Hello From the Other Side

Hello from Spring!  Sorry I have neglected this blog.  I think with the warm weather I'm up to being a better blogger.  Here's how the past winter months were spent.

First of all, my brother got married!  Below is Steven with his *new* wife Lisa and her daughter, Audrey.  They had a tiny, sweet courthouse wedding in DC.  Then they traveled to Thailand for their honeymoon and had a wedding ceremony there.

Jaw dropping. 

Aaron and I traveled to Denver to spend President's Day weekend with my college buddies.  It was SO wonderful seeing all my friends again.  I went to a HBCU (historically black college & university) and it was such a great experience.  Not too brag -okay, totally bragging- but the group below features lawyers, doctors, a pharmacist, a pilot and just all around awesome people.  It definitely surprises people when I tell them I loved the diversity of my college...diversity is more than just the color of your skin!

Jon & Amena got ENGAGED! #HUlovestory

 on the lift to go tubing

 with my sweetheart.  so much fun.

some of the slopes

I was really excited to try some of the food in Denver.  We met friends at a restaurant, Acorn.  It was delightful.  I had a pork belly BLT sandwich and the meat was charred perfectly.  Check out the homemade donut below.

 



We spent one weekend at home before we were off traveling again.  We traveled to Lansing, North Carolina and shared a winter cabin with friends.

Aaron splitting wood.

At the beginning of March my siblings and I threw a birthday party for our parents.  They both turned 60 in February!  The party was Motown themed, had a great turnout and steady action on the dance floor.  We actually had to swap out stereos because halfway through the first overheated! It was fun to have all of my parent's friends in one place. 

And then the rest of the month has just been hanging out with my core group :-)

 at our top secret Sunday spot ;-)

 girl's night



Yesterday, just making some St Patty's punch :-)

and unwinding later that evening

So happy to be back on the blog!! 





I'm in Miami trick!

The weekend before Aaron's birthday festivities, my girls and I headed down to Miami to celebrate another birthday, Ashley's.  It was so much fun.  It'd been a hot minute since I'd been down to MIA and now I'm craving to go again.  Good weather, amazing food, awesome parties.

deliciousness we call "torpitos" (tortilla + pita chip)

 beach babes

 with Debs

 Pizzeria Rustica

snapper cerviche with mango sorbet 

Kobe beef meatballs I dream about

the past 3 photos are taken from Ola-this stunning place made my top 10 list of favorite restaurants :) 

Mansion

 good eats in little Havana

tasty Cuban food

We truly had so much fun.  Looking forward to more girl's trips in the future!

Consults Catch Up

Hello, it's been a while!  I just completed 2 weeks of psychiatry consults, the craziest, busiest, most crisis-inducing time of a second year psychiatry resident's life.  I basically am the on call psychiatrist for anyone admitted for a medical reason (heart attack, kidney failure, cancer) and now has psychiatric issues that also needs to be addressed  (depression, psychosis, agitation).  Very often the psychiatric issue is deeply tied to the medical issue (drug induced psychosis, delirium from a drug or procedure, depression secondary to medical comorbidities) so I have to do a pretty thorough review of the patient's medical history.  I usually work 10-11 hours a day, 6 days a week.  It's interesting, but exhausting.  Currently I am 4 weeks of consults down, 5 weeks to go.  Ahh.  But after all that lies third year, a land of outpatient clinics, puppies and rainbows.  Starting June 29th!

Aaron's has been traveling a lot for work, so the Whole Foods hot bar has become my post consults lifeline.  Pork chops, greens, mashed potatoes, amazing.

Debbie, myself, Ashley, Emily, Karyn

The girls and I took a weekend trip to Charleston.  So amazing, such great food, spectacular girl time.  I'm so lucky to have found a great group of girls to hang with.

Also, I've been to 3 weddings in 2 weekends! 

Melina 

Claudia being escorted by her brother

Phil & Heather

and my stylish husband

So my weekends have been tied up.  But I still found time for shopping.  Of course.  Wasn't that under my self care goals?

Meeting Nanette Lepore at her fashion show at Saks

My Saks Friends & Family haul...

DVF wrap dress.  Perfect for work and I love the color.

 

Finally a pair of black jeans.  These are by Hudson.

Aaron originally gifted me a pair for our anniverary (cotton), but these fit betterr.

Currently I have a break from consults and am back to night float.  Surprisingly, I prefer this to consults.  I plan to just relax this week and rest up before my next 2 weeks of consults!  

How have y'all been?

Beer & Bacon

 Debbie, Ashley, Karyn & me

 Kris & Aaron

bacon <3

Saturday was so much fun.  Beer, bacon, friends and mustaches.  Plenty of sunshine but it was still quite cold with temperatures in the 50s.  We made the most out of it though!  I sampled many bacon treats, my favorites being Lucky 32's creamed spinach with bacon lardons and Relish Cafe's pimento cheese & bacon macaroni and cheese.  I also tried deep fried oreos for the first time and they were really good!  I'm going to get them again whenever I see them.  They fried in a cake-like batter and the oreo inside was warm inside and soft.  Oh, it was heavenly.

When it comes to beers I prefer belgians and pilsners.  I don't like the really hoppy beers.  The festival gave me a chance to try beers I normally wouldn't order which was fun and I developed quite the liking for Delirium Red.  The bottle has an enticing pink elephant, like it's saying drink me and have the best time you won't remember. 

Festival Pet Peeves
-people who bring babies and children.  Don't bring your children to an alcohol fueled event.  It's not really family friendly.  Strollers, really?!  If you could afford the $50 ticket, you can afford the $30 babysitter.  This brings close to my next pet peeve, non-walking babies at the beach getting sunburned as the minutes pass...but I digress.
-people who drive to unlimited alcohol events.   Not those with the DD ticket, but those holding a tasting glass of beer and offering rides as the festival closes.  Why did you drive?  I'm not interested in being part of your DUI.  I factored in uber cost when I bought my ticket.

I don't have a problem with people who get wasted, pass out on the grass.  At least they knew what the festival was about!  I just get ticked by the people I've mentioned above who don't seem to read the flyer before they show up.  But even those silly people couldn't ruin my day yesterday!  :-)

Hope y'all had a good weekend too!

Visiting Your Bestie

Photo by Elena Kalis

With my remaining vacation time, I traveled to Baltimore to visit my bff and college roommate Ebony.  It was so refreshing!  We had so much fun I didn't even take pictures-neglecting my camera is kind of crazy for me.  We did those things you can only do when you feel totally at home with someone - raid their fridge and make mixed drinks, control the remote control (I was especially excited to do this since Aaron and I don't have cable).  Gush about feelings, talk about significant others, lay on the couch and watch cheerleading competitions on ESPN.  As I described my girlfriends before, it's like chicken soup for the soul.

You take it for granted that in college your best friends are right down the hall - or simply across the room from you.  It's such a big change getting into the real world where you have to worry about your job, your husband, where your next meal is coming from.  I've been really lucky to meet some amazing girls in Raleigh though and rebuild that support system.  However sometimes I just need to visit my college roomie so I can really feel at home.

Soul Food

I love my girlfriends.  They are pretty much like chicken soup for my soul.  They make me feel loved and cared for.  I can laugh about pretty much anything with them no matter how dreadful or shameful.  And better than any haircut, pedicure or spa day is a girl's weekend.  Nothing reinvigorates you like time away with your friends. :-)

In mid-October, I was lucky enough to enjoy TWO girl's weekends.  The first was in Charlotte and involved a swanky house party.

 We wanted to have the party on the roof, but it was way too windy, even for pictures!

 Posing in a tornado.  Aren't Robin's shoes to die for?

 Karoke :-)

 <3 these girls

After Charlotte's glamorous time, the next weekend I headed to DC for a girls' weekend with my high school crew.

'LoeDown crew (+Ying lol) 

:-)

Cookies so good they make you wanna smack yo' mama

OMG 

Snuggles

Aaron came to DC separately and tried to spy on us...creep! Jk.

Trying Ethiopian food...pretty good!

 Having friends who love to eat is a blessing.

I know so many amazing women but very few of them actually live in Raleigh.  Us being able to take time out of our busy schedules and have getaways is not only an amazing feat but a necessity!  I love you girls! Can't wait til next time.