backyard brewhouse

when we headed out from Burlington to start some of our summer adventures, we sent word to all our friends in the area that we would be hanging out in this particular beer garden and that if they were around they should stop by.  At first, it was only the manfriend and me, so we started talking with the people around us and realized it was jazzfest, and the band was about to strike up a beautiful bluegrassy/jazz riff.  Then friends came!  Then more friends!  Then even more friends!  What a perfect hoorah for summer!  Because it's so fun to look back at photos and I so rarely post them, here's a mini-tour of the evening:

in the garden of your mind

"If only you could sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to people you may never even dream of.  There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person"

-Fred Rogers

that little number

I just got back from a quick jaunt in NYC where my sister and I got to do one of our most favorite activities - walk for hours and just catch up.   So many interesting ideas came up that I'm excited to write about soon, but one theme that struck me was an age old theme for women.  I am surrounded by so many beautiful women in my life.  And what's more - they're smart, funny, brave, clever, inspiring, strong, and kind.  And yet we all have this little number in the back of our heads that we think "If I saw that on the scale, I'd be happy".  This isn't news, I realize.  But what is, at least for us, is that most of the time when we, or the women in our lives, actually weigh that magic "happy" number - we aren't that happy.  I was at my lowest weight since the beginning of highschool this past year - but I was not sleeping, was moving around so much that I never felt settled, much less home, was more lonely than I've maybe ever been, and super stressed.  And that's how it works for most of us - that silly number is only achievable when we are too stressed or busy or out on our own to enjoy anything - including long dinners with family or walks along the beach with friends instead of a quick intense workout.  In some ways those 5 (or 10...) pounds signify that our lives are full of enough joy and love that we choose to spend time with friends and family instead of working out or choose to go out with friends for a beer a few times a week or to celebrate a friend's birthday with a whole lot of chocolate cake.  So the question occurred to us: what if those few pounds - that we stress and distress over - are really just your happy weight?  What if "filling out" a little bit, symbolizes our lives actually being more full?  If the answers are a resounding yes (which it is for us), then maybe we should try being a little more grateful, a little more tender towards the other, real, number.

And for fun, a little ode to the amazing and beautiful women in my life, otherwise known as a trip down memory lane:

                 

            

                                    

what a weekend (5 year reunion plus)

"in daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee

in inches, in miles of laughter and strife?

in five-hundred-twenty-five-thousand-six-hundred-minutes

how do you measure a year in the life?"

just went to my 5th year college reunion and it was a mix of a time-warp and a big warm familiar hug.

definitely a reminder of what an incredible place, amazing people, and such a special time in my life.

here's a crazy view of my weekend timeline.

Thursday Night: cinnamon roll waffles on Night Float
(super easy, just take ready made cinn roll dough, put it in a waffle iron for a few minutes and ta-da! delicious!)

8 am: after signout, head home to catch a few hours of sleep.

... no photo of this horrific looking state :)

11am: alarm goes off!  drive 4 hours to my 5 year reunion!

after we registered, we walked around and saw some art major theses in the studios
I forget what it's like to live in a world with so much creativity (uh oh medicine)



We mostly just caught up with each other and the greater reunion for a few hours that night.  I passed out easily at 10pm, even though my body should be adjusted to a night float schedule.


The next day:

11 am: art thesis shows - I forgot what creativity is spinning around the world




3pm: attend lecture by Cecile Richards, CEO of Planned Parenthood speak

(even though this is a horrible photo of me, I was so excited to meet her, I have to put it in here!)

4pm: hour and a half nap - much needed!

7pm dinner with my tribe! only a few blocks from where we all lived in college

(I may have given them all scrubs with my favorite quotes scrawled on the back)

9 pm: drinks with my class, reunion of my soccer ladies looking super classy

10pm until 3am: tent party! our friends amazing funk/soul cover band played for hours to our obvious delight (and fatigue - though being on an "awake at night" schedule totally helped)

wake up at 6am to drive back to watch THIS guy finish his first marathon!

1 pm: crawl into bed to catch a few hours of sleep before my next night float shift start

5:30pm walk onto the OB floor, exhausted, annoyed, and altogether spent.
My senior resident looks at me with a surprised look on her face and says,
"What are you doing here? It's labor day weekend - we don't let medical students work on holiday weekends!  Go home"

so without saying another word or waiting a moment for her to change her mind,
I waved and walked right back home.