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.
