Weekend in Catalina

Several months ago, adam and I went to a time share presentation. It was about what you would expect from a time share presentation, and while we did not come away owning a share of a condo complex in beautiful Carlsbad, CA we did come away with a free weekday trip to Catalina Island. Since I am now on vacation, I was able to take a day off and Adam I headed off to the island on Sunday. It was a nice (especially since it was free!) get away. We took the ferry from Newport Beach to Avalon:

Avalon is a quaint little town, complete with all the requisite tourist shops selling shell art, but surprisingly--no salt water taffy! The best part was the local transportation. Everyone drives golf carts:

We had a lovely time. Complete with glass bottom boat tour, where we saw lots and lots of fish. And took our usual arm's length self-portrait. This was before I got very very sunburned.

On Monday we went on a hike across the middle of the island to see the other side. And the other side of the island was all that we could see. But I took this very nice panoramic picture of Adam admiring the view.

For all the pictures from the trip, here's the slideshow:

Lack of Secrecy

Today it was brought to my attention, that if you google me, you can find your way to my blog. I thought I had investigated this, googling my self on occasion. My old blog shows up, which I thought kept me safe from being inadvertently discovered, but little did I know that by clicking on my profile, you get the link to my current blog. Not that I have any opposition to other people reading my blog--if I really cared, I would password protect it. I just figured no one would care enough to seek it out. My family and friends know about it, and random people will occasionally stumble upon it. I am a quiet person, but not a private person. I don't volunteer much in conversation, but if you ask, I'm happy to tell you about just about any aspect of my life. You want the details of my drunken 20's? How Adam and I met? Why I went to Dartmouth? My thoughts on universal health care? I'm happy to share. And that's why I don't care if other people read my blog. I don't write about anything here that I wouldn't tell people over a margarita (but those of you who know me well know that I will share just about ANYTHING over a margarita). It's when someone who wouldn't know these things about me otherwise, people I don't normally socialized with, find out these details of my life, it's a little uncomfortable. But just a little. It makes me blush. I'm a bit embarassed. But in reality, it's just me. You get a little insight into what I am like. And I'm kind of boring. Seriously. I'm a 32 year old medical resident who knits and cooks. I travel when I can, and I'm planning a wedding in Seattle and honeymoon in Peru. I don't have anything to hide.

And you should all know, I've just spent an amazing two weeks on in-patient infectious disease consults with a brilliant attending and a wonderful fellow. And I'm not just saying this because they are probably reading this. I've really had a great time these last two weeks. But no, they did not convince me to give up my plans for endocrine and pursue a career in ID. I would however be willing to give up my month on VA wards for an additional month of ID consults... and I will be avoiding unpasturized goat cheese while in Peru!

Debt

Today I realized I will be paying off my student loans until I'm 62 years old.
What on earth have I gotten myself into???

Difference of Opinion

Adam and I were driving home from shopping this weekend when we saw a blonde driving a convertible Porche with vanity plates reading "IN 2 SKIN."

Adam thinks "stripper," I think "dermatologist."

I think that says a lot abour our relationship.

Help Me!

I've started exercising again. Normally one would be dieting in order to ensure she fit into her wedding dress. But as you all know, my dress is at least one size too big in the hips and 3 sizes too big in the top, so really I should be bulking up! However, that is not the look I'm going for in my wedding pictures. I miss being in shape. Not that I was ever able to run faster than a 10 minute mile (I think I may have run one 5K in under 10 minute miles once in my life and there is the proud moment where I successfully completed a 10K after staying out drinking in Fremont until 3am), but I used to actually have muscles that you could almost tell were there. Now I'm just kind of flabby in places that I didn't use to be. So I've started exercising again. I'm almost up to running 30 minutes non-stop again, and hope to be able to run a 5K this summer. I'm even going to the gym several times a week. Here's where I need help. My musical interests do not lend themselves well to work-out music.

What kind of music do I listen to, you ask? It is what Adam fondly refers to as "Tracy Music." For lack of a better way to describe it, I looked up the descriptions of my stations on Pandora. Here are the identifying characteristics of "Tracy Music":

folk roots
a subtle use of vocal harmony
mixed acoustic and electric instrumentation
a busy horn section
major key tonality (although there is also a large minor key tonality presence)
acoustic sonority
melodic songwriting
mellow rock instrumentation
mild rhythmic syncopation (I do like syncopation)
intricate melodic phrasing
bluegrass influences
vocal-centric aesthetic
acoustic rock instrumentation
melodic string accompaniment
orchestral arranging
great lyrics (this was from the Leonard Cohen station)

While the likes of Jenny Lewis, Sufjan Stevens, the Decemberists and Alexi Murdoch make for some great weekend listening it is all a bit too mellow for running. Especially if I have aspirations for someday running faster than 10 minute miles.

I need music suggestions! I have a $20 gift card for itunes. With it, I will purchase the work-out music you recommend and continue towards my goal of running a 5K this summer!

Wedding Stuff

I know Adam wants to keep some elements of the wedding a surprise, but I hope he won't mind my getting your opinions on the invitations. I've made a prototype, mainly to test out the colors and assembly technique. My aunt is helping with the design, so this was just a simple one that I put together and probably won't be the final product, but it should be close. And I know I am violating wedding invitation ettiquette by using labels rather than hand addressing the envelopes, but I like this look. Martha Stewart recommends using pinking shears to trim the short end, which I might try. Am I going to offend people if I don't hire someone to do my calligraphy (or learn to do it myself)?

Look how nifty they are! They fold over and the return address is on the back!

I had two ideas for the inside part (again, violating wedding ettiquette by not having an inside envelope):

With the RSVP and info card in the back

And with the RSVP and info card layerd on the front (in the final version the text paper will be ivory like the info card in the front, not white--this was just a test)

This will also require several invitation assembly parties, and large quantities of double-sided tape. I could just order them premade, but at $3-4/per invitation vs. $1.50 each with the handmade version, I'd rather spend the money elsewhere. So please, leave your opinions in the comments section. I need feedback!

Weekend with the Girls

Kate and Emily came to visit over Easter weekend. It was great to have them here, and we had some amazing weather for lounging at the beach. I also introduced them to Ticket to Ride and they are now hooked. We spent the day Saturday shopping in La Jolla:


Visiting the seals:
and enjoying margaritas and nachos:

We then had a BBQ with our aunt, uncle and cousin. What a nice looking family we are!

Sunday we made Easter brunch--Kate and Emily made the famous quiche and I made a German apple pancake and some fabulous home fries. Yum. We then spent the day on Coronado beach, compiling and extensive spread sheet of "to do" things for the wedding.

When we arrived at the beach we saw this girl lying on the beach in her string bikini, topless (that's here to the left of me and Adam). Nice, we thought (mostly Adam thought that, but we agreed with him). Then the "girl" got up. And we saw she was actually a guy. A very skinny guy wearing a string thong bikini. Not so nice, we thought. We all thought that. Especially Adam.
Pictures from the whole weekend at the link below!