Happy feet travel around the world

Back in 2014, I wondered where I would head to 2015.  Not surprisingly, my feet ended up where they belong....firmly back home in Los Angeles.
















2015 was not a great year for me, travel-wise.  Because of the move and everything else that comes with it, I only got to go on vacation once (I'm not complaining, just stating the facts). Because I only had time for one vacation, I knew I had to make it count.  This lone vacation was for a destination wedding in the Dominican Republic for my gorgeous friend Olesya. It was my first time there and I highly enjoyed it - great company and such beautiful beaches.  It was a vacation for the books, for sure!

This year is another busy one for me.  I started off great with a vacation to celebrate another wedding - my brother's (see last post).  Another vacation for the books and yet, none of these destinations are on my travel bucket list!  Here's the updated list (updated in 2014):

1. Canary Islands
2. Maldives
3. Thailand
4. Santorini (ok, all of Greece)
5. Italy - Positano, Florence, Rome, Venice, Vatican City
6. Siem Reap
7. Forbidden City in China
8. France - Lourdes, Paris,
9. Costa Rica March 2014 (yay!)
10. Peru
11. Argentina
12. Spain - all over, not just Barcelona and Madrid
13. Croatia - September 2014
14. Morocco
15. Mauritius
16. South Africa

And my last 4 destinations - Dominican Republic, Bali, Philippines and Vietnam are nowhere on this list.  Sigh.  I should probably get cracking on this list before I head anywhere else.

Oh, who am I kidding?!?  I'll go wherever the wind takes me and I have the rest of my life to work on this list.  If anything, this list will only get longer.  Already thinking of adding Iceland, Ireland and Scotland to the list.  :)

Where are you headed this year???  XOXO

Bye 2014, Hello 2015

I saw this post on Instagram so I thought I'd post it here.  I did mention that I like lists.

Looking back at 2014:
My favorite experience: trip to Croatia and Istanbul
My biggest accomplishment: graduating with a Master's from Columbia University. Yay me!
My favorite place to visit: Costa Rica.  I loved Croatia but I think Costa Rica stole my heart.
The best meal is: one shared with family and friends.
If I have a free day, I like to: run errands because unlike before, I only get two free days a week.
My favorite book: Unfortunately, I didn't really read much this year.
My favorite movie: I didn't see a lot of movies this year either but Guardians of the Galaxy was fun.

Looking ahead to 2015:
I want to continue to work out at least 3 times a week.
I want to try to eat healthier (less processed food), do yoga once a week
I want to stop being too cynical.
I'd like to visit these places: Thailand, Peru, Paris....too many to list
My goals for this year: grow some more balls (esp at work), work on strengthening my left arm

And because it's the start of the year, we should all start with a blank slate.  Or a blank space per Taylor Swift.  Happy New Year!!  xoxo

Recap of 2014

Time goes by so fast, sometimes it takes some quiet time to think about the past year to even remember most of that has happened.  I'm a fan of lists so I thought I'd sum up my year with a few lists.

Highlights:
1. Finishing school and graduating with a Master's degree.
2. Traveling to Croatia and Istanbul with a crazy friend who made it extra fun
3. Starting a new career (still undecided if this should be here)

Best investment: (it's really a toss-up)
1. Trip to Croatia and Istanbul
2. Classpass

Biggest expense: Trip to Croatia and Istanbul

Trips I took: (in order)
1. Puerto Rico with my brothers
2. Costa Rica with my girlfriends
3. Anaheim for ONS Congress
4. Los Angeles for my cousin's wedding
5. Croatia and Istanbul with crazy Jen B.
6. Los Angeles for Christmas

Now let's see if I can break up the highlight reel by month.

January - trip to Puerto Rico with my brothers
February - degree conferral
March - trip to Costa Rica
April - took and passed the boards, yay!
May - ONS Congress in Anaheim, with a side trip to San Diego; Graduation, YAY!
June - Mimi's wedding
July - renewed my passport; discovered hot yoga at Modo (thanks Sam!)
August - Mount sinai paperwork; shadowed Chelsie at the end of the month
September - lots happened this month. Started of the month traipsing around Croatia and ended the trip in Istanbul. Came back to the US to finish my last two days with NYP (sad).  Started a new job at Mount Sinai a day later.  I'm exhausted just thinking about all that happened this month.
October - birthday month! Yay! Also started using class pass more this month.
November - getting hammered at work; tried anti-gravity yoga for the first time
December - still getting hammered at work; discovered my love for boxing; about to surprise my mom for Christmas (I'm her present!!)

With a few more days left in 2014, I have less than a week to make more memories!!

Take care world.  And Happy holidays!!

xoxo

Decisions, decisions...

When I was in nursing school, all we heard was "It's great to be a nurse because there's so much you can do (career-wise)".  And it's really true.  You can do bedside nursing, outpatient nursing, home health, clinical office, research, etc.  Or you can go my route and go for your master's and become a nurse practitioner.  Nursing school prepared me for a lot of things - what to do in an emergency, how to take care of sick people and basically being able to think on your feet.  It did not prepare me, however, to make life decisions.

Sure, I'm in my early thirties (yikes!) and should be able to make these kinds of decisions but it's still so scary and it still shakes me to my core.  Somehow making the decision to switch to nursing and move to New York feels like an easier decision than the one I am faced with.  I always say how much I hate New York and that I can't wait to move back to California.  It should be an easy decision to just move back but somehow it's not.  I am scared about the job prospects in California.  I would only move back pending a great job offer.  BUT, does that mean I shouldn't apply to jobs here in New York?  Does that mean I should just wait it out?

All these questions are making me ill.  My stomach is in knots.  Why is it so hard to be a grown-up?  Maybe I should focus on studying for my boards instead of being distracted by life choices.

XOXO

Random Thoughts

- It seems like the secret to being a successful blogger is to make time to blog.  I guess that's the secret to success - making time to do whatever you love.

- The secret to passing the boards? Not procrastinating.  Which I am currently doing. Watching True Detective on HBO. Kiddies, don't try this at home

- I'm having Costa Rica withdrawals.

- Costa Rica got me thinking about my life.  Will I be able to give up all material urges and live a simple life and be relatively stress-free.  It's pretty tempting but it's also a hard task especially since we (Americans) have been raised to go for the gold, the American Dream, whatever that means.

- Working on a new project.  But first, let me pass my boards.

xoxo Happy Monday!

Quick Updates

Back from gorgeous Costa Rica and I couldn't be more sad.  Costa Rica exceeded my expectations and I can't wait to go back.  Pics will be up soon.  I'm just waiting for the other girls to upload the ones on their phones.  Yes, we all forgot our cameras but thank goodness for iPhones.

Back in NYC now and back to studying.  Also back to exercising.  I wasn't really working out in Costa Rica except for the two hikes that we did.  I did eat healthy, mostly seafood and fresh fruits, BUT I also consumed more alcohol this past week than I have in the last 6 months.  No bueno.  But, like I said, it's back to working out.

Still banned from sweets for Lent.  FYI - no sweets does not mean no sugar.  It means no desserts or pastries.  At least that's how I qualified it.  No meat Fridays is tough not because I eat a lot of meat (I don't).  I just always forget it's friday and sometimes I end up eating chicken or get a breakfast sandwich from Starbucks (I love the new ham and cheese one).  But today is Friday, so I'm going to try to avoid any meats.

Have not bought shoes yet although I am quite tempted.  I'll wait tip I'm done with the boards to see if I truly deserve a new pair.  Also, I'm saving up for my next trip.

Anyway, hope everyone is having a great Friday!  XOXO

Bad Ass

When I was a young girl, I asked my mom if I could take martial arts lessons.  She said no.

Thirty years later, I sit and wonder what would have happened if I took said classes?  I would've been a bad ass mofo who could actually kick ass.  Probably why my mom said no.  It's probably enough that I'm a bad ass.

Busy busy bee

I've been so busy since I came back from vacation.  Between work, clinicals and my master's thesis, I haven't had time to breath.

Updates:
- My summer rotation is at Brooklyn Methodist.  Travel time is about 1.5-2 hours each way so my clinical days are about 16 hours long.  Needless to say I am completely knackered by the time I get home.  At least I am enjoying my time there - great patient exposure and lots of eye candy (can't hurt, right?).

- Schoolwise, nothing going on except for working on my thesis.  It's probably gonna suck coz I hate writing but at least my scenario is not THAT complicated.

-Vacation updates and pics coming soon.  I'm tagged on a few on FB and I have about 2 on instagram, haha.  I had such a blast.  Probably the most fun vacation I've had in a LONG time.  I'll have a separate blog post about it.  If I don't do what I need to do tonight, I'll probably have it up tonight.

- Work is work.  I've requested to move back to days so I might have some semblance of a life but that's probably not happening anytime soon and I'm not quite sure it's the smartest thing to do.  Days are busier and drama-filled that I might end up more stressed out than usual.

I'm so close to being done with school.  One more semester after this summer and I'll be done for awhile.  Maybe then I'll have a life...maybe.