Viva Las Vegas: Part II

On Monday morning, it was back to interviews at Midyear, but this time, the whole residency team was there! Although I am the only resident at my site, I have seven other peers across the country. I had the opportunity to meet them all in September when they came to visit Rhode Island, and I knew right away that I would have friends and colleagues for life. Fred and Kavita are at the site in Texas with Melissa and Giang; Lisa is in Arizona with Elizabeth; Andrea and Brandon are in Pittsburgh with Julie, Mary, and Jessica; and Sherry and Kevin are in Illinois with Lydia.

On Monday afternoon, we participated in what is called the "Residency Showcase." The set-up is similar to a job fair, except all of participants, instead of employers, are residency programs trying to recruit residents. For 3 hours, this giant convention room turned into a sea of people, all trying to find a program that is right for their needs. In years past, there had just been the resident and the director from my site, and with only two people at a booth, it can be difficult to manage the flow of traffic. This year we took a team approach and had the residents and directors from all of the sites, which made it much easier to triage the requests we were getting. By the end of the showcase, my voice was almost gone!

For dinner, Nick and I went to the Grand Lux in the Venetian, which I absolutely loved (I think I ate there 4-5 times while I was in Vegas!). I had the Asian salad (more than once-it was so tasty); I have been meaning to search for a recipe online similar to the salad I had. It was light and fresh- lettuce, carrots, crispy rice noodles (texture, people, texture!), a ginger dressing, and some type of small green herb that I couldn't identify (but liked nonetheless).

Not the greatest picture, but you get the idea

I'll have a big salad...

After dinner, Nick and I walked around the Palazzo, which is a tower that was added on to the Venetian. There are some glamorous stores on the first floor (David Yurman, Barneys New York, Kwiat), along with an illy cafe. The Illy cafe had more flavors of gellato and sorbetto than I even begin to name. Nick had chocolate (his favorite), and I tried the lemon ice and the cherry sorbettos.

Here is a picture of a fountain inside the Pallatzo... isn't it beautiful? They had another pool/water design (kind of like a modern wishing well), but I couldn't seem to get the right perspective for a picture.

I wonder who picks out the Christmas decorations for these places... I understand it needs to be over the top and a little wild (I mean, it is Vegas), but this just looked like the Loch Ness monster covered with lights.

While I was working, Nick did some research and bought us tickets to see the Blue Man Group. I have always wanted to see one of their shows (they are on my list of bands/groups/comedians to see before I die) but never had a good opportunity until now. If you've never seen them, it's a little hard to describe what their performance is like, but I think I've come up with a winning formula:

Gallagher (Remember the guy smashing all of the fruit? My other favorite was his painting of the United States)
plus the Three Stooges (At least one member of the group gets picked on/stands out/etc)

plus a mime (There was no talking during the show except for a short video)

plus Stomp (They focus on percussion, rhythm, and tone- another great show to see if you haven't already)

equals the Blue Man Group! (I know, this one is a little creepy)

You can't take pictures during the show, but here are a few highlights I found online...

The show started with these giant drums that had paint on the top and were used as drums (Dad, you would have loved this!)

Another part of the show used pipes for instruments- they changed the length of the pipes to change the sound (Sounds like a science experiment)

My favorite part of the show was when the rolls of toilet paper were passed from the back of the crowd to the front and then backwards to the back. They also had these glowing tubes that reminded me of the backbone of DNA (Wow, I am officially a nerd)

We snuck this one in before the show started... the people behind us thought they'd be funny and make faces in the background, hence the blurry face on the right-hand side of the picture. They apologized, but I don't really think they were sorry. (Note to self: do not tease young couples that want to get a cute picture together until after the picture has been taken.)

Nick headed back to Indy on Tuesday morning- luckily he wasn't delayed too long at the airport because of bad weather (his flight was changed, though, because of all of the snow in Chicago). On Tuesday we did some more interviewing, but it wasn't as crazy as Monday. I had a chance to walk around and catch up with some of my classmates from Purdue- how fun! I was told that 25% of my class was doing a PGY1 (Post-Graduate Year 1) residency, and I believe it- there were a TON of people there. It was nice to see so many familiar faces and hear future career plans.

I had been texting back and forth with Tony, a classmate of mine from Purdue, about meeting up sometime in Vegas since the previous Thursday and finally ran into him! Tony and I met the first week we were on campus through a mutual friend, David. Tony and I had so much fun during pharmacy school (I mean, as much fun as two kids could have during class)... to this day I am *shocked* that we did not have more professors tell us to be quiet or kick us out for talking during class. We tried so hard not to say anything, but something funny always happened. Either Tony spilled my Diet Coke, a professor would say something funny, I would spill my Diet Coke, or something else absurd would happen. One of our favorite activities was the "States and Capitals" game (much more interesting than medicinal chemistry and molecular pharmacology, trust me); we became so well versed in the U.S. version that we had to move onto other continents to stay challenged. Tony is completing a hospital-based residency program this year in Ohio and plans to work in a hospital somewhere when he's finished (specific, isn't it?).

Here we are on our last day of pharmacy school (We are still friends, I promise!)

Look at these fine young scholars at Midyear (For one person who wasn't sure of what he wanted to do and the other who didn't want to do a residency, I think we turned out just fine...

To be continued...

Viva Las Vegas: Part I

Last Saturday morning I left for Las Vegas with Debbie to attend ASHP's 44th Midyear Conference. We flew on a direct flight from Providence to Las Vegas- the flight was six and a half hours! (Thank goodness we didn't have a layover.) I was really surprised that there was a direct flight out of Providence- nothing against Rhode Island, of course. (Sidenote: On my last two trips back to Indy I flew with Southwest and had great service and no issues with delays. I was using U.S. Airways prior to these trips, but I would need more than two hands to count the number of delayed flights in the past six months (and not to mention the night I spent in the Cleveland airport!).)

The flight was only half full, so we had plenty of room to spread out. I did some work work and then a logic puzzle (*love* my puzzle book... Not only are they challenging, they are (in theory) helping me prevent dementia). Not too long after I started my puzzle, I started to get sleepy and decided to take a nap. Sleeping on a plane can be tricky business... I mean, you don't want to touch the person next to you, but unless you're used to sleeping sitting up, it's difficult to fall asleep. I'm in the group that puts their head down on the tray table. I know this probably not the most sanitary option, but what else can you do? I spray it down with hand sanitizer and use a scarf so at least my fact doesn't touch it. How do you sleep on the plane? Any suggestions for future flights? (Sorry about the tangent...)

This was my first time in Las Vegas, so it was a little overwhelming when we were taking our shuttle from the airport to the hotel. There are so many things to look at and take in! The conference was at The Venetian and Sands Expo Center, and Debbie was smart enough to have us book our rooms well in advance so that we could roll out of bed and not worry about staying in another hotel. (I initially did not think this was very important but quickly learned that even though the hotels are across the street from one another, it could take you thirty minutes or more to get from your room to the conference.) The lobby of the hotel was gorgeous (it even smelled nice!)- it looked like what I think someplace in Italy would look like (I can't wait to visit someday.) I don't think my pictures capture it very well, so I've included some pictures from the hotel's website, as well as some pictures that I took.

A view of the outside (more like a complex than a hotel) (courtesy of the Venetian)

I wish the weather had been warmer.... they have gondolas you can ride that go inside and outside of the hotel (courtesy of the Venetian)

I want a fountain like this in my front yard (hey, I can dream, can't I?)

There were several other places in the hotel that had the ceiling painted to look like the sky

The corridor leading you from the lobby to the casino (another Venetian picture)... I loved all of the detailed flooring

I was shocked when I saw my "room" because it wasn't much of a room at all. Technically the name of it was a "Luxury Suite," which was the least expensive option at the hotel. I'm pretty sure that this suite was almost as big as my entire apartment. There was a sunken living room (love that!), three flat-screen t.v.'s (one was in the bathroom), a fax machine/copier/printer combination, and remote-controlled Roman shades on the windows. The bathroom was done in marble and had a vanity, double sinks, a whirlpool bathtub (I don't really like baths, so this wasn't a big deal to me), a shower big enough for a small village, and a separate water closet (this is *definitely* something I want in my house!).

A bed fit for a king (I don't remember ever sleeping on a king bed... And having slept on a twin bed until I moved to Rhode Island, I am not used to so much room!)

Want to watch the morning news while you brush your teeth? Yes, you can!

This sitting area reminds me of my Grandma and Grandpa's house in Pigeon where my Dad grew up... there is a small stool and a matching mirror that I always loved as a young girl

Another bathroom view

After dinner on Saturday night, I waited in my room until a special someone arrived! Nick came to stay for a few days in Vegas. We both knew I'd be busy doing recruiting for a pharmacist to fill my shoes next year, but how could he pass up a free room right on the strip? (He didn't.) Debbie and I interviewed several candidates on Sunday, but Nick joined us for lunch. I'm glad Debbie got to meet him. After hearing so much about him, I think she felt like she already knew him. I'm interested to hear what someone thinks after he or she meets someone they've only heard about.... your mental image of someone isn't always accurate.

I couldn't help but smile when I saw Nick's garment bag... a trash bag (He is so practical! Thanks, Mrs. K!)

On Sunday night, a company that we do business with took a small group of us out to dinner at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant at the Paris Hotel. Debbie, Amy, Ron, Minh, Papatya, and I were treated to a three-course French meal. I did try a piece of meat that someone said was similar to salami, only to find out it was some kind of raw beef. I also tried a small piece of the blue cheese souffle (eeee!), but I wasn't a fan. For dessert I ordered an apple tart complete with a scoop of cinnamon ice cream and caramel sauce. While it might have sounded like a knockout dish, I was disappointed with the real thing.... I whispered to the people closest to me that I thought the apple pies at McDonald's were better than this!

At least it was pretty!

After dinner, the company bought us tickets to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower (unfortunately not the real one) to look out over the city. They knew that Nick was waiting for me in the casino downstairs (well, I told them), so they invited him to join us. When he met us at the restaurant, the only place to sit was at the complete opposite end of the table from where I was sitting. He was such a good sport about it, even if I did kind of throw him under the bus.

The view from the top! I am still not sure what setting to use on my camera for these pictures, but this one was decent

I saw my first show of the Bellagio water fountains (a feat of engineering, as my brother says)- isn't this perspective wonderful?

I wish I could have heard the music a little better, but you can't beat this view.

It was cold and windy being up so high, but it is never too cold for a photo op

It is one-third the size of the real Eiffel Tower (on my list of places to see before I die)

After dinner, Nick and I decided we'd try our luck in the casino. Most of the tables at the Venetian were pretty expensive, so we took the opportunity of being at another hotel to our advantage. I've one been to one casino before, which was in the summer of 2006 in Arizona during my internship. I had never played any of the live games, so Nick helped to explain a lot of the rules to me. We ended up joining a roulette table, which I really liked (I think I might have done more talking to our dealer than actual gambling).

We ended up winning $50! Go lucky number 18!

To be continued...