I Passed the Bar Exam!!

Just after midnight this morning, bar exam results were posted by the New York State Board of Law Examiners:

I PASSED THE BAR EXAM!!!

I was so ready to tell everyone that I'd failed and would have to retake the exam. I'm so happy!!! And so, so, so relieved.

I still have to pass the character and fitness portion of the bar in order to be admitted and be a Real Lawyer (that's the official term, obviously), but this is the most important part, and it's over!

I was at work until 11:30 PM last night so don't have much else to say, but I want to thank everyone for their supportive comments, tweets, and texts throughout the bar exam process. So, thank you!!

Law School Graduation! Or, I'm a J.D.!

Like my Elle Woods-esque manicure?

I graduated from law school yesterday! In the middle of a monsoon!

Ok, well maybe not a monsoon, but an insane downpour that left our robes drenched despite the Columbia Law School umbrellas we were given.

This may sound crazy, but the downpour somehow made the whole graduation more fun. I was laughing as we walked into the graduation tent because we were all drenched, and the thunder and lightning certainly livened up the speeches.

I'm the first person in my family to get a doctorate of any kind, so it was an exciting day. I feel so blessed by all the wonderful people who have become part of my life because of the law school experience.

My parents and me post-graduation, finally seeking shelter after the storm.

I am so grateful for the love and support of my parents. Where I grew up, only 40% of students from the local high school go to a community college or four-year university. Nothing I've been able to accomplish would be possible without them and I am constantly grateful for the life I'm able to lead because of them.


I am off on a graduation road trip with my parents to explore Montreal and Quebec. I'm excited to share what we do and where we go up there next week! For now, I'm leaving you with snapshots from my graduation ceremony.

"Family" snapshot before leaving for the ceremony

Woo! Ready to graduate! These robes are ridiculously large!

A classmate baked cookies for all 400 graduating law students to enjoy as we waited to march! Such a sweet gesture.

Negotiations classmates trying to stay dry in the deluge.

Wenli and me, work buddies from last summer and thankfully she'll be returning to the firm this fall!

Another work buddy, Aidan. So glad only the cool Columbia kids went to my firm ;)

Hi Jason! My Co-Development Editor for the Columbia Business Law Review last year. Our last names meant we were seated next to each other, which was fun.

There's a joke about lots of law students in one tent to be made here, I'm sure...

Our keynote speaker, Preet Bharara '93, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.  My favorite quote form his speech: "Nothing great was ever accomplished with a cynical heart"

We didn't get diplomas, just handshakes. Diplomas have to be picked up later. 

Handshake with Preet! 

Law school BFF Lena!! So glad we saw each other and snagged this picture!

If you've been to Montreal and Quebec, anything we need to do up there? Any running routes or yoga studios to hit up?

Random Bits & Pieces: Graduation Week

This post is all over the place, but that's how my week has been, literally. I started it in Cuba and will be ending it in Canada. Oh, and I'm graduating from law school today!

I got back from Cuba late Monday night, celebrated Sourabh's birthday with him on Tuesday (low-key since he's in the middle of the writing competition for journals at Columbia), then ran errands and cleaned our apartment Wednesday before my parents arrived last night. Phew!

I was so frazzled today that I completely forgot about my date with Carrie to do some much-needed Trader Joe's shopping!! The biggest apologies ever, Carrie, and thanks for being so understanding :) We'll be meeting up before book club next weekend. For those reading Savor, how are you liking it??

My parents are here now and I'm so excited for the short road trip we're taking after my graduation. We're going up to Montreal and Quebec! Anyway, to recap the post-Cuba and pre-graduation part of my week, here's what happened.

Sourabh was craving some top notch pizza for his birthday, so we headed to Motorino on the Lower East Side. It was fantastic. I got the Ramp Pizza and Sourabh had the Brussels Sprouts pizza without pancetta (he doesn't eat beef or pork). Both were great, but my ramp pizza was definitely the winner. The place was cute, too, without being kitschy. I'd definitely go back!

While in Cuba, there were a few things I really missed. Easily available fruit and veggies and iced coffee, to mention a few! It was crazy to me how little vegetables are in most cuban dishes -- it's very starch-heavy.

So the morning after I got home, the first thing I had was a bowl of plain Chobani Greek yogurt with some KIND granola (from FitBlog!) and a giant heap of raspberries. It was so satisfying!!

I also missed sweating a lot, despite running a very sweaty mile on the Malecon (the seaside promenade). Unfortunately, I didn't head out early enough, and even at 7:30 AM I was sweating buckets. Plus, the promenade isn't well-kept, so I stumbled quite a few times. Still, it's pretty cool to be able to say I went for a run in Cuba!!

I got back into the sweaty swing of things Wednesday by taking a fantastic spin class at Flywheel UWS with my friend Hana, taught by the amazing Dani Devine. Hana just graduated from UVA Law and just got back from Spain, so we had lots to catch up on! I'm taking a Refine Method class today, too, to make sure I get strength training in as well.

Oh yeah, another thing I missed. Hi cute face. Is there anything as great as how excited a dog is to see you when you get home from a trip, by the way??

And check out the sister cats, Bea and Betty, acting too cool for school. I know you missed me, cats. I'm the only one who pets Bea at 2 AM when she meows for attention...

I'm graduating this afternoon, so I will likely have a ton of photos tomorrow on the blog. I'll try to Instagram in real time, though, so follow along there if you're curious about what a law school graduation looks like! Hint: we wear funny robes and hats.


Do you have pets who miss you when you're gone? Do you miss certain foods when you travel?

FitBlog 2013 and I'm Done with Law School!

Hi all!

This week has been crazy busy, if you couldn't tell from the lack of posts. Finishing up papers, taking care of graduation requirements, getting ready for some travel (I am so excited to share about this next week!), and taking lots of super sweaty classes.

I'm posting this from the sky, courtesy of $10-for-90-minutes wi-fi. This ridiculously high price seemed worth it because I'm an internet addict.

I'm away until late Monday night, but I wanted to recap the awesome day I had yesterday at FITNESS Magazine's Meet & Tweet at the Mercedes Club here in New York.

First, I have to say a huge thank you to FITNESS Magazine. This event was incredible. Not only did it expose me to a huge number of new brands that I’m eager to learn more about, FitBlog allowed me to meet "in real life" several bloggers I love, like Tina, Monica and Christine. 

I checked in and grabbed my name tag and free CamelBak... which I forgot at the event! I'm a tad bit heartbroken about this, since I loved it for the four hours I had it. I might need to actually buy one...

So official!! This made me inordinately excited, not going to lie.

The event started with breakfast. I’d eaten a bite before heading out, but I assumed they’d have food – breakfast is the most important meal, after all! – so I saved room to enjoy whatever was available at the event. I’m glad I did because they had juices, mini muffins, hard-boiled eggs, and coconut yogurt parfaits! I snagged a green juice and mini muffin. I have no idea of how healthy the muffin was, but it was delicious (I’m going with “not-so-healthy”).

Healthy blogger heaven right there.

While waiting in line to check in, I introduced myself to the girl in front of me. Kayla's blog is adorable, and we chatted while eating breakfast. I love seeing undergrads get into health and fitness! That was certainly not my number one priority, and I yo-yo'd up and down up to 25 lbs throughout college. I saw Kara arrive, and we all three decided we needed a picture with the FITNESS Magazine sign.

Me, Kara, and Kayla

Since Kayla's blog is titled Blondes Have More Run, the fact that this photo is all blonde runners seemed appropriate.

Most of the event was held outside on the Mercedes Club's deck, which was great since it was lovely spring weather and it would have been a shame to be cooped up inside.

Around 9:30, Betty Wong, the Editor-in-Chief of FITNESS, kicked off the day before the first panel started, welcoming us to the event. I loved her perspective on healthy living. And her awesome camo pants. 

Top Left - Heather Muir and Sarah Lucero, Top Right - Lisa Haney Dr. Jennifer Ashton
Middle - Christie Griffin, Dana Weiss, Deb Perelman, Jill Hanner, Erin Whitehead
Bottom Left - Brett Hoebel and Mary Christ Anderson, Bottom Right - Pam O'Brien and Rocco DiSpirito

The panels began with Sarah Lucero, the Executive Director of Global Artistry for Stila Cosmetics, being interviewed by Heather Muir, Beauty Director for FITNESS. Sarah spoke about her battle with breast cancer and gave her advice on makeup for the hot, humid summers we get in New York. 

One of Sarah's tips was to match your makeup to your clothes, i.e. if you're wearing light clothes because it's hot out, you should wear light makeup like a tinted moisturizer. Heavier clothes = heavier makeup. Another one was to match your lipstick to your blush. This sounded obvious to me, but then I realized I tend to use lighter blush (when I wear it, which is almost never) and berry-colored lip tints.

Next, Senior Editor Lisa Haney interviewed Dr. Jennifer Ashton, an ob-gyn, about her holistic approach to health. Dr. Ashton urged women to consult their ob-gyns about their total health, not just their pelvic region. 

Dr. Ashton also advocated the "5 and 2 day" approach to eating -- straightforward healthy eating on weekdays and more indulgence on the weekend. I love this idea and *basically* follow it, although as a student it can sometimes be harder to keep the 5/2 approach and it becomes more like 4/3. Getting to that 5/2 ratio is a priority for this summer!

The third panel had me extremely excited -- it was a discussion with four influential bloggers entitled "my blog is my business." One of them was Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen fame!

I get so excited when I meet someone like Deb. Her blog is one of the first blogs that I ever followed – her recipes are uniformly fantastic yet pretty easy and she has a great writing style. The fact that she is responsible for multiple wonderful dinners, desserts, and brunches makes me love her even more. 

Deb doesn’t write “healthy” recipes, per se, rather she uses lots of whole foods and is big on cooking with fresh, seasonal ingredients. If you don’t already follow her, you need to add Smitten Kitchen to your reader. She’s my first stop whenever I want to make something awesome and (relatively) foolproof.  


All of which is to say, I basically pounced on her and begged for a photo, telling her how much my bff Katie and I adored her. Sorry for being a creeper, Deb!

One of the panel's biggest points they emphasized was writing good, original content and not writing in order to make money. Of course, money could follow and they all suggested that bloggers should advocate for themselves for freelance writing, product samples, etc., but all four women strongly believed that good content was key to turning a blog into a moneymaking venture.

Brett Hoebels was then interviewed by Deputy Editor Mary Christ Anderson. Brett was a featured trainer on The Biggest Loser, season 11. He emphasized the importance of pushing yourself past that comfort threshold, saying people needed to "get breathless" in their workouts. 

Finally, the panels portion of the day concluded with Rocco DiSpirito, the award-winning chef and author of Now Eat This! Italian. The cookbook focuses on recreating Italian recipes in healthier ways. Rocco discussed spending time in Italy with Italian home cooks and how much he'd learned from the experience. He also gave tips on healthy eating, such as advocating for yourself at restaurants and asking for things to be changed in order to be healthier.

Peanut butter-fueled shenanigans

After the panels, lunch was available and we could walk around and meet with all the sponsors, which included Athleta, CamelBak, Crystal Light Liquid, Ford Fiesta Movement, Marmot, Reebok, Saucony, Smart Balance, Tonalin, and Vichy. 

We received samples at a lot of the sponsors' tables, which was amazing, and it was great to learn more about the brands. 

I am definitely a creature of habit, so being exposed to new brands and products is a great way of getting me to try new things. I'm looking forward to using the samples we were provided!

The Jens!
(Photo credit: Jen)

After checking out all the sponsors and eating lunch with friends, I grabbed the bag full of goodies we were given and left an hour early. 

Insane, right? THANK YOU FITNESS!!!

Leaving a bit early meant I missed the end-of-day workout. I wanted to take part, but I had a paper I needed to finish and submit, in addition to packing, before I took Sourabh out for a celebratory movie and early dinner. Yep, yesterday was his last final! He's officially done with his first year of law school, which is by far the toughest. I'm so proud of how hard he's worked the past nine months!

And oh, by the way... after I submitted that paper yesterday, I am officially done with law school and am graduating in less than a week. Craziness! I still have the two month, extremely intensive Bar Review course and, oh yeah, the Bar exam at the end of July. But at least I'll have a J.D.?

Graduation Pictures and February Intentions

On Wednesday I had my graduation photos taken. Unfortunately, that appointment was in the morning and my blowout was in the evening. It didn't really matter, of course, because the hats you wear for a law school graduation cover up the top of your head anyway (and are really ridiculous looking, right?).

Don't worry, my parents will be buying the actual copies, but I just wanted to share these right away.

The earrings I'm wearing are a pair of sparkly studs I bought from a street vendor at the market on Portobello Road in London when Sourabh and I went there for our third anniversary. They were only 8 pounds, but I love them and always think of London and that great, whirlwind trip when I wear them. I wanted something special to wear and since my ears are the only thing you really see, I figured earrings were the way to go.

Eek, holy under-eye bags. Guess I need more sleep. Well, that's not a guess. I definitely need more sleep. There's a goal for March.

The robes are kind of fun, right? They're light blue and navy blue, which are Columbia's colors. I just hope May 23 isn't too hot since I may die in NYC humidity if it is.

Taking graduation pictures made me realize how close it is! Today is March 1, meaning I have just about two and a half months of law school left. Craziness!

February Intentions Recap

(source)

Last month, I had the following mini goals meant to meet my big intentions for this year: (1) be a more mindful food consumer, (2) continue speed workouts and run with faster friends, (3) leave my phone charging more often so I'm forced to disconnect more, (4) cook a new and different cuisine at least once a week, and (5) stop reading blogs during breakfast.

I did well on being more mindful, looking at where my fish was coming from and getting more organic vegetables and fruits. I've also been dedicated to my weekly speed workouts and running with faster friends when possible. I haven't been the best about disconnecting or cooking different cuisines, although I have been cooking at home a lot. And finally, I've been great about keeping blog reading for post-breakfast so that it doesn't keep me from being late!

This month, I'm not setting any mini goals. I'm concentrating on training since I have the NYC Half on March 17 and then two races in April, and also on avoiding too much sugar. I'm just going to try to stay mindful of my big intentions, like disconnecting and cooking more.


How are your goals for this year going?