Rain on My Parade

Because everyone should experience NOLA Mardi Gras at least once in their lives, some medical school friends and I made a run for the Texas-Louisiana border. Following our Friday clinical obligations, we headed east for a weekend road trip. We crashed at a resident’s house and spent all day Saturday on the streets of The Big Easy.

We started the drizzly day off with breakfast (crab and brie omelet) and cupcakes at Cake Cafe then hit the finest establishments of New Orleans. We waded our way to Frenchmen Street and then slowly made our way down Decatur where they really let anyone belly up to the bar.

Finally, we made it to Canal Street for the parades. Beads were flying everywhere! Thankfully, it was far too cold outside for anyone to “earn” necklaces, so it turned out to be a relatively PG affair. After being hit in the face with stray beads and elbows, we nursed our wounds on Bourbon Street. Though the line was far too long for an official Hurricane, we did detonate some Hand Grenades.

We also did some serious damage on the dance floor before calling it a night (or should I say early morning?). We made it back to Houston on Sunday night- just in time for me to join Sarah for the Rodeo Bites food extravaganza. By the time the real Fat Tuesday rolled around, I was already back to behaving myself and working in the dermatology clinic at the VA.

To Days Gone By

I returned to clinics in February with an anesthesia rotation at the VA. When I wasn't intubating, starting IVs, or learning about narcotics, I tried to keep up appearances with friends and put my gym membership to use. Sarah and I tested out the new contemporary Japanese restaurant and Austin transplant Uchi. The brus­sels sprout kimchee was absolutely phenomenal.

In an effort to beat the winter blues, Brandi and I warmed ourselves with high tea. I threw together tea sandwiches, crackers, fruit, and cheese while Brandi brewed a mean pot of tea. Little Thomas provided entertainment from his high chair and all was right with the world.

With my Valentine roughly 1500 miles to the west, I settled on celebrating the 14th with med school friends Mike, Anand, and Revathi. The four of us comprise the Double Trouble crew with our weekly Thursday get-togethers at our favorite midtown hotspot for coffee and cocktails. For Valentine's Day we headed to Onion Creek in the Heights for chili dogs and chocolate wine.

Hearts and cups were filled again just two days later at Teresa and Dane's engagement party. We congregated at Volcano to celebrate the next big step in my former roomie's rock-solid relationship with her college sweetheart. Congratulations!

Gather Up

As January came to a close and interview season wrapped up, I had a chance to celebrate the coming of the end of med school with friends. We ate tapas at T'afia...

...enjoyed our Symphony tradition with the Pops' "Best of Spielberg and Williams" followed by dessert at the Hard Rock Cafe...

...played cricket/darts at Cecil's and toasted to the fourth and final year of medical school!