Christmas Time in the City

Christmas has now come and gone and, looking back, most of December seems a frenzy of activities which have somewhat blurred together. I will try to sort it all out...So once the Van Dorans left us, we geared up for our second round of visitors--my mom, her friend Janet, and my brother were coming. I was really excited, and happy that we were only housing one guest (my brother), while mom and Janet roughed it at The Waldorf Astoria. In all they were here 4 days, 3 nights and it truly was a whirlwind. Alvis had to work during the days so I played tour guide--a title I use very loosely (considering I still get turned around south of Houston...). Our days consisted mostly of shopping and sightseeing, and we had beautiful, albeit freezing, weather. Jamie even scored some watches for a "bargain" on Canal St. Although, next time he's in the mood for some shady business dealings, we might need to leave mom behind---when my brother accidently shorted the "shady businessman" five dollars, my mom proceeded to tell the man embarrassing childhood stories of my brother to prove his credibility. So now we have a "friend" on Canal that knows way too much personal information about my family...Otherwise, things went well. I didn't lose my mom on the subway, which was a near miracle at times...she and Janet even navigated their way to my apartment from their hotel via subway all by themselves---I was so proud. We saw a show for each night they were here and really enjoyed ourselves. But next time they come I relinquish my title...we will chillax...(that one is for Alvis...)



After my family left we had a few days to regain our strength for our third and final set of guests for the holidays-- Alvis' parents were coming and staying through Christmas. Luckily, they stayed on the Upper West Side near our apartment, so it was easy to get to them and vice versa. Mr. Len had a broken toe, and Ms. Diane was getting over the flu, so they wanted to keep a slower pace...I couldn't have been happier. We didn't do too much running around, but we did get into the holiday crowds--I was a little worried we might lose Mr. Len (Ms. Diane and I had to keep looking back to make sure he was still with us...) But to be perfectly honest, Alvis and I were pleasantly surprised-- we were a bit concerned about how his dad would handle the big city...he once got a nosebleed when we painted his living room (he doesn't exactly like change). But we really had a great time with both of them. We went to the NYC Ballet's The Nutcracker on Christmas Eve, and we all (yep, all of us) loved it--it was truly spectacular. Christmas was a lot of fun as well--we made a big breakfast, had mimosas, and opened presents. We spent the rest of the beautiful day in the park and finished it off with dinner at a french restaurant (which by the way was frequented by none other than THE Carrie Bradshaw...). And although the holiday season is not quite over, all my running around hopefully is for a while...except for all those returns I have to make...

The Van Dorans Come to Town

Orie and a slightly larger Lacey came to visit last week. For those who didn't get the memo, Lacey's got something cookin in her belly. I had to work half the time they were here, but we had a lot of fun. For the first two nights they stayed in a hotel, the second two nights with us--which was an adventure. Our apartment is not exactly the chateau le magnifique (yeah, I speak french...) that we like to imagine it is. So,before they came I went out and got an air mattress from Bed Bath and Beyond. Not just any measly air mattress...the kind that blows up with the press of a button and is doubled so it is as tall as a normal bed. I also picked up thick, flannel sheets so they would be all warm and toasty. However, I didn't actually plan how I was going to get home with all this. Alright, so it might not be the longest trek of all time, but four and a half blocks is too far with a fifty plus pound, bulky bag. I decided to cab it, but had like, hardly any cash. So when my cabbie went down CPW instead of Broadway (meaning he would not be able to turn onto my one way street without turning around/doubling back) I knew I was in for at least a walk down one full long block. I am sure I looked ridiculous. I had to take 5 steps then put down the bag. Pick it up, 5 steps, put it down...lame. But at least the Van Dorans had a place to sleep.

Much Ado About A Tree

Some pretty cool things go on in this city, especially during this time of year. We were fortunate enough to have front row seats to the lighting of the tree in Rockefeller Plaza. And when I say front row seats I mean comfy, heated window seats 3 floors up in 45 Rock Plaza overlooking the skating rink/tree. While all the thousands of poor suckers (I can say that b/c I was recently one of those suckers, crunched in to watch some balloons fly by on Central Park West) below us huddled together in the cold, waiting for over five hours to get a decent spot, Alvis and I ate dinner and sat in the heated window seats of The Sports Club/LA. (This is where Alvis works and where we have memberships--it's basically a country club in the city--we may live in a shoebox, but we are treated like kings at our health club...) Anyway, we got to see Josh Grobin (he was incredible) and Tony Bennett...and some other people. Celine Deon sang inside the Rainbow Room so we could only see her on the big screens. I actually found my heart start to speed up when they started that countdown...but in the end the lights went on (perhaps a bit too anticlimactically) and we went home. Still, Christmas is my favorite time of year, and what better way to spend a Wednesday night than watching a gazillion people crowd together to see the lighting of a 400 story tree with a bazillion lights.

Mr. Macy throws a parade

It just so happens that a little parade goes right by our street every year. We decided to see what all the fuss was about. To be honest, we were pretty excited. We couldn't make it to Florida for Thanksgiving this year, so we decided to check out the parade. We actually got up at 6:30 to stake out our viewing spot. We didn't venture far--just down our block a little bit, but the competition was pretty fierce. Apparently, the gloves come off when it comes to seeing giant sized Doras and Kermits.
We managed to enjoy the parade without getting trampled. The weather couldn't have been better, and the floats and balloons were fun. It was definitely a great way to spend our first Thanksgiving morning in NY. Next year, when we have our huge apartment on CPW with windows facing the park, we won't even have to leave our apartment...

By popular demand...

Ok, so not really by popular demand. Not really even by request. More like, by suggestion...from Mark Huffines. So Alvis and I decided to create a blog. You know, because there weren't enough people ignoring our myspace/facebook pages...we thought people should be able to ignore our blog too. But this is better. This way, none of that messaging or commenting or actual interaction with each other. Now we can just write about ourselves and bug other people to read it. So here goes.
When my third year of medical school came to an end, Alvis and I planned to move down to Florida for my fourth year clerkships. Alvis was looking for jobs in Florida, but on a whim, he applied to this great job in NYC. 3 interviews with the company later, we moved to Manhattan. (I am skipping all of the horrendous, apartment hunting details for later...) So we now live in the Upper West Side and love it. I still can't get over that I managed to get the Jasper Pimp Master to move to NYC and be happy about it. We love going to the theater, philharmonic, galleries, blah blah culture culture...
I have begun my interview season for residency. I finally figured out what I am going to be when I grow up...an ER doc. I have been interviewing at many NY ER programs, and it seems likely we will be here for 3-4 more years. I will finally be able to help out with an actual salary. Maybe next year we can live in a place with bigger closets...