I was delaying this post until I could get my camera cable unpacked from my car (another post), but now that almost two weeks have gone by without an update, I think it's time to talk about my awesome trip to SF last weekend sans pictures. I will post them to FLIKR though, promise.
Last Friday, I went to San Francisco for a facial plating course. The course was awesome and I learned a ton. The nicest thing about the course is that it focused a lot on biomechanical forces and technical considerations in choosing surgical approaches to various fractures. It complemented a course I took earlier in the year at NMCSD that focused more on soft tissue approaches to the fractures (translation: don't jack the person up even more due to your surgical intervention). So if you have any questions about lag screws, load-bearing/load-sharing osteosynthesis, and assorted plates- I'm your girl! Now I just need to get into the OR and actually do it.
But the best perk to the course was that it was in San Francisco and I got an extra day added to the weekend for my "travel day." So, I took the soul-crushing, intensely time-consuming 1.5 hour flight up to SF as early as possible so I could be an uber-tourist. I went to the Embarcado and Mission neighborhood. The Embarcado Farmer's Mart is on Tuesday, but there are some fixed shops that are open all week so I did eat some cheese from Cowgirl Creamery, which I had read about in Food and Wine awhile back. I had two delicious cheeses, one similar to Manchego and the other a semi-soft Italian truffle cheese. Both were great and it was such a treat to be able to have a little gourmet cheese experience. Then I went to the Mission neighborhood and saw a lot of murals painted on various buildings and alleyways. The artistry was pretty amazing, especially having such a high concentration of highly talented street art.
After that, Chris and I met up downtown at the hotel but not before I made a quick stop-in to Fiona's Sweet Shoppe, a lovely closet of a shop specializing in British sweets. I bought grapefruit gummies and anise flavored hard candies. Yum!
Chris and I then took the trolley to Fisherman's Wharf. We were initially seated inside the trolley (boo!), but I talked the conductor into letting us do a quick Chinese firedrill at a light and we got to spend the rest of the time standing on the side plank, holding onto the pole. Awesome-o!
We only spent a few minutes at Fisherman's Wharf, then we wandered into North Beach where we had the best!meatball!sandwich!ever! Chris said it was so good, he didn't think he could tell his Sicilian mother for fear of offending her. Next we went to Coti Tower, followed by a hike up Lombard St. After that, we were pseudo-hungry so we walked to Chinatown and had some (so-so) dim sum. After Hong Kong, I think I may be ruined for any dim sum stateside. (I know, I'm so worldly, it almost pains me). We were cutting it close to our next reservation time, so we took a cab and hightailed it over to Bo urban & Branch, a terrific speak-easy themed bar complete with password! Chris had a delicious old-fashioned, and I had a great Bourbon based specialty drink. Our second round was not as successful as our first but that's ok because at least we were adventurous!
At that point, it was time for bed. My room was lovely, the bed comfy, and I fell asleep in about 2 seconds after required water downing as preventive measures.
The next morning, Chris and I met for a delicious, huge, FREE breakfast spread included with our room plan. Then we were off to the course. On Sunday, we had a little time afterwards and went to the Presidio but we were still a little walked out from Friday, so we were much more chill. Then we made it to the airport (barely) and headed to SD.
Ok, next post topic? My real estate debachle, with a surprise happy twist at the end!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Santa, Unicorns, Shamu
"Um, the question is 'What do not [redacted]?' Alec"
EXACTLY! I don't think there are any impressionable children who read this blog (please, no), but still, I can't type out the question but you KNOW what I mean. Yes, you do.
And how did I find out about this? Well, the first two belong in the land of childhood minor trauma but I felt the same way at age 28 when I realized that Shamu is a STAGEname for all killer whales at SeaWorld and that the original Shamu died in 1971. Unreal! I thought something was up when they were throwing the name Shamu around rather generically with the 3 killer whales were performing tricks. I mean, I know they know their animals but why would Shamu be doing everything while the other two slackers float around and eat fish again? So, I Wikipedia'd it during the show (I know!) and found out the truth. While sitting in the "Splash Zone" because I live on the wild side, yes I do!
EXACTLY! I don't think there are any impressionable children who read this blog (please, no), but still, I can't type out the question but you KNOW what I mean. Yes, you do.
And how did I find out about this? Well, the first two belong in the land of childhood minor trauma but I felt the same way at age 28 when I realized that Shamu is a STAGEname for all killer whales at SeaWorld and that the original Shamu died in 1971. Unreal! I thought something was up when they were throwing the name Shamu around rather generically with the 3 killer whales were performing tricks. I mean, I know they know their animals but why would Shamu be doing everything while the other two slackers float around and eat fish again? So, I Wikipedia'd it during the show (I know!) and found out the truth. While sitting in the "Splash Zone" because I live on the wild side, yes I do!
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Working Out!
My first year of med school, I lived with four guys in an Adams Morgan house. The whole situation emerged from Craigslist.org and emails so I'm lucky that I didn't live with a group of serial killers. Overall, they were nice guys although the condition of the kitchen and general "permanent acquaintance" level of our living arrangement led to tension by the end. I mean, really, just because you can place a piece of trash on a carefully balanced mountain emerging from the full trash can without causing it to fall over, doesn't mean you should say, "Ha! Someone else will have to take out the trash. Sucker. In your face!" Playing Jenga with the kitchen trash is not my idea of a good time.
But anyway, back to the title of the post. One day, my roommate whom I thought looked like a male Olive Oyl because he was so skinny and tall announced he was going to the gym. "Have fun getting buff!" I said.
"Buff-ER," he said, woundedly.
Well, really, I don't think his feelings were hurt until he saw the look that crossed my face at the response. I believe it was an expression of complete incredulity that he would actually be serious in thinking buff applied to him in any way. I didn't MEAN for that expression to cross my face- it just did.
Anyway, my fitness routine has been a little lackadaisical during my time in SD. I never really tried too hard to fit it into my new schedule. I mean, I did workout, just much less frequently than before. Although there's no permanent damage, in the spirit of all that is New Year's, blah, blah, blah, I've resolved to be better about the whole deal. (I'm actually a HUGE New Year's Resolution fan, just not on a blog).
PLUS, I need to start training for the Camp Pendleton Mud Run! I am so excited! I have wanted to do this ever since running a baby Mud Run (still 5 miles) at Little Creek, VA during my internal med rotation as a third year. Today, I went for a run near Sunset Cliffs and Cabrillo National Monument. It was great but WAY hilly. There was a particularly gnarly hill smack in the middle of the run. But I got through it.
At one point though, my heart was beating pretty quickly. It made me laugh because a workout dvd I've been doing recently has one section where the woman states she wants me to work so hard, I should feel like I am "gargling [my] heart." Eeewwwww! I haven't quite gotten to that point anytime in recent memory. Really, the only times may have been high school cross country and during the mud run in 2005. Competition does that to me. Although I never ran so hard that I threw up. I've come close on a few occasions, but that's a line I completely refuse to cross.
But anyway, back to the title of the post. One day, my roommate whom I thought looked like a male Olive Oyl because he was so skinny and tall announced he was going to the gym. "Have fun getting buff!" I said.
"Buff-ER," he said, woundedly.
Well, really, I don't think his feelings were hurt until he saw the look that crossed my face at the response. I believe it was an expression of complete incredulity that he would actually be serious in thinking buff applied to him in any way. I didn't MEAN for that expression to cross my face- it just did.
Anyway, my fitness routine has been a little lackadaisical during my time in SD. I never really tried too hard to fit it into my new schedule. I mean, I did workout, just much less frequently than before. Although there's no permanent damage, in the spirit of all that is New Year's, blah, blah, blah, I've resolved to be better about the whole deal. (I'm actually a HUGE New Year's Resolution fan, just not on a blog).
PLUS, I need to start training for the Camp Pendleton Mud Run! I am so excited! I have wanted to do this ever since running a baby Mud Run (still 5 miles) at Little Creek, VA during my internal med rotation as a third year. Today, I went for a run near Sunset Cliffs and Cabrillo National Monument. It was great but WAY hilly. There was a particularly gnarly hill smack in the middle of the run. But I got through it.
At one point though, my heart was beating pretty quickly. It made me laugh because a workout dvd I've been doing recently has one section where the woman states she wants me to work so hard, I should feel like I am "gargling [my] heart." Eeewwwww! I haven't quite gotten to that point anytime in recent memory. Really, the only times may have been high school cross country and during the mud run in 2005. Competition does that to me. Although I never ran so hard that I threw up. I've come close on a few occasions, but that's a line I completely refuse to cross.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Happy New Year!
Yay, January 1st! I love the New Year. I love the opportunity to reflect on things, at least until I get distracted by something. I'm hungry, I'm thirsty, I'm sleeeeeee-py! I like to think about new resolutions and how much potential the New Year has. And I get to do it twice a year: once on 1 Jan and again in August when the new residency year starts.
Last night, I went to a party in downtown San Diego, which is not my normal scene but was an awesome, over-the-top party that felt very "New Year's-ish." I went with the nurse from the clinic and her sister and had so much fun. Champagne in the room, dancing downstairs and best of all, room service breakfast. I think anytime I'm at a hotel for a special occasion, I will order room service breakfast; it is that awesome. It was so decadent and fun. And pretty tasty!
So, today, I've been a little bit lazy. The highlight of my day was talking to my sister on the phone. She's off to Switzerland. So exciting! I think overseas adventures are the best and we decided to continue our tradition of visiting each other in places we live. I saw her in Spain, she came to Japan, and sometime in 2009, I'll head over to Switzerland. I'm not sure when, but it'll happen. For now, the only travel plans I have are San Francisco next weekend for a facial fracture plating course and a trip back East in February. Oh, and Colorado in July for an allergy course. I love my job!
Last night, I went to a party in downtown San Diego, which is not my normal scene but was an awesome, over-the-top party that felt very "New Year's-ish." I went with the nurse from the clinic and her sister and had so much fun. Champagne in the room, dancing downstairs and best of all, room service breakfast. I think anytime I'm at a hotel for a special occasion, I will order room service breakfast; it is that awesome. It was so decadent and fun. And pretty tasty!
So, today, I've been a little bit lazy. The highlight of my day was talking to my sister on the phone. She's off to Switzerland. So exciting! I think overseas adventures are the best and we decided to continue our tradition of visiting each other in places we live. I saw her in Spain, she came to Japan, and sometime in 2009, I'll head over to Switzerland. I'm not sure when, but it'll happen. For now, the only travel plans I have are San Francisco next weekend for a facial fracture plating course and a trip back East in February. Oh, and Colorado in July for an allergy course. I love my job!
Sunday, December 28, 2008
PU!
Hmmm, how do you spell. "PU!" Maybe periods would help, but then where would the exclamation point go? Either way, if you could hear me, I am saying something that sounds like (pee-you). Because my room is stinky!
Oh, ha ha! You're hilarious. Ok, fine, I left that door wide open. But in all seriousness, it's not me, it's my closet. When I first moved in, there was a yellow-ish watermark that I really didn't pay too much mind to after determining over the course of the first week that it wasn't spreading. But after crazy rain two weeks ago, the yellow is now green and I smell...MOLD!!!
Now, I have a very sensitive nose for bad smells. Last night, for example, I had to move to the other side of Joe b/c the guys who sat next to me had fleeces that stank of stale beer and cigarettes (at the last second! And there weren't any other convenient seats, curses! I mean for me. They could have sat in the front row for all I cared, stinky late guys!). And now my room smells. I'm glad I'm moving because mold can be toxic (!), although I don't think this kind is. But I have to tell my roomie. Super stat. As soon as she gets back from her (extended) family holiday trip to Minnesota.
As for moving, it is coming along s-l-o-w-l-y. Stupid escrow and their dawdling ways in mid-December, followed by, "Oops, it's the holidays. Later!" Cross your fingers for Wednesday!
Oh, ha ha! You're hilarious. Ok, fine, I left that door wide open. But in all seriousness, it's not me, it's my closet. When I first moved in, there was a yellow-ish watermark that I really didn't pay too much mind to after determining over the course of the first week that it wasn't spreading. But after crazy rain two weeks ago, the yellow is now green and I smell...MOLD!!!
Now, I have a very sensitive nose for bad smells. Last night, for example, I had to move to the other side of Joe b/c the guys who sat next to me had fleeces that stank of stale beer and cigarettes (at the last second! And there weren't any other convenient seats, curses! I mean for me. They could have sat in the front row for all I cared, stinky late guys!). And now my room smells. I'm glad I'm moving because mold can be toxic (!), although I don't think this kind is. But I have to tell my roomie. Super stat. As soon as she gets back from her (extended) family holiday trip to Minnesota.
As for moving, it is coming along s-l-o-w-l-y. Stupid escrow and their dawdling ways in mid-December, followed by, "Oops, it's the holidays. Later!" Cross your fingers for Wednesday!
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Cooking up a storm!
Tomorrow is Christmas. And for Joe and I, that means Mass, SeaWorld, and Christmas dinner at the Wises'. I've been cooking for the last few hours for three (3!) measly dishes. But they taste amazing.
"Oh, Tierney," you exclaim, "your trademark modesty is once again revealed!" And I will blush, toe imaginary dirt on the ground, and say, "Oh, it wasn't that big a deal."
It wasn't. But I made creamed spinach, curry spiced cauliflower and a cake with such an elaborate, every-ingredient-in-the-title that I shall give it to you: Sour Cream-Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting and Chocolate-Peanut Butter Glaze. It is also the dessert with the most hyphens in its name.
The creamed spinach is amazing. I helped Mom make the dish over Thanksgiving and I ended up in love. I've always liked creamed spinach in restaurants, but I LOVED this dish. A secret? Serve it piping!hot! It also does very well with a hint o' the following: lemon, nutmeg, parm, salt and pepper. The only disheartening thing about creamed spinach is that you spend so much time cleaning and destemming a mountain of spinach leaves that the end result after the "wilting" step is sorely disappointing. I had to buy more spinach from the local mart because my original amount shrunk to such pitiful dimensions.
Next is the curry spiced cauliflower. I have never been a cauliflower fan. It is the pale, weirdly crunchy cousin of broccoli, which doesn't fare all that well itself in salad bars of yore. BUT, caramelized cauliflower after 50 minutes in the oven with the addition of softened onions mixed with curry powder and mustard seed makes for quite a treat! I've made the dish twice before and it's always a hit. I still don't get it because even though I gobble down my fair share of it, I still think cauliflower is intrinsically too weird of a vegetable to be a hit.
Finally, the cake. It's a triple layer chocolate cake with peanut butter-cream cheese frosting. I've had a few crumbs that stuck to the pan and a lick of the frosting (no double dipping though!) and it is pretty awesome. I will let you know the verdict tomorrow, but already, I think this is going to be a repeat recipe.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Especially to the East Coast fam party, representing 2/3 of this fine family. Joe and I are thinking of you. Especially when we see Shamu.
I KID!!!
"Oh, Tierney," you exclaim, "your trademark modesty is once again revealed!" And I will blush, toe imaginary dirt on the ground, and say, "Oh, it wasn't that big a deal."
It wasn't. But I made creamed spinach, curry spiced cauliflower and a cake with such an elaborate, every-ingredient-in-the-title that I shall give it to you: Sour Cream-Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting and Chocolate-Peanut Butter Glaze. It is also the dessert with the most hyphens in its name.
The creamed spinach is amazing. I helped Mom make the dish over Thanksgiving and I ended up in love. I've always liked creamed spinach in restaurants, but I LOVED this dish. A secret? Serve it piping!hot! It also does very well with a hint o' the following: lemon, nutmeg, parm, salt and pepper. The only disheartening thing about creamed spinach is that you spend so much time cleaning and destemming a mountain of spinach leaves that the end result after the "wilting" step is sorely disappointing. I had to buy more spinach from the local mart because my original amount shrunk to such pitiful dimensions.
Next is the curry spiced cauliflower. I have never been a cauliflower fan. It is the pale, weirdly crunchy cousin of broccoli, which doesn't fare all that well itself in salad bars of yore. BUT, caramelized cauliflower after 50 minutes in the oven with the addition of softened onions mixed with curry powder and mustard seed makes for quite a treat! I've made the dish twice before and it's always a hit. I still don't get it because even though I gobble down my fair share of it, I still think cauliflower is intrinsically too weird of a vegetable to be a hit.
Finally, the cake. It's a triple layer chocolate cake with peanut butter-cream cheese frosting. I've had a few crumbs that stuck to the pan and a lick of the frosting (no double dipping though!) and it is pretty awesome. I will let you know the verdict tomorrow, but already, I think this is going to be a repeat recipe.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Especially to the East Coast fam party, representing 2/3 of this fine family. Joe and I are thinking of you. Especially when we see Shamu.
I KID!!!
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Christmas is coming!
The goose is getting fat, fa-la-la-la-la, Deck the Halls! Merry Christmas!
So my brother is coming tomorrow for a week, including Christmas. I'm worried he'll think I'm the biggest, non-festive loser ever. I mean, really, I'm even on call Wed-Fri! Boring! And loser-ish!
And I have no food in the house. My diet is oatmeal, Kashi bars, cereal, cottage cheese and applesauce. Lately, it's included ground turkey with beans after I evaporated all the water in my "chili" that I've been eating for the last three days. Oh, I sometimes have eggs! But it's kind of amazing how little one person eats. I still have an eye for ingredients for 6-people scale cooking.
But I'm trying to think of fun things to do. So far, we're going to a Christmas dinner at Sean's house, with a few other work-related people. I'm going to make a veggie dish (maybe two?) and a dessert. We're going to ham or beef, Court's still making up the menu.
And we'll go to Christmas mass, the logistics of which I always dislike because of getting there early to a crowded, stuffy Church and then someone who came late makes me feel guilty the whole time because it's either a squirmy little kid or (more likely) a little ol' lady. Full of the Christmas Spirit, I am. Still, I usually do give up my seat so being early is all for naught. But the Mass is always nice- I'm a sucker for that Nativity story, I am. And singing "Joy to the World" at the end is always so awesome. It's one of the few songs that Catholics actually sing rather rousingly, rather than mumbliciously.
So my brother is coming tomorrow for a week, including Christmas. I'm worried he'll think I'm the biggest, non-festive loser ever. I mean, really, I'm even on call Wed-Fri! Boring! And loser-ish!
And I have no food in the house. My diet is oatmeal, Kashi bars, cereal, cottage cheese and applesauce. Lately, it's included ground turkey with beans after I evaporated all the water in my "chili" that I've been eating for the last three days. Oh, I sometimes have eggs! But it's kind of amazing how little one person eats. I still have an eye for ingredients for 6-people scale cooking.
But I'm trying to think of fun things to do. So far, we're going to a Christmas dinner at Sean's house, with a few other work-related people. I'm going to make a veggie dish (maybe two?) and a dessert. We're going to ham or beef, Court's still making up the menu.
And we'll go to Christmas mass, the logistics of which I always dislike because of getting there early to a crowded, stuffy Church and then someone who came late makes me feel guilty the whole time because it's either a squirmy little kid or (more likely) a little ol' lady. Full of the Christmas Spirit, I am. Still, I usually do give up my seat so being early is all for naught. But the Mass is always nice- I'm a sucker for that Nativity story, I am. And singing "Joy to the World" at the end is always so awesome. It's one of the few songs that Catholics actually sing rather rousingly, rather than mumbliciously.
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