Boston!

Hello everybody!  Today I am in Boston!  I've started the interview trail.  Here's my schedule

Home--->Boston--->Philly--->Home--->Atlanta--->Baltimore--->D.C.--->home!  All before Christmas!  However, after that I'm done.

I am interviewing at a total of 11 schools, 4 in-state and 7 out-of-state.  It's pretty exciting!  Interviews can be pretty exhausting as well, so I was careful to spread out my interview schedule so I can make the most of my trips.  Today was a free day in Boston, then 2 days of interviews, followed by another break.  In Philly, I only interview on Tuesday and Friday.  I'm really want to enjoy the cities I visit and spend time with friends and family.

In Boston I'm staying with my partner-in-crime, Aviva.  Aviva and I were roommates during a summer internship in 2008 and have been friends ever since.  We've conquered Slope Day at Cornell and two Beer, Bourbon & BBQ festivals together.  Now, I get to stay with her and her boyfriend, Shaun, while I interview! 

Aviva had to work today, so I explored on my own.  I've found that I am the type of person who is comfortable traveling and exploring solo, it isn't for everyone.  Sometimes I prefer it. 

I started the day browsing the shops on Newbury Street, then traveled downtown to Government Center, where Aviva works to meet her for lunch.  The picture above was taken near Government Center.

 

 

After lunch I went to Fanueil Hall, more stores.  Maybe it's because I'm broke, but I like to think it's because I'm seeking culture, but I'm getting tired of vacationing just to shop.  So I kept the shopping to a minimum and headed to Northend.  Above is a cool dress in one of the stores made entirely out of Vitamin Water aluminum cans.

 

Northend is Boston's historic Italian neighborhood.  There were tons of independent groceries and pastry shops.  I stopped at Mike's because Aviva told me they were awesome.  I purchased a lobster tail for us to have for dessert tonight and got the dessert above to snack on immediately!  It was pretty tasty and seemed to be made with classic, simple ingredients and no processed food.

 

While walking around Northend, I found the waterfront!  It was gorgeous!  I wish I had a picture to share with y'all, but I haven't uploaded the pictures off my camera yet (thus, only the instagram photos are shared on the blog).  The sun was shining, boats were sailing and it was a nice moment just to stop and enjoy life. 

 

Well, tomorrow I interview at Tufts and then Saturday at Boston U!  Good night everybody!  On Sunday I'll have another day to explore, guided by Aviva and Shaun.  :-)

 



Registered!

Yesterday, we finished registering.  We have a large registry on Bed Bath & Beyond and a baby one on Amazon.  I had a lovely time and figured I would make a pros & cons list for all of y'all.

Pro:  You get to register for whatever you want.
Con:  You don't want to look greedy or selfish.  For this reason, I only registered for stuff I truly wanted and believed would not clutter our kitchen too much.  Still, there are some pricey things on our registry.

Pro:  At BB&B an employee will assist you in making your registry.
Con:  At BB&B an employee will assist you in making your registry.  I had trouble deciphering if she was truly recommending a product or liked it due to the price.  Do they get kickbacks on the stuff we get?

Pro:  On Amazon you can add stuff from external websites.
Con:  On stuff from external websites, your address won't auto-populate.  I solved this problem by putting our address in the notes, but I do fear Universal Registry will confuse less computer savvy people.

That's about all...I figure all and all, registering is a wonderful and exciting part of being engaged.  While I hope we get everything haha, there are a few favorites of mine, in particular our china, flatware, Le Creuset pieces and the sheets we registered for.  Hmm..being engaged makes you desire some pretty boring stuff, huh?

Our registry collage I made on Polyvore...fun site :-)

    

Happy Holidays!

Hello everybody!  Sorry for the brief hiatus!  My life has been a mix of interviewing, final exams (goodbye emergency medicine) and Thanksgiving celebrations.  Aaron and I went with my family to my grandmother's house, which is our routine.  My grandmother threw down, as she does every year.  Turkey and stuffing is one of my favorite meals and it was so tasty.  Everyone in my family has been super welcoming of Aaron-my grandmother insisted he get in the grandchildren pictures, because he is soon to be a grandchild.  How nice!  Aaron and I have been lucky to have such supportive families.  However, towards the end of the weekend I was getting tired of the hustle and bustle and ready to take it easy.  Yesterday Aaron and I simply curled up on the couch, watched a movie and cooked together which was really nice.  I briefly complained about watching a movie, because I think some of medical school type A personality is rubbing off on me and I feel like watching a movie is equivalent to wasting time.  Then later I reflected, what's so bad about spending a couple hours watching a good/humorous/touching story?  Aaron's trying to get me to watch Stars Wars and the Lord of the Rings trilogy; I've seen neither.  Will I take the plunge??

We also mailed our Save the Dates!  Finally!  This was both overwhelming and underwhelming at the same time.  Overwhelming-managing a guest list of 260-something.  Underwhelming-actually handing out/mailing the save the dates.  No one cares as much about your wedding as you, folks.  So don't expect people to be bowled over when they get your magnet...I think I even confused a few senior citizens (a friend of my grandmother's kept turning his over, and over).  I'll take pictures of the save the dates and post on this next week!

Lastly, we started registering!!!  This has been a lot of fun and I've gotten a bit obsessive.  We've registered at Bed Bath and Beyond and Amazon.  I've had a lot of things to register for, since I've only lived alone briefly and Aaron's house is a total bachelor pad in need of a revamp.  So I pretty much stuck to the traditional registry and did fine and everyday china, silverware and appliances.  I tried to keep the registry small-but not too small since we're expecting 200 guests-and within a wide price range.  I'll post on that this week as well!

I'm so happy to be blogging again!!  I'm done with school for the rest of the year so expect much more blog nurturing. :-)

I'm here

I'm here.  In the midst of interviewing at psychiatry residencies (UNC! Duke!), working shifts in the ED including overnight last night, suturing up people's faces that got into a fight at 12 pm noon and stumbled in drunk, I am here.  And wedding planning is hold for the minute.  And I struggle with feelings of frustration after being told not to try to do it all by myself, but no one else moves fast enough for me (*ahem*AARON GIVE ME MY MAILING LABELS).

But onto other things....don't you just love this amazingly gorgeous wedding that was featured on Southern Weddings last month?  SWMag is one of the few blogs I read-I found that too many lead to overload and too many budget breaking and totally ridiculous ideas.  So I read SWMag daily and supplement with Ruffled and Elizabeth Anne Designs when needed.

http://iloveswmag.com/2012/10/09/virginia-garden-wedding-by-megan-w/

P.S.  Amanda's getting married this weekend!  Her fiancé is a friend of Aaron's and we met at a mutual friend's wedding a couple months ago.  She's a bride blogger for Southern Weddings too!!!  Yay for bride bloggers!