Versant RN Residency Graduation.

[Click on the title of this post to see the slideshow of my residency!]

Today I graduated from the Versant RN Residency Program! It was a fabulous celebration! When I first moved out here, I quickly befriended all the people in my cohort that were also from out of state that much like myself, didn't know much about LA or know many other people here. L to R: Afton (Minnesota), me (Florida), Stephanie (Delaware), Troy (Michigan), Laurel (NYC), Adam (Philadelphia), Rebecca (Connecticut) and Sydney (St. Louis).

Carly was able to sneak away from the bungalow for a couple of hours and be a part of my celebration. It was super fab having her there as she has been there for me after every shift that I return to the apt in tears emotionally traumatized by what I had experienced on the unit that day. She even got her own tour of the unit and got to sneak a peek at all the super sick babies.

Adam, my Pennsylvanian passion from the PICU, has been an extra special element to the program definitely aiding in the highly encouraged "take care of yourself first" mantra... always available to try new restaurants, go on stress-relieving hikes, browse the boutiques in Los Feliz or hit up happy hour at breweries within walking distance of the hospital after class. 

 It was a fabulous celebration filled with all my fabulous friends I have made the past 6 months at CHLA including these four lovely ladies who work in the NICCU with me! It's been so wonderful having them to share my neonatal residency experience with!

Having preceptors to give me wings to fly on my own (my first independent shift is this Sunday!) has been the most beneficial aspect of the program. I have learned so much from Kim (pictured above) and have made a best friend in my saving grace, Dana (pictured below)! I am soooo lucky to have them in my life and cannot thank them enough for all their support and encouragement!

 

A marathon runner, avid spinner, lover of Lulu lemon, married to a Gator alum and owner of a yellow lab named Gracie ... could we have been more of a perfect match?! I think not! 

the ceremony.

Much like at my graduation from nursing school last spring, I walked across a stage and received my diploma, was pinned with the Magnet pin and then read the Magnet Oath. It's an honor to work at a Magnet hospital; only 3% of hospitals in California and only 5% of hospitals in the US are recognized as being a magnet hospital. It was super special when Mary Dee Hacker, our CNO, gave us each a replica of the "two-story house" that was the first CHLA building in 1901 which only had one (volunteer) doctor and a few nurses. Later on, I got to talk to Mary Dee at our luncheon and she told me she drove out to California in 1975 with her college roommate after getting snowed in for two days at the hospital she was working at in the midwest. Much like me, she had never even been to Cali before she made the move across the country with her college roommate! ha.

phantom.

Eleven years ago, I took Carly to see Phantom of the Opera for her eleventh birthday. Eleven years later, I got to take her to Phantom again ... now for her twenty-second birthday which was the week before last! It's still just as amazing as I remember it!! The monkey musical box still sings the sweetest song and the Phantom is still incredibly sexy in his white mask! =)

indefinitely definite.

This Sunday was our first Society for Promoting Intellectualism (S.P.I) meeting and I have to admit, it was supernerdycool. Carly's temp roommates [Lindsay, Angie and Mindy] and the two of us have decided to expand our first 13 years of learning into this next chapter of our lives and culture ourselves with frequent meetings/outings to gain insight into worldly happenings we don't know much about already. The meeting was called to order over bagels and fresh squeezed orange juice. We first discussed our Cocktail Chatter in which we all brought current events - the octuplets born near us, Obama's plan for "change", the high school basketball team that beat the other team 100-0 and I brought the political cartoons because nothing serves as a better measurement of your knowledge than how much humor you find in them (which is a direct measurement of how much you understand them!). Carly's article sparked the googling of the term "tarp funds" ... I'm sure you have heard this word used a lot in regards to Obama's bailout package but do you know what they are? We do (now)! From here, we slurped OJ over our Endorsements section in which we shared anything we found interesting that we would like the rest of the group to know about: the SPIs recommend reading Chuck Palahniuk, listening to podcasts, I recommended knitting and Carly recommended seeing Val Kilmer as Moses in an upcoming musical at the Kodak theatre called The Ten Commandments. From here, we each presented our homework which was assigned to us last week - to creatively use the word indefinite. Not the most profound piece of creative writing I have ever submitted but applicable to my current stream of thoughts....

Indefinitely.

Indefinitely enamored by a modern-day fairy tale, so divided.

Indefinitely engulfed in a burning love story, so unrequited.

Indefinitely searching for another fragile slipper to complete my pair.

Indefinitely disguised as the half of my heart that breaks when I awake and you're not there.

Indefinitely hurting by your sudden, unexplainable disappearance.

Indefinitely masking a broken heart with a reflexive smile and perseverance.

Indefinitely wondering why our love has slipped away.

Indefinitely hoping your white horse accidently led you astray.

Indefinitely praying you will be able to pull in the reigns.

Indefinitely wishing it will lead you to me again.

Indefinitely dreaming of how our love story should of been.

Indefinitely denying our perfect carriage has turned back into a pumpkin.

Indefinitely convinced under your slimy, spotted skin was a prince.

Indefinitely kissing oh! Romeo ever since.

Indefinitely decided that I want my cds, I mean heart back.

Indefinitely summoning the mice to sew it back intact.

Indefinitely brewing a pot of frog leg stew.

Indefinitely believing I will get over you...

definitely.

I can hardly wait for our next meeting this coming Saturday ... it's a tea party!! =)

Super Bowl Sunday.

The best part of Sunday was leaving our S.P.I. meeting to cleverly serve cocktails at Carly's cousins' Super Bowl party that afternoon. When the jerseys the guys ordered us didn't get delivered in time, Carly and I had to throw together some impromptu outfits consisting of black and white stripes. Fashionably late (although we were there before kick-off!) to our first moonlighting gig, everyone (including the slightly older women) were super excited to have referees serve them drinks throughout the game ... combined, we made a total of $165 ... Nothing beats getting paid to watch commercials!! Creative juices still flowing from our previous meeting, we served red Cosmo shots for the Cardinals fans and black Rum & Coke shots for the Steelers fans. At half time, we even served touchdown tequila shots that really got the tip tray filled... Do I even have to say it ... okay, today was so LA!! =) {This is a picture from a Cardinals game I went to in Phoenix earlier in the year ... I didn't even know AZ had an NFL team at this point... who would of thought they would go on to play for the championship?!}

taco.

Carly agreed to dogsit her cousin's best friend Taco this week. As you may recall, Carly is not a lover of any breed of dog which made for quite an entertaining week watching her take care of the third orangutan (just his face) /third polar bear (with a perm)/third donkey (in the tail) as Taco followed her everywhere and did this crazy thing on his hind legs trying to tell her how much he loved her for taking him on leisure walks knowing it would not elicit him going pee on a mailbox or tree or anywhere outside no matter how much the nasty neighbors glared (because he's not potty trained and as the saying goes, you can't teach an old dog new tricks). I guess for Taco, his only trick is dancing. 

unified bookworms.

Yay! When Carly's colleague (who just so happens to be Carson Daly's baby mama and is currently 7 months preggo) told her that joining a book club was the best thing that happened to her all year, Carly and I decided to not have a baby like the rest of the people we know (sooo not ready for that commitment) and start a book club instead. Our first selection is Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates. But this is no ordinary book club... we will be reading books (in script) that are made into movies (on screen) and review BOTH the third Sunday of every month (in script, on screen!)  This is the founder's meeting last night. Yay for the unification of bookworms!  

opening night.

I always knew Carly was a badass but she reached a new level of awesomeness at the opening night of her sketch comedy group's show "Girth, Wind & Fire!" Performing every Saturday night in a theatre in Hollywood, the 7 troupe members write and star in all their own (somewhat raunchy) hilarious sketches. Here is Carly giving her acceptance speech for winning the award for Best Girl on Girl scene in her outstanding performance in Drowning in B*tch Juice (like I said, kinda sorta raunchy). Love it!!! 

sunset in santa monica.

"I wish I hadn't cried so much!" said Alice, as she swam about, trying to find her way out. "I shall be punished for it now, I suppose, by being drowned in my own tears!" -Alice in Wonderland

ty in twinkle town.

Grauman's Chinese Theatre

Sunset in Santa Monica

Hiking through the Hollywood Hills

eating escargot at the Dresden.

santa monica pier.

The sun may rise in the East, at least it sets in the final location.

Whales and the Rossdales.

Carly and I had an awesome Sunday together hiking to Point Dume along the Pacific Coast in Malibu... I laughed when I returned home from the gym and Carly exclaimed "We're going whale watching!" She had found a trail and since January falls right in the middle of what season, she was excited at the chance to see a whale... I never thought it would happen until we saw this like 20 feet from shore... a whale. Waving to us none the less, swimming amongst a pod of dolphins! To top off the day, we later saw Gavin Rossdale, Gwen Stefani and their two kids shopping in the Malibu Country Mart.. today was definitely a day that could only happen if you lived in LA...

slumdog millionaire.

Come home with me...

Where? and live off what?

Love...

bucket list.

On New Year's Day, Carly and I laid by the pool (because weather in LA is perfect!) talking about our New Year's resolutions. Somehow my compilation of things I resolve to accomplish in 2009 turned more into a laundry list of all the fabulous things I want to see and do this new year in California... my very own bucket list, if you will. I want to take advantage of having the fabulous career as a  nurse and only working 3 days a week, spending the other 4 traveling the West Coast (Napa Valley, San Diego, Grand Canyon, Yosemite!) I want to run/bike/swim a triathlon this fall. I want to grow an herb garden. Take a photography course. Attend the Scratch-Academy and learn how to be a DJ. I want to be kinder to the environment.  Volunteer. I want to have a savings. I want to learn to cook and eat more balanced. Be more balanced; take yoga. I want to live simply. Spend more time outdoors. Read. Learn how to date. Seize every day; seize the culture of LA. Figure out where to go from here. I laughed when we returned from the pool to see my suitcase exploded out my bedroom door and into the living room... it was at that moment that I added the resolution to try to be more organized to my list... =)  

the gator nation (really) is everywhere.

I was honestly surprised by how much I actually missed football season this fall. Considering the fact I never even sat through all four quarters of a football game the entire four years I was at UF, it shocked me when I found myself moping around on Saturdays wishing I was camouflaged among a sea of orange and blue in the Swamp cheering on my boys. So excited that they were playing for the national championship (again!), I called all 10 friends I have in LA and we went to the SoCal Gator Fan Club at a sports bar in Marina del Rey! The Gators didn't disappoint bringing home the 4th championship title in 4 years! =) 

griffith observatory.

conversations with carly.

There's no one I converse with more than Carly. We have lived together for going on 4 years and have known each other since elementary school. We still both remember the first conversation we ever had at the 4th grade dance when she asked if I wanted to trade boyfriends and I said no; we've been conversing ever since. We spent 5 weeks on trains, planes, gondolas, and ferries 2 summers ago in Europe where we literally could only talk to each other, not only because we didn't have cell phones to call anyone else but because we didn't understand or speak the language spoken by the people conversing around us. I've learned more than I ever wanted to know about the entertainment business in conversations with Carly. I've been enlightened by her endless knowledge of significant trivia pertaining to our own culture (specifically pop culture). Completing crossword puzzles, discussing current events and conquering crazy milestones together, I've learned a lot from our multitude of convos. Here are some of my favorite quotes by Carly from conversations in recent months... 

 

Thoughts about men:

  "All men are stupid. Some are just less stupid than others."

  "He has a dick. Therefore he is a dick."

Thoughts about me:

  "You're a hopeless romantic. It's not a problem; it's just something you need to work on."

Thoughts about my burning desire to get a dog:

  "Animals are just not supposed to be domesticated."

Thoughts about lying to get out of a date: 

  "I don't feel like I am a bad liar; I just feel bad for lying."

Thoughts about opting out of disability insurance:

  "I mean it's not like I have a family to feed if my arm gets cut off."

white horse.

I'm not your princess. This ain't a fairy tale...

I was a dreamer before you went and let me down.

This is a big world, that was a small town.

There in my rearview mirror disappearing now...

Now it's too late for you

and your white horse, to come around.

somewhere between Phoenix and Los Angeles, trying not to look back. 

my girl.

Before flying home on Monday, I spent the day in Tampa with Kate and Rhonda. I couldn't believe how much she had grown up in just 6 months! We went to the aquarium and got lost in conversation all afternoon. It was so fabulous spending the day with them! =)

my platonic bestie.

It was ultra fabulous getting to see lots of old friends when I was home, you know the type that you know you will have fun with regardless of what you're doing just because you are together!? In particular, it was super exciting to spend time with Jordan. Last Christmas, we celebrated his new job and when he left Gainesville, I was incredibly sad about the 3 hour drive between us. This Christmas, we celebrated an engagement and I left Florida even more sad about the 4 hour direct flight between us now that I moved out to LA. Of all the changes that have happened in the past year, one thing that hasn't changed is the pictures we take when we drink wine together.... i heart my platonic bestie.

engaged.

On 08-08-08, my best friend Megan got engaged! Her fabulous fiance whisked her away to a bed and breakfast in the mountains and staged the perfect proposal. I was on a boat fishing in the middle of Dauphin Lake when I received the call (which I had been waiting for all summer!!) Danny is the exact person I would want my best friend to spend the rest of her life with and I was excited to come home this holiday to celebrate their engagement with family and friends!! Here are the highlights ... a heartfelt, tear jerking speech by Mr. Rick, father of bride.

a plate full of Danny and Megan cookies.

my best friend, the bride.

champagne toast.

bridesmaid, bride, maid of honor, bridesmaid.

great food.

the groom and groomsmen.