stressed out

i have a lot on my plate right now.

and no, i'm not talking about food. for once! :)

i feel calm on the outside but inside, i'm chaos. i don't know where to start.
i feel like i'm holding things together with a thin string.
which sucks because i'm starting a harder call month this wednesday.

i have written exactly 0 words for my personal statement.

two new restaurants

Niu: It's the new sushi restaurant in Streeterville. After a brief struggle, we found street parking. I had the spicy tuna roll and one of the specialty rolls called Aloha. I felt the rolls were slightly bigger than average and tasty. The spicy tuna was the perfect spiciness, still allowing the freshness of the tuna to come through. The prices were average as well. So overall, a nice new addition to the area.

Coal Fire: I've been wanting to try this new pizza place for a while now. It's the anti-Chicago-style pizza. Thin crust. Charred with fire over coals. I had the proscuitto, which barely had any mozzarella (or any type of cheese). It was light, crispy, and very good. It could have used more proscuitto (they were a little stingy) and some more cheese to offset the saltiness. But overall, a refreshing change from the heavy deep dish pizza I'm used to around here!

clarity

It's no secret who I support to be our next President.
None other than Hillary Clinton. I'm so excited at how close she is to making this a reality.
And that was before I read that her and Bill love "Grey's Anatomy" just as much as I do! Read about it here.

Please support her campaign by clicking here.

She is so incredible. Smart, driven, out to change the world. and I'm proud that we share an alma mater.

Women who will.
Make a difference.

already

I know it seems like yesterday when I was applying for residency programs... and literally, it was only 2 years ago. But the time has come for fellowship applications! What?!?!

This is crazy to me for several reasons.
1. I just went through the painful process of applying for residencies! I haven't fully recovered yet.
2. I just finished my first year of residency, aka internship! I haven't had time to really breathe, let alone think about what I want to specialize in for the rest of my life.
3. Applications now are for positions to start in July 2009! I don't even know what I'm going to be having for dinner tonight, how am I supposed to know where and what I want to be doing more than 1.5 years from now?!?!
4. I have absolutely nothing for my "Personal Statement."
5. I feel like I haven't done anything during residency (when would I have time?) to make me stand out as an applicant. I've just been in Survivor Mode this past year!

I could go on and on and on... I'm the only one from my year who's applying to heme/onc fellowships so I feel all alone. No one to empathize with me. No one to compare notes. But at the same time, no one to stress me out with the dreaded "How many interviews have YOU gotten?"

So yes... I'm applying now. I'm geographically-limited for where I want to go, so I'm really really keeping my fingers crossed that I'll match at a program in a city that I want to live. I have complete writers' block when it comes to my personal statement and I'm thinking about putting it off until I finish Step 3 but that's not for another couple weeks and I think I'm supposed to be getting my applications out soon... ahh.

it happens every time

Last weekend, we were in D.C. for a friend's wedding. We had a great time! Friday night, we went straight from the airport to the rehearsal dinner at this Italian place in Bethesda. Saturday, we met up with a friend from medical school who I actually met down in Ecuador and explored the Mall area of D.C. We had dim sum, went to the Hirschhorn (or Hirschsprung's, for those of you who are medically-inclined) museum- the part of the Smithsonian that houses modern art, and sipped fresh lemonade in 90-degree weather.

Here's Judd and Sarah. Their wedding was at this beautiful fancy country club in Rockville, Maryland. I cried during the ceremony and during the matron of honor's toast. I hope I'm not a fountain of tears when I get married but somehow I think it's unavoidable.

Sunday, we joined everyone for brunch and then flew back to Chicago.

I'm glad to be back home... but suddenly, it's become very chilly here! Can we skip winter this year?

I'm on a very relaxed rotation right now called Development and Behavioral Pediatrics. I'm studying for Step 3 of the boards but having a very difficult time... I'm always sleepy! Maybe I have mono?