about me

July 5, 2010

welcome! thank you so much for stopping by my blog.

who am i?
professionally, i’m sarah, a full-time pediatric endocrinology fellow/(very) part-time blogger in north carolina. for those not well-initiated into the medical hierarchy, this means that i am in a lesser-known phase of specialty medical training: above lexi and meredith, but below mcdreamy and (my personal favorite) arizona robbins. unlike those characters, i do not have casual sex with my coworkers, drink whiskey at bars after work, or perform implausible medical miracles on a daily basis. though parallels do exist, i suppose; i am married to a surgical resident. his name is josh, we met in med school, and he is the best omelette-maker this side of the mississippi, amongst other charms. we were married in the duke gardens on may 27, 2006.

i like babies and kids and nerdy science, but i hate procedures and emergencies. fortunately, i am doing my fellowship in pediatric endocrinology, an area well-suited to my preferences, strengths, and weaknesses. i have kept this whole blogging thing up throughout much of medical school and residency, the latter of which was quite a challenging time. our pediatrics program is quite a roller-coaster, with months of very hard work interspersed with months where you really get to live a normal life (yay!). over the years, i learned a lot about medicine, but also a lot about time management and finding balance in spite of intense work hours and demands. that said, i am thrilled to be able to say that i will NEVER work a 30-hour shift ever again.

enough about work!
spending time on my hobbies and with family/friends is very important to me. i feel like doing other things keeps me balanced and much happier, and i’ve always been a bit of a dabbler. i will often write about these other things, so this is a pretty varied site. the list includes:

1. running. i have absolutely no talent in this area, but i love the structure and challenge of training for races, as well as seeing my efforts pay off with faster times. i have run 4 marathons and 7 half-marathons, as well as several 5Ks. i would love to do more, but certain other goals have me holding back for now!

2. cooking/exploring the restaurant scene. if you had told me back in college that i would look forward to spending time in the kitchen most nights, i would have been shocked. but somehow my mother’s domestic genes must have burst through just in time for josh to reap the benefits. in 2009, i pulled a julie and julia and cooked my way through a martha stewart cookbook. check out my top 10 picks!

josh and i also really enjoy eating out and trying new restaurants. we’ve lived in durham/chapel hill for 8 years now, so we are pretty well versed in the area’s culinary offerings. i plan on compiling all of my reviews into one convenient page . . . someday, anyway.

3. music/reading. i recently rediscovered my love for books and try to incorporate ‘pleasure reading’ into my life. i am borderline obsessed with haruki murakami. i also enjoy music, anything from lady gaga to the decemberists. my favorite places for finding great new music are paste magazine, radioparadise internet radio, and the wonderful NPR podcast sound opinions.

4. traveling, especially to see family & friends. part of being in the medical field is having to work a lot of weekends. when josh and i BOTH have off, we often like to maximize the fun by going on mini-trips: to miami, to philadelphia, to charlottesville, etc. we have 3 nieces and a nephew all under age 5 and it’s scary that they are growing up so fast without us getting to know them (and vice versa), so we really try to connect when we can. we also tend to take one longer trip a year just for US — our most recent was a relaxing trip to st. maarten. sun, fun, and a LOT of lying around doing . . . not much 🙂

5. this blog! when i think about the number of hours i have put into this thing since 2004, the result would be scary. so i guess this site has become one of my main hobbies. in 2008, i started posting daily and also began reaching out to other bloggers whose sites i frequent. it’s been fun to feel part of the virtual community of bloggers, and getting to know some of them in person — the lovely kath, and my (no longer all) local triangle blog friends (miss you meg and allie!). the HLS has also been a fantastic opportunity to meet other bloggers, and i’m looking forward to attending again (and speaking!) this year.

6. pretty things. i have to admit that i have a bit of a weakness for online shopping, and i just can’t help posting about my most exquisite finds (whether i actually buy them or not!). i especially love orla kiely, anthropologie, and beautiful stationery products. life is short, so might as well try to look good. um . . . right?

what’s in a name?
thankfully, i no longer have to explain myself in this section! this site used to be called ghost world, in reference to a rather depressing aimee mann song by the same name. see, when i started this blog back in 2004, i was on a pediatrics rotation where i had to live in lumberton, NC, 2+ hours away from josh and the comforts of home, and i was not happy about it. i thought that this would be just a fun little diversion for that month, so i gave it the woe-is-me title of ‘lostandallalone’ (the url) + ghost world.

in january 2010, i finally changed over to the SHU box (SH-U = my initials and sometimes nickname), and got rid of the ‘blogspot’ in the url. my amazingly talented (also: gorgeous and generous) college roommate azusa designed the header graphic. i’m glad i finally made the switch!

before & after
interestingly, a large number of the ‘about me’ sections on the health/food/lifestyle blogs i read feature some sort of before and after. since i’ve been roughly the same size since high school, i don’t have any dazzling weight loss images to display. but i feel i should show some sort of transformation, as i have changed in other ways.
1992
full credit for capturing this moment and sending it to me 17 years later goes to my parents

2010

thank you
for checking out this page! i love receiving comments and emails, so please fire away. and come back and join me any time!

18 Comments

  • Reply Run Sarah March 10, 2019 at 7:29 pm

    Loved reading your about me section…it’s my favourite to read n blogs too!

  • Reply Aimee March 10, 2019 at 7:29 pm

    That picture… I just got up off the floor where I was rolling around and laughing my ass off.

  • Reply vickie March 10, 2019 at 7:29 pm

    this is one of my favorite posts of all time.

  • Reply Cindy March 10, 2019 at 7:29 pm

    i’ve been reading your blog for a while, but i loved finding out more about you! what a fantastic head of hair, girl!

  • Reply Jenny March 10, 2019 at 7:29 pm

    Incredible post! I’ve been reading for awhile, but I learned a few new things too… and that photo… pure awesome 🙂

  • Reply Siobhan March 10, 2019 at 7:29 pm

    SARAH! I love the cheerleading picture – it is awesome and you were SO cute!! The hair, your glasses, the splits – all so great!! I also loved the Monticello pic. I enjoyed that place much more than I thought I would. Hope you had a great run this weekend..

  • Reply Anonymous March 10, 2019 at 7:29 pm

    That cheerleading picture is awesome!

  • Reply A March 10, 2019 at 7:29 pm

    Between the Sally Jesse Raphael glasses, the Sideshow Bob hair put through a crimper and Josh appearing to miss a tooth, I don’t know where to begin…

  • Reply Jess March 10, 2019 at 7:29 pm

    Great About Me page! I need to redo mine.

  • Reply Anonymous March 10, 2019 at 7:29 pm

    I think the hair may need further explaining. Though Sarah’s hair was definitely not straight in her teen years, my guess is that the picture was taken after either she or her cousin did a lot of braiding and then took the braids out. It was not her usual style. It was still quite amazing!! –Mom

  • Reply Alexis March 10, 2019 at 7:29 pm

    I really enjoyed reading your blog. Its really freaky how much we have in common since I’ve never met someone with such similar backrounds. When I read the “about me” blog its as if I was talking about myself. I’m a 3rd year medstudent consdering Med/Peds, or Med- w/fellowship in Nephro. Ive run 2 marathons and countless 1/2’s and other races. I also LOVE to cook and take pictures of my gourmet meals. Needless to say- you sound amazing- Hehe! Hope all is well!

  • Reply Shant March 10, 2019 at 7:29 pm

    Really Very nice blog and loved reading about you. I will be starting my Peds Residency this yr and looking forward to Ped Endo also.
    keep writing.
    Regards,
    Shant

  • Reply HangryPants March 10, 2019 at 7:29 pm

    That picture of you is clearly the best thing ever!!! I love reading your blog, although I hardly think you have NO running talent with all that experience!!!

    Guess what – an anthropologie is supposedly opening up within walking distance from me!!! Rumor has it signage was recently approved.

  • Reply Special K March 10, 2019 at 7:29 pm

    Thanks for your inspiring comment on my About ME. There is something so cool to go back and look behind, and then look ahead…but what&#39s inside, wow…

  • Reply THE ACTORS DIET March 10, 2019 at 7:28 pm

    hey sarah! just discovered your blog b/c i saw on carrots n cake that your hidden talent is perfect pitch (mine too!) great site!

  • Reply C March 10, 2019 at 7:25 pm

    I enjoy keeping up with your blog. I stumbled upon it after following a link from Live Laugh Eat earlier this year. After reading your About Me section, I was pretty certain that I actually used to keep up with some of your musings on your journal in a fitness forum that I belonged to awhile back. Your blog is one of the few that I follow regularly. My boyfriend is a first year medical student, and I&#39ll be starting law school next week, so I really like all of the career/organizational aspects of your blog, in addition to all of the food/fashion/fun stuff. Happy Blogging 🙂

  • Reply caribbean princess March 10, 2019 at 7:24 pm

    Dear Sarah. I recently discovered your blog via plannerisms. I love reading it on my long commute to work or before bedtime (like now). It is so well written, honest and interesting. And I love your very cute cheerleading pic. I am a public health doctor in the UK and recently started blogging in September. It is called musings of a Caribbean princess although I doubt I will be brave enough to put pics from my past! It is a bit random really but I find blogging rather therapeutic as it is an outlet for all the stuff in my head 🙂 Take care and continue with the great work!

  • Reply Anonymous March 10, 2019 at 7:22 pm

    hi my long lost friend! i&#39m so glad to hear that you&#39re doing well! and i miss you! my mom found your blog (as she works for acp and somehow happened across it in the interweb). wowsers.

    i&#39m thinking back to all of our times at your house writing plays in middle school and at cape may speaking in fakely (vaguely) british accents. amazing. i hope you&#39re having as much fun now as you and i were then! and happily, it sounds like you are.

    much more to say but i&#39ll just say please feel free to email me and tell me how you&#39re doing and we can catch up more properly! xxxooo, rebecca (licht) sherman

    p.s. my email address is now: rebeccaksherman@gmail.com

    p.p.s. happy almost new year to you!

  • Leave a Reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.