There's no place like... family

We celebrated Mom's birthday on Wednesday (see ice cream pie below). Even though Sarah is deployed to some unknown location, she managed to send a bountiful gift. I managed to make a few coupons reminiscent of grade school gifting. I'd like to think I was a bit of a help, especially when it comes to luring others into the wonderful world of blogging. The New Zealand blog is up and running at thethilosnewzealandadventure.blogspot.com.We had a proper Thanksgiving feast on Thursday. The day began with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We started the meal off with a prayer and acknowledging the five kernels of corn at our plates. It was great to hear from Sarah via satellite phone! We ended the day of relaxation with White Christmas and Love Actually.I bought a DVD at Borders on Black Friday, but otherwise the shopping was pretty minimal. On a very positive note, I was able to meet up with Chelsey. There's nothing like catching up with an old, true friend. We fell easily into conversation and the time flew by. It's too bad Texas and Utah are so far apart! After saying farewell to Sam and bon voyage to Mom and Dad, I flew back to Houston on Saturday and have been getting into the holiday spirit. I went to church and made an advent wreath then continued to spread the Christmas cheer with a bit of decorating around the condo.Classes pick up again tomorrow with age-related diseases and genetics. I have a feeling it's going to be a sprint to the finish until December 18th. In the words of Margo Channing, "Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night!"

Home for the Holiday

In the words of Dolly Levi, "It's so nice to be back home where I belong!" After my last post, I had three days of class, a day of whirlwind studying, and then an endocrinology test on Friday. Over the weekend I relaxed on Friday night and saw the movie "An Education" with friends Sarah and Javier. British, independent, believable, and subtle- it was my kind of movie. After studying for the GU/Gyn exam, I took the 116-question exam on Monday morning and then packed my bags. I arrived in Spokane late Monday night; instantly it felt like winter. Here it is, well into the morning on Tuesday, and I'm still relaxing in my PJs sipping cocoa. Life is good.

Spektacular week, Swell weekend

If last week was all about opera, this week was chock-full of concerts. Regina Spektor kicked off the musical mayhem with her concert on Tuesday. Her unique voice is so quirky and rich. Many people know her poppy song Fidelity, but my favorite of the night was definitely Samson with Human of the Year being an unexpected highlight, too. From her bright red lipstick to her sea green guitar to her black sequin shoes, she was quite the sight. I was amazed at the respect and rapt attention from the packed, seated crowd. While at the concert with Sarah, I rendezvoused with classmate Brett (pictured above) and his brother who came into town just to see Ms. Spektor.On Friday morning I had a big decision to make. Weeks ago I had purchased a pair of tickets to see Jewel. The eighth row tickets were normally $39 a piece plus fees, but using my Citi card, I snagged both for $27 total. When I realized that Swell Season (aka the band featuring Once stars Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova) was playing at the same time less than two miles away, I knew a tough choice was before me. I tried my luck at winning tickets and fate told me I had to go see the Academy Award winners instead of Ty Murray's wife. After making a quick and profitable sale (+$13!) on Craiglist, I picked up former roommate Arielle and headed to Warehouse Live.The concert was truly top notch. Glen Hansard sang his heart out, and Marketa Irglova's voice was soft, sad, and sweet. If it weren't for the horrendously obnoxious and rude crowd, I would have had a perfect time. Thankfully, the members of Swell Season kept their cool and carried on over the loud, disrespectful Texan audience. Though the clip below is incredibly blurry (hint, hint Santa), the audio came through well enough to demonstrate their pure voices and musical mastery. Every song was a stand out. I could go on and on, but I'll leave it at that and if you want more from Swell Season, check out this NPR spot.

In med school news, I submitted my schedule request for clinics earlier this week. We finally had our first round of talks about what to expect when rotations start in January. While I'm very excited about getting to that point, it's going to be a rough road between now and December 18. Wentworth decided to show you how I feel about these upcoming tests:

(Opera [House) Party]

On Wednesday I went to Houston Grand Opera's production of Donizetti's The Elixir of Love. The performance was lively and fun though it was a bit of a "bubble gum" opera (sweet but lacking substance). *addendum: my comments here refer to the simplistic plot and not the complex, beautiful music*I went to my first Oh! Opera in the Heights production on Friday evening with my friend Sarah. Her job at the newly launched "mapazine" (online map-based magazine) CultureMap has proved to be quite the cutting-edge connection to everything cool happening in Houston. Massenet's opera Manon was LONG (start time: 7:30pm; end time: 11pm) but a good taste of what the intimate venue has to offer. I thought the male lead had impressive vocal control. The female lead was fine until the conductor announced that she had "something in her throat" but would soldier on through to the end. She choked her way through the fourth act and bounced back in the final act for her death scene.I figure it's about time that my roommates make an appearance on the blog. Ben is a grad student at Rice, and Roshen works for AmeriCorps. They are fantastic and committed cooks, which makes me feel good that at least someone is using the kitchen. In fact, I don't think the kitchen has every been so overwhelmed with food preparation than it was on Friday night when friends came over to celebrate Roshen's birthday.As you can see in the picture above, there was plenty of delicious and colorful food to go around (the shish kabobs just scratch the surface of the feast). It was fun to mix and mingle a bit before dashing back to Baylor to study for the weekend. My only reprieve came on Sunday night when Brandi, Peter, and I went to see Mary Wilson of the Supremes perform with the Houston Symphony. I had so much fun but was a little put off when Mary Wilson called for people to join her on stage as backup dancers. I was practically jumping out of my seat when she pointed her finger directly at Brandi and me and said, "Not you ladies... you're too young!" Let's just say it was her loss, and I had to bust a move from the confines of my sneakily stolen, unoccupied second row seat.Nonetheless, Mary rocked some classics and threw in a few ballads (including my favorite of the night: a soulful rendition of Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now). The three of us stuck around after the show to snag her signature at a meet and greet. Mary's looking pretty good for 65, right? Speaking of looking good, Wentworth wanted to show off his patriotic collar. While the red, white, and blue normally only makes an appearance in July, we thought it was appropriate in the wake of Paul's deployment and the tragedy at Fort Hood and on the eve of Veterans' Day and Sarah's deployment. I'm pretty sure he'll be sporting his American pride until Sarah and Paul are home safe in 2010!

Halloween Hiatus

I finished up my exams in GI and Hard & Soft Tissues (basically dermatology and rheumatology) on Monday and Wednesday, respectively. My Wednesday afternoon nap led to a cleaning and packing scramble so that I could pick Mom and Dad up at the airport on time (no such luck with Houston rush hour traffic). From the airport we hit the road and headed east on I-10, making a dent in our trek to Florida.After an overnight in Lake Charles and a few Starbucks stops along the way, we arrived in Navarre, Florida. Though I visited Sarah and Paul for Thanksgiving last year, I was amazed to see all of the new interior design treatments and decorating flourishes in their beautiful home (check out the dining room above). I felt like I had stepped onto the set of some HGTV special. If only I had an artistic eye and a flair for decorating.We cracked open the champagne, had a yummy mushroom and prosciutto salad, indulged in savory beef tenderloin, and munched on Parmesan rolls. Sarah made a wholesome apple pie for dessert, which we all enjoyed while catching up on episodes of "Modern Family." Highlights from Friday's meals included mouth-watering coffeecake, sushi at the Slippery Mermaid, margaritas (above), scrumptious fish tacos, and some sort of sinful chocolate chip cookie bar with marshmallow concoction. Hungry yet?While Paul went in for work on Friday morning, the rest of us attempted to offset some of the weekend's caloric intake with a run (or walk/jog, in my case) along the beach. I was particularly tickled to play Clue on Friday night. Mom surprised us all with a very early win on just her second turn before anyone else even made it into a room. Paul won the lengthy second round after collecting his intel and making the necessary accusations. I'm pretty sure I was a close second for both rounds- hah! On Saturday the girls got pedicures (below) and looked quite snazzy if I do say so myself.We spent most of Saturday watching college football, eating more decadent food (see appetizers below), watching a bit of the World Series, playing Scattegories, and handing out candy to trick-or-treaters. The next morning it was hard to say goodbye to the lovely hostess and host. We left Paul prepping for his deployment on Monday, while Sarah sent us off with snacks like lemon blueberry scones and fresh pomelo. We finished our terrible vampire book-on-CD n the way home and felt like James Patterson let us down. Thankfully, Starbucks was there to pick us back up and bring us into Houston. The weekend wrapped up with dinner at Benjy's and dessert with Brandi and Peter at Berripop. On Monday morning we squeezed in tours of Baylor and Rice's new constructions before grabbing some Goode barbecue and heading to the airport. Here it is Monday afternoon, and I'm already going through family withdrawals. I'm sure I'll return to reality after catching up on a few hours of streaming video and cuddling with Wentworth (who was a big hit with the parents!). All in all, it was a fantastic weekend, and I can't think of a better way to have spent the break!