Where have I been?!

Well, I'll tell you :) I've been doing this:

Seriously!! Planning a wedding is like a full time job!! I mean, it IS the full time job of some people. The whole wedding industry is just completely out of control. It's sad how commerical and how capitalizing it has become. A wedding takes on a life of its own. It was never my intention to have a BIG wedding. I honestly never even thought I'd get married, but here I am...planning a 200 person wedding. Preston and I know WAY too many people :D But, there are worse things than that. Oh, poor me...I have soooo many loved ones ;)

I am embracing the wedding. It's a lot of work, but it's also a lot of fun. What other time is your life is celebrated with nearly ALL your family and friends? (I mean, they all gather for your funeral I guess...but that's just morbid and fingers crossed not all that celebratory). It's kind of cool. Expensive, but cool. 

Preston has been a big help, which is great too :)

Addressing Save the Dates or as I like to call them: "STDs" :D

I never thought I'd put so much thought into things like forks. FORKS!! Do you know that to rent forks in my hometown it is 45 cents? 45 cents for every. single. fork, knife, spoon, dish, water glass, beer glass, wine glass. FORTY FIVE CENTS. That doesn't sound like a lot, but when you factor in that these items won't be washed throughout the event and that you are having 200 people in attendance...suddenly you are spending a thousand dollars on forks. Well not ALL forks, but you get the picture. Anyway, I don't think so!!

These seem pretty awesome and go well with my casual/outdoor theme. Also, you can get over TWO THOUSAND of them for the price of renting 200 forks ;) 

Not letting my lack of creative skills stop me, I put my pinterest stalking to use and made these for my NINE bridesmaids. This took me forever :) Seriously, I am not crafty...I had paint EVERYWHERE. 

Thanks Mer!! I can't believe I didn't take a picture of all 9 laid out!!

It was all worth it. I want these girls to know how special they are to me and how much they enrich my life!!

Annnndddd Pres got a new ride!! His old Rhonda the Honda finally went to that big highway in the sky. His new whip? A 30 year old Mercedes!! Hehe!! His transition into an old man is now complete!!

Until next time...let's be realistic, until next month... :D

Memories

Today was such a great day. Some of my fondest childhood memories are the few times I spent in the West with my cousins. 

I'm closer to my cousins than most people and this is something I wouldn't trade. My mom raised her sister after their mother died. What was an awful loss for them became a gain for me, in a way, because it has made my aunt more like a second mother to me. I even grew up calling her Mom Mary:) 

My Aunt and Uncle are such cool people and they've raised some cool people too. I got to relive some of these favorite memories today for about an hour on a beautiful hike in Colorado, driving around sightseeing all together in the car, and laughing at lunch with some of my favorite people in the world. 

I am such an incredibly lucky girl. 

My Ode to THE 405

It occurred to me last night (while driving home from my friend Meredith's after eating copious amounts of vegan Thai food) that I have a favorite freeway. This seems like a ridiculous notion, but then...I do live in Los Angeles; a city where freeways get so much respect that everyone puts a THE in front of the number. How do you get to Northern California? THE 5 North. How do you get to Vegas? THE 10 to THE 15. Duh.

I grew up near DC and highways were just "270" or "495". These highways are, apparently, not worthy of the "THE" designation. Honestly, when I go home now...most of the highways seem sort of like a joke. The main road from Frederick (my hometown) to DC is 2 lanes for part of the way. TWO lanes? Seriously?? That's crazy to me. Freeways here (what is the difference between a highway and a freeway?? I feel like NO ONE in Maryland refers to anything as a Freeway) are like 8 lanes...and that's still not enough. The best part about drivers in LA is that they use ALL 8 lanes to block traffic by going 40mph rather than 65. The only way to maintain a constant speed is to dangerously swerve in and out of ALL 8 lanes. And if you don't want to get looked at like an alien...then do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT refer to the carpool lane as the "HOV". No one knows what that means. (I mean, but seriously...what alien on the east coast thought up "High Occupancy Vehicle??")  The carpool lane in LA is 24hrs a day 7 days a week...you may anot exit the lane at your choosing...you must wait until a break in the double yellow line. You can and will get trapped in the carpool lane. You, also, cannot ride in it by yourself just because it is not rush hour...because in LA..it is ALWAYS rush hour.   The last time I landed at like 11pm and saw long trails of brake lights...I knew I was home.

So, last night on my drive back to Long Beach from MDR (like, oh my God...Marinahhhh del Rheayyy)...I got to thinking...I really just love THE 405. It's my most favorite freeway. It's glorious in its size. The lanes are luxurious. The road is so bumpy that you almost always think there is something terribly wrong with your car. Sometimes, you can see downtown LA if the smog clears enough and planes fly right over you to land at LAX.

It's like a little piece of heaven on Earth :P

UMAMI

Out to lunch :)

I almost never go out to lunch. It's pretty normal where I work...people just hang here and eat at their desks or in the break room. This basically means that I eat for a VERY interrupted 20 mins or so while trying to catch up on my blog reading. I'm just in the habit of not going out to lunch...in fact, I look forward to my free Internet time every day. Eating in every day also saves money.

That being said...it's REALLY nice to get out and treat myself now and again. I spend all day under the fluorescent lights of a lab, so it's nice to see that weird shiny thing in the sky and get some vitamin D. 

Urban escape at The Camp

Today my coworkers took me out on the town in Costa Mesa. I don't spend very much of my free time in Orange County. I work here all week and when work is over...I just want to head home back across the line into LA. And weekends? Well, something about the thought of driving to where I work on a weekend...you get me, I'm sure :P

As I was saying...my very hip and savvy coworkers showed me what I've been missing. Lynh and Rami took me to a really cool area not far from our lab called "The Camp". It is soooooooooo hipster, but soooooooo awesome. The Camp is a little urban escape disguised as a shopping center. You sort of feel like you wandered into Portland. There are vegan restaurants and co-op stores and Patagonia!! :P It's a small piece of paradise in the concrete jungle of Costa Mesa. It even felt a little cooler amongst the pines and just maybe it smelled like rain. Ok, not the rain part, but I felt the instant need to don a flannel and some hiking boots.  There were fire pits and a hammock to enjoy while you waited for a table at whichever tasty restaurant you'd chosen to visit.

All the parking spaces had messages :D

We chose Umami burger. It's kind of a thing and I've never been. Umami is (apparently) the fifth taste...translation it's the taste of MSG ;) Whatever we say!! When in fake Portland...

We all ordered the umami burger and thin fries. It. was. divine. Even the ketchup was amazing!! (it's homemade). Everything had a very distinct and enjoyable flavor. The burger was cooked just right and was pretty no nonsense aside from a crispy Parmesan sort of cracker that sat atop its grilled perfection. Yum. 

Ah-mazing.

Ps. I'm not a very good vegan...but hey, Lent is over and I'm pretty meat free most days ;)

Friends

I am an insanely lucky girl. Why, you ask? Well, I'll tell you. I have really wonderful and supportive friends.  These are the kind of friends that a girl needs at all points of life...both happy and sad. I try to be a good and loyal friend and I like to think that is why I have good and loyal friends. Either way, I'm blessed...very blessed.  

So, to my friends that read my silly little blog and even those that don't...THANK YOU. I love you. You mean the world to me and there are things I couldn't get through without you.

Guest Post: Medical Tourism

    I'm happy to introduce everyone to a friend of mine.  L and I have been traveling together for some time. Since he actually got the surgery in Mexico...I thought it would be cool if he could write a little blurb and tell everyone about it.

Pres and I are off to San Fran this weekend!! I've never been there and I'm super excited :) 

But enough about me...Happy (almost) weekend and Happy Easter!!

Good Morrow fine Sirs and faire Maidens!! I am Lancelot~ the wandering Knight. Yay, I hath oft traveled about this magnificent globe and hath had many a wondrous excursion.  Mine most recent adventures hath taken me to the great land of Mexico!!  

Bienvenidos

Whilst in this marvelous place, I had the chance to partake in many a grand labor.

Alongside my faire maiden, I took work as a scribe to generate protocols for the new laboratory.

Twas many a cell to count in yon microscope

Methinks it was mine great privilege to undergo a stem cell transplant using mine own bone marrow.

Twas a most splendid experience. Quite quick, if i may be so bold to say. Verily, twas naught but a dream I had, which from upon waking I was a most renewed gentlemen.

On the morrow I received a most righteous clean bill of health.

All clear in there good Sir!!

Mine eyes were able to withstand this witchcraft

Without mine lance nor mine steed, I made due with the testing of mine strength through thine modern agencies. 

I carried these field stones over my head

1000 of these tests of the Earth

The accomplished Doctors and pleasing staff made this a most superb experience, that I wouldst recommend to all the noblemen(women) of the Land. 

Anon, we headeth to the tavern for a pint of ale, yet there was no ale to be had...just many a cull of a clear liquid by the name of tequila. This tequila was sipped alongside a spicy drink of tomatoes. I hath but a dram. 

Disclaimer: Mine fine physicians do not recommend tequila post op

Fare thee well, until we doth meet again!!

MEXICO

Traveling opens your eyes. It removes prejudices; even prejudices that you didn't know you had. All we hear about Mexico is how very unsafe it is...how they are cutting people's heads off 'down there'...how drug cartels are running the country...how poor it is, etc etc. I'm not saying that NONE of this is true. Mexico is certainly a country not without problems...but which country doesn't have problems?

I had only been to Acapulco back when I was a sophomore in college on spring break. Oh my gosh...that was 13 years ago. I'm old!! But, I digress...I had only been to Mexico the once. I remember it being a beautiful and welcoming country and I was pleased to find that this was once again what I took away from my trip.

Erin, Rafael (my boss) and I took an Interjet flight out of Orange County to Guadalajara. It was a quick 3 hour flight (funny how this becomes relative when you move across the country).  The most amusing thing from our flight was the fact that people were just up and moving around during both the take off and the landing. It was all very blase. I never even had to turn off my kindle. Awesome. AND...the plane didn't crash ;)

Mostly Guadalajara looks like the dirtier parts of LA. Haha. Well, not all of it...but it really did resemble LA. Apparently there is a lot of finance in this city and it shows in the beautiful and modern architecture. Restaurants were overflowing with patrons late into the nights...and in the middle of the week. Mexicans have such a welcoming and festive culture. Whenever I travel, I just think to myself, "We Americans are really doing it wrong".  

We arrived at our beautiful hotel to a GIANT steak dinner with our Mexican counterparts. Vegan Fail!! I can't kid anyone...I've managed to stay vegetarian, but have failed miserably at my Lent vow to be vegan :-/ 

Estoy cansada

I think as a sustainable lifestyle...I'm more of a sometimes vegan/most of the time vegetarian/occasionally flexitarian (just read this word and love it).  So, I said, "when in Mexico..." and tried some steak. It was quite tasty, but I did feel kind of gross after eating it. I was kind of glad that I didn't LOVE it. We had salad and homemade tortillas and it was ah-mazing. 

The first day we spent 13 hours working at the hospital. We observed one surgery and in the second surgery...I got to assist the surgeon by handing off syringes to him, which I then emptied into the collection bag. I was SO nervous. It's a well known fact that I have shaky hands. It's sort of funny that I can even do my job at all, let alone do it well. I was extra nervous having so many people watching me!! At one point I was supposed to aim the needle at a bottle of heparin the nurse was holding and draw out some of the fluid. There was NO way I was going to hit that bulls eye with my trembling hands. The nurse had a look of pure fear on her face...and rightfully so, I probably would have stabbed her!! Thankfully, the Dr. did it for me. The whole thing was really cool and I was grateful for the chance to learn something new. 

Dr. Kelly for a day

The Dr. uses a T shaped device to drill (corkscrew style) into the bone of the patient's lower back (in the iliac crest). From there, the Dr will draw out bone marrow with a syringe. We usually collect around 150mls per side. It only takes around 20 minutes and is supposed to be pretty pain free. Patients have some soreness afterwards, but they are sedated for the procedure. 

I handed off syringes with the Dr. and injected the bone marrow into the collection bag. When the surgery was finished...I took the bone marrow to the lab and isolated the mononuclear cells, which were then injected back into each of the patients. We did a woman's hip and a man's pancreas (he is diabetic). 

After a long day of setting up the lab, processing cells, watching more surgeries and lots of no habloing spanish...we finally went out to dinner around 9pm.  

We went to Santo Coyote, which was like an authentic sort of rainforest cafe. :) The food was delicious and the ambiance was amazing. There were tons of candles and mariachi players and a waterfall. Very cool.

Wax!!

Queso!!

ALL day Thursday was spent writing protocols in a small room. We had street burritos for lunch (and I didn't get sick!! wahoo!!) and another delicious dinner at a place called "Tequila", which featured 500 varieties of tequila. There was only one type that still had the worm!!

Writing, writing, writing

TEQUILA!!

Every table gets a purse tree. Brilliant!!

Salsa made with cactus!! Yum!!

Buenos Noches Mexico

I'm excited about our new company in Mexico and the good work we are doing.