Trivial Pursuits

Baylor's Emergency Medicine Interest Group held its second annual Trivia Night at Hans' Bier Haus on October 6th. Though my team came in a close second, the night was a lot of fun and a fundraising success. The bonus bucks went directly into the hotel fund for our block of student rooms at the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) Annual Conference in San Francisco.

Baylor brought a group of over a dozen students to the meeting this year. Though we didn't have much time to get out and explore the city, we enjoyed views of the city's skyline at the Texas EM mixer. My personal favorite event of the weekend was the residency fair at the med student symposium. I had a chance to visit with several of the programs where I have applied.

Unfortunately, I had to skip out of the conference early Sunday morning to make it back for the highlight of this year's Pops season: Idina Menzel! Her wide selection of songs included: Wicked's I'm Not That Girl, For Good (a capella and amazing!), the quintessential Defying Gravity, Rent's No Day But Today, the Glee version of Gaga's Poker Face, her own song Gorgeous, lullabies for her baby boy Walker, Annie's Tomorrow, and more. Though she didn't stay after the show to sign her CD, she did share a strawberry lozenge with me during the performance! In an attempt to prove she was soothing her sore throat and not popping pills, she passed a candy to me in the front row!

When I wasn't bonding with my new BFF Idina, I hung out with other friends (mostly of the med school variety) during this Oktoberfest month. Robert and Ian held a couple pizza making and beer brewing get-togethers. Inspired by our San Francisco drinks of choice, Revathi hosted folks at her place for some martinis- a little dirty, two olives.

Get Your Kicks

September came to a close with a few fun and educational events. I led a CPR class for some BCM students and got a kick out of showing the American Heart Association's new instructional video for bystander CPR (highly recommended- check it out). My mentor Dr. Fisher had a bunch of emergency medicine groupies out to her house in the Woodlands, which was fun (see above).

With CultureMap foodie friend Sarah, I enjoyed a couple special meals. We savored some succulent selections at Le Mistral's 10th Anniversary Celebration and took in the chimerical courtyard ambiance (obviously I am working the thesaurus here to broaden my vocab). During the day we kicked off our shoes and picnicked in Hermann Park.

Speaking of kicking things off, the month of October got off to a great start with what has become an annual trifecta of events: Race for the Cure, Christ the King's Blessing of the Animals, and Free Night of Theater at the Houston Ballet (see 2010, 2009). Wentworth really wore himself out at church this year and was too tired to maintain his bladder control. I'm still paranoid about any lingering hint of cat pee odor in the Camry. Sigh. Time to get a new car? (kidding!)

Bebop and Rocksteady

On September 16th, the Rice Women's Resource Center celebrated its 15th anniversary! As a two-time student director of the RWRC, I was very excited to see what the center is up to these days. After a nice reception in the Brown Courtyard, I took a sneak peek at the new digs. More photos from the RWRC anniversary can be seen here.

The very next day, I enjoyed a bit of the Museum District Day festivities. I loved stopping by the Contemporary Arts Museum, which had two exhibits on display: The Spectacular of Vernacular and Perspectives 175: Marc Swanson: The Second Story. I joined several hot-glue-gunning children on the lawn outside to make my own art car. Then I paid a brief visit to the John C. Freeman Weather Museum.

That night a group of folks gathered at 13 Celsius to celebrate Amy's birthday. We sipped on wine and ate cupcakes before heading to the gayborhood/midtown club F-bar. Switching gears a few days later, I attended another birthday party-- this time for my classmate and friend Anand. Over beers at Flying Saucer, we toasted Anand and relished in our status as fourth-year medical students.

The Cali Redux

Thinking way back to September 10, I found myself boarding a flight for southern California bound for the Western Regional Emergency Medicine Student Symposium. I spent the day back at USC for lectures, workshops, and a residency fair featuring several California programs. At the end of the day, I fought traffic down to Irvine to meet up with Mr. Tuttle. Adam and I stuffed ourselves silly with Italian food at Mama D's.

We spent our Sunday picnicking and walking the shores of Thousand Steps beach. Nearly living up to its name, 213 stairs allowed us to descend to the picturesque sandy stretch. With delicious cheese and fruit, crossword puzzles, and clear sunny skies, the setting was just about perfect. By the time we packed up our bags and trekked back up the stairs, we were hungry for something substantive.

Juicy burgers fit the bill at 25 Degrees in Huntington Beach. My angus beef was topped with caramelized onions, prosciutto, pesto, and avocado. Mmmm! We split an ice cream cookie sandwich and made our way back to Irvine. On my way to the airport on Monday, I paid a visit to Harbor/UCLA's emergency medicine residency program. I shadowed for a few hours and confirmed my interest in their amazing program!

Rainbow Connection

Upon my return to Houston, the social scene kicked into gear. Thankfully, the flexible schedule on my emergency ultrasound elective rotation allowed for me to catch up on appearances. Javier celebrated his birthday with yummy food and board games (thank you Sam for Quelf!). Speaking of birthdays, I missed my friend Sarah's birthday while I was away in California, so we had to make up for it.

At City Centre we watched The Help, ate at Flora and Muse, and caught up on life. Then a few days later we tried out many menu items at Coppa, a relatively new Italian restaurant on Washington. Our sampler included a coconut cocktail, a summer squash pizza, goat cheese ravioli, melt-in-your-mouth chicken, donuts with dipping sauce, Italian wedding cake, a decadent chocolate truffle, and more! The ambiance was fantastic, and the leftovers were amazing.

As soon as I got back to Houston, I also had to check in on Brandi and Peter. I could not believe how much their little boy Thomas has grown! He's quite the cutie with his big blue eyes, gummy smile, and grabby hands. In fact, I have decided to become his talent agent. The Houston Symphony was hoping to cast a baby in their subscriber appreciation video, so I booked Thomas on his first gig! Because Brandi was out of town I will be posing as the tot mom in the upcoming clip. Stay tuned.

Much to my delight, my friend Risa was in town for a bit recently. We rendezvoused for brunch at Canopy, and she told me about life in law school at Penn. She's looking forward to clerking next year and then accepting a job in New York for the long term. Pretty exciting stuff! Unfortunately, I am not applying to any residency programs in NY, but it sure will be fun to pay her a visit.

On Sunday, September 4th, the Scullys and I attended the season opener of the Houston Pops. It's hard to believe we are in our third year as subscribers. We had a blast listening to the vocal powerhouse trio Poperazzi. Following tradition we met the performers after the show and snapped a meet-and-greet picture. I have a feeling this is going to be a great season!

The fun, food, and friends continued on Friday, September 9th, with two big events. First, I went to Brats and Burgers at church, a social event for young adult to mix, mingle, and munch on delicious food. Then afterward I made a beeline for my friend Revathi's place. She put together a feast for her friends using her mother's traditional Indian recipes. I was very impressed with the spread and had fun trying some new flavors. Makes me want to crack open my mom's cookbook!