driving in the snow SUCKS!!

so i barely managed to get my rental car, as i had no clue that it closed early on new year's eve. i got there at 2:05pm after waiting 1h to get my thesis bound (YAYAY!!), and the closing time was 2pm. fortunately, since i'm their 28 day customer, they waited for me....then offered me any car in the lot! free upgrade! too bad there wasn't much...he suggested i get the pontiac grand prix--it looked very sleek and sporty, but only 20 mpg. beautiful storm grey-blue color too! so i decided to splurge on gas and get it...but then he tells me somebody else reserved it later in the week! ARG!!! so since he was getting impatient, i decided to bypass the little chevorlet (orange, but good milage) and get the boring ol' taurus in boring ol' beige. at least it has leather interior and sunroof, but it STINKS like 2ndhand smoke. soooooo bad i had to get TWO air fresheners, but it still stank! i wanted to switch it, but didn't want to annoy the guy anymore. =(

so i drove my "new" car with radu to his apt 50 miles away...and it began to snow snow snow. at one point, i skidding left-right-left, and freaked myself out!! after that i drove SUPER slow...i hated the entire drive! my hands were cramping up from gripping the steering wheel so tight! we saw at least 5 cars that had spun-out, including a couple pile-ups. it was HORRENDOUS driving conditions, and it had to be the first day of my east-coast driving! ugh! thank goodness radu was there to advise me when to slow down, etc. good practice for the rest of the week, as i have to drive 45 min to work and it's forecasted to snow snow snow some more!! great for boarding, horrible for driving!

HUGE X-mas tree in downtown New Haven 

radu's mom's seashell collection which she spent 20 minutes showing me 

radu looking intense! 

what a lovely view of lake sunapee from summit of mt sunapee  

i'm DONE!!

yayay! what a way to end the year, by finishing my thesis! been stuck here at yale most of december, but it was all good 'cuz i did have some fun between staying up 'til the wee hours typing away at those 80+ pages. =) i printed out 6 copies, and tomorrow i head over to staples to get them bound. then i go get my rental car! yay! my first car in the east coast. i wonder what kind i'll get...and i have to get used to driving in the snow and cold as i have a 45-1 hour commute each way to my next rotation starting tuesday. =( what a drag...to wake up an extra hour earlier just to get to work, instead of rollin' outta bed and walking 2 min to the hospital across the street! oh well, at least this primary care rotation doesn't have overnight calls!

so besides working on my thesis through much of december, i did have some fun. radu, his twin bro mike, and i went snowboarding in new hampshire! i even got the college season pass for $199, good at 3 different mountains with no blackout dates. we went for THREE days in a row! that sets a record! after the first day, i didn't want to go anymore...radu and mike are first-timers, and i was bored outta my mind by noontime. but days 2 and 3 i stayed with them a bit, then took off on the blues on my own. the powder was great, weather was amazingly warm at 35 or so, and it was sooo much fun i didn't want to stop! can't wait for radu to improve so that we can hit the slopes together. he and mike can both carve by day 3, but just very slowly and only on green slopes. still, pretty fast improvement considering they fell constantly on day 1! i hope to go at least once a month til the season ends, to get my pass's worth! oh, i forgot to mention, we stayed for free at a BEAUTIFUL house 10 min from the mountain. radu coaches the daughter of a really rich family, and they are letting us stay at their vacation house whenever we want! i can't wait to go back--3 stories, heated hardwood floors, awesome massage chair/foot massager from sharper image, fireplace, new kitchen, pingpong table, etc. the works, i tell you!

after the amazing snowboarding trip, i stayed at radu's apt with mike and his mom for 2 days over x-mas. it was nice...i felt right at home surprisingly. his mom likes to talk a lot, and i have to be patient and listen. =P on x-mas day, radu and i were invited to this really nice dinner at his friends' place, and had some steak. now here is the problem--the steak was waaaay more fatty than any meat i've ever had, and although i kept chewing it, it just wouldn't break down! so..either i had to force swallow it, or spit it out in front of company. what would you do? (i spit it out, i know i'm disgusting, but i can't swallow fat like that!) anyhow, radu's mom likes to keep chocolates out on the coffee table, so that became quite dangerous for me quickly! thank goodness we left after a few days so that i can finish my thesis. but i got to try stollen (yummmm), some european bread, and polenta with romanian stuffed cabbage. SOOOO good. kinda chinese-y, like napa cabbage with ground pork. his mom also cooked some european sausages, but i'm not a big sausage fan. ugh, i'm getting hungry now (4am) but i can't sleep 'cuz i'm so excited to be done with my paper! but now that i'm done, we're about to head back to his place tomorrow with my new rental car to spend new year's eve with his family. should be fun! i'm gonna bake a triple berry cake tomorrow to thank them for letting me stay!

happy 2006 everyone! =D

heavenly food!

ok please don't laugh! i am in food heaven! with what? i made mexican rice (out of lipton bag), turkey fajitas (with taco bell seasoning), triple chocolate cake with triple chocolate frosting (good ol' betty crocker), and cheesecake pudding....all for one meal! and all for one person! SOOOOOO good...=P now i have enuf to last me for 4-5 days! yay!

(anyone wanna give me cooking lessons??? heehee)

close-up of wedding cake...too bad it's not edible! 

me and popeye, mom and olive 

popeye and pink panther with me, bouquet with my cousin 

thesis break!

ok, i'm on page 78 and still crankin' away on my thesis. amazing i'm not sick and tired of it yet! in fact, there is just so much info to synthesize i just can't stop researching/reading/typing! soon i will have to put the madness to an end....but for now, i take a short break to blog!

california was AWESOME. weather was AWESOME. food was AWESOME. seeing friends was AWESOME. too bad it only lasted 3 short days, but it felt much longer 'cuz i did so much! well, mainly i ate and ate and ate...i seriously think i gained 5# in 3 days! i guess that's what vacation is all about. my AMAZING cousin made these balloons puppets (see pics above) for me as a welcome-back gift. i wish i could have brought them back with me, but i know they won't last on the plane ride.

so quick blurb on what i did in sunny CA: tapioca x 3, burrito, hot pot, dim sum, cheesequake, sushi, noodles, mrs. fields brownie, badminton x 2, cleaned teeth (1.5 years overdue), shopping x 3, krispy kreme x 2, walk around neighborhood x 2...that's about it in 3 days. notice how it's mostly food...but radu really had fun and so did i!

so now i'm back but still on california time. i sleep around 4am here, and wake up around 11am to noon. great schedule--i love working at night when things are nice and quiet. then again, everyone is finishing up with finals here and clearing out...it's about to get REAL lonely here soon. =( i'll probably be one of the 10 people left in the dorms in december, with no real home to go to. how very very sad. ='(. darn thesis!!! i think i may take a break end of next week to go snowboarding in new hampshire with radu and his bro for 3 days! they are both newbies...so it should be quite interesting, hehe. =P i need someone to ride with me on the blues!!! i can't wait to go use my board--6 more uses 'til it's paid off. we'll be staying for free at radu's friend's house, so the trip should be relatively cheap. still debating if i should get a season pass for $199...i wonder how often i'll get to go. anyhow, that's a long 1.5 weeks away. for now, gotta concentrate on thesis! draft #3 is due to my advisers for final revision by tomorrow...so it's back to work!

the girls in my class 

the middle girl is the one that ditched me.....GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR >=[ 

me and some "semi-drunk" classmates 

stood up =(

so i got stood up today. by a girl. well, not exactly "stood up", more like ditched. i was supposed to get a ride home from our PA program holiday party with a classmate and her bf, and they left without telling me! they knew i needed a ride home with them, but i guess they just got tired of waiting for me or something! so after searching for her for 10 min, i left a vm, and waited 30 min for them to "appear" which they didn't. after asking 3 classmates for rides home (all were going walking to bars nearby, and i didn't want to drink) and being rejected, i stormed off in 35 degree weather with wind chill, wearing my skimpy dress/light black jacket, and heels. i was PISSED. my hands and face went numb, my legs were going numb, but my anger kept me storming the 1 mile walk home at 11pm. so a crappy end to a pretty good day.

best part of today--my "vacation" begins today! no rotation for 1 month! i do have thesis to finish, but at least no work! yay! 2nd best part of today--the holiday party had EXCELLENT buffet food. i was stuffed beyond belief, they had at least 5 appetizers to start (bacon wrapped scallops, assorted very sweet fruits, veggie w/ dip, chicken strips with yummy sauce, basil stuffed mushrooms, bruchetta, very good cheese), then the best turkey and prime rib (bit raw) i've ever had with dressing, then 3 types of pasta (fresh basil and pine nuts, tomato sauce, and alfredo), and a very very extensive dessert menu (2 pies, 3 types of cakes, fruits, assorted tea/coffee, fruit tarts, and my fav: vanilla ice cream sundae bar with hot fudge/hot caramel/hot apple and assorted toppings. i nearly popped out of my dress! i'm still stuffed now 3h post, even after my 1 mile hike home in the cold. it was cool to see everyone again, meet the 1st year class, and see everyone's old/new fiancee/bf/babies! it's amazing--i think every girl in our class is hooked up to someone now. i think we have more time this year with rotations to date, than last year when our noses were stuck in books 24/7. so it's nice--one girl is dating a guy who lectured us! another is dating a med student that i often saw in the dorms last year (she was dating this other guy for 5 years before this, wow!). and 2 new engagements. =) so life must be going well for everyone. above are some photos from our party. too bad radu wasn't here to join me (ppl kept asking for my "boy" who i'm sure they think is imaginary now!) as he's going to Cornell for a badminton clinic. i'm considering taking him back to the place for a Christmas buffet--it's very pretty and the food is just great!

earlier today, i was conducting tours/informal interviews for the PA class of 2008 (wow). it was pretty good except they didn't tell me i'd have to do this until last night, so i was completely unprepared. i hoped i managed to convince them that Yale/New Haven is a great place to be. can't believe i was in their shoes just 2 years ago! and in a year, i'll be practicing medicine! WOOWZERS! how time flies...but it'd sure be nice to start earning good money. =)