Awesome week!

Mark and I resting

Whoa, rock climbing was pretty awesome!  A group of us went to Mission Gorge and hiked two routes.  I got up both of them although the part pictured below took me two tries before I got it.  I actually sort of muscled through it because my pride would not let me NOT do it.  Everyone had gotten it easily and even though it had been 13 years since I climbed, there was no way I wasn't going to make it. So... I did it!  It was an awesome, beautiful day and I had the best time.

Some rock...

Later that night, I went to SMS' sister's Christmas party.  It was a lot of fun, my dress looked great (yay!) and I met his parents who are the most delightful people.  I love holiday parties and even though I was on my dumb diet, it was still fun.

Oh yeah!  I finished Whole30!  I felt/feel awesome and I'm so glad that I stuck to my guns and saw it through!  I've definitely gone off-plan at this point and had a mini-holiday.  I'm paying attention to portion sizes and not eating too much bread but other than that, I'm just going to eat what seems good (which also means not necessarily healthy although most of what I eat is).  I can't wait for Hawaii and a shave ice, but I'm definitely not craving sweets as much as I used to .  I DO want a glass of wine, but that has to wait until tomorrow when I'm off call.  Yay!

The work week was pretty easy and I got some good cases.  Two ears, a neck dissection and parotidectomy- it was awesome!  On Christmas Eve, I went over to Mark's parents' for lunch followed by dinner with Zen that night at Banker's Hill.  On Christmas, I went to the Boswell's for lunch and had a pot roast dinner here at the apartment with Matt, Bryon, Julian and Chase.  It was a lot of fun and great company all day.  

Last night, I went to a climber party/Angela's birthday at Bay Ho and met the nicest people.  Chad and Jennifer were a super cool couple that I spoke with for awhile.  I also met Michelle, a former L&D nurse and current acupuncturist.  

Today, I meant to write my paper but instead, got caught up on errands and sleep.  Two more days 'till NYE and three more days until Hawaii!!!

Upcoming travel excitement!

I can't wait!  After taking WAY too little leave (not since JazzFest really), I have several exciting trips coming up!  I initially refrained from asking for one of my allowed weeks off and then I thought, "What am I thinking?!"  So, I asked for it and when I talked to Brady later that week, I found out that it's her Spring Break!  Sister trip!  I think we'll head over to Switzerland together!  That way, we can hang out during the day and then I'll find stuff to do at night when Uli is off.  We'll all go out to dinner at least once but I want to make sure they have their time too.  I've travelled independently before so it's NBD.

BRADY!  Let me hang out with yooouuuuuu!

I also have two awesome February trips.  On President's Weekend, I'll be heading out to Breckenridge to Jenny's brother's house with Jenny and Brooke.  SUPER exciting!  I've never skied on a Big West resort and I cannot wait.  I may rent skis since it'll save on bringing them AND my skis are so old that the rentals will be much nicer.  Hmmm, what to do?

The weekend after that, I'm heading to Pittsburgh to see all of my close college friends.  HOORAY!  I am really hoping Hilary will be able to make it since she'll be close to 7 months pregnant at that point but my fingers are crossed for her!  Well, they're crossed anyway but I do hope she'll be able to make it!

Finally, I'll head out to Nova Scotia in June where Mom and Dad have rented a house for two weeks.  Seems a little random but the place is gorgeous and I always love seeing them and hanging out with family so I'm really looking forward to it.

This week was pretty mellow.  I had a super tough case in the OR- it was the hardest tympanoplasty I've ever done.  The guy had recently been in an IED blast (<3 months ago) and there was just a lot of inflammation, bony irregularities and shredded drum.  Ultimately, I got the graft in and positioned appropriately but it was really difficult and not tons of fun.  Clinic was pretty easy this week- not too mentally taxing.

Socially, a little quiet since people are gearing up for the holidays and leaving town.  I watched Elf and cooked salmon on Thursday.  I love the movie and it makes me feel so Christmas-y.  I may even watch it again that's how much I love it!

Ok, off to go round.  I'm going rock-climbing today and then to a Christmas party tonight.  I think I have my outfit set to go.  I'm wearing a dress which looks good and not too fancy but it's easy to overshoot the dress code in Southern CA so hopefully, it won't be too much.  The dress is flattering but pretty simple.  My shoes are totally awesome and really give a pop of color.  I'll write the verdict later!

December Weekend

I had a great weekend!  On Friday, I went out to the Tractor Room with Jenny, Jim, Carlin and Jeremy.  We were celebrating Jenny’s and Jim’s birthdays and the food was delicious.  I had the wild boar stew.  The carb-y things smelled heavenly but I’m still going strong.  Day 23/30, yay!  I can’t wait to be done although I can’t really figure out what I’m going to eat afterwards either.  Do I go back to oats and yogurt in the morning?  I think not, but I need to figure something out!

On Saturday, I went up to North County and biked from Solana Beach to Leucadia and back after a delicious brunch at Claire’s on Cedros.  That night, I went to a Christmas party where people were so nice and had REALLY amazing Christmas sweaters.

On Sunday, I got my ass handed to me by a hot yoga class.  I thought I was going to hurl and pass out at the same time.  I managed to push through the last 8 minutes, but holy hell.  I went back to bed and it sort of wiped out my whole afternoon.  Then I went to game night, was tempted by cookies but succeeded and played poker with my friends, which was a lot of fun.

Today has been two ear cases.  Now, I’m off to work on the discussion section of my paper before moving on to typing up an IRB for my planned Mercy paper.  Ooops, held up by the fact that there's scant literature but I'll get it done!

Christmas Time!

Small boat during the Parade of Lights

I love Christmas!  On Sunday, I answered a last minute text from Dave.  He was offering two tickets to the USS Midway to watch the Parade of Lights.  It was awesome and so much fun.  I took Evan, Tawnne's kiddo and he was so cool.  Some of his comments and insights were awesome!  I should do borrow-a-kid more often!  Although I loved the Midway (I was on the biggest boat in the water, ha ha!), I definitely wouldn't mind riding in the Parade of Lights since that would mean I knew a big baller who owned a yacht!

Sprekels Pavilion Christmas Living Tree

The day prior, I went to December Nights.  It was beautiful and I met up with two groups of friends, one on purpose and one accidentally.  The accidental one was awesome b/c it included Jenny and I was wearing the scarf she gave me.  Score for inadvertent thoughtfulness!

Cabrillo

Also on Sunday, I went for a jog up in Cabrillo, had a grilled sword salad for lunch (the halibut sandwiches are SO much better, dumb diet!) and went to my sewing class where I made a pretty awesome apron.

EKA-3 on the Midway.  I thought I was being cute
and taking a picture to show Dad but in fact, it's
even cooler b/c he flew a few hundred hours in this plane itself!

Monday, I had an AWESOME TMC fracture repair.  It was super displaced (case of Mr. Knee meeting Mr. Cheekbone while doing a flip on a trampoline) and I really had to york on it.  But guess who looks better than he did?  My patient!

The Killers and other fun!

The Giving Tree reference?  I think so.

I’m reading a delightful book.  That adjective will likely give you pause when you consider that the title is The End of Your Life Book Club, a memoir by Will Schwalbe. It documents the books read and conversations had with his mother while she received palliative treatment for terminal pancreatic cancer.  Mrs. Schwalbe is (present tense b/c of the book although she has since died) a vivacious, insightful, dynamic, intelligent woman who seems to have an unwavering commitment to beauty and transformation in her world, which ranges from her immediate family to international refugee issues.  I love reading all the anecdotes that reveal truth and resonate deeply, whether it’s from conversations or selected passages in the books.  It’s a marvelous book and I deeply recommend it.  

The Killers- they started with the lights up.
"Mr. Brightside"

So awesome!

 Last night, I went to Wrex the Halls, sponsored by 91X (local radio station).  It was awesome!  I went with Sean, Tawnne and Jenny.  We had great seats!  The headliners were The Killers who are so awesome!  I definitely have a mini-crush on Brandon Flowers.  I love his solo work and the band is also amazing.  Most of the songs were from Hot Fuss, but I really enjoyed the three new songs they played: “Here With Me,” “Miss Atomic Bomb” and “Runaways.”  I love the forlorn hope in his songs.  They tend to center on love and changes that happen to it over time or commitments/statements that things won’t change.  The songs are really beautiful while being totally rocking.  I also saw Tegan and Sara, whom I really liked.  My favorite songs  “Messed Up” and “I’m Not Your Hero” are from the upcoming album.  I’ve re-listened to them today on YouTube.  I wasn’t the biggest fan of Passion Pit.  Finally, I saw a French Band M83 who were mostly electronic.  New discovery (to me) that I liked but I won’t be downloading every song.

This week was pretty fun.  On Monday, I went to a sewing class and made the cutest bag!  I’ll see how I like the second class but maybe a sewing machine is in my future!  On Wednesday, I decided to have a spa night since I’m on call this weekend.  I went back to Va Va Varnish for a mani/pedi.  My pedicure is super cute although my mani is already chipped-chipped but it’s my fault.  I am rough on my hands.

My new bag- I made it myself!

I also got Dr. Laughlin back after he wired my office door shut and taped it up (separate incidents).  I stole his chair that he LOVES.  He, apparently, flipped out, dropped a bunch of F-bombs and tore apart his entire clinic trying to find the chair.  It wasn't there though...

Ha, ha, jerkface!

Apparently now, there's a truce.  Yeah, I believe that.  But his chair is back in his office.

Whole30 continues.  I’ve stuck with it even though I was tempted to throw it in when I bought some Winter Ales that are delicious from Telegraph Rd.  But I’m saving them for after even though I’m not planning on drinking a lot of beer after this.  Winter Ales are my favorite though.  I’ve also wanted a glass of wine twice.  There were also some delicious-looking sweet treats at work that were tempting (Oh, magic bars, I heart you!) but I stayed away.  What this diet is teaching me is that I need steady, maintained commitment to a diet if I want results.  Sometimes the days seem so long that 3-4 day stretches seem like enough and then I treat myself which is more appropriate for a maintenance mode, not weight-loss mode.  I’ve already lost approximately 5 pounds.  I was seriously obsessing about wanting to see scale results so that’s the one deviation from the plan.  I’d definitely say some of that is water weight but I do feel better in my clothes already.  And my hands look great!  I’ve started wearing gloves when I wash dishes but my knuckles are no longer chapped!  Yay!

Our speaker system in Thursday's OR

I’m planning on continuing eating Whole30-lite after the month, apart from my HI vacation.  I haven’t decided if that means one treat a day (alcohol, sweet or bread), 2 drink events/week, a splurge day or some other variation.  I really plan to avoid wheat and baked goods though.  Oh well, plenty of time to decide!  Day 14 today!

Delightful December!

Whole30 is still going well.   I've gotten through my one non-call weekend pretty well so far and still managed to hang out with people at the office Christmas party and at one of our favorite bars.  Overall, it's been pretty easy since I've committed to saying no to non-Whole30 treats.  Don't get me wrong- the desserts looked AMAZING last night but I wasn't even tempted.  A huge part of that was eating a nice, filling meal before I went.  Otherwise, I would have been in trouble.  I also brought my own seltzer water- grapefruit La Croix.

Friday, I went out to 30th on 30th, which is great since I've always wanted to go.  It was a little dampened (ha, ha!) b/c of the rain so I'll go again when I can partake in good weather and all the food but I had fun with my friends.

Yesterday was an all-day airway course followed by the office Christmas party and a brief post-party stop at Imperial House where Rick Lyon was in excellent form.

Today, I'm going to Cabrillo for a long run, Encinitas for a sewing class via Groupon and getting a tree with my roomies.  It's been a full weekend but I got a great night's sleep last night so I feel wonderful.  I'm excited for the Redskins vs. Giants game tomorrow night too!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, or at this point, Happy Fakesgiving!  I don't usually reflect on the year at Thanksgiving (that's usually a January and July thing for me), but I have so much to be thankful for and I'm so happy with where I am in my life.  I am so thankful for the love of my family and friends, my health, the fulfillment and education I get from my job and being on my own to pursue self-growth.  Granted, my personal life is in a markedly different place than where I thought I would be in a few short months ago but...here I am! And truly, I feel lucky, blessed and happy!

Thanksgiving Day was spent thinking about working out, cooking, rounding at work and heading over to Shelby and Zen's for a fantastic feast!  Zen made a great turkey and the sides were provided in pot-luck style.  There were several cranberry sauces, Amy's delicious corn pudding, sweet mashed potatoes and rolls.  I brought stuffing, mashed potatoes, KY bourbon sweet potatoes and some Julian pies.  We watched the Redskins-Cowboys game, which had a great 4th quarter and hung out.  Then I thought about working out again (ha, ha) and ended up going to bed early.

Today, Matt, Bryon and I had a Fakesgiving at the house.  We made the following-
Turkey
Gravy (pan drippings stirred with a "roux" of flour and pan drippings, simmer until thick)
Cranberry Suace w/Ginger (minus the orange)
Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes (mashed with half-n-half, butter, sour cream)
KY Bourbon sweet potatoes but with a pecan praline crumble on top
Green Bean Casserole
Matt's Pecan Pie

It was really fun to hang out with my roomies and everyone enjoyed the meal.  It was also amazing and tonight, I had my leftover sandwich on delicious sourdough!  Hooray!  All my Thanksgiving culinary check boxes complete!  Tomorrow, I start a diet- Thanksgiving was a great break/treat but I need to get ready for HI and be able to fit in my clothes!

Keeping It Real!

I had all these aspirations of blogging more often but...here I am, at my normal qweek interval.  It's better than where I was previously though so slow, micro-improvements are ok!
 
On Tuesday evening, I had a blind date.  We met for wine at Wine Steals.  It was fine.  No real chemistry but he was nice enough.  More importantly, it was good for me to go on a date where it's ok to acknowledge (not explicitly for heaven's sakes, but you know) that there's no chemistry despite the other person being very nice and probably not a serial killer.

On the 14th, I went to Trivia night with the Mercy crew.  Our team was S'Avant Garde and we were awesome.  5th place awesome, but still.  It was a ton of fun.  The categories were current events, Nicholas Cage, Tea, Deaf Culture, College Basketball and picture round.  This was my first trivia night ever and I'm so glad I went!

Winner!  (+ Golden Spoon!)

On the 15th, I had a banner day.  I won the chili cook off at work!  9 entrants and I am the W-I-N-N-E-R!  Hooray.  I made a bacon chipotle monstrosity.  I fully acknowledge that the bacon let me win.  Although several people liked the smokiness of the chipotle.  I was also a poor winner since I had to rub it in to all the haters and prior smack-talkers!  Since I had a new golden spoon, I could shake it vigorously!

That night, I made it a weekday spa night.  I got my hair done by the excellent Audrey at Gypsy Doll.  I was a little more courageous with the bangs and went for it.  They look awesome!  I also picked up a gold sequin dress that fits really well and was $20 (vintage)!  I then headed over to Va-Va-Varnish in East Village.  *LOVE!*  It was so clean and cute but even better, the products were awesome!  Nice polishes and the lotions felt great during and after!  I am definitely going back!

Friday, I went to Seven Grand, a pretty awesome whiskey bar in North Park.  I had grapefruit juice and soda since I was on call, but I got to hang out with Shelby, Zen, Robbie, Jenna and two of Jenna's friends, one of whom acted single but...was not.  What a dirtbag.  Seriously, what is wrong with guys sometimes?  Although he was kind of strange, the rest of the group was awesome and we had a great time.  I also saw my cousin Jim, which was pretty random.

Korean BBQ, cooking

Saturday was packed in the afternoon evening.  I went to Manna Korean BBQ and karaoke for Ryon's birthday, which was awesome and definitely an experience.  The I went to Station and WhistleStop.  Again no drinking but I had so much fun.  I like to drink, but it's definitely not necessary.  The only thing I notice is that my nights tend to end a little earlier because I'm aware of getting sleepier and/or a tiny bit bored.

Manna Korean BBQ

More Korean BBQ, very pigglie wigglie!

Sunday was super mellow, as was Monday.  I did a pretty awesome mastoidectomy; actually, I did two!  So, that was a good day.  Last night, I went out to Barrio Star and had delicious margaritas, mini-tacos and tortilla soup.  DELICIOUS!  Tonight, I'm going back to trivia night.  I'm feeling like a winner!

LA weekend!

I had such a fun weekend!  I need to remember how much fun four day weekends can be, especially when I'm working the next two Federal holidays!

My weekend was slightly elongated since I combine work & play this weekend.  I left Thursday afternoon for Loma Linda so that I would be ready to attend my Supracricoid laryngectomy course  on Friday.  Brooke and I travelled together since she had a speech pathology conference at the same location.  It was great to drive with a friend, for both the company and the carpool lane!

We arrived in Loma Linda and spent the night in the hotel room that was provided for the resident course so free lodging!  Even though the bed was small, it still felt great to save money!

The course itself was great.  Excellent lectures and lots of time in the anatomy lab.  I felt like a did a nice job on my dissection and I worked with a PGY-4 and PGY-1 from LLU.  That night, Brooke and I ate at Wild Rocket in Redlands, where she made fun of my chatting with the bartender.  Then we went to the movies and watched "Flight."

The next day, we "slept in" until 8, then got ready and went to LA Live to watch the Williams-Amherst game!  The Amherst folks definitely outnumbered the Williams crowd and they won (because Amherst is full of dirty cheaters ;).  The game viewing was hosted at LA Live in the ESPN Zone party room.  It was right next to where everyone was lined up for the Twilight premiere.  That was three days away.  Yes, people were camping out for Twilight.  OMG.

After the game, where we saw Dr. Drew (an Amherst alum), Brooke and I headed to LACMA based on Johanna's recommendation.  What an awesome museum!  I talked my way into the member's preview of the Caravaggio exhibit (the sign at admissions said it was open that day!  For everyone, I assumed incorrectly!).  We also saw some more contemporary art like Klee, Sam Francis and Georges Braque.  I loved going to that museum- it was great!  There were also a line of food trucks out front which looked delicious although we weren't hungry.

Levitated Rock

Later that afternoon!

Actual 10 segment piece of Berlin Wall, W. Germany side

East Germany Side, Graffiti/Artwork added in America.
East Germans were not allowed to access the Wall.

LACMA front

Interactive art with lots o'germs, likely

That night, I went to Mumford & Sons after picking Jenny and Steffani up at the train station.  We had the best time!  We had a sushi picnic in the partially finished hotel lobby.  The sushi place was packed, so we placed a to-go order, bought booze, picked up our food (and drank one of our beers while we waited- classy!) and ate at the hotel, which is currently being renovated.  It was so much fun.  We missed the openers, but were there in time for Mumford and Sons.  They were great.  We spent most of our time sneaking up front, which was worth it!

Hotel Lobby Sushi Picnic!

Sushi Picnic Close-Up

Original Seats!

Much better

The next morning, I felt a little worse for wear but drank water, took ibuprofen and made it out to the FESS course.  The highlight was drilling a respectable modified Lothrup dissection!  I felt very advanced.  After the course, I went back to LA and Jenny and I went out to dinner at Osteria Mamma and had dessert at Cafe Gratitude.  No Jason Mraz sightings, unfortunately.

The next day, we went to Toast for brunch and then met up with Brooke and her sister for the TMZ celebrity tour.  It was a little cheesy but fun to do.  Highlights included seeing two Backstreet Boys in their car while driving around and a hungover girl on the bus puking over the side.  That was more gross than anything, but still, a deviation from the standard tour (I think/hope).  After that, we went to lunch at Grub where I had a delicious salad with a side of crack bacon.  Then I picked up my tickets for the 11/12 show (which I thought was the night prior since I can't read a calendar) and scalped them to a nice woman who really wanted to go!  It was sad to let those tickets go, although the profit took some of the sting away.

Then I made it home, did laundry and went to bed.  It was an awesome weekend with great sights and even better friends.

Catching Up!

Game night was a lot of fun.  This time, instead of a lot of lying, we played Apples to Apples.  Each person had cards with a noun and adjective.  The person who was running the round would pick an adjective and then everyone threw in a noun for the best and worst match.  I thought I had some good choices but I didn’t win any rounds and once I got the worst.  Whah.

Halloween was great.  We went and saw Grace Potter & the Nocturnals at House of Blues.  It was a great show.  They really sounded different live but in a great way.  Still very musical but lots of riffs and jams that weren’t insufferable, as that stuff can sometimes morph into.  “Oasis”, “Paris (Ooo La La)” and “Medicine” were highlights, as were their covers which included “Rocket Man,” “Black Hole Sun” and “Paint It Black.”  The “Kissing Bandit” emerged, who’s one of my friends that tends to get makey-out face on when she drinks.

Halloween costumes!

House of Blues

Grace Potter!  So cool!

The next day, I was supposed to meet someone for coffee but someone proved to be flake-tastic, but I did get more Cafe Calabria beans.  Why oh why do I sometimes toy with the idea of giving up coffee- it’s so good!

On Friday, Jenny and I went out after I finally got my key back.  She had taken it to lock the door behind her and Brooke on Thursday a.m. and Thursday she forgot to give it to me and Friday, she gave me a look-a-like, wrong key.  So, she came down to SD and we went out to Isola in Little Italy and then dancing at The Office.  It was all so much fun and completely unplanned.

Isola in Little Italy

On Saturday the 3rd, I ran in the Color Run.  It was fun, but much cooler in concept than implementation.  They definitely maximize registration for profits and the color stations are not super-well staffed so you have to go out of the way to get the color talc on you.  Also, the logistics of participating in a 5 K aren’t worth it unless I can walk to it (like a Balboa Park run!).  I was with a really great group and that was awesome to hang, but it’s definitely an OTO (one time only) thing for me.

Post-Color Run at URBN, North Park

Then that night, I made the rounds.  First, I went to Banker’s Hill Bar and Restaurant for Zen’s birthday then I headed to Wine Steals in Point Loma for Suzi’s 40th birthday.  Both were so fun and I got to see so many friends and celebrate birthdays, which I love to do!  I ended up at the Shout House to see some girls I roomed with on the Mercy.  Dueling pianos- so fun.  It once again made me wish I could play the piano better!

The next day, I met up with some friends for Farmhouse Cafe brunch.  Delicious and I got to see a friend whom I haven’t seen in awhile (toddler + pregnant).  That was awesome!  The rest of the day, I laid low but it was a great weekend.  I definitely pack a lot into my non-call weekends!

On Tuesday the 6th, I participated in a paramedian forehead flap takedown, which I was super stoked about since I had done the first part of the procedure and I could now take it to completion. 

On the 7th, I did a Les Mills Body Combat class, which made me feel so uncoordinated and nonathletic.  I felt like a fat kid getting a lot of dodgeballs pegged at my head, aka not good.  

On Thursday, I had an easy day in the OR and the headed up to Loma Linda with Brooke.  Friday was a conservation laryngectomy course for me and speech path course for her.  That evening we went to Wild Rocket in Redlands and then saw Flight, which was well acted by Denzel Washington but otherwise not really what I look for in a movie since it was just a sort of depressing trajectory story of drugs and alcohol = downfall and rock bottom.

Any publicity is good publicity...?

Ok, part II will be my LA weekend.  It was awesome!  And then I’ll be caught up and hopefully in less list-like form!

October, part 2

The workweek of 10/15-10/19 was pretty uneventful although overall, I've been getting some pretty awesome cases and I feel I'm making good progress on my sinus and ear (in particular) surgery skills.  I was gearing up for Greg and my's wetting-down on 10/20. It was an awesome party!  The people there were great and everyone was very mingling without too much shoptalk.  The food was great and there was plenty of alcohol.  Several people got pretty wastey-face because Greg had bought these mini-cups that were actually designed for shooters.  So, people underestimated how much wine they were drinking because they just kept refilling although really, every two cups = 1 glass of real wine.  I say real wine b/c I usually drink more than 4 oz in my servings but that's technically 1 serving (for losers!).  Afterwards, we went out to Imperial House and saw Rick Lyon (I love his "Time After Time" rendition.  Next, we went to Rich's then headed to North Park to The Office.  It was an awesome night and I was so tired the next day!  It was a very lazy Sunday, apart from the fairly massive clean-up.

On Tuesday, I went out to Happy Hour with Jenny and Brooke.  We were hoping to meet people but this actually was not the best plan since Tuesday is not the busiest night and we were out on the earlier side anyway.  I think we'll start heading out to Friday Happy Hours instead.  On Wednesday, I went out to dinner with one of my roommates from the Mercy.  That was awesome and we talked and talked.  Then we went to yoga.  Afterwards, I stopped in at The Office and met the music booker and one of the manager's at Jimmy Loves.  It's a restaurant in Gaslamp that has pretty awesome music even though I haven't been in awhile since I don't really like Gaslamp.  I feel like GL has too many businessmen conventioneer attenders on bad behavior and too many college kids.  But I'll be there for Halloween to see Grace Potter and the Nocturnals!

Friday was Two Door Cinema Club, which was a great concert even though the person I was supposed to go with flaked.  I went right before the band came on and they were awesome.  Then I went to The Office where the music was awesome!  I just got Spotify premium and the two lists I want to make are 90s hiphop/R&B a la high school mixers and 90s grunge/modern rock for the OR.  At the Office, it was mostly hip-hop for awhile and it was SO much fun to dance to.

Last night was a work party for Bach's going away.  It was a really nice party but there has definitely been a lot of ENT socializing recently!  Tonight is game night at Cat and Gary's which was fun last month although I didn't like the game which was basically a big bluffing card game.  So, I may just watch if that's the game played although I hear they're going to switch it up.

Off to sign dictations.  Blaugh!

Thoughts

So, there are a few sentences that I think are highly mockable.  The first, actually is a phrase- "First Annual."  I loathe those two words together.  The first sentence occurs as soon as a plane lands and multiple people get on their phones to tell someone, "I just landed."  Whhhhhyyyyy?!?!  You are not at the gate/off the plane/getting your luggage.  This call only accomplishes making you sound like a tool to your nearby, soon-to-be-former seatmates.  And while on one hand, who cares what strangers think, it still makes you sound like an idiot.

The second sentence is always along the lines of "Oh my gosh, I can't believe it's November/Summer's over/the year's halfway done/etc."  While I truly believe this is a really stupid thing to say, there is definite validity to the feeling.  So, I guess I think it but try not to say it that often.  That being said, I feel this way currently.  I think part of it is that my life has changed so dramatically in the last few months.  I've moved back down to San Diego, started chief year and, most unexpectedly, ended my relationship with Mechen.  There's not much about it that I want to put on a blog, but although overall it's a good thing that I'm definitely ok with at this point, it's pretty amazing to go from super-together with future plans to single.  It's been fun with some dates already but still, unexpectedly different and a big change from my life even just three months ago. 

It reminds me of Stephen Jay Gould's lecture I saw in college where he talks about the "punctuated equilibrium" theory of evolution.  That evolution is not a smooth, ever-constant velocity spectrum of change but rather periods of equilibrium punctuated by dramatic change in a relatively short time period.  This fits on a micro-level when I think about my life and the idea of major life events in general.  So much of my life is packaged into discrete units of time- high school/college/med school, internship, Japan, residency, my two long-term adult romantic relationships.  When things change, it tends to be a pretty sudden shift.  So far, I've been happy with all my forward progress but I definitely want to continue to embrace dynamic improvement.  I went to a yoga class where the teacher told a pretty hokey anecdote but, nonetheless, resonated.  She spoke of when Michelangelo was painting the Sistine Chapel and a young apprentice asked how he could become a great artist and Michelangelo said, "Paint.  Always paint.  Never stop painting."  While I doubt this ever happened (and even if it did, I doubt it was in English), she carried the story on to say, "What if we all lived like this?  Every moment of every day, we lived.  'Live.  Always live.  Never stop living.'"  And while I think it's hard to always be "on," it gives me a certain sense of mindfulness to appreciate each moment as a gift and try to make the most of it.  The idea already complements the gratefulness I feel on a daily basis when I appreciate all I have.  Most of this perspective has mostly come from what I've seen as a doctor.  To me, I appreciate that I have two strong legs I can walk and run on rather than have lost them; I can breathe the air without needing an oxygen tank; I don't have cancer; I can wipe myself after using the restroom rather than needing someone else. 

Anyway, this is what I'm thinking about as it is, afterall, almost November!  Things are coming up like the rest of my chief year, a new place to live, an old place to leave behind *sniff*, new dates and planning a board study plan and a big July vacation.  It's all, actually, super exciting and I feel really lucky. 

Week!

Another fun week!  Things at work are going swimmingly with a good semi-annual eval on Friday.  Socially, things are still busy and fun.  I'm having such a great time in San Diego- I am SO glad I live down in the city and can see my friends more often.  On Monday, I went out to Alchemy which was terrific.  $1 oysters, Thai-inspired meat wrapped in lettuce cups (chicken or turkey- unsure) and tongue tacos.  It was all delicious and I really like the decor of the restaurant.

Tuesday, I went out to R gang for Jen's birthday.  It was great b/c it was Happy Hour all night so we all ordered lots of snacks, mostly tater tots.  Jen's husband had also bought a delicious cake from Extraordinary Desserts which we demolished.  Well, there were leftovers but we made a pretty good dent in it.

Wednesday, Cat and I went out for dinner at Hillcrest Tavern.  We shared some salad, mac 'n' cheese and poke.  This was a slightly healthier dinner apart from the Mac.  It's a good thing I exercise a lot or I would be a fatty-bo-batty with all this dining out!

Thursday, I got my teeth cleaned- yay!  Dental will get off my back!  It was a quick appointment since I take pretty good care of my teeth.  Flossing and Sonicare toothbrush for the world!

Friday, I went out to Alexander's where I had an amazing seafood risotto.  The scallops in it were cooked perfectly- I wish I could have more right now!

Yesterday, was a RIDICULOUS night since I met up with Jen, Jeremy and Jim.  Despite lacking a  "J" in my name, they let me hang.  We went to Tractor Room, Martinis On Fourth and then went to "walk by" Rich's, where we stayed until 0230 dancing the night away.  It was so.much.fun.  It was Rufskin night (a local guy's lingerie-type shop) so there were tons of attractive men dancing around in designer skivvies.  So not only was the dancing fun, the eye-candy topped it off.  It was a great night and I paid for it slightly this morning but nothing brunch at Snooze and a nap couldn't fix!  I also fixed up my bike today (the first tube change went poorly as my tube was likely pinched as it popped, taking out the tube and the tire).

Finally, I've been doing a good job on getting to Barry's Bootcamp, although I would like to try and get BodyRok in at least twice a week.  I bought the BB academy so I've been going four times a week, which feels like a pretty good sweet spot for that workout.  I feel pretty lean and I'm trying to do well with my diet although clearly, it's not stopping my socializing.

Week in Review

When my blog becomes rich and famous (read: never), I will have to work on my titles.  Currently, that's a weak spot!

This week was way more mellow than last week, which was a nice balance.  I was on call, which has continued to be blissfully quiet (jinx!).  Keller came over on Tuesday and fixed my brakes and chain on my Dahon.  It was a pretty simple repair but I was glad to watch rather than make my bike explode.  It even gave me confidence to change my tube last night which went pretty well.  Today, I'm going to de-rustify my road bike and Google how to grease the chain.  I know, so simple for most but I really know next to nothing about bikes.

On Wednesday, I went to GROUPLOVE with Sean (b-day boy!), Tawnne and Jenny.  The band was terrific as was their opener, Alt-J.  My favorite song by GL is "Lovely Cup", although this is closely followed by "Naked Kids" and "Chloe."  Alt-J is a super-mellow band with a driving bass/organ sound that is pretty awesome.  "Fitzpleasure" is my favorite song.  Both bands were great live!  Alt-J was pretty mellow with a set most everyone sat through.  Which is fine, but the GL set was so high-energy. Everyone was on their feet and at the end, the band invited everyone up to the front which led to an even more exciting vibe!

Thursday, I hung out here at the apartment, watched the sunset on the roof and made a delicious grilled cheese.  Bryon keeps bringing home sourdough bread from Bali Hai.  The bread is amazing although I'm trying to limit how much I eat so I don't turn into a puff-puff.  This does not seem to affect MMM though, who eats bread all day long and is quite thin (hate).  Maybe because he alternates with pasta and beer...hmmm, still wouldn't work for me.

This weekend has been super-mellow compared to last.  Friday, the residents went out with Bitter Bach to Tiger!Tiger! which was awesome.  Chris, Shelb-o and I hung out for awhile afterwards, which was pretty cool.  Saturday was the South Park Walkabout with Beth and her friend Melissa.  Yesterday, I went on a hike/run with Liz, Steffani, Janelle and Laura followed by Barry's Bootcamp a few hours later.  I felt badly because there was a rather large woman in there who just couldn't hang.  And although I really like the instructor in that class, he did NOT do much to help her out.  So, she left.  I felt badly though because yesterday's class was pretty ridiculous with how fit people were.  I'm usually the fastest woman and yesterday, I was off by at least 1 mph.  Last evening, I watched the Chargers game at North Park Tavern and True North.  In between, I stopped at the wig shop and bought my bright red wig for Halloween.  Yay!

Today, is a holiday.  I'm going to finish up with my room, write a first draft of a paper, work out, make cookies (check!) and a few other errands.  Oh, room, why are so easily mused?

Week in Review

This past week was crazy!  I wasn't on call and I did so many fun things.  I don't think I can sustain the pace on other non-call weeks but I had such a good time!  And I don't say, "I was so busy!" in a whiny way- it was great to have so many things to do.  But it was pretty packed.

Last Sunday, I went to the Art Walk by the Bay and Mission Brewery with Brooke and Cat.  The day was gorgeous and there was some pretty amazing art work.  Once we were done strolling, we headed over to the Mission Brewery for a quick beer.  Afterwards, I headed to Zen's house for a Chinese food feast cooked by her Mom.  It was delicious.   After hanging out on their deck for awhile, I headed home.

Monday, I went to El Camino for dinner, drinks and air hockey (!).  Wednesday was a quick stop-by the Whistlestop for Michelle's birthday.  Then, the weekend came!  Friday, I went to Station briefly to hang out with the residents, although I mostly talked to Beth and Erin.  Then, I headed to a friend's place in Little Italy/Marina Village for a Mexican fiesta-themed birthday party with delicious carne asada tacos and strong drinks.  I felt like a little bit of an asshole since I introduced myself to people I actually knew from work but I usually only see their eyes.  They are all anesthesia folks so between the hat and mask, there isn't much I see in the OR and besides, everyone looks different in regular clothes!

I walked home that night and the next morning, biked to my car.  I went to Joe's garage sale where I sold a mirror (holla!), drank mimosas, watched college football and ate pizza.  Then, several of us went to the mall and I got an awesome shirt and shoes on sale at Anthro and a dress from Urban Outfitters.  Next, we went to the beach and I surfed.  After all of that, I was le tired so I went home to take a nap.  Brooke and I went out to the Linkery for a quick bite and then to The Office for dancing.  We had delicious drinks, including a tequila shot with the bartender and a round of drinks on him.  The music was great and we had the best time.

Sunday morning, I woke up way too early.  I went to Cafe Calabria and the Mission for much needed coffee and brunch.  Then I went SCUBA diving for the first time in 5 years!  It was so much fun!  I saw live sand dollars, a sea anemone, a starfish and an octopus.  So awesome!  I was overweighted but at least I know for next time.  Afterwards, I moved my last carload from Cardiff, put most of it in storage and now...I'm done!  Moved out of Cardiff!  It's bittersweet but I am SO HAPPY in my new place that good feelings are the overriding emotion.

Finally, I headed over to Cat and Gary's for game night which was fun but we played a Spy game that involved lots of lying.  I don't like lying to my friends- a nice dose of honest cheating ;) yes, but lying...it hurts my circle of trust!

Ok, time to go to work.  And detox.

Week in Review

The rest of the week was pretty awesome.  On Tuesday, I met up with a few friends (+1 new friend) in La Jolla to celebrate two birthdays.  We met at WHISKNLADLE first for drinks.  I like the bar there but it's not that conducive to groups over three.  We were five and interested in eating but since it was Restaurant Week and WL is pretty popular, we were out of luck there.  I quickly brought up opentable.com on my phone and found that Herringbone had availability.

I was so excited!  I had seen the restaurant after book club and thought it was the cutest place, even though I had no idea what it was.  It looks like a little cottage with trees inside.  I feel like a bit of an idiot admitting this but I love the idea of magical realism.  Trees inside, gothic decor- it just provides the coolest ambience.  And I got to go there shortly after noticing it!  Awesome!

We sat in the back- the restaurant was much bigger than I realized.  We had a great view of the glassed-in kitchen and the bar.  I had the risotto balls (good but nothing crazy special) and an excellent seared albacore with an incredible cauliflower sauté with capers, raisons and just so full of flavor.  It complemented the fish perfectly and I loved it.  Then, Amy and Casey got special birthday treat plates which was cute and a really nice touch.  Happy Birthday was written on the plates with a  hazelnut frosting.  It was a nice way to make the birthday girls feel special.

Wednesday, I slept through the night.  Thursday was a Mercy reunion at Craft & Commerce.  I ended up talking to people at the bar for awhile b/c I thought my friends weren't there but surprise!  They were just hiding behind a wall (there are lots of partitions in the restaurant).  I had a great time catching up- I still feel so awesome that there were such a great group of people out on the Mercy this Summer.  Definitely people I want to continue to stay in touch with.

Last night I felt a little depleted so I stayed in, started organizing my bags of crap I moved into my place and just kind of recharged for the weekend.  I'm on call.  Today, I'm going to Pilates, getting my brows done and getting a mani-pedi with Cat and Edna.  After that mini-spa like morning, I'm going to TRY and finish moving out of the Cardiff home.  At the very least, make a good-size dent so that tomorrow will just consist of a carload or two.  Sunday will be a long run with the book club girls and finish organizing.

I also reserved the rooftop for Greg's and my wetting down Oct 20.  I need to figure out what to do in regards to food b/c I can't cater without paying a fee or using the restaurant downstairs.  Thinking cap...on!

My first hash!

Well, the move is almost complete in terms of moving to my apartment.  Now I need to get the rest of the stuff from the house into the storage unit.  There's more than I thought and I think I'm going to get rid of the full-size bed in order to allow for the kitchen boxes.  I was thinking of getting a bigger unit but I think I'd rather work with the space I have now.  But then again, what if I have a guest bedroom in the future?  Oh, decisions!  Well, I put an ad up on Craigslist and I'll see if there are any offers.

Apart from the fascinating details of my scintillating move, I had such a fun time over the weekend and Monday night.  On Saturday, I moved in and showed off my place to some of my friends before we went to Imperial House for drinks.  The bar is pretty hilarious.  There's a keyboard/synthesizer player Rick Lyon who performs in several sets.  I need a picture at some point because currently, words fail me.  But he did sing "Time After Time" in his raspy voice and that was pretty awesome.  Sunday was pretty restful although full of activity.  I rounded, went to church, went to a friend's pool (I had to jump in and drag a little girl to the side who was starting to get in some serious trouble although she didn't go under) and went to book club that night.  We read "Cutting for Stone" by Abraham Verghese which was incredible.

Monday, though, was the highlight of my week so far.  I went to my first hash run!  I went with a bunch of the book club girls and it was great.  The people were super rowdy and it reminded me a LOT of rugby.  The run was great with a few beer/water stops and I ran really fast.  I talked with a few people while running and sometimes ran on my own.  The brewery was one I hadn't heard of and pretty delicious- Hess brewery in Miramar.  There was a Saison beer with figs that was amazing.    Afterwards, there was singing and points of order.  I was introduced twice and the whole group seems pretty awesome.  I'm definitely going back!

Moving Day!

What better way to celebrate one of the hottest days in San Diego ever than to move!  I am definitely my father's daughter.  For whatever reason, our leases were always up in August so there were three moves with a UHaul in the Washington, DC area heat.  That was terrible!  Fortunately, I have a lot less crap than a family with four kids so it should be a shorter move.  I'm moving a few pieces of furniture into my new apartment/room and then moving some furniture that I want to keep into storage.

I pause when I consider storage.   Would I actually know if I lost the stuff that's in there?  In this particular case, it's warranted because I can store some of my awesome furniture that I got in Japan, my outdoor equipment, my ski stuff and winter gear.  But still, it always seems like an exercise in excess.

Most of the little stuff is moved in to my new place.  Famous last words since crap always accumulates but I think I'm not underestimating too, too badly.

This week was pretty atypical because I was in DC for the AAO-HNS meeting.  I went to a few really good talks and panels, hung out with my brother and saw a co-resident's talk.  I also made a quick visit to Karen in Pittsburgh before the conference started.  It was awesome!  We went for a great run, had a delicious brunch and had dinner at a church converted (ha, ha) into a brewery.  I loved Church Brew Works!  I had a seasonal beer named "Hooch," which was delicious.  On the heavier side with a fairly high alcohol content and the most delicious caramelized notes.  Yum, yum.  I also had a sampler of their standard beers, which overall, was pretty good.  The rotating stout had coconut notes in it, which was awesome.  The Celestial Gold and Pipe Organ pale ale were a little light for my craving that night but still worthwhile.  The Pious Monk Dunkel was great, a little dark but refreshing.  Food-wise, we had a pizza which was fine and the daily pierogies.  The pierogies seemed more like goyza dumplings than others I've had in the past because they were fried rather than baked but they were still really good.

Outside Church Brew Works

Inside

The alter!

I also talked to my specialty leader about possible billets for next year.  While Bremerton is a possibility, he asked me how I felt about Pensacola.  Eh.  I told him it wasn't way up there.  He'll take it into consideration.  Pensacola certainly isn't the worst though.  That would be LeJeune and Okinawa (from my perspective, of course!).

Wedding weekend

This past weekend was awesome!  It got off to an early start thanks to 5th Friday where the residents and staff hung out on Dr. Johnson’s boat at the Kona Kai on Shelter Island.  It was a gorgeous day and so fun to hang out and grill.  I definitely overbought on the food but everyone had the best time.  The med students who were out with us definitely want to do their residency here:o)  Fifth Friday also capped off a pretty mellow week at work where I got out fairly early and was able to get a great haircut and find a good brows place.  

Bridesmaid!

I love my new haircut.  I went for bangs and the texture and look is a huge change but in a great way.  I liked my old hairstyle but wanted to do something really new but I had always thought that meant a drastic length change.  Not with Audrey!  I will not go to anyone else, well at least for the next 10 months while I’m still in San Diego!

Later Friday night, Mechen and I went to the airport to fly to Pensacola for my brother’s wedding.  We arrived Saturday morning and I headed straight to the nail salon for a mani-pedi, courtesy of the bride!  Yay!  I was one of the two bridesmaids and it was such a treat to be included!  Brady was the other bridesmaid and it was so fun to be twinnies with her this past weekend.  We had the same dress, which Nicole had found and it looked really good.  We both got our nails painted red and then headed out to the beach.  Not always the best thing to do after getting nails done, but mine held up and it was way worth it.  Pensacola beach is GORGEOUS, with some of the finest, beautiful sand on wide beaches.  The water was warm and even had waves, likely leftover from Hurricaine Isaac.  

That night, we had the rehersal then dinner at the Oar House, which was awesome.  Peel ‘n’ eat shrimp, hush puppies, fish, beer and wine.  Yum!  The company was great and I loved catching up with my Grandpa and Dusty as well as my aunts and uncles on my Dad’s side.  It is such a fun group and we continued the party at the Pensacola Brew House.  

The next day, we woke up for a delicious, much-needed breakfast and started to get ready.  Everyone looked great even though both the groom and the bride were really late to the wedding (35 minutes, which I think felt WAY longer).  Fortunately, everyone’s spirits were high and the church was air-conditioned so no one was too stressed, apart from the chaplain and Nicole’s Mom.

The wedding was beautiful and the service touching.  Joe and Nicole looked great and then, in what seemed like a blink of an eye, were married!  They went off in a horse and carriage while everyone meandered over the the Brewhouse (across the street from the church, my kind of town planning!).  

The new family

The reception was back at the Lee House.  The food was awesome, company even better and overall, it was just a great party.  We hung out for a while, went to Seville Quarter for about an hour and then called it a night.

Today, we woke up, had brunch and then went to Pensacola beach.  Despite the sunblock, I think I may have gotten a little burned.  When we first got there, we were too cheap for umbrellas but my Dad ponied up (Thanks Dad!) and we had an awesome, relaxing afternoon.  Then we went to the Lee House, showered up and went to the airport. I think we didn’t leave as much time as my brother’s friend would have preferred but everyone made it and now Mechen and I are heading back to San Diego for the work week.

So, that’s the beginning of my September.  I’m a little upset because it’s the last month Mechen and I have together for awhile.  We’re looking at long-distance again while he goes to Newport, RI and New Orleans, LA.  He’ll be back in SD, but probably not until after I PCS.  We’re planning on making it through but I’m really sad that he’s leaving.  I think it won’t set in until after it’s all said and done b/c September is going to be crazy!  I’m going to the Academy meeting in DC, moving to a new place, putting things in storage, cleaning the old place all while still working.