Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!

Hope everyone is having a nice short week- hard to believe it is already June! After tomorrow, I will only have four weeks left of work (not that I'm counting down), and I know they will go quickly. I've giving a short presentation tomorrow (an easy one- it's about me), an intense one Monday (practice run) and Wednesday (45 minute live CE presentation- speaking of which.. pharmacists, don't forget to get your CE credits by June 30!), and a journal club presentation (the risk of fractures when taking a PPI) the following Monday. On top of that, I worked an extra shift in the stores on Tuesday night, and tomorrow I'm working the overnight shift (I've never actually done this, so I'm interested to see how it will go).

Last weekend I went back to Indy for the long weekend. Well, I didn't actually make it for a long weekend.... I got to the airport on Friday night, only to sit there for almost two hours while my plane was delayed. Eventually they cancelled the flight (for some of us at least) because most people would have been stuck in Charlotte. I guess there were severe thunderstorms (they better have been severe!) down South. I woke up early on Saturday morning (4:30!!!) to catch a flight through Philidelphia to Indy and finally made it home.

Saturday was a family day. As you may have noticed, my mom's birthday was Friday. She and I worked on making wedding invitations for a friend during the day- I can't wait to show them to you. I forgot to take a picture (arrrg!) of them, but they are purple pocketcards with shimmery white invitations and grey and purple ink. The main invitation even has a purple gemstone! Purple isn't my favorite color, but these are absolutely gorgeous. If you were to buy these from someone who professionally makes wedding invitations, they would cost a small fortune (as much as I pay for my monthly rent!). I'll see if my Mom can send a couple of pictures my way to post on the blog.

On Saturday night, we met up with my brother to have dinner at Harry and Izzy's for Mom's birthday. (Not only do I love their food and service, I love the name... it makes me think of my Mom and our dog, Izzie- you could write a book about their adventures but a restaurant named after them is nice, too). We started with their St. Elmo's shrimp cocktail. If you are ever in Indianapolis, make sure you try this! But *beware*- it is hotter than Hades! I had a salad with pecans, julienne apples, and a vinegrette, but eveyrone else had either steak or lamb. Dessert was homemade strawberry shortcake with ice cream and whipped cream- yum! The strawberries had soaked into some of the shortbread just enough to soften it up and make it taste like jam. (Another picture fail- neither my Mom nor I remembered to take a picture!)

After dinner, my Dad, Mom, and I went to pick up my keys to my new apartment! I was lucky enouh to get the apartment I wanted (click here for my original post on apartment searching), which is right downtown. The place is huge- 2 full bathrooms, a walk-in closet, and another bonus room off the master bedroom. It also has wooden floors in the kitchen, nice countertops, and track lighting. My favorite feature of the unit, though, is the amount of windows- they are everywhere! There are two sets of bay windows- one in the bedroom and another in the living room, which gives you a great view of the city skyline. (I can also see my brother's apartment complex, which is only two blocks away. I liked my Dad's idea of stringing two cans together to have as walkie talkies.) I'm really looking forward to moving in!

Sunday morning I helped to make breakfast (blueberry pancakes!) and hung out around the house before heading to visit Lisa in Speedway! You have to be crazy to go to Speedway on race weekend- it is a madhouse! Luckily, I had some expert advice from a seasoned pro- I brought my Mom's bike (thanks Mom and Dad!). It was ten times easier to get around. (It was a little nostalgic for me- I felt like I was in junior high again.) Amy (who was visiting from Texas), Katie (another Speedway native), Lisa, and I spent the day lounging, catching up, and trying to stay cool. For dinner, we attempted to eat at Baxbeau's but got a little lost (we would get lost in our own city). Instead of eaitng at the restaraunt, we got carry-out and ate on the steps of Monument Circle.

A view of the Sailers and Soldiers Monument at night

I loved this picture- it is of one of the fountains downtown.... but when I showed it to Amy, Katie, and Lisa, all three of them made a sour face (like, what is this?!). Looks like I'd never make it as an artist!

Amy, Lisa, and Katie- had so much fun with you!

My turn! Hmmm...maybe I'll try to crop myself in the picture above....

On Monday, I slept wayyyyy in (a much needed three-day weekend luxury). After cleaning up and getting together my bag (as hard as I try, my suitcase of things ends up all over the floor by the time I leave- it doesn't matter how much stuff I have, where I am, or how long my trip is- it always ends up on the floor), my Mom drove me downtown to meet Nick for a late lunch (isn't she the best? So took me so that I could surprise Nick). We ate a Left Bank Cafe, a new restaurant on the canal. The food was okay, but the service was chaotic. I'd give them a couple of weeks to sort things out. When you do go, be sure to get a Nutella and strawberry crepe- amazing!!

Happy Birthday, Lisa!!

Hope you had an absolutely fabulous day! Wish I could be there to celebrate with you- love you!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Hope you have a wonderful last day of school! Can't wait to see you this weekend!

Happy Birthday, Nick!

A very special Happy Birthday to my Nicky, who is celebrating his birthday in China this year! He'll be gone for 6 weeks while completing a surgery rotation and taking some time to travel. If you'd like to see what he is up to on the other side of the world (he is exactly 12 hours ahead of me), you can visit his travel blog, which he is keeping along with his friend Lee, who is also in China.

Happy Birthday, Ron!

Everything I know, I learned from Ron....

1. Always be nice.

2. Don't be afraid to try something new. (Ron is the reason I ended up in Rhode Island.)

3. Know when to keep your mouth shut.

4. Whenever possible, take the credit.

5. Just always be nice.

Happy Birthday, Kyle!

Hope you are having a great start to the new semester! Miss you and the wifie!

Happy Birthday, Izzie!

"I hope to be the kind of person my dog thinks I am."

-unknown

For those of you that know Izzie, you'll be surprised to know that she is turning nine years old today! (Unless you really paid close attention to the lighter spots around her eyes, you'd have no idea... she still acts like a toddler!) I still remember going to the breeder's house when we first picked her out... she was such a cute little puppy and a character from the very beginning. She had a propensity for licking, sitting on your lap, and sucking on her blanket. Nine years later, nothing has changed! I have lots of great memories from our adventures together, but I'll just share a couple.

As I was leaving the house early one morning, I realized that I had forgotten something for my rotation in my bedroom upstairs. I pulled back into the driveway, opened the garage door, and ran inside. Izzie has a few favorite spots in the house- one of which is in the corner of the kitchen by the table. When I got into the kitchen, I was surprised that I didn't see her. As I rounded the corner from the dining room into the living room, I saw Izzie with her front paws on our blue sofa (one of the few places she is *not* supposed to sit). She turned her head towards me and looked like she had been caught red-handed! She slowly took her paws off of the couch and ran over to me, wagging her tail, as if to beg for forgiveness.

Some of my other favorite memories are from waking up in the morning to a giant golden retriever sitting on top of me! Izzie loves to jump up on the bed (she has no sense of personal space- she always has to be touching you if she is near you) and wake anyone up with a big kiss on the cheek. (I've even taught her what "give them kisses!" means!) She would sometimes wait outside my door until my mom would let her in to visit me.

Other favorite memories (in no particular order)

• Playing hide-and-go seek in the park with Izzie and my Dad
• Izzie jumping through the stream of water from the hose as I tried to water the plants in the backyard
• Her pet rock- this is the only thing Izzie will bark at! She'll pick it up, drop it on the ground, and start to attack it!
• Running errands (especially going to get take-out) with Izzie in the car
• Izzie's blankets... she sucks on the blanket like a toddler sucks on their thumb
• Catching Izzie after she dug up a small bush from the backyard
• Raking leaves into a pile for her to play in- she loves the fall
• Having someone to snuggle with when I was sad, cold, or sleepy

I wish I had more pictures from when she was a puppy, but I have yet to take them from home and scan them onto my (relatively) new computer. Here are some of my favorites I had on file...

Isn't this a sweet picture of her as a puppy?

I got a Mr. Mucus stuffed doll from a drug rep for Izzie to play with (she loves stuffed toys, especially ones with squeakers that sound like real animals)- I don't think it lasted more than 3 minutes

Ryan and I with Izzie in front of the Christmas tree

Izzie and I outside in our backyard

Izzie is one of two family members that has a designated spot in the family room. My Dad has a brown leather chair, and Izzie always sits in the corner of the green leather couch. If you are in her seat, you'll know it- she will sit right on top of you.

She looks so sad!

Izzie had a special visitor a couple of years ago for New Year's Eve. Kyle and Chelsea brought their dog Jackson (on the left with me) to visit Izzie (on the right with Chelsea) for the night! They had so much fun playing together!

Seems like Izzie has a lot of photo ops in front of the Christmas trees...

Some things never change...

Hope you have a golden birthday! Love you, Izzle!

Happy Aniversary, Mom and Dad!

Congratulations to my Mom and Dad on 36 years! (It was actually December 15- sorry it's a day late!! What a bad daughter I've become!)

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from over the years...

This was on a roadtrip for my Dad's birthday. We visited Gettysburg, PA and Washington D.C. with the Barber's, but first my parents had to drive down to Tennessee to pick me up from camp (sorry!).

This was the day my parents moved me into my dorm room my freshman year of college.

Two big events that day: 1. White Coat Ceremony for Pharmacy School 2. My 21st birthday!

My whole family at Grandma M's house in Florida for Christmas. (The matching black and red scheme was not coordinated, trust me!)

This picture is from when I went home in October. My Grandma was on her way from Michigan to Florida, so I try to catch her in Indy whenever I can. Ryan had already gone home, so we missed him in this picture. Nick had the camera. He took about half a dozen pictures, but there isn't one where we are all looking at the camera. This one was my favorite because of the way my Mom and I are looking at Izzie- we love her!

Wish I could have joined you two and Ryan for dinner! Hope you had a great day- I am so proud of you.

Happy Birthday, Anthony!

Hope you are having a great birthday! This picture is from early 2007 at Purdue- lots of good memories over the years. Too bad I'm not at my parents' house- I have some cute pictures from when we were growing up. I'll save them for next year. Love you, Borg!

We Survived the M.B.T.A.: a Weekend with My Mom

I'm sorry it's been so long since my last post! Last week I was busy with what I call "maintaining the facade." My mom was on her way to visit for the weekend, so I was "staging my apartment" and making it as clean as possible!

My mom flew into Providence on Thursday afternoon. We went back to my apartment to relax for a bit, and then went to North Providence for dinner. For my birthday, Lisa gave me gift certificates to restaurants in Providence and Boston (a fabulous gift, by the way!). We used one of the gift certificates at an Italian restaurant, Pizzico. The atmosphere was warm and inviting, and the food was delicious. I had barbecue chicken pizza, and my mom had risotto with mushrooms.

I took a vacation day on Friday, but we did go into work so that Mom could meet the people I spend the most time with at work. She got to meet Deb, Troy, Mike, and Alma; I also showed her a few of the things I've been working on, including my research project and some clinical reviews for our merchandising team.

After our tour, we headed down to Newport. The drive from my house to the southern part of Rhode Island was gorgeous. All of the trees are at their peak for changing colors... every shade of yellow, orange, red, and purple you can imagine. (Too hard to take a picture while you're in the car, though. It doesn't quite have the same effect.) It was a little on the cool side when we got there, but we are more of a cold weather family, so my mom and I didn't mind wearing a sweater (much better than being hot and sweaty!). We ate lunch at the Clam Jumper and walked around downtown Newport. My mom got me the cutest pair of cat eye sunglasses! (See below) I think I am going to wear them with a black dress to work on Friday in celebration of Halloween.

Aren't these adorable?

Cute idea: the Clam Jumper had Christmas lights in traps used to catch seafood

We also visited Aardvark Antiques, a unique salvage shop at the bottom of the ramp that you take to get to downtown Newport. I've always wanted to visit but never actually stopped. It is similar to White River Salvage in Indy, but they have a much larger selection of outdoor ornaments. They had every kind of statue you could imagine... animals (dolphins, bears, an alligator, birds to name a few), people (small children playing, jockeys, Roman goddesses), and ornament urns, columns, and vases.

They have all shapes and sizes of metal gates- I would love to use these in my house (well, I don't have a house yet, but when I do)

If I could have chosen one thing, this fountain would have definitely been it- I'm obsessed with lions

Here's Mom standing by a horse statue- it was beautiful and larger than life (literally)

There was a family of elephants (Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and baby bears)- I'm standing next to the Mama elephant

In the late afternoon, we went to tour the Breakers, one of the mansions on Newport. The Breakers was owned by the Vanderbilt family and used as a summer home up until the 1970's; it was sold to the Historical Preservation Society. The house is 138,000 square feet, has 70 rooms and 20 bathrooms, and the most beautiful sculptures, chandeliers, and marble tiling I have ever seen. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the house, but again, I'm not sure my photography would do it justice. A couple of my favorite parts of the house included the monogrammed navy and gold china, the marble walls in the game room, and the giant staircase. My mom liked Mrs. Vanderbilt's room and the chandeliers in the dining room. Another very unique feature was the open air living room on the second floor that overlooks the ocean- it was used for entertaining.

A light post outside the Breakers

A view of the back of the mansion

This is the view from the mansion looking out to the sea

Friday night we rented the movie Slumdog Millionaire. Neither of us had been able to watch it when it first came out, and I am so glad that we picked that movie. The story was amazing- really makes you realize how lucky you are. If you haven't seen it yet, watch it tonight! I'm also thinking about getting the soundtrack, but I'll listen to song clips on iTunes before I buy it.

On Saturday we drove to Boston to shop at our one of our favorite stores- Paper Source! I had written down some addresses and information on which subway lines to take. However, I didn't write down directions on how exactly to get to our number one destination. I was planning on using my phone to get last minute directions but that is a little hard if you leave your phone at home! I was happily surprised when we made it with little trouble. (Don't be fooled, though- I did get us turned around more than once when we were walking around the city- oops! Sorry Mom!)

Even though we had never been an actual store, we have been shopping online at Paper Source's website for more than a year. They have absolutely adorable gifts, craft kits, and the one of the best selections in color and size of paper for making your own invitations. (Right now my mom is making invitations for Tammy's son's wedding, which will be next August. My mom is so creative and talented! I think she should start her own business, but we can save that for another post.) We had so much fun looking at everything in the store- we spent almost 2 hours there! I got a couple sets of cards and invitations to personalize, along with these "expression notes" I've been eyeing for some time now.

After lunch we went to another stationary store in Boston, Rugg Road, and looked at their speciality papers and invitations for ideas. We got on the subway to head north, but right after the doors closed, the signs changed to "Out of Service." We ended up having to get off at the next stop and wait for another train, which we only took one stop further. It didn't seem like it was worth it, but I'm sure we went farther than what it felt like. After the subway experience, we went into the North End for a cannoli at Mike's Pastries.

Their cannolis are amazing!

We also visited Kitchen Arts on Newbury Street and found unique cookie cutters and small fondue dipping stations (I'm not sure what the correct term is, but I know this isn't right. It is almost like a birdbath on top and a tea light goes underneath to keep the fondue warm. I am so excited to use it!)

On Saturday night I made dinner for my Mom at home- Greek salads, red pepper hummus with toasted Wheat Thins, and fruit salad with dates. Nothing to write home about, but I think we were still full from the cannolis! We also looked through a book we got in Boston- Paperie for Inspired Living. The author makes absolutely gorgeous invitations, but the best feature of the book is all of the practical tips she gives.

On Sunday morning, we slept in (worn out from our day in Boston!), and then I made chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. We did a little bit of shopping in Nordstrom's at Providence Place Mall. If you are ever looking for nicer hair clips, barrettes, or headbands, they have a great selection. Although they cost just a bit more, the quality and designs make it worth the cost. After a late lunch, I took my Mom to the airport.

I am very thankful that I have such a great relationship with my Mom. It was so nice to spend time together, just the two of us, to catch up in person. We talk several times a week on the phone but that isn't the same as face-to-face. It did make me feel like more of an adult- it was my Mom's first overnight stay at one of her adult children's apartments/houses.

Thanks for a great weekend, Mom!

Happy Birthday, Erica!

Sorry it's late! Hope you had a great day! Eeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Can't wait to see you in a couple of weeks!

Happy Birthday, Troy!

Hope the strawberry cake turned out!

Happy Birthday, Lana!

Hope you are having a great day- wish I could be there to celebrate with you!

Looking forward to visiting you in NYC! Love you!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Hope you have a wonderful day... Looking forward to celebrating with you on Friday!