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!