Before long, it was time for us to get ready for the Prom.  That’s right, Med School Prom.  As it happens, Justin and I attended Homecoming at Cherry Creek High School together in 1999.  We had to replicate the classic picture of him standing on a rock to be taller than me.  We went in a group of his friends from college, all of which were really nice, and I met a bevy of generous students who were more than willing to share their views of the school with me.  Before we hit the prom at the hip Jupiter Hotel, we had delightful Italian food at Il Pattio which I strongly reccomend if you are in Portland.  Before long, it was 3am and we were settling in to watch some Finding Nemo after filling our bellies with grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.  It was a great night!

The next day we had a slow start, but a good start at that.  We went to grab a late breakfast at Portland’s legendary food carts.  We ended up with delightful burritos which were enough to fuel our next adventure.  We drove out of the city to Sauvie Island, a beautiful isla across the Columbia river.  We spent our afternoon biking down the lovely country lane, stealing views of Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Hood, the river, and the flowers that were everywhere.  We made it 14 miles (with a break for poppyseed bread by the river).  I could not get over the beauty, and the whole ride smelled like honeysuckles in clean spring air.  It was awesome!

That night, we ended up at a fabulous and low key Thai place (my new favorite type of restaurant).  After some drunken noodles, we headed to the Mississippi Studios for a free concert.  We saw a lot of the folky and fun music scene that Portland has to offer, and I found a new awesome band- Run on Sentence.  I went to bed that night exhausted and satisfied.

Sunday started out in much the same way.  We slept in, and then headed for another one of Portland’s gustatory go-to’s: the Waffle Window.  A large cup of coffee and a banana caramel waffle later, we hopped in the car and headed for Multnomah Falls, the sixth largest waterfall in the US.  It also had a beautiful view of the Columbia River, and lots of tourists.  We got away from most of the crowd by hiking to the top, a quick jaunt that yielded beautiful sweeping views, a dizzyingly high vantage point looking down the falls, and a slight burn in the calves.  That night we went to a poetry slam, and I learned that Justin is a talented poet!  Yet another great day!

On Monday, Justin’s roommate Justin graciously let me tag along on his trip to the Oregon coast with his friend Dave (they met in Peace Corps).  We went for a long and windy/rainy walk down the famous Cannon Beach and ended up at Mo’s, famous for its clam chowder (rightfully so!).  As expected, the views were breathtaking, and many of the rock formations reminded me of the Twelve Apostles on the Great Ocean Road.  Later that afternoon, we paid a visit to Astoria, the town featured in the Goonies.  There wasn’t too much there, actually, but we did find a nice bowling alley to play at (I got an 85 and an 86, woo!).  We detoured by Tillamook on our way home, and tasted fresh cheese curds, fudge, and ice cream- yum!

That night, I met up with my next kind host, Adeline.  She showed me her musical talents and listened kindly to my pre-interview neuroses, and then we went to bed late!

We woke up bright and early, and headed to campus for my interview day.  It could have gone better. That night, we took an exciting trip to the Pearl District, famous for its Japanese restaurants.  I guess we didn’t know which part to go to though, and we ended up at Noodles right before it closed.  Fortunately, we did make it to the famous Powell’s books while waiting for the streetcar in the rain, and eventually we made it home safe.  Overall, it was a great trip!  Oh, and did I mention how beautiful Portland is in the Spring? So much is in bloom!

In my couch-potato-dom, I also watched Julie and Julia, and realized several things.  First and foremost, my brainpower is steadily declining.  Teaching other people things that I know is not stimulating enough to keep my own brain strong and swift.  I need to start learning new things again.  So, when I return from Portland, it is back to the French, the physiology, and the Spanish.  The movie made me miss French, and want to cook glorious French cuisine.  Therefore, I am going to hold a dinner party as well.  Bon Apetit!

We also had fun house-guests, Alex and Melissa, who after 8 days were able to locate a lovely house in Downtown Boulder, as well as at least one real job, and are now happy Boulder residents.  Yay!  Sarah (above seen watching the snow fall) has opened my eyes to some of the smaller but greater pleasures in life:  Morrissey (how did I go so long without knowing about them!), and putting cinnamon in with coffee grounds before brewing them. Yum! I am obsessed! Finally, I watched a fascinating TED presentation by Bill Gates about a new clean energy source- teraenergy (sp?).  It basically uses the waste from traditional nuclear energy as a source of energy itself- thus eliminating the toxic storage problem that so many cite as a reason to avoid using nuclear.  It is a really interesting video-  if you have 20 minutes, you should watch it!

I’m off to Portland on Friday for Med School Prom, Voodoo Donuts, Powell’s Books, a party, hiking at Mt. St. Helens, exploration, and of course, an interview.  Wish me luck!  Updates and photos next week!

I just returned from my third trip to the Midwest in 5 months- not a bad ratio!  This time I hit up Chicago proper, North Chicago, and made a return trip to Milwaukee.  I survived the cold!

I started out my Chicago adventures by meeting up with Brad and Lauren.  They were such gracious hosts.  We started with a driving tour of the city, which has beautiful architecture and tons of fun restaurants! I can see why people love it there!  We culminated our tour at a little wine shop/tapas bar, In Fine Spirits.  They like it because it has Left Hand Brewery beer, which I will admit is pretty nifty despite my hatred of beer.  After a delightful wine tasting, we headed next door for cocktails before dinner.  Apparently, I love indulging in Chicago, and enjoyed some delicious Prosecco.  Mmmmmmm.  We ended up at Mixteco, a little BYOB Mexican place that has the best fish tacos I have ever had- yum!! We finished off the night with a little SNL before getting a glorious night’s sleep.

Sunday we had a slow start, but eventually ended up at Francesca’s Forno for brunch- our three orders of Salmon Benedict were devoured with glee.  We spent the rest of the afternoon getting ready for their superbowl party: braving the crowds at Costco, seeing Ed from the Bachelor, flying on carts, making guacamole, and chatting.  It was great seeing them!

Alas, it came time for me to catch the train to North Chicago, where Rosalind Franklin University is.  I made some great single-serving friends on the train, and met my friend Kristen when I got there.  She was nice enough to show me around campus and her home before a delightful Chipotle dinner.  I stayed my first night in a hotel alone, which was a lot more fun than I would have expected!  I went hot-tubbing, jumped on the bed, watched the Biggest Loser, and tried to prep myself for my interview.  Whew!

Monday was my interview day, which is always weird.  Who knows how that went?!  What I did really enjoy though was seeing Kristen’s cadaver, Myrtle (no fainting here!), meeting a physiology professor, and exploring the towns of Lake Bluff and Lake Forest which are just south of the school.  They have cute main streets, and rows upon rows of beautiful houses, all on the edge of Lake Michigan.  Given that I love taking photos of pretty houses, I would have lots to do there.  I didn’t even get the best ones, but you get the gist:

Eventually Kristen dropped me back off at the train station where I took the train back to Chicago with a couple new friends from my interview, Yen and Rebecca.  I really like it there!  Thanks for all your help, Kristen!

By the time Rebecca and I made it back to Chicago, we were both seriously time crunched to catch our connecting bus/train.  This was apparently obvious to some enterprising Chicago-ites who were happy to show us the way for a tip, but we were definitely glad they did- we barely made it to Union Station in time (and, there are 3 to add to the confusion!).  I hopped the Amtrak to Milwaukee, and after watching the Notebook I arrived to meet Adam, one month later for my re-do of discovering Milwaukee and the Medical College of Wisconsin.

I guess they are having a mild winter there, but everytime I visit, the snow arrives.  Adam suggested that I am the spirit of La Niña, which I believe.  Given that I love the snow so much, this is perfect for me (sarcasm).  We hit up a Chipotle, and I went to lectures, met with curriculum people, quizzed students, and took myself on a tour.  By the time our day was done, there was nothing left to do but visit the casino, Potawatame.  I won $12.50 on my $25, so I was pretty pumped.  Other than that, we spent our time catching up, eating bagels, drinking coffee, and watching House before bed.  Another great trip to the midwest! And, this time I got to see Milwaukee in daylight, without clouds, without puking.  It was Awesome!




Mission accomplished!

Yesterday, we went on the tour at Celestial Seasonings tea factory in Gunbarrell.  Suffice it to say, it was delightful.  We picked up new teas, sampled to our heart’s content, went in the infamous Mint Room, saw tea bagging in real time, and took delightful photos.



Next on our list is learning new languages, about things like graphic design and anatomy, reading books, learning dance moves, making home videos, making greeting cards, celebrating world holidays, and potentially perfecting the art of cupcake making. We’re pumped!

Well, the next day I was ready to brave winter in Wisconsin in my skirt suit (I am a genius sometimes, but let’s face it, pant suits suck), but to my dismay, I was feeling quite nauseous.  By the time I arrived at the school I had thrown up twice, including once in the car on campus just before arriving, and I knew it was going to be an awesome day.  My new goal became “don’t throw up on interviewers”.  I am pleased to say that I reached my goal, and the more important goal of getting in (woo!) but not without making a lasting impression by vomiting in the game room on the campus tour, awesome.  Anyways, I made it home late that night in time to watch movies, send thank you’s, and get ready for my next trip!

On Sunday, I headed to Wilmington to meet my mom, and we managed to make it by the beach at Topsail Island before heading to my grandma’s house.  I love the beach with my whole heart, even when it is freezing.  We were lucky enough to see some good Christmas decorations too!

Clearly, I was feeling a little better!

This crab, however, was not.

I wouldn’t mind a yellow house on the beach!

We were also there in time for a beautiful sunset, which I have a hypothesis about: They are better on the east coast.

I arrived at my grandma’s house to find it in the same state as usual- immaculate.  That night was the beginning of the old-timey fun.  I taught my grandma poker and blackjack, we played endless Connect 4, did puzzles, and made fleece blankets for everyone she knows.  It is a regular blanket factory over there!

She didn’t want to be in the photo. Haha.

My mom and I also spent our time running errands, prepping blankets, walking around the neighborhood, heading to the doctor, and we even made it back to the beach to stalk some more seagulls.  We also saw dolphins!!! There was a whole pod of them near the shore, which is highly unusual for that beach.  They must know that no humans even want to brave the sand, let alone the water.

I like the reflection in this photo.

Bucky the cat was a great helper- always attacking or sleeping on the blanket as we worked.

After a long week of travel, and a somewhat draining and happy week as well, I made it home in time to catch a beautiful sunset here in Colorado, as seen from the window of the bus.

Home sweet home!
Much has been brewing since then, but that is a story for next time………

Whoa. If you want to check out more of her work or need custom made cards/invites/logos/other, visit her sites below!
Her blog
Her website

Get into medical school! Yes! Wahoo!

School: Get an A in physiology  Yes! Wahoo!

MCAT: 35 or higher. Spend 30 hours a week on it. More if necessary, try my hardest. Nope. At least not the 35 part

Health Related Experiences: 5-10 hours/week, shadow 2 docs Yes on shadowing, no on 5-10 per week

Doctor prep: read an article every day in the health field/scientific papers Read a LOT, but not every day

Committee letter: meet deadlines and prepare thoroughly.  Yay!

Personal Statement: Write 1^st draft by January 5^th. Read book. Edited by 10 people. I don’t remember, but it got done.

Sanity: Meet with Sarah Mostly…….

Be Healthy! Mostly!

Exercise 4 days a week Mostly…..

Drink 5 glasses H2O a day Mostly…….

Get more flexible Definitely not.

Take time to relax every day Definitely.

The trend that I noticed for 2009 was that I made very serious resolutions, mainly for the goal of getting into medical school.  With that in mind, this year’s will revolve around celebrating getting in and having fun before my free time is significantly decreased for several years.

That said, here they are!

1. Have fun!

a. Take a dance class

b. Go surfing

c. Go abroad

d. Practice French and Spanish for about 3 hours per week

e. Read one book per month (January is for Better, by Atul Gawande).  Suggestions welcome for Feb.

f. Get fit- play more squash and play in the mountains.

2. Take care of myself and others

a. Brush teeth after every meal, limit sweets (no more cavities here)

b. Drink lots of H2O and stretch

c. Find a job and a new place to volunteer

d. Prepare mentally and physically for medical school

e. Be a good family member and friend

I tried to make them reasonable this year, but I always make too many/too much.  Until next year!

Winter/Springtime: I started the year with a heap of fun, the MCAT and physiology class (I did like physiology, actually). I know I must have been doing something fun at that time as well, I just can’t remember what. I learned that I need to find an outlet for my pre-standardized testing stress lest I become pre-hypertensive or worse. We celebrated Ryan’s 27th birthday as a nice break, and I think my addiction to coffee became full-fledged. I’m pretty sure I played a lot of squash and went hiking in the cold! I do remember the fun things! The MCAT was completed, and all was well again.


Summer: Let’s see here. I did a lot of walking around the flatirons in May and generally let my brain decompress. In June I volunteered for a week at Camp Wapiyapi, started volunteering at Planned Parenthood, and ventured into cancer research down at Health Sciences. Yuri and Shay moved in, I planted my garden, went running in the mountains in summer (my favorite!) and caught up with friends. Not too shabby!!




Fall: I went on a cruise with my parents to Alaska, and visited Ryan and Alex in Seattle. I really enjoyed exploring new parts of the country and trying all of the delicacies these places had to offer. I returned to Boulder for two last classes, Spanish and Social Inequalities in Health, both of which I really enjoyed and got a lot out of. I finished my medical school applications and began interviewing. I celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving in Las Vegas with Julie, and took my first trip to the midwest to Saint Louis! I dabbled back into swing dancing and pottery, and picked up some tutoring students for my own. I have now celebrated the holidays to the maximum, and need to start getting back into life!

Other than that, life has been relaxing since the official end of my undergraduate career (198 credits!) Smores and I discovered the most excellent happy hour at the West End, and I have been attending some fiestas not at my home.  My passion for squash has been revived since I found some kind souls to play with at my gym, and I am discovering that I am not quite as limber as I used to be.  I wish my body would figure out that I am still seventeen, right?!

A couple last notes before the holidays begin-  Congratulations to Sarah who is an official graduate of CU Boulder!  And, Happy Holidays to all, look for New Year’s Resolutions in the near future!