Taste Tests

January was a month of exploration- investigating new places and new food. My dear sister Sarah sent me a magazine clipping way back when that included a reference to a new local meat market in the Heights called Revival. I enjoyed an awesome pulled pork sandwich with a side of ginger lime slaw.

Interview season continued with another trip to southern California. Adam and I got to see each other again and celebrated with some conveyor belt sushi. Adam gifted me Scene It 2 for my birthday, and we enjoyed playing games and relaxing. Then it was back to business for interviews at UCLA-Olive View and UC-Irvine.

The post-interview dinner at UCLA was one of the highlights of the entire interview trail. The assistant program director (a former writer for the show ER) invited all of the applicants over to his home for a bountiful Mexican dinner including brie and papaya quesadillas, carne asada, roasted corn and poblano pepper salad, and more. The sopapilla cheesecake was incredible.

Next stop: Portland, Oregon. Everything about my stay in the Rose City was super cool. No rental car needed in this easy-to-navigate public-transit-friendly city. I ate a tasty lunch at Blueplate consisting of juicy Northwest sliders and a chai bomb soda float. I'm salivating just reflecting on it! Anyway, I then met up with my gracious host Desiree (Chelsey's friend, a nurse at OHSU).

The pre-interview social happened at McMenamins Bagdad Theater and Pub. I really enjoyed my visit to OHSU, including the scenic trip on the Portland aerial tram. Everyone seemed so happy and healthy in the fun and funky city. Later in the evening I reconnected with a couple interviewees for a night on the town. We crafted ourselves a little pub crawl through Portland's downtown area.

We had spicy Mexican dinner at Santeria that just happened to share a bathroom with another Portland specialty: a strip club. Crazy! Just when I thought the night couldn't get kookier, I stopped by Voodoo Doughnuts for some unique pastries ranging from Double Bubble to Cap'n Crunch to Maple Blazer Blunt. My trip wrapped up with an early morning bus ride sitting next to a pleasant older guy who looked like Ben Franklin... and wore a pink skirt and heels. Amazing.