Monday, October 31, 2016
Monday, October 24, 2016
Tieks Review
*This is in no way an official review. Unless of course, Tieks sees it and wants to send me free shoes in exchange for a review. Then, I'm totally game!
So, I bought a pair of Tieks a few weeks ago and some people have asked me what I thought about them. I was pretty obsessed with them right away. The packaging was impeccable and they came with a handwritten note. I am a total sucker for good costumer service, so I was sold!
I wore them to work a few days and they were super comfortable. From day 1. They didn't rub at all and there were no blisters. I was amazed!
Then I took them to New York. This was the ultimate test run!
I wore them every day in New York. I'll be honest. They weren't like walking on clouds. My feet hurt at the end of the day, but after walking almost 17 miles, I think that my feet would have hurt in any shoe. It was mostly my heels that hurt from just standing and walking all day. And there were still no blisters or anything. I put them on the next day without hesitation.
After the trip to New York and the miles of walking, I can definitely endorse the Tieks without question. I am already looking to buy another pair! I'm just trying to decide between metallic bronze, green, or a fun pattern. I also really like the vegan greystone. So many options...
What do you think? Which should my next pair be?
So, I bought a pair of Tieks a few weeks ago and some people have asked me what I thought about them. I was pretty obsessed with them right away. The packaging was impeccable and they came with a handwritten note. I am a total sucker for good costumer service, so I was sold!
I wore them to work a few days and they were super comfortable. From day 1. They didn't rub at all and there were no blisters. I was amazed!
Then I took them to New York. This was the ultimate test run!
I wore them every day in New York. I'll be honest. They weren't like walking on clouds. My feet hurt at the end of the day, but after walking almost 17 miles, I think that my feet would have hurt in any shoe. It was mostly my heels that hurt from just standing and walking all day. And there were still no blisters or anything. I put them on the next day without hesitation.
After the trip to New York and the miles of walking, I can definitely endorse the Tieks without question. I am already looking to buy another pair! I'm just trying to decide between metallic bronze, green, or a fun pattern. I also really like the vegan greystone. So many options...
What do you think? Which should my next pair be?
Sunday, October 23, 2016
Sunday Smiles
{Source}
Return to the Lord your God for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.
- Joel 2:13
Thursday, October 20, 2016
30 x 30: Eat at a Michelin Star Restaurant
I talked about this briefly in my last post, but while we were in New York we planned to eat at Chef's Table in Brooklyn. We were not allowed to take pictures of the food, but they wouldn't have done it justice anyway. Neither will my description, but I'll try...
It was easily the best food that I've ever eaten. Easily. But it was so much more than the food. It was the entire dining experience. They have 2 staggered seatings a night- a 6 and 6:30 and a 9:30 and 10. Our reservation was for 9:30 and the website said to allow 2 1/2 hours for the dining experience so we knew it was going to be a late night. The restaurant is small. There is a single hollow square. 2 servers remained inside the entire time. Around 3 sides, there was seating for a total of 16 people. The fourth side was where they plated the food and the food was all cooked behind the fourth side so we could see everything being cooked and plated. The chef came around and introduced himself to each of us before then meal and then again periodically while we were eating to make sure that everything was satisfactory.
We had already paid for our dinner ahead of time, but the sommelier brought the drink menu for us to look over. (And by "menu," I mean book. There were so many options!) We were a little overwhelmed about which one to order, so she suggested a white burgundy to start. We shared a bottle of that and then each ordered a glass of red when the meats came. I wish I could tell you which red wine we got, but we asked the sommelier to bring us a glass of red and I have no idea what it was, but it was delicious.
There were 15 courses. Yes, 15! And everything was amazing! It was seriously all a work of art. The first course was a trout caviar. It was served on a mini puff pastry crust. Ha! That does not even begin to describe what it was. But as they were plating the food, there was someone that came behind with tweezers in case any of the caviar rolled off the pastry. Then they, of course, had to wipe the plate off afterwards. One course had flowers and I watched them hand-select each flower before delicately placing it on the plate.
I won't go through all the courses, but we ate caviar, sardine, langoustine, sea urchin, king crab, snapper, squab, beef tenderloin, pork wagu, huckleberry sorbet, caramel souffle, lemon tart, chocolate tart, milk chocolate with almond. I'm pretty sure that everything was "the best thing I've ever eaten!" My favorites were the langoustine ravioli and the beef tenderloin. If I had closed my eyes, I wouldn't have known that it was meat. It was that tender. It basically just melted in my mouth. The caramel souffle was probably my favorite dessert, although they were all incredible!
It was definitely the most expensive meal that I've ever eaten, but 100% worth it. It was, by far, the best meal I've ever had and I would totally do it all over again. If you ever get a chance to go, I definitely recommend it!
It was easily the best food that I've ever eaten. Easily. But it was so much more than the food. It was the entire dining experience. They have 2 staggered seatings a night- a 6 and 6:30 and a 9:30 and 10. Our reservation was for 9:30 and the website said to allow 2 1/2 hours for the dining experience so we knew it was going to be a late night. The restaurant is small. There is a single hollow square. 2 servers remained inside the entire time. Around 3 sides, there was seating for a total of 16 people. The fourth side was where they plated the food and the food was all cooked behind the fourth side so we could see everything being cooked and plated. The chef came around and introduced himself to each of us before then meal and then again periodically while we were eating to make sure that everything was satisfactory.
We had already paid for our dinner ahead of time, but the sommelier brought the drink menu for us to look over. (And by "menu," I mean book. There were so many options!) We were a little overwhelmed about which one to order, so she suggested a white burgundy to start. We shared a bottle of that and then each ordered a glass of red when the meats came. I wish I could tell you which red wine we got, but we asked the sommelier to bring us a glass of red and I have no idea what it was, but it was delicious.
There were 15 courses. Yes, 15! And everything was amazing! It was seriously all a work of art. The first course was a trout caviar. It was served on a mini puff pastry crust. Ha! That does not even begin to describe what it was. But as they were plating the food, there was someone that came behind with tweezers in case any of the caviar rolled off the pastry. Then they, of course, had to wipe the plate off afterwards. One course had flowers and I watched them hand-select each flower before delicately placing it on the plate.
I won't go through all the courses, but we ate caviar, sardine, langoustine, sea urchin, king crab, snapper, squab, beef tenderloin, pork wagu, huckleberry sorbet, caramel souffle, lemon tart, chocolate tart, milk chocolate with almond. I'm pretty sure that everything was "the best thing I've ever eaten!" My favorites were the langoustine ravioli and the beef tenderloin. If I had closed my eyes, I wouldn't have known that it was meat. It was that tender. It basically just melted in my mouth. The caramel souffle was probably my favorite dessert, although they were all incredible!
It was definitely the most expensive meal that I've ever eaten, but 100% worth it. It was, by far, the best meal I've ever had and I would totally do it all over again. If you ever get a chance to go, I definitely recommend it!
Monday, October 17, 2016
New York, New York
Megan, my friend from college, and I went to New York a few weeks ago. First of all, let me just say that I absolutely fell in love and now I want to move there- immediately! This was my third trip to New York, but this time just felt different. I think it's because we didn't as much tourist stuff this time. I don't love doing all the tourist attractions. I would much rather see the city as a local and I think that this trip, more than the previous ones, was more local and less tourist.
We left Nashville at 6:30 on Thursday morning, which was ROUGH- especially considering that I had driven to Nashville after work the day before and was already tired. Waking up at 4 was no fun, but I slept most of the plane ride and my adrenaline carried me through the day. The good thing about leaving so early, is that we touched down in New York at 9:30 and had the whole day ahead of us.
After we landed and got our bags, we bought a MetroCard and caught the bus to the Subway. Then we took the train into Grand Central. It is on 42nd and our hotel was on 48th so we walked the 6 (short) blocks to the hotel. Check-in wasn't until 3, so we were just planning to drop our luggage off with the doorman and come back later, but they let us check in early! We went up to our room early and freshened up and then were on the hunt for food.
We walked around a little bit and at one point were (inadvertently) followed by the Secret Service. The United Nations General Assembly was there the same time we were, so there was always lots of Secret Service around. The delegates from Germany and Cyprus were staying in the hotel next door, so we passed their cars everyday. The delegates from the Congo were staying at our hotel and one night there was a reception for the President of Namibia!
Anyway, we found a little hidden ramen bar for lunch and it was delicious! We also laughed at the people sitting next to us who, I assume, were on their lunch break. They, at one time, compared New Jersey to California. Megan and I are fairly certain that they have never been to California...
After that, we decided to venture of to MoMA. It's one of my favorites so I was excited to start off our trip and our museums with this one. It was entertaining as always. There was an exhibit by Bruce Conner. It was just weird! It made me want to do more research on him- and maybe write a research paper about him. And about the link between artists and mental illness...
It was later than we thought when we left MoMA. We had dinner reservations, but not until late so we thought we might want a snack. We took the train to the Lower West Side, walked around Lincoln Center and then went for drinks and appetizers at the Empire Hotel. In true tourist fashion, I ordered the Chuck Bass and it was delicious!
After the Empire, we went back to the hotel and showered and changed for dinner. We had reservations at Chef's Table in Brooklyn. It was on my 30-by-30 list and was the best meal that I've ever eaten. It gets its own post, so stay tuned. We didn't leave the restaurant until after midnight so we took some pictures to keep ourselves occupied while waiting for the train.
Friday
We slept in Friday morning- much later than we planned, but Thursday had been a long day. While getting ready, we looked over the map and tentatively planned the day. We got coffee and took the train to the Museum at FIT. We got there early. It didn't open for another 15 minutes so we sat on a bench and pretended to be students. We watched the photography students working on shoots and practicing their lighting and angles. Then the museum opened. There was a really interesting exhibit on the evolution of the uniform. It showcased school uniforms and uniforms for work, the military, and sports. It also showed how designers had gotten inspiration from different kinds of uniforms to design high-end fashion. So fun!
When we left FIT, we headed over to Madison Square Park. We were going to go to another museum, but were hungry so we decided on lunch first and, of course, we had to have Shake Shack. The burgers were amazing and the weather was perfect for a parkside picnic!
When we finished eating, we headed across the street to the Museum of Math. When I saw this on the map, I knew that I wanted to go check it out. I thought it was going to be a typical museum about mathematicians and stuff and I was really excited about it, but then we got there and it was even better than I expected. It was interactive! We spent hours playing around on all the different exhibits. We did puzzles and played with 3D shapes and created patterns. It was awesome!
After we had finished playing, we took the train to Times Square. I took one obligatory tourist pic and then when got in the TKTS line. The line wasn't bad. It actually moved pretty fast, but if you're going to do this, I recommend going to a different TKTS booth. This is definitely the slowest one. But since I didn't want touristy things, this was our only time in Times Square.
While waiting in line, I started to get a migraine. That's when I realized that I hadn't really had any water today. The migraine just got worse and after we got our tickets, we headed back to the hotel. I took some medicine, chugged a bottle of water and then lied down to take a nap. We both slept for about an hour. When I woke up, I attempted to sit up but my head was still pounding so Megan got up and started getting ready for the night while I drank some more water and lied back down. I finally forced myself to get up and took some more medicine.
We walked back towards Times Square and found some classic New York style pizza. Then we headed to the theatre for Chicago. It was a small theatre and felt very intimate. The actors interacted well with the audience. It was so good! After the show, we walked the long way back to the hotel enjoying the weather and looking at the city at night.
Saturday
We woke up earlier on Saturday, ready to tackle the day! Thankfully, because this was a busy day! We went all over. I felt like we rode the train a lot today, but when we got back to the hotel, my phone said that we had walked almost 17 miles! We started the day the same way we did every day... coffee! I also made sure to grab a bottle of water from the hotel before we left today! We took the train down to the Highline. The Highline is an old railroad line that has been converted to a walking path. It was so peaceful up there and had great views.
The Highline ended in the meat packing district and we grabbed hot dogs from a street vendor for lunch. When in Rome...! Then we started walking downtown. We walked to the West Village and I immediately fell in love. We passed the park and the farmer's market and then the brownstones. This is when I decided that I wanted to move to New York! It was its own little adorable (expensive) town here! We also found $2.89 mimosas so we obviously had to stop!
After our mimosas, we headed down to SoHo to meet my friend from high school for ice cream. She and her husband live in Brooklyn and they had been in SoHo for brunch so we met her for ice cream. It was a quick trip, but so fun to catch up!
Then we did a quick walk through Little Italy and Chinatown to the train. We said bye to Chelsy and she headed back to Brooklyn and we went downtown to the World Trade Center memorial. It was kind of surreal to be there. The last time I was there was in March 2003- 18 months after 9/11. There was scaffolding up and pictures of missing loved ones. Now there was a huge memorial. It was a solemn moment.
As we were leaving, we saw a group of people taking a picture with some cops. We stopped to watch for a second and they asked if we would take some pictures for me so we obliged. After the pictures, we talked to them for a little while. The "tourists" were police officers from Virginia that had been at the Pentagon on 9/11. What a special connection!
After the photos, we jumped on the train to the Statue of Liberty. We didn't take any of the ferries or anything. I couldn't be that much of a tourist, but we did take pictures from the shore. Then we sat down in the grass and hung out for a little while like we just do this all the time.
We left at the perfect time. Apparently the ferries were about to stop running and everyone that works down there gets super pushy about trying to sale tickets before closing! We narrowly escaped! We jumped on a train back up town and made our way to The Met.
We walked through an exhibit or two before making our way up to the roof for a drink. We didn't plan it this way, but it worked out perfectly that we made it to the rooftop right at sunset. It was gorgeous! We also conveniently (and unplanned) were there during the Global Citizens concert. So our evening ended up consisting of drinking wine on the rooftop of The Met at sunset while listening to Ellie Goulding perform in Central Park. New York perfection!
When we left The Met it was dinner time. We decided to walk through the Upper East Side to a Mexican restaurant that someone had recommended. Yum! We discovered that drinks in New York are expensive and these margaritas were no exception. But they were strong! I think that makes up for the price. And we figured that they can make drinks in New York stronger because no one is driving. Also, guac!
We walked for a little while after dinner before taking the train back to our hotel. We decided that Sunday was our catch up day so we laid the map out on our bed and made a list of all the places that we still wanted to go see.
Sunday
I wanted to go back to the West Village again because I was seriously obsessed. Megan appeased me and we headed back to the WV. We walked up and down the streets again while I looked for places for rent and then we ate lunch at a cute little sushi place.
For some reason, I cannot remember the order that we did things in this day. I know what we did, but not when. Oh well! We walked around Gramercy and NYU. We went by Kleinfeld's and tried to decide who was there for an appointment and who were just tourists wanting a photo op.
We went to Bryant Park. I wish we had more time there. I would have loved to hang out in the "Reading Room" for a while- just sit at a picnic table under the trees and read a book. There is also a cute little game area with lots of tabletop games. So fun!
After Bryant Park, we checked out the NY public library. It was gorgeous! I loved all the architecture. You can't actually check books out here- except for the children's section. We walked down there to look around. They had the original characters from Winnie the Pooh on display. It was awesome. There were also children down there exploring and checking out books so pictures were not allowed. When we left the library, they were doing a photoshoot on the front steps. We stood around and watched for a little while before making our way to the train.
We rode up to Washington Heights to check out Columbia. It's beautiful there! You are just walking along the streets of New York, but when you enter the gates on to the quad, it feels very secluded. We walked around a little bit and then sat on the steps of the library pretending like we were students and reminiscing about college. Then we took a stereotypical sorority picture where our sorority first started!
After that, it was dessert time. First we went to Lady M on the Upper East Side for a great local flare. Iced coffee and a chocolate raspberry bar cake. Yum! Then for a total juxtaposition, we went to Serendipity 3 for the total tourist experience. Both were amazing in their own way, but if I have to choose, I pick local! Every time.
We headed back to the hotel after our double desserts. We hung out for a little bit and got ready for dinner. We had passed Rockefeller Plaza earlier in the week and decided to check out dinner there. And it was the perfect night too. Our waitress told us that it was the final night of the Rock Center Cafe. She said that when they closed that night, they were packing everything up. Ice skating starts soon! The weather was amazing. The music was great. The food and drinks were delicious. It was the perfect ending to a fabulous trip!
Monday we packed up our stuff to head back South. It was a sad trip back home. I was definitely not ready to leave. Megan randomly knew our flight attendant though so we got free wine. That made coming home a little bit easier.
It was a great trip. The perfect mix of local and tourist. And a great girls trip to catch up with Megan. I fell in love with the city, so if anyone wants to go back, let me know. I'm 100% game! And I may have already started looking for jobs in New York, just in case...
Sorry this was so long. I wanted to get it all out so I could remember. And I didn't want to split it up into 2 posts.
We left Nashville at 6:30 on Thursday morning, which was ROUGH- especially considering that I had driven to Nashville after work the day before and was already tired. Waking up at 4 was no fun, but I slept most of the plane ride and my adrenaline carried me through the day. The good thing about leaving so early, is that we touched down in New York at 9:30 and had the whole day ahead of us.
After we landed and got our bags, we bought a MetroCard and caught the bus to the Subway. Then we took the train into Grand Central. It is on 42nd and our hotel was on 48th so we walked the 6 (short) blocks to the hotel. Check-in wasn't until 3, so we were just planning to drop our luggage off with the doorman and come back later, but they let us check in early! We went up to our room early and freshened up and then were on the hunt for food.
We walked around a little bit and at one point were (inadvertently) followed by the Secret Service. The United Nations General Assembly was there the same time we were, so there was always lots of Secret Service around. The delegates from Germany and Cyprus were staying in the hotel next door, so we passed their cars everyday. The delegates from the Congo were staying at our hotel and one night there was a reception for the President of Namibia!
Anyway, we found a little hidden ramen bar for lunch and it was delicious! We also laughed at the people sitting next to us who, I assume, were on their lunch break. They, at one time, compared New Jersey to California. Megan and I are fairly certain that they have never been to California...
After that, we decided to venture of to MoMA. It's one of my favorites so I was excited to start off our trip and our museums with this one. It was entertaining as always. There was an exhibit by Bruce Conner. It was just weird! It made me want to do more research on him- and maybe write a research paper about him. And about the link between artists and mental illness...
It was later than we thought when we left MoMA. We had dinner reservations, but not until late so we thought we might want a snack. We took the train to the Lower West Side, walked around Lincoln Center and then went for drinks and appetizers at the Empire Hotel. In true tourist fashion, I ordered the Chuck Bass and it was delicious!
After the Empire, we went back to the hotel and showered and changed for dinner. We had reservations at Chef's Table in Brooklyn. It was on my 30-by-30 list and was the best meal that I've ever eaten. It gets its own post, so stay tuned. We didn't leave the restaurant until after midnight so we took some pictures to keep ourselves occupied while waiting for the train.
Friday
We slept in Friday morning- much later than we planned, but Thursday had been a long day. While getting ready, we looked over the map and tentatively planned the day. We got coffee and took the train to the Museum at FIT. We got there early. It didn't open for another 15 minutes so we sat on a bench and pretended to be students. We watched the photography students working on shoots and practicing their lighting and angles. Then the museum opened. There was a really interesting exhibit on the evolution of the uniform. It showcased school uniforms and uniforms for work, the military, and sports. It also showed how designers had gotten inspiration from different kinds of uniforms to design high-end fashion. So fun!
When we left FIT, we headed over to Madison Square Park. We were going to go to another museum, but were hungry so we decided on lunch first and, of course, we had to have Shake Shack. The burgers were amazing and the weather was perfect for a parkside picnic!
When we finished eating, we headed across the street to the Museum of Math. When I saw this on the map, I knew that I wanted to go check it out. I thought it was going to be a typical museum about mathematicians and stuff and I was really excited about it, but then we got there and it was even better than I expected. It was interactive! We spent hours playing around on all the different exhibits. We did puzzles and played with 3D shapes and created patterns. It was awesome!
After we had finished playing, we took the train to Times Square. I took one obligatory tourist pic and then when got in the TKTS line. The line wasn't bad. It actually moved pretty fast, but if you're going to do this, I recommend going to a different TKTS booth. This is definitely the slowest one. But since I didn't want touristy things, this was our only time in Times Square.
While waiting in line, I started to get a migraine. That's when I realized that I hadn't really had any water today. The migraine just got worse and after we got our tickets, we headed back to the hotel. I took some medicine, chugged a bottle of water and then lied down to take a nap. We both slept for about an hour. When I woke up, I attempted to sit up but my head was still pounding so Megan got up and started getting ready for the night while I drank some more water and lied back down. I finally forced myself to get up and took some more medicine.
We walked back towards Times Square and found some classic New York style pizza. Then we headed to the theatre for Chicago. It was a small theatre and felt very intimate. The actors interacted well with the audience. It was so good! After the show, we walked the long way back to the hotel enjoying the weather and looking at the city at night.
Saturday
We woke up earlier on Saturday, ready to tackle the day! Thankfully, because this was a busy day! We went all over. I felt like we rode the train a lot today, but when we got back to the hotel, my phone said that we had walked almost 17 miles! We started the day the same way we did every day... coffee! I also made sure to grab a bottle of water from the hotel before we left today! We took the train down to the Highline. The Highline is an old railroad line that has been converted to a walking path. It was so peaceful up there and had great views.
The Highline ended in the meat packing district and we grabbed hot dogs from a street vendor for lunch. When in Rome...! Then we started walking downtown. We walked to the West Village and I immediately fell in love. We passed the park and the farmer's market and then the brownstones. This is when I decided that I wanted to move to New York! It was its own little adorable (expensive) town here! We also found $2.89 mimosas so we obviously had to stop!
After our mimosas, we headed down to SoHo to meet my friend from high school for ice cream. She and her husband live in Brooklyn and they had been in SoHo for brunch so we met her for ice cream. It was a quick trip, but so fun to catch up!
Then we did a quick walk through Little Italy and Chinatown to the train. We said bye to Chelsy and she headed back to Brooklyn and we went downtown to the World Trade Center memorial. It was kind of surreal to be there. The last time I was there was in March 2003- 18 months after 9/11. There was scaffolding up and pictures of missing loved ones. Now there was a huge memorial. It was a solemn moment.
As we were leaving, we saw a group of people taking a picture with some cops. We stopped to watch for a second and they asked if we would take some pictures for me so we obliged. After the pictures, we talked to them for a little while. The "tourists" were police officers from Virginia that had been at the Pentagon on 9/11. What a special connection!
After the photos, we jumped on the train to the Statue of Liberty. We didn't take any of the ferries or anything. I couldn't be that much of a tourist, but we did take pictures from the shore. Then we sat down in the grass and hung out for a little while like we just do this all the time.
We left at the perfect time. Apparently the ferries were about to stop running and everyone that works down there gets super pushy about trying to sale tickets before closing! We narrowly escaped! We jumped on a train back up town and made our way to The Met.
We walked through an exhibit or two before making our way up to the roof for a drink. We didn't plan it this way, but it worked out perfectly that we made it to the rooftop right at sunset. It was gorgeous! We also conveniently (and unplanned) were there during the Global Citizens concert. So our evening ended up consisting of drinking wine on the rooftop of The Met at sunset while listening to Ellie Goulding perform in Central Park. New York perfection!
When we left The Met it was dinner time. We decided to walk through the Upper East Side to a Mexican restaurant that someone had recommended. Yum! We discovered that drinks in New York are expensive and these margaritas were no exception. But they were strong! I think that makes up for the price. And we figured that they can make drinks in New York stronger because no one is driving. Also, guac!
We walked for a little while after dinner before taking the train back to our hotel. We decided that Sunday was our catch up day so we laid the map out on our bed and made a list of all the places that we still wanted to go see.
Sunday
I wanted to go back to the West Village again because I was seriously obsessed. Megan appeased me and we headed back to the WV. We walked up and down the streets again while I looked for places for rent and then we ate lunch at a cute little sushi place.
For some reason, I cannot remember the order that we did things in this day. I know what we did, but not when. Oh well! We walked around Gramercy and NYU. We went by Kleinfeld's and tried to decide who was there for an appointment and who were just tourists wanting a photo op.
We went to Bryant Park. I wish we had more time there. I would have loved to hang out in the "Reading Room" for a while- just sit at a picnic table under the trees and read a book. There is also a cute little game area with lots of tabletop games. So fun!
After Bryant Park, we checked out the NY public library. It was gorgeous! I loved all the architecture. You can't actually check books out here- except for the children's section. We walked down there to look around. They had the original characters from Winnie the Pooh on display. It was awesome. There were also children down there exploring and checking out books so pictures were not allowed. When we left the library, they were doing a photoshoot on the front steps. We stood around and watched for a little while before making our way to the train.
We rode up to Washington Heights to check out Columbia. It's beautiful there! You are just walking along the streets of New York, but when you enter the gates on to the quad, it feels very secluded. We walked around a little bit and then sat on the steps of the library pretending like we were students and reminiscing about college. Then we took a stereotypical sorority picture where our sorority first started!
After that, it was dessert time. First we went to Lady M on the Upper East Side for a great local flare. Iced coffee and a chocolate raspberry bar cake. Yum! Then for a total juxtaposition, we went to Serendipity 3 for the total tourist experience. Both were amazing in their own way, but if I have to choose, I pick local! Every time.
We headed back to the hotel after our double desserts. We hung out for a little bit and got ready for dinner. We had passed Rockefeller Plaza earlier in the week and decided to check out dinner there. And it was the perfect night too. Our waitress told us that it was the final night of the Rock Center Cafe. She said that when they closed that night, they were packing everything up. Ice skating starts soon! The weather was amazing. The music was great. The food and drinks were delicious. It was the perfect ending to a fabulous trip!
Monday we packed up our stuff to head back South. It was a sad trip back home. I was definitely not ready to leave. Megan randomly knew our flight attendant though so we got free wine. That made coming home a little bit easier.
It was a great trip. The perfect mix of local and tourist. And a great girls trip to catch up with Megan. I fell in love with the city, so if anyone wants to go back, let me know. I'm 100% game! And I may have already started looking for jobs in New York, just in case...
Sorry this was so long. I wanted to get it all out so I could remember. And I didn't want to split it up into 2 posts.
Sunday, October 16, 2016
Sunday Smiles
Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You. Show me the way I should go, for to You I entrust my life.
- Psalm 143:8
Saturday, October 15, 2016
Day in the Life, Fall 2016
Well, I decided to link up with Julia at My Life in Transition for another Day in the Life. I have linked up with her once before. You can read that post here. I have also done DiTL posts when I was working 7-on/7-off. I did a work day and an at-home day.
For those of you that found me from Julia's blog, welcome! I'm probably not Julia's typical blog reader. I'm 30. And single (in the South). Feel free to offer your opinions on that. Everyone else does. :) I am a nurse practitioner with a group of internal medicine hospitalists at a teaching hospital. I documented a "typical" Tuesday...
4:05 am | My alarm goes off. Some days it's easier to get up than others. This is not one of those days. I push snooze and try to roll back over.
4:14 am | Alarm is going off again. I can't delay it any longer. I roll out of bed and go straight to the kitchen to turn on the coffee maker. While I'm waiting on the coffee, I make my bed, brush my teeth, and check some emails. Then I get my coffee and just sit and stare for a little while. I drink some coffee while I look over the Bible verses for this morning.
4:35 am | Alright. I have been sitting long enough. Time to get up and get dressed. Throw on some makeup and top off my coffee.
4:59 am | Leave my house. I'm running late, but thankfully I only live 0.8 miles away. Make it to Starbucks for Bible study at 5:01!
Yes, I bring my own coffee. a) I don't like Starbucks coffee that much and b) I'm cheap and don't want to pay for coffee every week when I have it at my house...
6:15 am | Leave the Bucks. Get in the car and turn on the heat. Why is it so cold ?! (I didn't take a picture, but I think that it was like 58 degrees. I live in the South. I'm a baby about cold). It's that weird time of year when it's "cold" in the morning and I want a sweater, but by the time I leave work it's 90 degrees!
Run by the post office to drop off my Netflix DVD and go across the street to get gas. Yay for 20 cent discounts!
I have been so productive this morning! But it is too early for all this...
6:35 am | Get to work. I think it takes me longer to park in the garage and walkto my office than it does to actually drive here. I print lists for the day and look over the patients. Then I try to get caught up on some dictation that I am behind on.
7:30 am | I have a student with me today and she meets me in the office and I talk to her about some of the patients.
7:45 am | Realize that I've been up for hours and am starting to get hungry. Check out the snack closet. I should choose something semi-healthy like oatmeal, but instead I grab a poptart.
Meet with the case manager and social worker to talk about the patients and what they will need for discharge. Then go run the list with the doc that I'm working with this week. It takes forever because we both keep getting paged about patients on the floor needing things and new patients in the ED waiting to be admitted.
8:45 am | Finally get out to the floor and start seeing patients. I try to write notes as I go so I don't get overwhelmed at the end of the day. And trying to teach my student a little something along the way.
12:45 pm | Head down to lunch with some of the group. Enjoy sitting and doing nothing for a while. And surprisingly make it through lunch without getting a single page!
1:30 pm | Back out to the floor to see more patients.
3:30 pm | Finished! Love early days! Time to leave the office.
3:50 pm | Home sweet home! Try to decide if I want to take a nap or work on this post some.
3:53 pm | Get a page from one of the social workers on the floor. (I'm technically "on call" from 6:30a-6:30p until the covering doc takes over). Doesn't look like I'm going to get a nap in today. Grab a Diet Sunkist and my computer to put in some orders. Turn on Friends and start this blog post.
4:40 pm | Realize what time it is. Change out of work clothes and into jeans.
5 pm | Therapy. I've been seeing my therapist for about 2 years now and she's amazing! Also, I recommend therapy to everyone. It's nice to have a neutral party to talk to and offer another opinion. I only see her once a month now but it's always so good!
6:05 pm | Leave therapy and head to the grocery store. I try to be an efficient shopper. I keep an ongoing grocery list on my phone at all times. I add to it as I think of things that I need. Then I put them in order based on where they are in the store.
As I'm checking out, I see a girl getting in line that's buying a bottle of wine and a gallon of milk. At least she has her priorities in line. :)
6:45 pm | Get home from the grocery store and put food away. Wash all the fruit and put it in separate containers. I try to do all of this ahead of time so that it will make it easier. I'm much more likely to grab a handful of grapes when I'm hungry if they are already washed and off the vine.
7 pm | Work on this blog a little more. Check on patients again. Freshen up my makeup.
7:20 pm | A friend picks me up to go to dinner.
7:30 pm | We meet 2 other friends at Babalu. These are all nursing friends, that have actually been my students in the past. One of them is married, but doesn't have any kids and the others are single. (Tomorrow, I'm going to dinner with friends from high school. They are all married- and have 5 kids between them. It will be a very different dinner than tonight...) Dinner is a lot of fun though. We talk about work and doctors and dating. I have my favorite drink here, a shine-a-rita. It's a margarita- with moonshine and it's delicious! We also ordered the guacamole that is made fresh, tableside. I planned to take a picture, but we inhaled it before I could...
9:30 pm | We leave dinner. The friend that I rode with asked if I wanted to meet up with her husband and his friend to hang out for a little while. I laugh. I'm exhausted and just want to go home!
9:40 pm | Home from dinner. I turn on This is Us, which might be my new favorite show that's on right now. I start it, but keep dozing off on the couch.
10 pm | I finally give up on trying to watch TV. Change into pajamas and brush my teeth. Optimistically, I want to go to the gym tomorrow morning before work so I pack a bag and lay out clothes. Then I crawl into bed, exhausted!
For those of you that found me from Julia's blog, welcome! I'm probably not Julia's typical blog reader. I'm 30. And single (in the South). Feel free to offer your opinions on that. Everyone else does. :) I am a nurse practitioner with a group of internal medicine hospitalists at a teaching hospital. I documented a "typical" Tuesday...
4:05 am | My alarm goes off. Some days it's easier to get up than others. This is not one of those days. I push snooze and try to roll back over.
4:14 am | Alarm is going off again. I can't delay it any longer. I roll out of bed and go straight to the kitchen to turn on the coffee maker. While I'm waiting on the coffee, I make my bed, brush my teeth, and check some emails. Then I get my coffee and just sit and stare for a little while. I drink some coffee while I look over the Bible verses for this morning.
4:35 am | Alright. I have been sitting long enough. Time to get up and get dressed. Throw on some makeup and top off my coffee.
4:59 am | Leave my house. I'm running late, but thankfully I only live 0.8 miles away. Make it to Starbucks for Bible study at 5:01!
Yes, I bring my own coffee. a) I don't like Starbucks coffee that much and b) I'm cheap and don't want to pay for coffee every week when I have it at my house...
6:15 am | Leave the Bucks. Get in the car and turn on the heat. Why is it so cold ?! (I didn't take a picture, but I think that it was like 58 degrees. I live in the South. I'm a baby about cold). It's that weird time of year when it's "cold" in the morning and I want a sweater, but by the time I leave work it's 90 degrees!
Run by the post office to drop off my Netflix DVD and go across the street to get gas. Yay for 20 cent discounts!
I have been so productive this morning! But it is too early for all this...
6:35 am | Get to work. I think it takes me longer to park in the garage and walkto my office than it does to actually drive here. I print lists for the day and look over the patients. Then I try to get caught up on some dictation that I am behind on.
7:30 am | I have a student with me today and she meets me in the office and I talk to her about some of the patients.
7:45 am | Realize that I've been up for hours and am starting to get hungry. Check out the snack closet. I should choose something semi-healthy like oatmeal, but instead I grab a poptart.
Meet with the case manager and social worker to talk about the patients and what they will need for discharge. Then go run the list with the doc that I'm working with this week. It takes forever because we both keep getting paged about patients on the floor needing things and new patients in the ED waiting to be admitted.
8:45 am | Finally get out to the floor and start seeing patients. I try to write notes as I go so I don't get overwhelmed at the end of the day. And trying to teach my student a little something along the way.
12:45 pm | Head down to lunch with some of the group. Enjoy sitting and doing nothing for a while. And surprisingly make it through lunch without getting a single page!
1:30 pm | Back out to the floor to see more patients.
3:30 pm | Finished! Love early days! Time to leave the office.
3:50 pm | Home sweet home! Try to decide if I want to take a nap or work on this post some.
3:53 pm | Get a page from one of the social workers on the floor. (I'm technically "on call" from 6:30a-6:30p until the covering doc takes over). Doesn't look like I'm going to get a nap in today. Grab a Diet Sunkist and my computer to put in some orders. Turn on Friends and start this blog post.
4:40 pm | Realize what time it is. Change out of work clothes and into jeans.
5 pm | Therapy. I've been seeing my therapist for about 2 years now and she's amazing! Also, I recommend therapy to everyone. It's nice to have a neutral party to talk to and offer another opinion. I only see her once a month now but it's always so good!
6:05 pm | Leave therapy and head to the grocery store. I try to be an efficient shopper. I keep an ongoing grocery list on my phone at all times. I add to it as I think of things that I need. Then I put them in order based on where they are in the store.
As I'm checking out, I see a girl getting in line that's buying a bottle of wine and a gallon of milk. At least she has her priorities in line. :)
6:45 pm | Get home from the grocery store and put food away. Wash all the fruit and put it in separate containers. I try to do all of this ahead of time so that it will make it easier. I'm much more likely to grab a handful of grapes when I'm hungry if they are already washed and off the vine.
7 pm | Work on this blog a little more. Check on patients again. Freshen up my makeup.
7:20 pm | A friend picks me up to go to dinner.
7:30 pm | We meet 2 other friends at Babalu. These are all nursing friends, that have actually been my students in the past. One of them is married, but doesn't have any kids and the others are single. (Tomorrow, I'm going to dinner with friends from high school. They are all married- and have 5 kids between them. It will be a very different dinner than tonight...) Dinner is a lot of fun though. We talk about work and doctors and dating. I have my favorite drink here, a shine-a-rita. It's a margarita- with moonshine and it's delicious! We also ordered the guacamole that is made fresh, tableside. I planned to take a picture, but we inhaled it before I could...
9:30 pm | We leave dinner. The friend that I rode with asked if I wanted to meet up with her husband and his friend to hang out for a little while. I laugh. I'm exhausted and just want to go home!
9:40 pm | Home from dinner. I turn on This is Us, which might be my new favorite show that's on right now. I start it, but keep dozing off on the couch.
10 pm | I finally give up on trying to watch TV. Change into pajamas and brush my teeth. Optimistically, I want to go to the gym tomorrow morning before work so I pack a bag and lay out clothes. Then I crawl into bed, exhausted!
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