To Europe I go !!

I leave tomorrow afternoon for Europe for two weeks. So, my blogging will be scare if not non-exsistant. I'll be back June 3rd. No, Mom, I don't know if I'll be coming home engaged.. I'm not a mind reader. *gah!* I'll see y'all in two weeks ! Then, I MOVE !!

Day Spas are Great!

My friend liz got us a day at the day spa for my graduation. I looooove live. have I mentioned how much I LOVE liz. She's the bestest!! It was great to have a whole day just for "me time" with the two girly doctors.

I got Liz's house early to chat and have coffee before we headed to the spa. She makes the BEST coffee.. her husband roasts his own beans. But I digress...

To the Spa: We went the Visage Day Spa on Louetta in NW Houston (for those of you who are local). We checked in and they lead us to the back to change. I got one of those giant elasticy bathtowels with a bow, a robe, and fuzzy slippers.. all white and black. Then I was lead to the back. Big room, heated bed, lots of warm fluffy towels and a pillow, candles, soothing music, and the very nice lady (I later found out she was the owner) to do my facial. Pure pampered heaven. She spent a full hour making sure my face was clean, shiney, buffed, and polished. We also got to chatting. Turns out the owner is a former Enron employee. She decided to go to beauty school after the collapse of her company. I admired her. She owns the place, runs it, styles hair, does facials, got her massage license. The only thing in the business I think she doesn't do is the manicure and pedicure. Now she loves her job and what she does (which is so much more important than how much you make)

Next I was off to my massage. one hour of heaven. My massage therapist was great and got all the knots out of my neck and shoulders. I might have to make that a regular thing. It was so nice to just lie there and not have to think about anything.

After my massage I put 'real' clothes back on and had lunch. They gave us greek salad with yummy garlic bread (and white wine). I also had to drink lots of water (like you're supposed to after a massage... toxins and such). Salad was so yummy! I also got a chance to catch up with liz again since we were obviously in seperate rooms for our massage and facials.

Finally, we went in another room for our final spa treatments.. the mani/pedi. I asked for french on both since I'm going to Paris I figured I might as well. They did the full mani/pedi complete with hot wax treatment. I was so relaxed I almost fell asleep in the pedicure chair. In the end, my toes and fingers look totally cute!

I owe liz so much for introducing me to the glory that is day spas. I'm afraid much money might be spent in my future there. (not at Visage, but somewhere similar in Tampa) G might be damning liz in a year or so. HA !

Go Figure

I went to college in Austin.. not so shocking!

American Cities That Best Fit You:

60% Austin

55% Miami

55% Seattle

50% Portland

45% Atlanta

Which American Cities Best Fit You?

My Tagged Blog

I'm supposed to choose 5 and then complete the sentence.
And then... Then it's MY TURN (to tag 3 people)!

If I could be a scientist . . .
If I could be a farmer . . .
If I could be a musician . . .
If I could be a doctor . . .
If I could be a painter . . .
If I could be a gardener . . .
If I could be a missionary . . .
If I could be a chef . . .
If I could be an architect . . .
If I could be a linguist . . .
If I could be a psychologist . . .
If I could be a librarian . . .
If I could be an athlete . . .
If I could be a lawyer . . .
If I could be an inn-keeper . . .
If I could be a professor . . .
If I could be a writer . . .
If I could be a llama-rider . . .
If I could be a bonnie pirate . . .
If I could be an astronaut . . .
If I could be a world famous blogger . . .
If I could be a justice on any one court in the world . . .
If I could be married to any current famous political figure . . .



If I could be a chef: I'd be a pastry chef. But, I'd probably also be 300 lbs. There's no way I could do that all day without sampling everything I made. But, I'd much rather bake than cook.

If I could be a professor: I'd probably be a clinical attending at an optometry school (go figure). I can't see myself lecturing, but I can see myself being attending faculty with patients and students. That would be the only type of academia I'd want to do.

If I could be a scientist: I already was for three years. I did like it, but not enough to do it for the next 20 years. The pay sucks too!

If I could be a pirate: I'd definitely have a parrot. I'd also spend all of my time in the carribbean. of course, there's also the plundering.

If I could be an inn-keeper: it would be on the Blue Ridge parkway in the mountains of North Carolina. A little bed and breakfast for people to get away in and relax. Maybe even a little spa. Spa's are great!

And now I tag (to do this next): Someone in a Strange Land, Boozy, A Cerebral Cousin

Gift Cards ROCK!

Have I mentioned my undying love for gift cards? they are the BEST.THINGS.EVER!! Not only do I get free things, but I get to pick out my own gifts so I'm guaranteed to like what you got me. So far I got a huge gift card from G's parents to Foleys and another (not so huge, but that's okay) from a friend for Ann Taylor.

My first stop today was to Circuit City. I returned the AC Power adapter I'd gotten for the new happy green iPod. Apparently G already has one and we don't need two. so, that money goes back to the happy credit card people. Then, I did some research and discovered that CC sells the exact same portable DVD player I won at graduation banquet. So, since G already had one I returned that for store credit (even though I had no idea where they got it from). The DVD player became a brand-spanking new HP Printer complete with copier, scanner, photo printer, and regular printer. It makes me happy (especially since it was FREE!!) The DVD thing I couldn't really use became something I really needed. YAY!

Then, I hit the Foleys. lemme tell ya.. when you hit the sale racks at Foleys with a 200 dollar gift card. SO.MUCH.FUN!! When it's not your money, shopping kicks ass! normally I detest shopping.. ask anyone who knows me. But, mom and I had the funnest time picking out cute skirts and other outfits I can cruise around Europe in. I had to get something that would be cute and still let me in the Vatican (no shorts or tank-tops allowed). I got three or four cute skirts, LOTS of cute shirts,and two new light weight jackets (one denim and one Nike). I only had to pitch in 20 bucks of my own money (mainly for taxes)

I then trotted over to Ann Taylor and got two new other cute tops for Europe (or work later on). There I had to pitch in a little more of my own money cuz Ann Taylor's a little more pricey and the gift card wasn't as big. But still SO CUTE!

Now I'm happily removing pricing tags and sorting through the mother-lode of goodness that became of my morning of shopping. I did that much damage in only 2 hours (including the CC trip) Damn I'm good.

Graduation Banquet at Vargos: May 13th, 2005 

Friends who made it to graduation! Thanks guys !!!!  

Finally, I'm Dr. Christine!!

It's been a LONG LONG road, but it's finally here. I'm Dr. Christine! It didn't feel real until one of my favorite attendings gave me a huge hug and I introduced her to my parents, as Dr J. She stopped me, smiled, and said "Christine, it's Julie now to you". It going to take me a really long time before I'm comfortable calling my attendings by their first names.

Graduation flew by once it actually started. I could have done without the hour wait behind the scenes waiting for it to start. I did get to see our commencement speaker practicing his speech in the back, mainly practicing his immitation of one of our professors (ocular anatomy for those playing along at home). His speech was GREAT by the way!! After the terminally long wait... I got to walk. I got goose-pumps when we all walked in together to pomp and circumstance in full regalia. (complete with honor cords).

G was taking pictures of me while I was walking in. He managed to sneak down to the front while I walked across the stage to take more pictures. When I was hooded, both attendings doing the hooding gave me a big hug. I don't remember much about walking across. I remember lots of flashes. I remember them dropping the hood from behind me. Somehow I made it over to the Dean for more pictures. He told me something about "thanks for doing well while you were here".

After graduation ended: it didn't take as long as I thought it would... we were herded outside for a group picture. I managed to stay near all of my friends!! we were DYING of heat stroke out there. It was in the upper 80s and we were in long velvet robes with more velvet on top. It was pretty damn miserable. After that was done, I met the family (including G), Mike and his fiance, and Pete out front for even more pics.

With all the camera flashes done we headed to the school for champage and hugs with friends. We had to duck out pretty early though, as we had 8pm reservations at Fogo de Chao. If you've never been to Fogo I HIGHLY recommend it. you can't beat a 40 ft salad bar (complete with smoked salmon, artichoke hearts, whole milk mozzerella cheese, and asparagus). Then, it's time for MEAT MEAT AND MORE MEAT!! It was soooo good. Waiters with giant skewers of meat run by your table with some of the best cuts I've ever had. They keep coming til you beg for mercy. G picked out a fabulous bottle of wine, my parents complained that we had to pay for water, and somehow we managed to enjoy a very nice meal. My parents don't seem to believe in expensive food. But, G and I really enjoyed it. We'll have to go out on our own when we get to Europe.

So, now I have this huge diploma in my room (yes, it's the one they gave me walking across the stage.. its real).. and it still doesn't seem real. I'm heading to Florida shortly after two weeks in Europe. I'm very excited to have G back in my life full-time. I think I'm more excited about spending two weeks with him in Europe than I am about actually going to Europe.

At the graduation dinner Friday night I was very happy to see the friend I've blogged about earlier on. She's the student on the transplant list. She was there to support us and I was so excited to see her. many pictures were taken. I won the scholarship for Oustanding Performance in Optics. (500 bucks, whoo hoo!) I also won a raffle prize of a portable DVD player. I already have one, so I guess I'll take it back to Circuit City for credit. (or try to since I don't have a receipt).

Overall, a very exciting weekend !

They decided to unleash me on patients. On May 14, 2005 I officially became a Doctor of Optometry !!  

Suzy and the Chi-woo-woo (Missy) 

Happy Mother's Day!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the mothers out there. A big special day to my friend, Jessica who's celebrating her very first mother's day with her three week old baby, Audrey!! congrats, hon!

Another very special day to my SIL, Keri -- who is expecting and due with her first son (and my first nephew) in September!!

We celebrated by taking my mother out to breakfast this morning and our favorite deli lunch/breakfast spot called Victor's. The guys there gave my mom a rose as we walked in. (and the guy who runs it flirted with me shamelessly as we left and I was paying -- in front of my parents no less!) He made sure to ask me if I was a mother first.. HA!! So, of course, mom had to tell him I was a doctor... oh lord, it's starting!!

I'll blog all about my trip to south Texas to see my best friend tomorrow. (complete with pics!)

Today is all about mom, picking up Ashley at the airport for our certification class this week, and driving to east Houston for our classes big luau bash !

Lost and not Found

Somewhere in the moving my Tiffany necklace, which was a Valentine's Day gift from G, has disappeared. I hope to GOD I find it !! I've been searching all morning with no success. I've even unpacked packed boxes to make sure it didn't fall in. HELP !! I don't know where else to look and I'm beginning to think it ended up inside a dresser drawer that got sold at our yard sale two weeks ago. *AHHH!*

NBEO Part 3: Clinical Skills

Well, today was the big day.. the clinical skills exam. Four years of work boiled down to five ODs from across the country bubbling in my skill sets on a scantron. I forgot to do a few picky things, but overall I know I did well enough to pass part 3. The weird thing is, I don't even NEED part three to practice optometry in the state of Florida. In Florida, I have to take THEIR version of part 3. It's all so bizzare.

I wasn't really nervous about this exam at all until last night. About 930pm my friend Erin called to tell me about how the exam went for her. (they divided the class into four groups for testing purposes). Apparantely she got a really hard patient for the retinoscopy station (station 3) and didn't finish her vergence assesment at the end of the station. She missed an entire skill. She was very worried and a little freaked out. For everyone practicing in Texas there is a lot riding on this exam... you need it to practice optometry. Apparently every student who got this one particular patient with almost 5D of cyl, didn't complete station 3. Our group all knew this and prepared accordingly. (if you can't get the cyl, move on it's only a few points vs missing a whole skill)

After the exam I had to decompress. A few of us went to pei wei to eat and chat about the exam. We discussed the picky details we missed, etc. The nice thing for me is, I now know the picky details I missed and can plan accordingly for the Florida exam so I don't miss them twice. (yay!)
My other decompression for the day involved a pool, a book, my bikini, and playing ball with the dog. So, not such a bad day afterall....