September 2014

 September had a lot of highs- starting off with the challenge course at Lake Arrowhead (check out Andreas's big jump above)

 Adam tagged along for Harbor's emergency department retreat.

 He was such a great sport!

 From barefoot tennis to sandy volleyball, we enjoyed the great outdoors.

 The annual costume party is always a big hit. This year's theme: the 80's. Adam and I went as the couple from Dirty Dancing.

 Tiffany and Ryan fit together as Tetris pieces and Dr. Burbulys was a convincing PeeWee Herman.

 I was especially impressed with some of the first year residents. We had the crew from Cool Runnings, Marty McFly, and the Karate Kid.

 Mullets were out an proud- just ask Jonathan and Jimmy.

 The Padlipsky family went as the whole cast of PacMan.

 As the night wound down, the spandex remained unforgiving.

 Back in Los Angeles I met up with med school friend Revathi. It was great to catch up!

We enjoyed taking a walk out on the Manhattan Beach Pier and around Hermosa Beach.

 In other beachside happenings, Andrea, Juliana, and I went for a run along The Strand.

 Then afterward we met up with other residents and nurses for drinks and appetizers.

Ryan and Autumn engaged in some sweaty, friendly competition with unending wall sits.

 Adam celebrated his 30th birthday with Neelroop, Da Wei and a bunch of tasty soup dumplings at Din Tai Fung in Costa Mesa.

 I made a quick trip to Portland to interview for the Education Fellowship at OHSU.

 A short run along the water got me revved up for the interview and the prospect of living in Oregon.

Before heading out of town I made a quick stop at Voodoo doughnuts and saw this newlywed couple's first outing.

 The doughnuts were as unique as they were tasty... keeping Portland weird.

Then it was back to Southern California for work...

... and some stand-up paddleboarding with Andrea and Juliana.

 During the last weekend of September, Jeannettee and I took a road trip to Vegas.

 There we met up with Kate and her husband Dave who flew in from Alaska.

 We had a blast- all in honor of Kate's 30th birthday!

 I saw the Mirage volcano eruption for the first time.

We shared a frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity.

 Kate's sister Eileen was also there and joined us for a day at the spa.

 We had a great time staying at the Venetian.

 We walked The Strip, which was a must since this was Kate's first Vegas experience.

 We had drinks at the Chandelier Bar in the Cosmopolitan.

 We really enjoyed our time at the Bellagio- from the garden to the blown glass...

 ... from the Cirque du Soleil show "O" to watching the fountains from the nightclub Hyde.

 Our final morning was bittersweet as we took in a couple more sights, bid our farewells, and left The Strip in our rearview mirror.