Reaching a Quarter Century

When you're a kid birthdays are so exciting. Your parents make a special day of "your day". There's the anticipation for the birthday party where you get to invite all your friends over, play pass the parcel, swim, drive around go-karts or do whatever your favorite activity of the year is. Not to mention the presents, the cake, balloons, and sometimes even flowers. I have noticed that as you get older, birthdays become a little less special. No longer living with my parents and not having all of my friends in close proximity, it takes a little more effort to arrange something truly spectacular. So to celebrate my 25th birthday, I decided that I would have as many celebrations as possible to invovle as many friends as possible thorughout this month.

 

 

First of all there was the Dixie Chicks Concert. A huge fan of their music I was so excited when I found out I could buy presale tickets by purchasing their newest cd. Unfortunately the concert, which was originally scheduled for September 9th, has been moved until November. So this birthday celebration will have to wait for a little bit.

 

The next part of my celebration was taking a weekend trip to Veracruz while I was in Mexico this summer. It was my last weekend in Puebla and I decided that I should go out with a bang, enjoying good food, hot weather, and the beach on the gulf of mexico. I have to say it was awesome.

 

The official big celebration of my birthday was a hot air balloon ride. Somehow I was able to convince 9 of my closest friends to join me at 6am on a saturday morning to fly over wine country. It was an amazing experience and definitely the best way to remember my 25th birthday. It was a gorgeous, clear, sunny day, perfect for flying and when we got back to the ground we celebrated with an almond champagne toast and then continued the party with an afternoon of wine tasting.

 

Last weekend I was able to spend some time rocking it on the dance floor. Probably the best night I have ever had at my favorite line dancing bar. Unfortunately I don't get many opportunities to go line dancing nowadays and I really do miss it. The best part of this evening was that I was able to convince some of my non-country friends to join me AND got them out on the dance floor. They picked it up so easily, I think they might even be willing to go again. Or at least I hope they will.

 

My actual birthday was a mellow day, but definitely special. Phone calls, emails, cards and flowers seemed to fill my day. And in the evening I was treated to a wonderful dinner and dessert.

 

Tonight I am off to the Snow Patrol concert. Then in October I have one more party to look forward to and then I'll officially have to call it the end of my 25th birthday celebrations. I am so blessed to have amazing friends and family whom always seem to make my birthday special no matter how close or far apart we are. Thank you for your cards, emails, phonecalls and most of all friendship. Shall we do it again next year?

Ten Reasons Why My Dad is the Best!

1. During my childhood he made me chocolate chip pancakes on weekend mornings and took me for bike rides around our neighborhood.


2. He has great taste in music and introduces me to all types of new artists.


3. Not only does he give me furniture for my apartment but he rents a Uhaul, helps me load it, and spends five hours on the freeway with me as we bring it to my apartment. And then he helps me arrange it in my apartment in the 90 degree heat.


4. He helps educate me about wine.


5. He is capable of "dancing like Christina" and is not afraid to share those talents with my friends.


6. He is a traveler by nature and has provided me opportunities throughout my life to experience new cultures.


7. He is always available for career advice. Knows when to give it and when to just let me figure it out on my own.


8. He makes a mean beef stew, roast lamb, and kier royale.


9. He used to let me stand on his feet as we danced around the living room and made the father-daughter dances in high school unforgettable.


10. He's everything that a girl could wish for in a father and I'm so blessed that he's mine.

Cookie Dough Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

In celebration of 25th birthdays everywhere I decided to make cookie dough cupcakes today. I found the recipe on 52 cupcakes Blog. Cupcakes are better than cakes for celebrations because you don't need a knife to cut them and you don't need a plate and fork to serve them. Plus they remind everyone of their childhood days, something especially important as you get older and also when the birthday girl is a kid at heart.


For The Cupcakes

• 1 package of plain yellow cake mix
  
• 1 package (3.4) of instant vanilla pudding mix
  
• 1 cup milk
  
• 1 cup vegetable oil
  
• 4 large eggs
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
• 1 pound frozen cookie dough

Preheat oven to 350F and line muffin tin with cupcake liners. Put the cake mix, pudding, milk, vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla extract into a large bowl. Mix with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Continue mixing with mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. Fill each lined cupcake cup two thirds of the way full, approximately 1/4 cup of batter. Place a frozen piece of cookie dough on top of each cupcake.

Bake 23-27 minutes or until golden and spring back when lightly pressed. Remove from cupcake tin and place on wire rack to cool. Optional: Remove each cupcake from its cupcake liner. Cool thoroughly before frosting keeping in mind that they may sink a little.



For the Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter at room temperature
  
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  
• 3 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted
  
• 3 to 5 tbsp milk
  
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Place the butter and cocoa powder in a medium bowl. Mix until combined. Add sugar, 3 tbsp of milk and vanilla extract. Blend with an electric mixer on low until combined. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy. Add one to two tablespoons milk if the frosting is too thick.

End of week one and still no Dr. McDreamy

I've made it through the first week. Here are the highlights:

1. Getting to work for 7am means leaving my house at 6:15, which means getting up at 5, which means going to bed at 9pm.
2. During my first day on the floor, I did the new admit paperwork for my very own patient. For those of you in the know that means I did the SOAP note all by myself after reviewing the patients chart.
3. I'm so professional I already have people referring to me as Dr.
4. I get to wander around the hospital wearing a white coat looking important. Plus I get a name badge that opens locked doors.
5. One of the registered dietitians graduated from Cal State LA two years ago and we were in the Student Nutrition Association together.
6. During my second day on the floor, my supervisor not only let me fill out the paperwork for a new admit but I actually got to do the patient interview as well. A little nerve wracking entering the room and being the responsible one but it went really well.
7. We have already had two codes at the hospital, a false code red (fire) yesterday and a false code blue (Adult Medical Emergency) today.
8. Getting off of work at 3 is not early enough to get everything done in the afternoon, i.e. driving home, reviewing information that I didn't know that day, reading news articles about dietetics, keeping up on emails, cooking myself dinner and eating it, packing a lunch for the next day, and preparing information for the next day.

First Day Of Rotation

Today I started my clinical rotation for my coordinated dietetics program. If you had talked to me yesterday you would have had a conversation with a very nervous dietetics student. Part of the problem was that I had no idea what to expect. Should I review my notes, make sure I knew my equations, or should I just expect that the first day was going to be easy? But just like every first day at a new job, today was orientation day. I spent the morning reviewing the policies of the hospital and meeting a few key people. The entire dietetics office eats lunch together in the cafeteria. Then in the afternoon I recieved a tour of the hospital and reviewed some of the paperwork- chart papers, diet handouts, etc.

 

Here are some of the things I like so far:

1. The location. It takes about 30 minutes to get there from my house and I am driving in reverese traffic. Not an easy thing to accomplish in Los Angeles.
2. The people in the dietetics office. One of the women there graduated from Cal State LA two years ago and the other four are really open and friendly.
3. I have a schedule. I know who I will be working with for the entire ten weeks, I know when my vacations are and I know when my case study presentation is.

Watch out patients ... tomorrow I actually get to go out on the floor, shadowing  another RD of course. I also am going to observe this RD teach an outpatient class. Needless to say I am looking forward to actually getting my feet wet!

Photographs from Mexico

Definitely not all my photographs but here are some of my favorites.


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Oat Bran Muffins

I'm finally back from Mexico but I have yet to make it home. I've been making the most of my summer break by trying to visit as many people as possible. So for the past two weeks I have been staying with my parents. Unfortunately, their oven is on the blink and we've been having a few difficulties with the water, so I haven't been able to cook all those delicious dishes I have been waiting to try out. Luckily, the oven will behave for just long enough to make these delicious oat bran muffins. They are the ultimate in comfort food. Few ingredients, easy to throw together, moist and delicious to enjoy at elevenses or midafternoon. The recipe can be found on the back of the Quaker Oat Bran hot cereal box or right here:

2 cups Quaker Oat Bran Hot Cereal uncooked
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup fat free milk
2 egg whites
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
raisins and currants to taste

Preheat the oven to 425F. Throw all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl, mix them up and then put them into 12 medium muffin cups with paper baking cups. Bake 15 to 17 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy!

Runner's High

So in case you didn't know, I run. The addiction started last year around October when T invited me and some other high school buddies to do the Run to The Far Side in San Francisco the Sunday after Thanksgiving. It was awesome. There was nothing like seeing the sun rise over the San Francisco Bay and being able to hit the road with a group of your best buds. I had run before, mainly in college, but nothing was like the high I got after completing this 5K.

Shortly thereafter, I decided this would be my year to run the San Francisco Bay to Breakers. I was intimidated by the length, a 12K was a little bit more than the 5K that I had just completed, but I was determined. A and I have been running the Bay to Breakers every year since 2000, it's our thing. And as our thing we often talk about how each year we should run it differently; costume, walking, drinking, running, naked . . . you know, keep it interesting.

So the training began. Unfortunately, I suffered from an overuse injury in the spring and was basically out of commision . . . until now. This past week I have finally laced up my running shoes and gotten the high I have been missing for so long. Today I ran 2.5 miles, pain free. I'm not sure if my body can handle a 12K but I am definitely going to be signing up for those 5Ks. Anyone up for the Run Wild 5K at Thanksgiving?

I'm Back!

So I'm back in the United States but haven't exactly made it "home" yet. Since returning I have spent a total of three days in Los Angeles. So what have I been doing to keep myself busy? Glad you asked!

1. I visited my parents and had the pleasure of renting a UHaul truck. Said truck allowed me not only five hours of driving pleasure but also allowed me to remove a sofa bed, loveseat recliner, bookcases, and a kitchen table from their storage locker to be placed into my apartment. So anyone who used to think my apartment was a little uncomfortable to hang out in, you better see it now. Still no cable but we have comfortable couches and a new tv that will allow us to play ALL dvds, not just the ones from Sony. Although we know those are the best ones.
2. I spent a long weekend in the midwest for one of my long time girl-friends wedding. We've been friends since fourth grade and never in a million years would I have expected her to be the first to tie the knot. But the guy she's found is wonderful and I truly believe they will be happy together. Needless to say we had a wicked time in St. Louis for her bachelorette party. The wedding involved a lot of running around but in the end it was a beautiful ceremony and I believe a good time was had by all. The highlight of the whole weekend was the reception, after all of my maid of honor duties were completed and I could fully enjoy the open bar.
3. Last week I experienced the miracle of life and since then have decided I will never ever go through labor myself. Instead I think it is in my best interest to pay for a surrogate mother to have my child for me. That way I can avoid the morning sickness, the swollen ankles, the cravings and most importantly the labor. Either that or adoption is the way to go.
4. This past weekend my parents and I spent some time down in beautiful Monterey. There was a huge greek festival going on all weekend so we got to enjoy the food and the dancing. It reminded me of all the festivals they have in Santa Barbara during the summer. I also was able to get back into running. There's nothing like getting up early and listening to the sounds of the harbor seals as you breathe in the fresh ocean air. It felt so wonderful to be back in the running groove that it was a struggle to make sure I didn't overdo it. 

I guess that about sums up my two and half weeks back in the US. I will be returning to LA this weekend and start my hospital rotations a week from today. It's hard to imagine returning to my "normal" routine now that I have been away for almost three months. But I guess my "normal" routine is changing this year now that I am starting my dietetic rotations. What an adventurous year it will be!