Blackberry photo dump

Because who doesn't like a little phone photo action?

I still wonder why I can't participate in this.

Riding down PCH on the bike

Little sister and I at my favorite tea place

Bruiser wondering why his dad is half missing on a t-shirt

Forever the best picture I've woken up to

Houston Lightyear

Cathryn's 'Where in the World is Ryan?" map

mwY

For my patient's 'heart attack' wall

Bruiser contemplating the meaning of life

Veggie Grill with Nathalie

No idea

Dog in a bag

Chicken riding a skateboard

At work. The force is strong at CHOC Children's.

CHOC Walk 2010 at Disneyland

This is what I get to wear when my patient is extremely critical and I have to go into the operating room to pick them up. 

Convertible dog

Vintage Union Worker's coat for $40

My little sister taught me to play the guitar! 

 Begging to go to the dog park step 1- Staring as closely as possible

Begging to go to the dog park step 2- Stand on my chest

Begging to go to the dog park step 3- Sulk

Lounging with Nathalie at The Tranquil Tea Lounge

Green tea anything is my vice

Samantha and baby Maddie came over for lunch

Bruiser's fall sweater

My February calendar 

This is how nurses draw names from a hat

Getting ready to make more rosaries

My first visa! The Indian Embassy is generously paying for all of our work visas!

Happy Thanksgiving: A recipe and an outfit

I am a day early on my well wishings because I work the next two days, of course! Here is a yummy recipe for Pumpkin Chili (Veggie friendly!) that I am currently making for the potluck tomorrow. 

Ingredients

2 tablespoons Olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 carrots, peeled & thinly sliced

1 red bell pepper , seeded & chopped

3 large jalapeno chilies, minced

1 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes with added puree

4 cups of water

1 15 ounce can black beans, rinsed

1 15 ounce can pinto beans, rinsed

1 15 ounce can kidney beans, rinsed

1/2 cup brown rice or millet (I usually end up using 3/4 cup since I love rice)

2 tablespoon of lemon juice

5 garlic cloves, minced

2-3 tablespoons chili powder (depending on your taste preference) 

1 1/2-2 tsp ground cumin (depending on your taste)

1 1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 cups of organic pumpkin* (trader joes/whole foods)

*I use all organic produce since I am very sensitive to pesticides (can we say swollen lips & tongue?)

Directions

Heat olive oil in large stew pot over medium heat

Add onion, carrots, red bell peppers and jalapenos

 Saute about 8 minutes

Add tomatoes, pumpkin, 4 cups of water, beans, millet/rice, lemon juice, garlic and spices

Bring to boil.. Reduce heat uncovered for about 20 mins.. stirring often

Tastes even better the next day!

Today Ryan and I took his nephew up to Pinion Hills to my sister's house. We hung out and played with my niece and nephews, watched A Christmas Story and then ate mashed potatoes and meatloaf in honor of the movie! It was a great day! Here is the outfit I wore (picture taken by my six year old niece)

I am contemplating burning it because last time I wore it in public it attracted a lot of unwanted attention and I am not a fan of that at all! 

Here is my niece, a spitting image of her Auntie

I hope everyone has a lovely day tomorrow!! 

Guwahati, Assam, India here I come!!

I just found out that I am officially confirmed to go to India in February!! I will be there recovering patient's from surgeries for 12 days. It takes over 24 hours of flying to get to Guwahati which is in the Indian state of Assam.

Assam is nestled inside the Himalayas! I got this fortune on Friday:

I know it is pretty much impossible to read but it says "Soon you will be sitting on top of the world"

I put the fortune in my wallet, in front of my license because Assam is just to east of Nepal... you know... where Mount Everest is! I am truly feeling on top of the world right now!

 I have to run to work now and confirm my vacation time then await all the info that will be coming in my email. International visa? How do I get that?! I guess I'll find out!! 

The stuff stocking are made of

Ryan got home last night from Europe. Home, home. Like, home for a long time home. I got off work late last night and had to drive straight to LAX in my scrubs. Bum out. I looked like I had just come back from the dead while the other ladies looked cute n sexy. Oh well, Ryan didn't seem to care one bit.

This morning I danced for Ryan and Bruiser. I really did. I turned Florence and the Machine up really loud and danced all over the apartment. I was told I looked really "earthy" when I was dancing. I'm almost positive that's a compliment.

The rest of the day we spent gathering the the supplies for Christmas stocking making and then sewed away. I won't go into any more detail because I will be doing a guest post all about it over at Happy Owl for her 12 days of Christmas series!! I am excited to share with the blogosphere about what a fun time we have had making these.

I actually need to get back to work because I am in the middle of sewing on some bells!

I think I am finally enjoying November again!

Its been a rough day

Trying my hardest to keep my cup half full but I am pretty discouraged about a few major things in my life. Today it kind of all hit me at once and now I'm trying re-focus. Trying not to think about the fact that I have no control over so many things I want to look forward to. I don't even let myself look forward to any of these things for fear of being let down! I am not a fan of this vicious circle! Someone come refill me because 'a glass can only spill what it contains..'

A most interesting massage experience

My weekend started off really well and really awkwardly...

Friday I decided I couldn't take my sore shoulders and neck any more. My muscles get so tight that they are painfully tender and swollen and don't respond to ibuprofen or the at home boyfriend massage. So, I gave in and made an appointment for a Saturday morning massage at Massage Envy (The McDonalds of massage places.)

When the guy took me back to the room he asked me the usual questions then asked "How far are you?" To which I responded "Far from what? I just live up the street." He replied "No, how far along are you in your pregnancy?"

Ummm.... definitely not pregnant. At all. In any way. So I freaked out laughing asking if I accidently check marked that somewhere. But no, for some reason they had me down for a pregnancy massage!! After we cleared that up the massage got under way.

About half way through the massage therapist decided to put one knee on the table in order to apply more pressure to one of my horribly knotted muscles. Well, the table broke. I nearly got tossed off, naked except for my underwear in front of a complete stranger. I don't know who was more embarrassed! Then he tried to fix the leg while I was still on the table just lifting the table up and down. He finished the massage with a tilted table... all the while inquiring about every tattoo on my body. Tattoos that not very many people see. Awkward!

I honestly don't even care about any of that because I feel so much better. Today is the first day in some while that my shoulders and neck feel relaxed and pain free!

This week is going to be great! Work tomorrow, Lebanese food and downtown fullerton with Nathalie Tuesday, work wednesday, visits from Sam and baby Maddie then dinner followed by ornament shopping with Ryan's mom Thursday, studying on Friday!

If I was to make a birthday/Christmas wish list...

... it might look something like this...

A gift card to Mod Cloth in order to purchase some of these beauties:

A vintage tea kettle (so long as I don't get lead poisoning from it)

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Another little American Gentlemen

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Listen: By Mark Seliger

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This wonderfully odd picture

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Florence + The Machine

Monday night I travelled out to The Wiltern to see Florence + The Machine. First Anne and I met up at my favorite tea lounge in Fullerton and had a light dinner with some yummy tea. Nothing starts a night off better than some asian pear green tea :) We got to the parking garage in LA and they totally over sold spots. It was really sketchy! As we turned to the corner to walk to the venue the wind was absolutely insane!! I almost couldn't even walk against it, it was so strong. Once we got in and settled the direct support Group Love was playing. I actually really enjoyed them! Finally the wonderful Florence came on. She was amazing, her vocal abilities just blow me away. I would have to describe the performance is beautiful. Everything from the back drops to the lights to Florence herself was just aesthetically pleasing. There were a whole lot of awkward people as usual. The guy on drugs orchestrating the show, the lesbian couple with synchronized dance moves, the people in the back yelling for the people in the front to sit down, the girl next to Anne, the weed smoker behind us and the two girls next to me who looked tortured and bored the whole set. I got home soooo late but luckily Bruiser let me sleep in! We only snapped a few shots so here they are. You may recognize my outfit from fashion week, I wore it at Anne's request but switched it up by wearing my Steve Madden booties instead of the red flats!

"No more dreaming of the dead as if death itself was undone..."