San Diego

This is by far more pictures taken in one week than have been taken in the past 4 years of our relationship--so I hope you enjoy seeing, well, a lot of us. On the first night we ate at this quaint little restaurant called Prep Kitchen in La Jolla, which is what the fuzzy sign is attempting to say above...

Continuing our culinary tour we had brunch at the Hash House in downtown San Diego the next day. The line was about 1 1/2 hours long but sooooo worth it! Demonstrating my beautiful watermelon kiwi lemonade below:

Sunday we went to the Spreckel's organ concert at Balboa park. Here we are documenting the largest outdoor organ in the world. They even let us borrow big beach umbrellas for the concert. Only in San Diego...

We also did some cooking and made good use of the grill, outdoor jacuzzi, and gorgeous, beachfront, wrap-around porch. Here is our nod to California for Sunday dinner. Obviously there were avocados.

Boyd showing his extraordinary beach cruiser skills. All free with our rental! So Lily Allen...

Children's pool in La Jolla.

I actually had a dream that involved steps almost identical to these with Boyd on them about a month before our vacation. Creepy!

Somehow only Boyd was captured in a swimsuit appropriate to post here...!

Boyd showing off our sweet digs.

We won't brag too much about the just as sweet deal we got with it.

Clearly, the food itinerary must have been set by me. Oh man, this place was up there with finale in Boston. And if you havn't been there we pity you.

Boyd's first peek at Disneyland to round out the California experience. This is at California adventure.

Obligatory picture by the "L"

Proof that we actually went to the real thing too. And ate dole whips. Who's jealous now?

So even though we celebrated in full before I got my board scores, it turned out it was well deserved in the end. Since no one from med school reads our blog, I can proudly announce to my family (and the few friends that read our blog who I know won't spread it to the wrong people) that I scored a 245! Plenty high enough to be really competitive for any residency I could possibly dream up. Plastic surgery anyone? Just kidding.
Thanks everyone so much for all of your support and help during my studying. I couldn't have done it without you!

Mini Memoir: The Girl in the Mirror

When I was little I would watch my mother get ready for the day. I often perched on the cold marble of the bathroom sink and, although I swear I was better seen than heard, I’m sure my mom would describe me in perfect chatterbox form. I was really such a chatty Kathy growing up—everything from know-it-all status to a delinquent fondness for talking back--for which I was rewarded with many mouthfuls of Dial soap. To this day I can’t use Dial for that reason. But even if my mom may not remember these mornings in quite such an optimistic light, I really liked them. The steam would billow through the shower and create those condensation droplets on the marble and the mirror. Sometimes I would drag my finger through it and write her messages. I like to think they were clever little Haikus or limericks but I think the standard “I love you Mom” might have been the best I ever conjured up.

She always showered in the dark for some reason I’ll never quite understand—still does in fact—and then when she stepped out of the shower she used this Crabtree and Evelyn body powder called Summertime. It was in a granny shaker—really it was—all floral looking with loopy cursive. When I was a teenager I crinkled my nose at such a fluffy and functionless powder all wrapped up in old person’s wrapping. Now I think it’s beautiful. Isn’t that the way it always goes? Now I cherish things like the vintage rocking chair that I acquired a few years ago and that Boyd has been working on sanding for my birthday which was, wait, in February? That’s okay, I still love him. And part of me kind of loves the fact that it still isn’t finished. I can’t really say why. Now I’m debating whether we should really be re-staining it at all.

After the body powder came the round woven basket of makeup. Whenever she’d put on her blush I would get some too—that was probably my favorite part. She had that blush for I think about a decade. But seriously, do you ever run out of blush? I know I haven’t yet. Well the end of that blush was when I went in her bathroom around the age of 16 to try on all of her makeup before she came home from work. I think prom was about 2 weeks away and my cover girl just wasn’t cutting it. Her Clinique “Breathless Berry” was guaranteed to make me more beautiful than my cover girl cheekers, “pink.” Seriously? Don’t they pay someone to come up with names for make-up? Clearly not enough. Anyways, I fumbled with the breathless berry, and it came crashing down onto the whiter than white tile my mom swore was practical. And, of course, being more than 10 years old, the blush cake shattered into about a hundred pieces. Which I put back into the little snap case and quietly stowed away. I didn’t even have the guts to admit I had broken it when she came asking the next day.

Just the other day I noticed that whenever I look in a mirror I put my tongue just up to the insides of my lips to make them look fuller (I guess us Dahl girls weren’t exactly blessed with the Angelina Jolie lip pout) and I realized just how much I look like my mom. She actually does this little lip-plumping exercise too, although she'll probably deny it. People always said we were twin growing up, but I never saw it because, well, I have blond hair and she has dark brown hair. We obviously couldn't have looked alike. But we do, it’s undeniable. Now that I have just the finest of lines around the corners of my eyes and my baby fat is all but gone off my face I see it. I see the skin so white it’s almost translucent and the occasional tiny capillary running through it. I see the dark sun spots that so easily mark how old we are. I see the hazel eyes I used to think were an ugly pea green, all speckled and frog-like, now deep and earthy and prettily freckled. I see the lashes so long it looks like I’m wearing fake ones every time I put on mascara and know that mom blessed me with those beauties. And now when I get ready for the day, and fog up the mirror, and powder up, and put on a blush that’s actually my color, I see that I am beautiful, just like my mother is beautiful. And I thank my lucky stars that it was never on the outside that counted anyways.

Before and After

Before: 7:00am. Exactly 1 hour before I started I had Boyd take this picture of the smartest day of my life. So this test, in case you're not familiar, is the first part of 3 exams that you have to pass to become licensed to practice medicine in the United States. USMLE step 1 covers basic science, supposedly, but the truth is that every question is a mile long clinical vignette. The problem with step 1 is that you don't just have to pass it if you want to do something other than family medicine (which is great, don't get me wrong), but you really have to bring your "A" game to be considered for top specialties (read: anywhere in Boston, Seattle, Baltimore, New York, Chicago, or basically the whole state of California).

The other crazy thing is that you are timed (better pee fast!) for exactly 7 hours and 45 minutes. Only 45 minutes of that is break time. The rest is the test. No matter what you're doing, you're timed. And since you have to be fingerprinted, interrogated by the testing police, and ready to show your papers every time you enter and exit the room (not to mention you have to wrestle with the stupid locker that holds your pathetic morsel of a granola bar), you basically waste 5 mintues just getting out to take your break. Have you been adding this up? That's right--if you take a break every hour you have five, 5 minute breaks and a 20 minute lunch. But wait, subtract 5 from every break. Now you have a 5 minute lunch and a few other 5 minute breathers. Anyways, I just needed to rant about that. Because honestly, what's it to them if it's an 8 and half hour test with 90 minutes of break time?

Anyways, before this all got started I took this ridiculous picture where I look slightly delirious. That's what the medical licensing test will do to you I guess. I'm holding my "bible." First Aid. You basically have to memorize the 600 page book and you'll do great. Which was awesome. Blah. Hey, but look, I still had the frame of mind to put in earings that morning. Now that's truly a doctor for the 21st century.


After: 5:30pm. I think I've finally shed my slightly psychotic look from the morning. Boyd and I went out to one of my favorite Italian places in Tucson--Tavolinos--for dinner. And then where? To Borders of course. Now, unless you think we are completely crazy for going to a book store after my board exam, let me just say that I only came out with cheap beach reads. The exam went as well as a board exam can go, I think. There were definitely questions I think they pulled out of places where the sun don't shine, but I think I'm allowed to have a mild case of "stick-it-to-the-man-iosis" if you know what I mean. Tune in next time for coverage on our San Diego getaway where we got a screaming deal on our sweet beach house and I scored my very first Coach purse. Yep, Boyd loves me.

T minus 4 days

In just 4 short days we will be in sunny San Diego bliss. Check out where we're staying right here:

www.vrbo.com/39466

12 days!

In just under two weeks there will be celebrating around here. And I'll officially be a third year med student. 225 hours of studying down, 86 to go...

Just in case you forgot what we looked like...

Here is a RECENT picture! Since I never post pictures I thought I would throw one out there that was taken less than a month ago. Now you know that we haven't turned into scary monsters. RAWWWRRR! Also, I think a few of you wanted to see my brown hair. Here's your chance. I'm going short blond in a few weeks.

Also, I guess I lied about the siesta. Everyone was doing it (i.e. deactivating their facebook accounts and pledging off email etc...to study for the boards but I realized that is pretty lame and that I can be an adult and be disciplined without have to ignore the rest of the world). Anyways so I'll be updating. Until next time...

A little Siesta

I was getting kind of depressed thinking that my most recent post was all sad and pity party-ish. Anyways, I'm not sad anymore for the record, nor have I been for the past three weeks. It was a fleeting moment and I needed sympathy. Thanks to all who indulged me.

I probably won't be updating much the next two months. I have to take the USMLE step 1 (United States Medical Licensing Exam) June 18th so I'll be in a rabbit hole studying. And when I'm done I'll officially be a third year and ready to practice some medicine (hopefully not on any of you). So unless I can get Boyd to say something interesting about our lives until then...it's over and out. See you in July!