August 2013

August got off to a bit of a slow social start, but I kept busy working my first several shifts as an R2 in the emergency department. The increase in responsibility was both terrifying and exciting.

On August 18 Adam and I went to the Long Beach BBQ Festival.

After eating our fill of pulled pork and brisket, we watched magicians Terrell & Takako.

I kicked my Tinkerbell half-marathon training into gear with the help of the iPhone app Gipis.

The end of August marked the start of my two-week vacation. I spent the first few days in Houston, where I went to church at Christ the King and then met up with college roommate Teresa. We caught up over brunch at Empire Cafe, and newlywed Teresa filled me in on her life in lab and at home.

Teresa had to head back to lab, so I took the opportunity to explore my alma mater. I stopped by the Rice Gallery to see Soo Sunny Park's installation "Unwoven Light."

Then I took a rainy walk through the academic quad and visited the newest statue on campus featuring Edgar Odell Lovett. Seeing nervous freshmen walking around campus trying to plot out their course schedule prior to the first day of class brought back the memories.

 Though it had only been fourteen months since I left Houston in my rearview mirror, the sense of nostalgia was pretty profound. I paid a visit to other nearby favorites at the Contemporary Arts Museum (above) and the Cullen Sculpture Garden (below).

 Next on the agenda was to meet up with friends Amy and Javier. We ended up in the Montrose area.

 A lot of fun and a lot of crazy made for a good time.

 In a bit more wholesome of an outing, I returned to Brandi and Peter's place to join Peter and two-year old Thomas on a walk.

 The next day I went for a big run around Houston. I ran along the Bayou, through the medical center...

...along Rice's outer loop, though West University neighborhoods, and back to Brandi and Peter's.

Needless to say, the humidity did me in! It was nice to unwind over dinner with Brandi later that evening. We went to one of our shared favorites: Haven.

The next day, I went to the closing for my condo. My Houston home and med school investment finally sold! In a bittersweet cutting of financial ties to Houston, I signed on the dotted line then caught up with college friend Sarah.

 Sarah and I had brunch in the Village then met up in the afternoon for some true Texas barbecue at Gatlin's. I also had a chance to meet her boyfriend Kyle.

Keeping in true Southern tradition, the next activity revolved around food yet again! I met up with Brandi and Peter in the Village at a new creperie. Délicieux!

Though Brandi and Peter have both been keeping busy with work as residents in surgery and internal medicine/pediatrics, respectively, they carved out time to host me.

In fact, Brandi even traded a Saturday off to take a Wednesday off with me to have a ladies' day. We went shopping in Highland Village then ate lunch at Philippe near the Galleria.

We ate off the Restaurant Week Chef's Lunch menu and indulged in Tomato Bombe Filled with Fresh Buffalo Mozzarella (with basil gelée, fig balsamic, fried green tomatoes and tomato oil) followed by Beef Braised à la Provençale (on soft polenta with confit of tomatoes and garlic, zucchini and olive niçoise), capped off with Bananas Foster Bread Pudding (cinnamon ice cream and cajeta caramel sauce). Mouth watering yet??

In a wonderful blast from the past, I met up with Girls State friend Anna, who currently works as a midwife in Houston. Nearly ten years had passed, but we fell right back into great conversation.

Soon, it was back to southern California for Harbor's Emergency Medicine Department retreat.

The annual event was held in a new location this year (Huntington Beach), but we kept tradition with the costume party. This year's theme was "heroes and villains."

The next day we had an educational session on the use of nitrous oxide followed by a round table discussion about changes with the residency program.

Traditions continued with the intern class enjoying a couple signature sugary wine coolers. Looks like they're up to the task!

I spent the afternoon by the ocean and got a big kick out of dolphins riding the waves (if you look very, very closely you can make out a dolphin just under the crest of the wave on the left).

Dinner involved a picnic on the beach followed by volleyball at sunset. Just like that, August was over!

July 2013

Fourth of July festivities started off at fellow resident Kaela's place in Hermosa Beach. The celebration concluded with the Redondo Beach fireworks as viewed from the perfectly situated deck of resident-turned-peds-fellow Andrea.

After a relaxing intern week (coupled with the stress of moving), I enjoyed the long-awaited "kindergarten" introduction to life as a resident in the emergency department. Our class of upcoming R2s took advantage of the 9-5 days to bond- starting with bowling!

Over a free weekend, our class of residents went to Santa Barbara.

We kicked off the celebration with a club night out at the Savoy.

After dancing late into the night, we took a light-up party cab back to the gorgeous house we rented out for the weekend.

Our tour of Santa Barbara started off at Demetria Estate Winery.

We enjoyed a scenic picnic and wine tasting overlooking the vineyard.

Next stop on our tour of central California wine country: Koehler Winery.

We got a kick out of the ostrich on property, and I especially enjoyed the Riesling.

Our final stop on the tour ended at Figueroa Mountain Brewery for a beer tasting.

We loaded back into the super-sized stretch limo for our swanky drive back.

Fellow R2 Manny and girlfriend Steph mixed the music for the return trip.

I immediately got to work finding suitable roasting sticks for our bonfire and endless s'mores.

For our final morning we had a tasty brunch at State & Fig.

Jonathan and his wife Esther gave us inside tips with their family ties to the area.

On the way out of town and back to work reality, we played a few hours of beach volleyball.

Isis and Olivia made the long drive up with Jimmy to join us.

After two weeks of working with the orthopedic service in the castroom, I was able to sneak away for a weekend trip to New Orleans to watch dear college friend Risa marry Jon. We kicked off the pre-wedding itinerary with an indulgent meal at Emeril's.

In lieu of a traditional bachelorette party, Risa, her sister Ariana, and I spent the day at the Audubon Aquarium. We loved watching the penguin feeding and felt the IMAX screening of Hurricane on the Bayou was apropos.

We took a brief walk down Bourbon Street and an excellent meal at GW Fins.

The wait staff was top notch and made sure to wish Risa well on her final night as a single lady.

In the morning I had the privilege of getting to spend the pre-ceremony time with Risa as she got dressed and took pictures. With Risa's family we took a limo to the ceremony site at the Touro Synagogue.

As the oldest Synagogue outside of the thirteen colonies and a former place of worship for her relatives, the location had both historic and familial importance for Risa.

Risa looked beautiful in her gown. I especially got a kick out of her pretty blue shoes, which were designed by Badgley Mischka (James Mischka is a fellow Rice alumnus!).

The ceremony was filled with rich Jewish tradition. As a fellow religious studies major, Risa was great about outlining the symbolism behind the customs and rituals.

After Risa circled Jon seven times, the ceremony continued under the chuppah. They drank from two cups as part of the Kiddushin. The ketubah (marriage contract) was presented with acknowledgement of the symbolism and personalization incorporated into the document. Of course, there were rings and kisses and the final breaking of the glass with a triumphant stomp!

Then we headed to Restaurant August for the reception and meal. I couldn't help but notice the fun macaroon tower that would serve as cake #2.

The assigned seating was cleverly delineated with picture matching for the thirty five guests.

We had a chance to examine the ketubah a bit more closely and look for the owls in the paper cutting areas.

The amazing meal was prepared by renowned chef John Besh, a James Beard Award winner.

The presentation of each course was superb including the corn and blue crab chowder (above) and the beef short ribs with pea pesto (below).

Just after Risa and Jon cut the cake, I had to jet off to get back to the grind in the adult emergency room.