A Birthday Extravaganza

I have been blessed during my four years of medical school to make some wonderful friends.  I know that the next step in our careers will require most of us to move away from each other.  Moving on is just part of life, but it makes me a little misty every time I think of being apart from so many great friends that I've made!

Today I had a great excuse to host a brunch, since 4 of those friends had a birthdays recently.  Stuart even stuck around for this one as boys were invited, too!  We had about 20 people over this morning for brunch.  We enjoyed great food, and most of all great times with great friends!  Here are some pictures:

Good food always has the power to bring people together!

Joseph, Riah, Allison G, Shannon and Rebekah chatting away

Britni, Caitlin and William (and Winston)

 

It was a gorgeous 70 degree February day.  Me, Riah, Anna, Mandy and Rebekah enjoying it on our back porch.

Who needs lots of chairs?!

First attempt at group picture ... Winston was upset he wasn't included ...

2nd try - much better!

A New Hobby?

For the past few months Stuart and I have been working on re-creating an old piece of furniture.  The project probably shouldn't have taken months, but it's hard to work on something when you're busy driving and flying around the country!

The project was to take one of Stuart's old dressers that I would not allow in the house and convert it into a wine cabinet for our dining room.

Here's the starting product:

Imagine those drawers actually in the cabinet

Stuart did the hard part, removing the drawers/inner workings of the cabinet and then building new shelves.  Then we painted it together, and finally yesterday I distressed it and we reassembled it upstairs.

Finished project!

Close up of distressing.  This was my first time to do this so I was a bit nervous.  It was fun though!

Close up view of the X shelves.

We are so proud of it, just like it's our baby or something!  We may have a new hobby on our hands!

Providence, RI!

A few days ago, Stuart and I returned from our final interview journey to Brown University in Providence, RI.  We were blessed that Stuart started his "work year" over in January and therefore had a few vacation days to spare so that we could take our time and experience the city!  Stuart had been to Providence once before when he was doing some Republican Party action, and he remembered it as being a pretty cool place.  The only area north of the Mason-Dixon Line I've ever been was NYC back during my freshman year of college, so I was excited to explore some new territory.  Before we went, though, I had to do my usual city-research.  Here's what I learned:


Providence is both the capital and largest city in Rhode Island.  Of course, that doesn't say a lot as the entire state can be traversed in a mere 45 minutes.  It's also called the Ocean State, as you can see why below.

The teeniest state

Providence was originally settled by the Narragansett tribe of Native Americans.  The first non-native settler was Roger Williams, a Puritan exiled from Massachusetts who believed in religious freedoms.  Once he landed in the area of Rhode Island, he believed the Providence of God had sent him to this beautiful place, hence the capital city's name.


Apparently Providence later on acquired quite the Italian population, and back in the not-so-distant future, the city was actually run by the Patriarca crime family, aka the mafia.  Since 1990 this activity has settled down, mostly due to police arresting the majority of the family, but many Rhode Islanders we met still believe they operate quietly behind the scenes.  


Since mafia times, Providence has undergone quite the Renaissance, if you will.  They wanted to create a better image for themselves and have really developed their arts scene and their downtown.  A big part of what makes them a thriving city, I think, is that they have 3 major institutions in the city's borders:  Brown University, Johnson and Wales (a college and culinary institute whose chefs like to stay in town and start awesome restaurants), and a very famous art school called RISD.


Now, on to our journey.  We flew out of Pensacola with a layover in ATL.  All things went perfectly with our flights, and we landed in Providence with time to spare.  I just have to add that while we were consuming lunch in the ATL airport, we sat next to a middle-aged man dressed as an almost-convincing woman.  I couldn't help but stare as he applied his lipstick after the meal.  Anyway, once we safely landed in Providence, we went straight to the rental car counter.  There, the service rep tried to scare us two Southerners with the threat of snow and convince us to rent an expensive 4-wheel drive.  Since only a dusting was predicted, we rented a sweet Kia instead and felt pretty smart for avoiding his scare tactics.  We took off in the Kia, found our hotel, and then headed to the College Hill neighborhood (where Brown is) to meet some of the residents there for dinner.  As we drove we got to appreciate some of the colonial architecture and pretty older homes in the neighborhoods we passed.

Most of these old homes have been turned into single-floor apartments

Love!

Dinner was nice, and we got to meet the owner of the Italian restaurant ... an older gentlemen with a bit of a potbelly, some gold rings, and a super fancy cane.  I fancied that he may have been a retired member of the Patriarca family with a passion for cooking ... who knows?!  


As we left the restaurant the temperature was in the upper 20's and we started to see some snowflakes falling!! We went back to the hotel so I could rest up for interview day, and when the morning alarm sounded I ran to the window to find all the cars covered in 2 inches of snow!  A bit concerned that we would be driving 20 minutes to the hospital in these horrid northern conditions in our newly rented Kia, Stuart and I trudged outside.  While Stuart was being the gentleman he is and scraping the snow off the car with his ARMS(!!), I seriously considered skipping the interview to play in the snow.  After all, we're used to seeing snow and having it disappear an hour later.  But I made the right decision and we decided to brave the drive for the interview.


Once we found the hospital and Stu dropped me off, I was excitedly greeted by one of the residents.  He was so happy I had made it to the interview because he was considered we two Alabamians couldn't drive in the snow!  How nice - and also hilarious!  Then, while on my best Southern-accent-minding behavior, I met another applicant from New York who laughed and said, "I've never met anyone that talks like you."  But no worries, the interview day actually went really well and I had a great time!

Stu being a gentleman.  We later found an ice scraper in the car.  Also note the  New York tag which we thought was hilarious.

Not your normal interview day!  Also, leggings under the suit?  Smartest decision I've ever made.

Yes, 27 degrees.  With snow.  And drivers going too fast!

Drive up to the hospital - how pretty!

After the interview was over, Stuart and I had a few hours to kill before our dinner reservations.  We decided to drive about 40 minutes to a town called Newport, RI.  Newport is a gorgeous coastal town that's pretty touristy.  There are cobblestone streets and brick sidewalks, hinting to the fact that there are some fancy-pants people that live here.  For instance, the Vanderbilt and Biltmore families had their summer homes here.  These summer homes looked like the average gulf coast summer home.  NOT!

Vanderbilt's summer home

A lot of these crazy big houses are privately owned, and others you can tour through.  They were fun to drive by, but we really wanted to see the beach here!  We drove a bit farther through Newport until Ocean Drive ended, and there we happened upon a nice pathway called Cliff Walk.  We didn't make it too far down considering it was windy and the temperature had dropped to about 23 degrees, but it was so beautiful to see!  And we timed it (serendipitously) just right at sunset!

This was a strange sight to see.

My first rocky beach

Um, freezing

View of the cliff walk, with one of those mansions in the background

After our excursion we headed back to the hotel to warm up a bit, then drove back to Providence to eat at a restaurant called Chez Pascal.  I do quite a bit of restaurant research before we travel, and I must say this place did not disappoint!  They had a special for 3 courses for $30, which really can't be beat!  They describe themselves as a restaurant that is French-influenced and New England grown.  I kind of wish I was "that girl" that took pictures of her food, but I am not.  So I have to tell you in words:  I had a squash chowder with a goat cheese stuffed pastry to start, followed by seared scallops with chard and a citrus compote, then a pear upside down cake with cinnamon ice cream to finish.  Stuart started out with a squid salad, then moved on to a skirt steak on potatoes with a fig sauce, then of course had the chocolate cheesecake to finish.  It.  Was.  Delicious.


Enough food for now.  With rumors of more snow circulating about, Stuart and I headed back to the hotel and went to bed.  We woke up in the morning and, friends - let me tell you, the snow had begun!  The snow was falling, blowing sideways, and flying into our hotel windows!  Snowplows were outside (I had never seen those before!) trying their best to keep the roadways clear, but snow just kept piling up behind them.  We turned on the TV to discover a new term: parking bans.  Apparently in the snow on busy streets in towns, you are not allowed to park so that the snowplows don't run over your car.  Weird!  So we went downstairs to talk to the concierge to figure out how exactly we could explore downtown and not get our rental kia plowed over.  So with her advice, we drove (very slowly, Mom, don't freak out) down the interstate to downtown Providence.  We specifically went back to the College Hill neighborhood to get a Brown souvenir for us and Stu's dad at the college bookstore.


Well, that was quite the adventure.  Driving 35 miles an hour on the semi-plowed interstate.  You really couldn't see lane lines, so we were basically following the car in front of us.  All the while, our non-4-wheel drive Kia was making strange noises which I interpreted as "you crazy Southerners, why are you driving me in the snow?!"  We finally made it downtown, found a legal place to park, and ran into the bookstore.  The lady at the counter wanted to know where we were from as apparently only tourists came to the bookstore in the snow.  We told her, and then she exclaimed how proud she was of us for being appropriately dressed for winter!  I must say, that was a proud moment for me.  Haha!


After we put our t-shirts in the car, we were getting hungry.  A nearby restaurant called Red Stripe, recommended by one of the Brown faculty, was only a 10 minute walk away according to our iPhones.  So, off we went.  First, since apparently neither of us are good at reading maps, we went the wrong way and added an extra 5 minutes of snowy walking into our trip.  Lessons learned from walking to the restaurant
- Sperry Topsiders and Nike tennis shoes are not good for walking in the snow.  Your little toes will become very red and go numb.
- Women up north don't wear makeup for a reason.  Snow makes mascara melt right down your face!
- If you have long hair, and snow gets in it, and there is some wind, your hair will freeze in strange and awful looking patterns.
- Snowplows have right-of-way over pedestrians.
- If you cross the street into a nice restaurant dodging snowplows with mushy shoes, runny mascara, and frozen hair, the smart people that drove to the restaurant will look at you like you just escaped from a mental institution.

Windshield, semi-scraped that morning

Rhode Island interstate driving

Normally, I think this street would be cuter, but this is where we parked

Please note runny mascara and frozen chunk of hair on the right side which perfectly stayed in place after hat and scarf were removed.  Stu, of course, looks adorable.

So, lunch proved to be a bit more enjoyable than the walk, but we laughed about it during the entire meal.  And, sorry, but I have to talk about food again.  Stu had French Onion soup which was good, and I had tomato soup, which was good.  But, I also had a grilled cheese sandwich with poached pears and basil which was mind-blowing.


After walking back to the car and my hair freezing yet again, we decided I would leave my Providence itinerary unfinished and just go back to the hotel and thaw out our socks on the heater.  We took a long winter's nap and then headed out to Federal Hill (Italian part of town!) for some traditional Italian dining.  Since boots are hard to pack in a carry-on bag, I toughed it out with high heels in the ice and snow.  Yes, crazy.  As I clip-clopped along, we passed a valet who said (accent spelled out), "High heels, huh?!  That's haahd to do!  Gahhd bless ya!"  Again, a proud moment in my tourist life.


The restaurant we chose, Siena, was pretty delicious.  However, everyone in the restaurant either looked Italian, or talked like they were Italian.  And every male that had hair had his hair gelled up.  Strange.  I won't bore you with food details I find exciting, but note that I had the first mushroom dish I've ever enjoyed.  

After dinner we drove back to the hotel and packed to fly out the next morning.  I was a bit nervous about the whole plane on a snowy runway thing, but I guess these pilots have to be pretty experienced guys and the flight was perfect!  We landed back in a 73 degree and humid Mobile which honestly felt like a rainforest after what we had just left from.  We were a little bummed that we didn't get to do more exploring in the city due to all the snow, but we had a super fun adventure!


We had so much fun during all these interview travels, but it honestly got a bit exhausting.  We're glad to be reunited with our pets and our house, even if it is 80 degrees outside.

This may be the most interesting trip yet

Tomorrow we leave for Providence, Rhode Island.

I'm a bit nervous for three reasons:

1. The last time we tried to fly out of Pensacola airport, it was a total disaster and we wound up driving to our destination.  The time before that when we did actually get to fly, it was also a total disaster with re-routed flights and lost luggage.  Hopefully it's time for some good luck!

2. Today in Daphne, AL it is sunny with highs in the low 60's.  The high in Providence over the next 4 days is 34 degrees, with a 70% chance of snow on Saturday!  And just for your weather enjoyment, the low tonight there is 15 degrees.  I've had a tough time finding appropriate sweaters to pack, since Mobile-worthy sweaters are usually your basic cardigans.

3. I've called a few restaurants in Providence to make dinner reservations while we're there, and everyone on the phone talks SO FAST that I can't understand what they're saying!!!  I have to ask them to repeat a few times, and they probably think I am calling from somewhere near where the Beverly Hillbillies was filmed.

It should be a fun trip!  I'll post soon!

2011 Review

I guess this 2011 Year-In-Review is a bit belated as the first month of 2012 is already half gone, but I just now remembered I wanted to do this!  Here are the highlights of the 2011 year:

January - Stuart and I got our first exciting taste of hockey violence with Uncle Rusty and Aunt Ginny, and I "got my hands into" delivering babies.

February - This is the month that Stuart ran a marathon in New Orleans and I almost ran a half-marathon.  We later created a new recipe for cheesecake that included corn meal.  Oops.  I also created my culinary "bucket list" ... updates will be blogged soon.

March - This was a pretty stressful month, mostly owing to the fact that we fasted from sweets for Lent.  We of course broke this fast while on our last ever spring break trip to Napa Valley!  This probably is the winner for month of largest waistlines as we learned about wine tasting and gorged ourselves on delicious dining in California.  We also cooked 10 gallons of chili this month for the College of Medicine's Gumbo Chili Showdown.  We lost but had fun doing it!

April - We celebrated Easter this year in a special way by having a Seder dinner with our Life group.  It was a great experience!

May - I hosted my first "ladies brunch" this month for medical school friends, and subsequently stopped up our garbage disposal with my kale cooking blunder.  This is also the month I decided internal medicine was the career path for me!  And my mustang was replaced by a super cool Prius.  Exciting month!

June - We got Winston!  Well for the first time anyway before we had to give him back.  We also took a fun beach trip this month and I really started getting into fresh, local, seasonal cooking.

July - a pretty good month!  Stuart and I celebrated our one-year anniversary in Natchez, Mississippi where we off roaded in the Prius and met a soap opera star who also sang the theme song for Saved by the Bell!  We also joined the Saulters fam for some good 4th fun with baseball and BBQ nachos.  I also went out on a boat in the bay without throwing up!

August - This month Stu and I both celebrated our birthdays while I studied for my Step 2 boards.  I helped throw a baby shower for a great friend and then hit the "submit" button to apply for residency programs!

September - we hosted the Saulters fam for a kayaking weekend turned tropical-storm watching weekend.  Stu and I traveled to the Lovliest Village to watch my Tigers beat up on his Dawgs, and our marriage survived!  I also left for a month in Winston Salem where I learned a lot about infectious diseases, met two new friends, and learned how much I appreciate my husband.

October - Stu and I toured two new cities (Greenville SC and Charlotte NC), and I discovered 10 ways to eat pumpkin.

November - This was a busy month with Ms State ballgames, as well as interviews to Ocshner, USA, Augusta, Charleston, Greenville, and Charlotte.  It just tires me to read that list again!  We also hosted our traditional Halloween pumpkin carve, and instead of a pumpkin, some stranger carved a hole in the roof of Stuart's miata.

December - we learned this month that it's better to drive than fly short distances as we celebrated 3 separate Christmas shin-digs.  We were also blessed to be able to visit with my sweet grandfather just a couple of short weeks before he passed away.

What a great year!  I know that God has great things in store for us this year with finding out where we will spend the next 3 years as well as a likely move to a different state!  Please keep us in your prayers as Stuart and I walk down this exciting road together!

And we're back!

Back from our whirlwind tour of North Carolina and Virginia!  This all but finishes out our 2011-2012 interview season, save one more trip (this time on a plane) to Rhode Island.  I sure am glad we traded in my Mustang for a Prius when we did!  We spent a grand total of 28 hours in the car, and traversed a mere 1895 miles in just over one week.  You know what got us through it?

That's right.  Coffee (decaf for me, unfortunately), and lots of conversation.  And some NPR here and there.

Here's the low down on the trip.  On December 29th, Stuart and I headed up to Gadsden after he got off work for the day.  We spent a quick night there, had a full breakfast thanks to Mom, and then started the 9 hour drive to Charlottesville, Virginia.  That's where that big coffee thermos came in.

Can you see that?  Stuart's Draft.  A small town in rural Virginia.  We (very) briefly considered stopping.

It's really disheartening when you make a turn, guided by your GPS, and then learn you have 294 miles to go before your next turn.  But we made it through, and finally arrived at the gorgeous town of Charlottesville!  We got there just in time to take a stroll through their cute pedestrian-friendly downtown, grab a bite of delicious pizza, and walk back to our hotel to watch Mississippi State whoop up on Wake Forest in their bowl game.

Cutesy downtown, totally pedestrian friendly!

 The next morning we woke up bright and early to begin exploring.  Unfortunately, the walking tour I wanted us to do was not available.  So, instead we set off to try a potato doughnut and tour UVA's campus.  Probably a better decision in the end!

 The spudnut shop has been in business for, well, about as long as it looks from the outside.  They have just a few choices of potato-batter doughnuts, and pour-your-own coffee.  The doughnuts were great, but honestly I couldn't tell much of a difference from their non-potato relatives.  Once full of carbs, we walked across town to UVA's beautiful campus.  Fun facts in case you didn't know:  UVA was started by Thomas Jefferson in 1819.  He wanted to create a campus so "liberal and modern" that it would be a "temptation to the youth of other States to come and drink of the cup of knowledge and fraternize with us".  How cool is that?!

These are dorms on the historic quad.  For senior students only.  Kind of jealous!

The quad, made complete with a pick up football game there in the distance

The rotunda, the most recognized building/symbol of UVA

 After exploring, we had worked up quite an appetite.  Now I am one for scouring all kinds of websites before we embark on eating in a new city to figure out what are the absolute best places to dine.  The trick on this trip was the need to maintain a relatively small budget.  Well, I happened upon this restaurant called Revolutionary Soup.  As you could imagine, it is a soup and sandwich place.  However, it's run by super trendy guys and they only serve local ingredients.  And it was reasonably cheap!  Stuart had a warm and creamy corn chowder with the "Adam's Apple" turkey and apple sandwich.  I swooned over my house salad and LAMB CURRY SOUP.  AGH!  It was literally like being back in India again.  The soup was nice and warm after walking in the cold, and the spices just right to make my nose run a little bit.  Delicious!

You know you want to eat that.

That day was actually New Year's Eve.  We considered being super hip and going to a downtown restaurant/bar to watch the Auburn-Virginia game.  However, not wanting to beat up any Virginia fans, and also being kind of tired from walking around, we decided to just eat a nice dinner and watch from our hotel room.  And of course we fell asleep before the New Year struck.  Oops!

The next morning we got up early yet again to make our reservation for a tour of Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home. I have to admit that I'm not nearly the history buff that Stuart is.  Regardless, touring this historic place was so much fun.  I also think that TJ was probably one of the smartest people who has ever lived!  His house was full of not only his 6,000 book collection, but also several of his own inventions.  They didn't let you take many pictures inside the house, but I did manage to sneak one of this old-school iron.  It is literally an iron!  It weighed probably 10 pounds.  I can't even iron with a modern day one, much less this thing!

The back of the home.

Front

Stuart, with an empty chair for TJ, pondering over the mountain views

Mr Jefferson was also interested in wine making, hence the vineyards

Garden!

 After our tour, we drove back down the mountain and grabbed brunch/lunch at a greasy spoon called the Blue Moon Diner.  I'm really surprised Diners Drive-ins and Dives hasn't found this place yet.  It's a hole in the wall, covered with eclectic decorations such as old record covers and posters making fun of Fox News (sorry, Memaw).  The service is a little slow, but it makes it all better that the guy bringing your meal has a long pony tail, scraggly beard/mustache, and looks like he walked off of That 70's Show.  Stuart noshed on the omelette with blue cheese and apples (never thought that would go together, but it was amazing!) and I had the Hogwaller Hash.  Basically, eggs, potatoes, and a lot of pork.  Dad would have been proud of me eating that!

To work it all off, we went ice skating next!  I haven't ice skated in years, and it definitely showed.  A sore booty and a few blisters later, we left to embark on an interview dinner and then the interview the next day.

All the little kids made fun of the grown up clutching the wall/her husband.  I have no balance.

After my interview at UVA, Stuart picked me up and we drove to Chapel Hill just in time for another interview dinner (and another 5 pounds gained).  It was a 3 hour drive, which seemed short compared to what we did a few days before!  We literally drove through the middle of nowhere, and I think I had cell phone service for maybe 15 minutes of the drive.  We went through a town called Bacon, Virginia, named after Mr Bacon who decided to start Bacon's Rebellion back in the day.  Other than that, the trip was nothing to write home about.

When we rolled into Chapel Hill, we immediately passed a Planned Parenthood, followed shortly by Occupy Chapel Hill at the local court building.  Stuart was obviously not very excited, and I think thankful that we only had 1 short day to spend there.

The occupiers.  Classy set-up if you ask me!

However, even alarmingly liberal towns can have their merit as we happened upon another delicious and cheap restaurant, Sandwhich (yes, I spelled that right).  Stuart had their BLT, recommended by one of my interviewers.  It had secret ingredients of jalapeno and avocado and was one of the spicier things I've tried in a while.  I had something that I can't remember the name of.  I guess I'm going through an Indian phase, because it was loaded with chickpeas and eggplant and had all those delicious Indian spices.

Big bite  =)

Mmmmmm.  Wound up eating it with a fork.

After our lunch, we headed just an hour down the road to Winston-Salem.  It was pretty neat to be back here with Stuart this time, and to take him to all the cool places I discovered when I lived there for a month!  We drove to Old Salem when we got in town, which is the place where the Moravians settled from Czechoslovakia (can I brag that I spelled that right on the first try?).  The Moravians were actually the very first group of Protestants to break away from the Catholic Church, back before Martin Luther in the 1400's.  Somehow, after being persecuted, they wound up forming a settlement in now Winston-Salem, NC.  I don't know too much about their culture, but am most fascinated with the Moravian Star.  It's a 26-point star which served originally as a geometry lesson for school-boys, and then as an Advent symbol for their congregations.

Old Salem bridge, with stars hanging.

I also took Stuart downtown to the Arts District, and to eat at Sweet Potatoes Shut My Mouth.  He oohed and ahhed just like I did a few months ago when I ate there!  And of course we stayed with our sweet friends James and Kathryn Evans.  They were nice enough to open their home again and let us stay a few days while on the interview trail!

It was a great trip, but it's so nice to be back home again and be relatively normal!  We'll pretty much be in town until we leave for Brown later this month.  Thanks for sharing the journey with us!