Sea World

Elaine, SMS, Fadi and Mia!

This weekend, I met SMS’ friends Fadi, Elaine and their cute daughter Mia.  It was a great weekend.  I missed them on Friday because they came in late and I went to bed early.   I don’t normally do that- I’d rather stay up and wait- but I was SO tired and I was on call.  I felt like I’d be really screwed if I stayed up and then got called in.  So, off to bed I went!

Jumping whale

Oh, splash zone!

The next morning, Linda and Rip made everyone breakfast and then we packed up and went to Sea World.  It was actually more fun than I was expecting.  I was looking forward to hanging out with friends, but even the shows were pretty good!  There was a Pet Spectacular show that was embarrassingly impressive to me.  There were a lot of cats, dogs and pigs that had routines and tricks.  We also saw the Shamu show and stayed well out of the splash zone!  We noticed that the show has changed quite a bit- the trainers don’t get in the water with the animals anymore. There was also a young whale that had just been born on Valentine’s Day!  

I got my ticket for free thanks to SeaWorld's Hero Salute program!  The program gives one free ticket to active duty members and three immediate dependents every year.  I had to fill out the form on the computer, print out the voucher and then turn it into the ticket office to trade it in for a ticket (and show my id).

I think the highlight for me was seeing Mia play in the soft floor play zone.  She’s just so cute!  She’s full of smiles and just a total delight!  Elaine and Fadi are awesome, too. That evening, we had pizza at my house and watched the sunset from the roof.  Then, we walked to Extraordinary Desserts and split two pieces of delicious cake!

This is most definitely not Mia.  But it is
how I felt after dessert!

The next day, we had a delicious brunch with caramel overnight soaked French Toast and bacon.  Yum!  Then we went off to Cabrillo National Monument.  We went up to the lighthouse and appreciated the views.  Then we went down to the Tidepools and scrambled around the sandstone cliffs.  Next, SMS, Elaine and Fadi went to Rip and Linda’s (whose home we took over for the weekend while they were up at Newport) while I had to go into work to repair a mandible.  Boo!  Although it was a good case, I am not as into trauma as I used to be!

Slow fizzle...

I'm having the nicest Friday evening after a week that started off packed with evening events but slowly whittled down to a nice, mellow Friday night unwind.  Not that I'm complaining- this week was great but I'm slowly feeling a little burned out from too little sleep, too much activity and still having a TTD list that I can't ever complete.  This very mild ennui is mainly due to lack of sleep and hydration, which I'm trying to remedy.  Lots of water today, no coffee and upping my sleep although still measly at 6.5 hours.  But I will do better.  Sleep is vital.  And lack of sleep is associated with weight gain, which I've unfortunately also noticed that last few weeks.

Whah, whah, whah.  Woe is me!  Let me tell you about the fun parts of my week!  Monday night, I went out with some friends to the Imagine Dragons concert at House of Blues.  It was an awesome show!  There was a ton of energy and I really liked the slightly harder rock style they played, although they too have several songs with the "California Calypso" rhythm that I hear in so many songs (songs that I like, don't get me wrong!).  My favorite song was "On Top of the World" and "Radioactive."

Before the show, Jenny, Colleen, Brooke and I went to Sea Rocket Bistro.  I had the yellowtail with curried cauliflower puree, sauteed cauliflower and kale, which was delicious.  I love veggies done right!  The company was great as was the food, although the service was pret-TY slow.  Afterwards, we picked up Tawnne and off to the show we went!

On Tuesday, I went climbing with a guy that I linked up with through the Facebook running group I'm a part of.  Unfortunately, it was a bit of a bust since he hadn't been climbing in awhile and didn't pass the belay test at the gym so I was partner-less.  I ran into one of SMS' friends Debora and got a few belays off her so all was not lost.

Wednesday, SMS and I went to Happy Sushi (fair) and then went climbing which was a lot of fun.  I feel like I'm slowly getting better but my initial quick pick-up has slowed a little bit.  But I'm working on my strength and endurance and I'll get there!

Thursday, I went out to dinner with Cat and Brooke at 100 Wines, which was so much fun since I hadn't seen Cat in forever.  We took full advantage of the happy hour menu cheaper eats and got a delicious melted Brie, lamb meatballs, caramelized cauliflower and a marinara pizza.  It was so much fun to try different things off the menu and the conversation was great.  We were there for two hours!

Tonight, I was supposed to go to a Williams alumni event but I took a pass.  I did some sprints this afternoon after finishing all of my online training and now I'm catching up on the blog before I finish cleaning up my room.  I started cleaning at 430 this a.m. since I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep.  I'm going to see SMS and his friends this weekend.  We're going to go to Sea World which HOLY CRAP is so expensive.  I get in for free but I definitely had some sticker shock when I bought the tickets, even at the military discount rate.  I could go skiing for that price!  Anyway, time to stop sounding like a cheap old lady!

Newport Beach

SMS and I had an awesome weekend up in Newport Beach.  I had bought tickets awhile back to see Wicked, which was playing at Costa Mesa.  He had wanted to see it when we were in Honolulu but family dinners didn't allow for it so when I went on the traveling production page to get ideas for where we could see it, Costa Mesa worked out beautifully!  I had no idea where it was but it's in Orange County, only 90 minutes away.  Even better, SMS' grandfather owns a duplex 1/2 block from the beach at Newport.  It was beautiful, open and airy and just the most relaxing, awesome place.  I took a nap on both days!

Wicked was great and I'm so happy we got to see a show together.  On both Saturday (Wicked) and Sunday (St. Patrick's Day), I wore a bright green dress that SMS bought for me a few weeks ago.  It was the perfect dress.  He took pictures of the two of us down by the beach.

Highlights from the weekend culinary-wise include Unami burgers, dinner and lunch at Gulfstream (delicious oysters, Heavenly Biscuits, grilled artichokes, trout, delicious clam chowder) and a lavender latte from Milk and Honey.

Fun weekend!

Ok!  My weekend was amazing.  First, I switched up blog addresses which I'm very happy about.  I feel that this one makes a little more sense.  A Portmanteau suitcase is an old suitcase that was divided into two compartments and the word portmanteau is basically a synonym for neologism.  Since I make up/combine words all.the.time, I thought it was a relatively apt name.  Plus, I'll be traveling quite a bit in the next two years so I thought it was a nice transition!

I had my Grands Rounds talk on Friday regarding Medical Therapy in Otosclerosis.  The talk went really well.  The topic was focused and the presentation went well.  Yay and phew!  Friday night, SMS and I celebrated by going out to dinner.  I made reservations at Herringbone in La Jolla. I love that place.  The interior design is incredible- there are a lot of gothic elements with the metal and light fixtures but there are also very textured elements like the strewn ropes, exposed beams and live olive trees.  It is totally awesome.  I think of it as a goth Alice in Wonderland on acid.  I don't know if that's how the designer thinks of it but it seems to fit.

SMS and I split a dozen oysters.  I meant to say 1/2 dozen but what I really meant came out so we got to try each kind.  I'm definitely a fan of West Coast oysters- I love the brininess of them compared to the smoother, butter-y taste of East Coast oysters.  Then, I had the scallops and pork belly entree with a pea puree (yum!) and SMS had a carbonara pizza.  Both dishes were great, although I really liked our friend Erich's reaction when he said to me, "Your dish sounds amazing and your [SMS] dish sounds like a Wednesday night!"

Saturday was a really mellow day.  I took a pilates class, cleaned up my room, took a nap, went for a run and then had dinner at SMS' place.  Then we watched "Yes Man," a movie that was SUPER cute and pretty funny, albeit not the deepest thing I ever saw.  But I would definitely recommend it.

Sunday was rock-climbing extraordinaire day.  SMS, Erich, Angela and I went out to Mission Gorge and hung out/climbed for 7 hours.  Then we went to Burger Lounge.  I had a really nice time even though the routes we tried were pretty tough to near-impossible for me to do at my current skill level.  I really do want to improve but today felt sort of off to me anyway and we went on really tough routes.  While I love doing something together with SMS, especially so healthy and outdoors-y, my competitive side definitely makes it hard to enjoy sometimes because I get so frustrated!  I want to be good and I don't want to "fail" in front of others but it's just the way the sport goes for newbies.  And I know that but sometimes knowing doesn't make it easier.

Anyway, after an awesome day, I went out to dinner with Zen at Starlite.  She had the steak and I had the swordfish.  It had been awhile since I'd seen her and it was great to catch up.  Her husband is at MDA right now and grumpy towards life, which is completely understandable!    Now I'm home, trying to be diligent regarding blog updates and assiduously avoiding the tidying up that my room desperately needs.  Maybe tomorrow!