Finale of wedding season

I survived my first maid of honor experience! :) It actually wasn't bad at all as my best friend is far from a bridezilla and everything went very well. J and I headed to Charlottesville, VA to celebrate Rachel's marriage. I think I was actually more nervous for her wedding than I was for my own. She was cool as a cucumber, which is how I was on my wedding day. I officially feel old now as we're both married and "settled." When we met 11 years ago getting married seemed like something only old, boring people do, but I guess now we're both one of those old boring people.

The wedding and reception were simple and classy. The wedding was held at a traditional church right outside of Charlottesville. The reception was held at L'etoile restaurant. I had delicious goat cheese gnocchi with squash, onions, mushrooms and red peppers. I didn't get to take as many pictures as I would have liked since I was busy throughout the day. Thankfully J got some good shots for me.

Details of the bride's dress.

My beautiful bouquet of roses.

I survived giving my toast and then I drank lots of wine for the rest of the evening :)

There was a small hiccup with the cake. It wasn't at the restaurant, as expected, when we arrived. After a few frantic phone calls, the problem was solved and the cake showed up just in time for the cake cutting. Dessert is my favorite meal of the day and the cake was really good.

Yep, we went out in our dresses and everything after the wedding. The wedding and reception were over by 5 pm so we all relaxed for a few and headed to a local bar. It was UVA's homecoming so there were plenty of people out to have fun with.

The newlyweds headed to Spain for their honeymoon. Wishing them all the best!

9,125 days

9,125 days...that's how long I've been alive, as I celebrated my birthday this week :) I must say it was probably one of my most memorable birthdays. It was simple, yet so special. J woke me up and asked if I wanted him to make me breakfast. I said no, that's ok, go back to sleep since you had a long day (mind you it was 5 am). He said, well too bad, I already made it. I was so surprised! I go downstairs and find the whole apartment has been decorated...he has never done that before! It was so nice.

My presents were nicely displayed. My parents had secretly left their gifts at the house over the weekend when they were here celebrating my white coat ceremony. It was nice to have some pretty presents to open that morning.

So surprise #2 - my friends from school baked me brownies and took me out for lunch! I didn't have my camera at school, so this is just what remains of the brownies after we attacked them :) Although we're only in our 8th week of school, I've already made some great friends....who know I love chocolate. The brownies were much needed after spending a few hours in the cadaver lab.

Surprise # 3 - When I got home J had more surprises in store. He made cosmos that were delicious and there were cupcakes waiting for me. I had heard about the Brown Betty Dessert Boutique, but hadn't had the chance to make it there. The wait was definitely worth it as the cupcakes were yummy. J picked out 2 chocolate ones (of course!), vanilla and red velvet.

Surprise #4 - We went out to dinner! J had done some research and since we love seafood he made reservations at Sotto Varalli. They had a good selection of food on their menu and I definitely want to go back to try something different.

I wasn't planning on getting a drink, but once the waiter mentioned a drink special with peach infused vodka with a splash of champagne I couldn't resist. I'm glad I splurged.

We started out with calamari as an appetizer. We should probably branch out and get something new as this is usually what we ordered, but I'm glad we got it here because it was nice and light.

J ordered seafood Risotto. It included lobster, crab, shrimp, scallops, clams and mussels. I couldn't resist having a bite and was in love!

I kind of went the same route as J and ordered Cioppino. It was full of seafood as well, in a tomato, herb and garlic broth, over linguine. Although we like to try new restaurants I definitely want to come back here and try something new.

And last but not least, my birthday was even more wonderful because I didn't do 1 minute of studying :) I'm thankful for another year and now I'm planning for J's birthday next month...I'm not sure if it can top my day though!

White Coat Ceremony

Well now I actually look like I know what I'm doing. We got our white coats this weekend! Throw my stethoscope around my neck and I could fool some people :) There was a nice ceremony at my school in which we received our coats and that was followed by an open house.

For those that don't know, students get short white coats and once you actually become a physician you'll get a long white coat. So next time you're in the hospital or at the doctor's office, you can tell the two apart and hopefully you won't give the student physician such a hard time :)

I won't have a lot of direct patient contact until my 3rd year. I'll mostly wear my white coat during my standardized patient assignments and a few shadowing opportunities. Until then my coat will mostly hang in my closet, but the symbol of receiving my white coat makes this whole experience sink in a little more.

And J was so sweet to have a beautiful bouquet of roses waiting for me at home for my accomplishments.

Run Forrest, Run!

At the end of the summer I made a wonderful discovery! There is a great running,walking, biking trail that is gorgeous. It's definitely a gem in the city. It runs all along the Schuykill (pronounced schoo-kill) river. J and I had been running in the city, which was somewhat of an annoyance because we would constantly be stopped by lights, traffic or uneven sidewalks.

The trail runs 23 miles from the heart of the city to Montgomery County. J and I haven't made it all the down the trail, but we usually do about 4-5 miles. Hopefully through our busy schedules we'll be able to keep up our running "dates" a few times throughout the month.

There is a great view of the Philadelphia Museum of Art along the trail.

This is the view of boathouse row. It is a beautiful area that houses several rowing teams. At night the buildings are lit up and look great lining the highway and river. I'm hoping that they'll look even more festive for the upcoming holiday season. I love holiday lights!