Is it really my last week in Palo Alto?

Sorry I've slacked again this last week on blogging. Things have been a bit busy with packing and making plans for the next assignment. I'm happy to announce that in October I'll be living in NYC, working for NYU! I'm pretty pumped! I've got a few travel friends who will be there at the same time so that's a huge plus! I'm a little sad that I couldn't arrange my assignment to end before Christmas, but if I have to work the holidays (Thanksgiving/Christmas/NYE) then what better city than New York, New York?!? Seriously, it's going to be so festive there for ALL of them! Worst case scenario the fam will just have to come visit poor little me, and either a) watch the Macy's parade, b) ice skate in Rockefeller Plaza, or c) stay up late to watch a shiny ball drop from the sky and tell us it's time to change our calendars!

Amidst the stress of interviewing and waiting for a final offer I've started the packing process. I'm almost done. It's a little intimidating and I'm hoping everything fits in the car this time! I've accumulated a few more items, oops! I need to start planning the route back East, and I'm hoping to make it a fun road trip again!

I'm also trying to enjoy my last bits of free time with friends here in PA. I randomly dropped in on the Graceland boys knowing that I could just walk in and find a fun group of ppl...and food after a long shift. I've lounged in pj's at the Villa talking about boys. I got carded at the Old Pro Sports Bar while wearing my scrubs (apparently that's the new college trend to get in underage, or so this bouncer thought!) to share my angst over waiting for the official job offer. And last night I joined the Grace Pres group for Pub night at Dutch Goose to celebrate my job offer and dined on some helluva good deviled eggs (did you get my pun?).

Today, I went to my last shift at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital of Stanford. It was quite bittersweet, but definitely the right time to part ways. I didn't work in the PICU today, but instead was the FLEX nurse (meaning I carry a phone and anyone can call and ask me for help with basically anything). Sometimes this position can make you run your tail off, and other times it's as slow as a snail when no one needs help. Today was pretty calm and it gave me a great chance to enjoy some time in the PICU as well as visit 2 of my favorite families. While I've complained about the census and low acuity these past few months, I have greatly enjoyed working with this staff and am happy that I'm leaving here on a good note with lots of well wishes from new friends! Who knows, I might come back one day. There's still so much I didn't get to do!

Overall, I'm so grateful for these 6 months here but I am definitely looking forward to having some time off! I've got about 6 weeks until the next contract starts so I'll be flying back East for Labor Day, then back out here to get my car and start the long drive home.

Please be praying for my safety traveling, and also for my licensing paperwork to go through on time! I'll keep you posted, and still have a few more posts to write to help sum up my time here. I can't leave out Napa with my Duke girls last week, or the brunch my friends are hosting for me tomorrow! I'll try to get some pics up soon too!

Tourist Day

These next 2 weeks are going to be pretty bittersweet as I wrap up my last days in NorCal. I've thoroughly enjoyed my 7 months out here, and while I have loved living in NorCal there is a part of me that greatly misses the East Coast and the family and friends I've left behind there. I've made some great friends out here, and I hope this is a place I can visit many more times in the future. The Bay area will forever have a place in my heart. 

On Monday I took a few hours to be a tourist and my friend Anne was gracious enough to tag along and take some photos for me. Here are a few highlights of our time together: 

Ordering some legit Dim Sum, where everything
was in Chinese and pointing worked as the
universal language.

I was pretty happy with my 90 cent
BBQ pork bun.
(can't take the Southern outta the girl, even in Chinatown!)

View of the Bay Bridge/ferry/San Fan

Me and the BB

I LOVE the Ferry Building. The architecture
is great, and there are tons of great
shops/restaurants inside.

I also LOVE cheese, so finding this cafe
right next to one of my favorite salvage
stores (Jeremy's) was a big win!

I think the next few days I have off will include packing, a trip to Napa and probably a bit more sightseeing! I still haven't made it to Alcatraz...but that can always wait until the next time I visit! Hope you enjoyed the briefness of this post.

Saturday

Today I had a "Me day". Do you ever have one of those? If not, I highly recommend finding the time to do so! I had no set agenda and no obligations to anyone but myself. I spent my morning sleeping in w/o an alarm. I took my sweet time getting ready for the day. I made a few phone calls to family and friends back East. I drove into the city and found the California upscale equivalent of Gabriel Brothers/Rugged Warehouse. The first floor is filled with designer brands, as in it was originally $1200 and now it's marked down to $400. I enjoyed looking, but wasn't tempted since none of them were a) petite and b) my size. I headed upstairs where it was a bit more mainstream. There was a large volume of the same items, but I'd say for the most part very well priced and arranged. I ended up walking away with 2 shirts and 1 sweater that were originally sold at Anthropologie (one of my favorite stores) for $17-35 AND my first Michael Kors (one of my favorite designers) purse which originally sold for almost $400. It was a good deal, but I'm a bit shy to say how much I paid for a purse...but it is a really pretty purse! Let's put it this way, I had the option of going whitewater rafting again or for almost the same price buying a purse which will last years. Guess I already gave away the answer for which I chose!

Of course after 2 hours in this little slice of heaven on earth I had worked up an appetite. I'd recently read an article from Refinery 29 about the best places to get ice cream in the city. Due to location I chose Mr.&Mrs. Miscellaneous and I was not disappointed! They had quite a unique mix of flavors and it's hard not to be the obnoxious girl and ask to try all of them. I was only going to get 1 scoop, but the 2 flavors I tried were both so good & interesting. I know, you're dying to know which ones I picked. Here are my options:

...And I chose the basil chocolate chip and the rum raisin!

I took my ice cream to go and headed just a short drive down to the Giant's stadium where I took in the sights of the harbor and a few remaining fans lingering about after their loss today. No wonder why the weather was overcast, I think its only sunny when the Giants win. I finished my time in the city with a walk near the Bay Bridge.

I headed home to the ever exciting task of laundry. I finally unpacked from my trip last weekend, and while doing so I got caught up on The Glee Project via Hulu. This is a guilty pleasure...just like listening to Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift.

While I loved spending last Saturday in KY with my sister & parents, and the one before that with my guests from LA, I do find myself to be good company and really enjoyed today's relaxed pace. What did you do?

Becoming Outdoorsy

A few weeks ago I ventured north of Sacramento to visit my friend Tonya. She had convinced me just a few days before that we should go whitewater rafting---we HAD to! it was the Sacramento Groupon and it was a sign! So I said yes and began planning my outfit. It's not every day I get to wear something "outdoorsy". Reality is, not a lot of my outfits look good wet and it was more of a choice between which hat to wear (Duke v. Boston Red Sox). Because of our distance/schedules the only day it worked to go was right after Tonya got off of a night shift. I picked her up from work, grabbed some starbucks, applied our sunscreen and went to the designated parking lot behind a grocery store (sounds shady, I know).

The 6 of us plus guides loaded into a van which smelled like sweaty teenage boys and drove deep into the woods, while jamming to some raggae to put us in the mood. I was feeling a little nervous about this rafting trip. I had gone 10 years ago with a church group to WV and I remember it being lots of fun...but 10 years ago I didn't have bills and it didn't matter if I broke a limb! Tonya and I were placed in a raft with not 1 but 3 guides (2 were in training). We definitely got the better raft! We had a blast picking on our guides and I made Alex (the most qualified river man) tell me all the touristy facts that he could, and he did not disappoint. The boys filled us in on rafter and kayaker lingo such as "Boof" which means to go over a rock/ledge and land with the bottom flat against the water. It was a really fun time, especially since neither of us fell out during any rapids we encountered.

Getting Ready!

Lunch Time.

Here we go!

2 of our fun guides

Gorgeous Views

I'm so glad Tonya pushed, I mean encouraged, me to go! I forgot that I DO like certain outdoor things like this. Dad and I are now talking about doing a Father-Daughter rafting trip in WV next summer!

The next day we made our way up to Tahoe and it was well worth the drive! The boys had recommended visiting King's Beach at Lake Tahoe and it did not disappoint. The small strip of town was quaint, filled with vintage signs and small local joints to eat. We enjoyed strolling along the street, taking in the sights from the gorgeous yellow trees to the blue-green water of the lake and even the locals who skateboarded through town aided by a stick to push off from.

Next we drove down to Emerald Bay where we found a gorgeous waterfall that you could easily access. The scenery here was my favorite, offering a great view of full trees, shimmering water, and snowcapped mountains. I'm so glad that I'm enjoying nature, the sights and smells (pine and eucalyptus) more and more with age. Since we aren't gamblers or snow bunnies there wasn't much else for us to see in South Lake, Tahoe and we headed home. Tonya really is like a big sister to me, and I love that I can be so comfortable around her. I definitely took advantage of that as we sang along to the Country Strong soundtrack on our way home...where I attempted to reach and hold every note of Gwyneth Paltrow's song "Home"...yeah, good luck with that!



Surprise!

This past wkd I flew into Louisville and surprised my sister for her 24th birthday. I'd been coordinating with her roomate the past few weeks about my surprise arrival and helping to plan a surprise birthday party as well. Em totally fed into all our "white lies" and fell for all our plans! She accompanied her roomie to the airport to pick up Jess' cousin, she even made a sign for him! Instead I was there, hiding amongst the crowd waiting to see if she'd spot me. When she finally did see me it was priceless! Not once but twice she was down on the ground laughing/crying in excitement! Before stopping back at her apt we swung by Mom and Dad's hotel room, and for the first time in 7 months all 4 of us were in the same place together! It was so nice!

On Friday, Em's birthday, we had breakfast at Wild Eggs (a Louisville favorite) then headed over to Indiana to visit Huber's Farm. We went with blackberries on our minds, but ended up picking peaches instead! If you are looking for an easy fruit to pick, this is it! We had so much fun and it wasn't nearly as grueling as berry picking. It was 100+ degrees and humid, not something I was used to after being in California for 9 months! We picked way more than we intended to---91lbs worth of peaches! We headed back to L-Ville to clean up before dinner at Em's friend Sarah's house. What Em didn't know is that there was was a mustache themed surprise party waiting for her!

We pull up to the surprise party and Em insists on using the backdoor to the house, which they thought they had locked. We walk in, I try to alert them, then Em spot's her roomate's bag and knows something is up. We sent her around to the front door for the official "surprise" effect! It was so fun to see everyone in their mustaches! There was a wonderful spread of food and cupcake & cakepop mustached treats. It was really nice for me and the parents to spend time with Em's friends, and we definitely enjoyed all the good food! I highly suggest throwing a mustache themed party! It's so funny to see your friends sporting hairy upper lips, and there are so many fun pics that you can take! Like these:

Em and her roomie Jess

 

A few of us girls at the end of the party

On Saturday we went to the farmer's market and picked up some yummy local produce for some new recipes we (mom and Em) wanted to try. Then I treated everyone to Chic-Fil-A since I was desperate for some sweet tea and fried chicken! We went back to Em's because she had to get ready for a wedding. Meanwhile, Jess joined me and the parents for a quick shopping trip across town.


Sunday we went to church at Sojourn and met more of Em's friends and ministry partners, then headed home to try out another new recipe for lunch. Shortly after lunch mom and dad headed back to OH. Em, Jess, and I headed out to run some fun errands across town that included a little shopping and getting feathers in our hair! I'm a little disappointed with the placement of mine, but that's my fault. I didn't want them to be super obvious but now it's hard to brush my hair w/o snagging on the bead holding them in place. I might get them moved. We went to the Sojourn evening service downtime because we heard it was supposed to have bluegrass music.  It wasn't, we left. Don't judge, we already went to church that morning! To pick up our spirits we rented Never Say Never (about Justin Bieber) and painted our nails. It was a great ending to our wkd together.


Sis dropped me off at the airport early Monday morning, where I then flew to Dallas and left the airport to have breakfast with a dear friend from nursing school. It was so great to see Laura and her kids! When I first met them they were all under the age of 10 and shorter than me, now they are in their teens are taller than me! Our visit was too short and it was time for me to go back through airport security only to find out that my flight got delayed. While talking to the an airline agent I learned that the flight was overbooked and they were looking for volunteers to fly later in the afternoon. I put my name down and 2 hours later I had a $300 voucher and 4 more hours to kill in the airport! My next flight finally rolls around and some American Airline employees show up with balloons and gift bags. Of all the AA terminals at DFW mine was 1 of 2 chosen in honor of their rapid rewards program and everyone on these flights got 30,000 points for free ( a free ticket ). Crazy! Glad I was willing to wait. 


I almost forgot, on my way to KY I had another long layover at DFW and my old roomie Holly, who has just recently moved back home to TX, came and met me in the airport for dinner. It was such a blessing to see her and hear first hand how her transition back to TX is going. I'm so thankful for her friendship these past few years and am excited to see how God uses her in the Destino movement through CRU (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ) in Dallas!

So what's next?

It's hard to believe how fast time has flown! August 6th was the end date to my 3 month extension at Packard/Stanford. The summer really started flying by and before I knew it I was down to 2 weeks of work and no contract lined up next! I was ok with this, even looking forward to the unknown because it meant guaranteed time off! The original plan was to pack up, visit a few friends spread throughout California, and take my sweet time driving back across country to take an assignment on the East Coast. Working at Boston Children's has been a dream of mine! Why? Well, it's the first children's hospital of our country and they have one of the top PICU's in the country! I've lost a lot of skills out here in California, and while I'm not complaining about my unionized lunch breaks and slower paced work life I do find myself anxious to get back to a higher acuity/faster paced PICU. Sadly, they don't have any PICU positions open right now.

However, the longer I'm in California the harder it is to leave. I've SO enjoyed these last 6 months in Palo Alto. I'd say it's a combination of the friends I had and reunited with here, the friends I've made, the weather, the fun destinations, the church I've been attending, etc. Reality has set in that there are more travel spots in CA than anywhere else, plus some of these jobs are offering bonuses. It was a hard decision, but my recruiter convinced me to be open to staying another contract in the Bay Area. My new plan is to get a job at UCSF and move into/closer to the city, due to maintaining friendships here and also a nice bonus to pay the bills. How far along in the process am I? My profile has been submitted, but since HR is notoriously slow at UCSF I also created my own resume and passed it along at the encouragement of my friends (currently on assignment there) to the PICU manager. To buy some time, I requested a 3 wk extension and Packard and they accepted. I'm so thankful for the extra few weeks of work, a place to live, and the extra time with friends. Please be thinking of me/praying during these next few weeks that it will be made clear to me what/where my next assignment should be!