yourself to be the best interviewee ever, I’m the wrong gal. But I did want to share my experience of the incredibly stressful day I experienced recently. I don’t recall having felt so anxious on any other day of my entire existence!

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I always have leftover cooked pasta in the fridge and my favorite quick food is pasta with tomato sauce. Except that today, I didn’t have the prepared jar of spaghetti sauce to satisfy my cravings! I was in dire need of a carb loading session since I am just days away from my residency interview (eek!). Not to worry, luckily I found some miscellaneous cans of diced tomatoes and tomato paste in my cupboards.

Here’s the quick how-to on making a simple spaghetti sauce:

1. Pan fry one diced sweet yellow onion with a pinch of garlic salt until soft and golden

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What better way to say you love your pet than a super warm sweater? How about some booties to protect their precious paws? These latex booties can be bought at any pet store or online. The gal that sold them to me said these were popular with pet owners because they are cheap and disposable in case they get torn. I was going to go for the more durable set but I wasn’t sure if my dog would be able to tolerate bulky paw gear and he wouldn’t be able to feel the ground with them on.

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I was looking for gravy recipes online and I couldn’t believe how many variations exists! I just wanted something to go with my meatballs and so I made one up. Pretty tasty, give it a try:

1 can condensed cream of chicken & mushroom soup
1 can beef broth
¼ cup flour
dash of garlic salt and black pepper
Optional items: sliced/diced onions and 1 tablespoon or more of a milk, half & half, or butter to make it smoother

Cook on stove top until boiling. If you find it to be too thick, add some water, if too thin, add some flour.

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Do you ever have an intense craving for carbs after an exhausting day of work? This recipe might be for you.

It’s pretty simple and you can throw whatever veggies you want in it. I was craving black beans so I chucked a whole can into a pound of ground beef on a wok (love the wok) with some sweet onions and garlic.

In a separate pan, I went with boxed rice like Zataran’s black bean rice, dunked it in some water and a dab of butter, let it boil, and simmer for 25 minutes and my meal was basically complete.

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