I like this house.

After two and a half years of pre-med, I never thought I would have much free time again.  However, now that all of the applications are in, I have found myself with a healthy amount of it.  The pre-med inside of me feels strangely guilty for not spending each waking hour studying, volunteering, or reading about health care reform.  The mental health guru inside of me says otherwise.  I have decided to relax a little before this next storm hits, and I like that my blood pressure has returned to normal.

What have I been doing, you ask?  Well, after the melt off (see above), I celebrated halloween with the roomies (two costumes in one night, yes please).  We got our free burrito on at Chipotle, and then Kyle and I mocked Crispin Porter at the Crispin Porter Halloween Party by dressing as hipster interns without sleep.  To my delight, I ran into an old high school friend on Pearl Street who I hope to reconnect with soon!

Other than that, I have had the time to go to two happy hours at Brasserie 1010 (although my wallet hates me for it), made a weekend trip to the Springs, rejoined the gym (and actually use it!), and made strawberry muffins from scratch, yum!  I still can’t get over how weird it is to be able to spend an afternoon at the library and bookstore, watch movies, paint my nails, and read, without guilt hanging over my head.  Oh yes, I started reading books outside of chemistry again, finally.  First I read “The Daily Fix”, a nutrition book for ladies my age.  Today, I had such a serendipitous moment!  I was thinking to myself “Gee, I really need a new book that I am interested in” and on my way to Spanish, some fabulous activists were handing out copies of “The Origin of Species”.  I can’t wait.



Most recently, I have had a lot of fun in Boulder.  Ryan, Alex, Kyle and I bought full passes for the Adventure Film Festival, which was really fun/interesting.  As per usual, I saw all sorts of ghosts from my Boulder past (this town is small after 7 years) and enjoyed the people watching– quintessential Boulderites were out in full force.  I couldn’t believe the sea of puffy GoLite coats :).  My favorite movie was about Dr. Hodes, a man who moved to Ethiopia and ended up adopting 5 kids, housing several others, and working to help people with their TB, cholesterol, and cancer.  It had such a positive spin that so many of the other films lacked, and it provided inspiration for future global health endeavors of my own.

It is also First Bite this week, and Lisa and I enjoyed saffron risotto, sweet potato gnocci, beets, and arugula salad at Leaf.  It was delicious. I am looking forward to a girl’s night and a Canasta date this weekend, and now I am off to Cardio Challenge where my cardiovascular system will certainly be challenged, muhaha.