Odds and Ends

A lot has been going on lately. Dave and I had a wonderful weekend. We went to this wholesale flower place on Saturday to get some trail flowers for our wedding. I am trying not to spend too much money on this endeavor but fresh flowers are just SO beautiful. Originally, I thought I could pull off a wedding for 160 guests for $5000. I soon learned this was fantasy thinking. I have since doubled my budget and I think we are doing pretty well at sticking within that goal. By far the biggest expense has been the venue and we actually got a major discount on the venue. I wanted something private so we opted to just rent a vacation home with a large backyard. That way family and out-of-town guests had a place to stay and nobody has to drive to a reception after the ceremony. Because of the discount on the place we rented, Dave and I decided to book for three nights instead of one. This way we have a night to set up and a whole day to recoup after the event.

OK…back to the flowers. We were looking for predominately red flowers. I am going to make vases filled with flowers for the centerpieces. I figures this will be nice because people can still see each other across the table and it will give off some light because we are floating a candle in each vase. It was also cheap….cylinder vases for $1 each at the dollar store!!!! For the bouquet, boutonniere, and aisle décor, we are asking a friend to make it. She conveniently also buys from the wholesale flower place so I am hoping we can coordinate.

After flower shopping, Dave and I went home to loaf. Around five, we decided to stop being lazy asses so we went for a walk. The weather has been SO beautiful lately. It isn’t quite warm enough for shorts but I am enjoying not having to wear heavy coats.

In the evening, we went to a friend’s party. It was super pi day after all…I am such a nerd. It was fun catching up with everyone but by 8:30, I was tired. I am getting REALLY old.

On Sunday, I woke up just in time to grab a quick lunch (bread and cheese yum) before I had to pick up Lilly at the airport. Lilly is back for 5 days which is way too short but I am grateful I get to see her before the wedding. We went shopping for an entire afternoon. I got some cute tops from Express though I am thinking for returning them because they were $90. Does anyone else have trouble justifying spending so much money on clothe? I am trying to move away from forever 21 because I value quality but I still haven’t figured out at what price. I don’t actually make more money (though living with your boyfriend and not paying rent helps) so I can’t really justify spending so much but I want to buy enough clothe to not have to shop next year. I also want said clothe to stay together all year. Too much to ask?

Lilly bought some tights and we both got cards at papermart for our significant others. I got a cute card for Dave that I will give to him on our wedding day. She got her boyfriend, Elmer, a card for his birthday. We then met up with my parents/Dave for dinner. Because Felicia would have been super sad, Lilly and I went home for a bit to play with her. We then ended the night at my place. Lilly and I did a mock trail of the table setting for my wedding. Do other people do this? I am particular about how I want things and sometimes I stress about details until I see them. It turned out REALLY well. I am so excited for our family/friends to see the end results.

On Monday, I took the day off from work. Lilly and I had a hair appointment for a trial hair and it turned out fairly well. I think I will have the stylist make things a bit less messy next time but I did feel beautiful all day (minus the annoying pimple I have under my nose right now). Lilly and I met up with my friend Kevin for brunch and then we drove back to SLC. Because it was still too early to pick up Felicia for her swim lesson (I send her swimming most Mondays), Lilly and I decided to use my free drink at Starbucks. It was warm so we sat outside and enjoyed a Tirimisu frappe. It was delicious! Finally, I drove Lilly and Felicia to the swimming pool and left them there for my dad to pick up.

I was actually pretty stressed Monday because midway through my hair appointment my boss called to tell me he can no longer make my defense date (which I had set two month ago). I was super bummed and scrambling to find another date that would work for all my committee members. We eventually secured April 27^th at 9am but it is not ideal. I fly back from Chicago the night before and my co-PI, Andy won’t be able to make it. All well. I keep telling myself that at least I am graduating.

On Monday night, I tried a new Persian restaurant with my MD/PhD class. There are only 4 of us so we often do things together. We also invited our program coordinator, Janet, who is like a mother to us. One of the girls in my class is Persian so she recommended the restaurant. It was really good! And educational because Azzy explained how the dishes were made.

Yesterday was our lab's annual run up Vancott. Vancott is this mountain behind where I work and each year, Kirk (this awesome 72 year old in my lab who invented the knockout mice) leads a run up. I learned years ago that I am not great at running uphill so a few of us decided to get an early start and hike up the mountain. Everyone else ran up and met us and we had celebratory beers and nuts up on top.

Overall, I have been extremely busy and these next few month will prove to get even busier but I am excited for a lot of it so it makes it bearable. I will celebrate my 28^th birthday, finish my thesis, go to Vegas for a mini vacation, go to Chicago for an MD/PhD conference, defend/graduate, go to ARVO (another conference in Denver), get married, travel around D.C. for four days, fly to Haiti for a mission trip, and start third year of medical school.

As for this blog, I’m not sure anyone actually reads this thing besides me but I will write when the mood strikes me and I figured it will be fun to read when I am old and have the time to reflect back on life.

Some pictures: