Ladies of Urology

Had some fun this evening with my fellow "stream team" girls.  Once a month the boys have a mandatory Journal Club, so all of us ladies always get together and hang out.  Tonight I hosted and tried my hand at Chicken and Dumplings from this awesome one-pot dinner cookbook that I am totally asking for as a birthday gift.  They were super easy to whip up, probably took about 40m from start to table and had a nice bit of spice.  I'm definitely having a love affair with rotisserie chicken!

Tomorrow I'm back to work, but have plans to hit up the matinee showing of Black Swan.  Looks a little sexy, a little scary.  Can't wait!

On the 3rd day of Christmas. . . .

Post pending - awaiting Christmas pics from my momma.

On the 2nd day of Christmas. . . . . .

After sleeping in to the lovely hour of half-past nine, we loaded up the car and headed over the Rosso's for Christmas brunch.  Gloria had made a delicious breakfast with ham, bacon, coffee cake, pumpkin pie, biscuits, rolls, and these delightful cookies sprinkled with powdered sugar that I just couldn't get enough of. 

Felipe hurried us a bit, and before I knew it, it was time to open gifts!  Now it was Felipe's turn to be on Santa's nice list.  He ended up getting this tres fancy guitar thingamajig that he is absolutely obsessed with.  I can hear him rocking out upstairs as I type.

Below you can see me modeling one of the softest scarves in the world!  Its very long and fluffy and will be perfect to wear for outdoor shopping, and walking in from my car, and around the house, and while knitting. . . . .

With full bellies and a trunk full of delightful presents, we climbed into Daphne and cruised down South.

On the 1st day of Christmas

It was the evening of December 23rd. . . . . . . . .

We started with a lovely dinner with our good friend, Jill, and her family.  We dined on caesar salad, lasagna, garlic bread while sipping on a perfect cabernet and enjoying great conversation.

After dinner, we adjourned to our own home for our very 1st Christmas in our new house.  Wow!  I must have been a very good girl this year.  Miss Elo got me the softest sweater vest to snuggle in.  Jackson got me 2 travel coffee mugs and somehow managed to put his cute little picture on one of them.  The coup de grâce was from my dear husband - he got me a LAPTOP!  I'm still working on getting it all tricked out and melissa-ized.  I'm in love (with Felipe, with the kitties, and with my new laptop!)  Felipe scored some monogram work shirts and a new zippie cardigan as well as some much needed headphones, an iTunes gift card, and his very own subscription to Scientific American.

After all this fun, we had an impromptu med school reunion.  Several of our school friends were in town and it was so much fun to sit and catch up on everyone's adventures.

Pumpkin Pasta

Cooked a quick and easy (not to mention delicious!) meal this evening for the hubby and I.  We curled up on the couch, pulled up our tv trays (aka ottomon aka coffee table) and made total gluttons of ourselves.  Cauliflower-Pumpkin Pasta with Harvest salad from one of my Rachel Ray cookbooks.  Don't like her show, but I'm loving her recipes.  Believe it or not, it truly was 30m from boiling the water to setting it on the table.

Total also marked the last day on my dermatology rotation, disappointingly I never did learn Botox or any of the other cosmetic procedures.  But I can take a pretty mean skin biopsy.  Tomorrow starts Christmas vacation (well, I hope so anyways.)  I might need to go do a home visit on a homebound patient of one of my colleagues.  I just didn't have the heart to say no because I'm "on vacation."  Now if the patient could take a vacation from their debilitating illness, that would be another soty.  Think I'll also sleep in, do some knitting, enjoy my latest british chic lit novel, and bake up some more cookies.  Felipe has almost demolished the gingersnaps, but we've still got some Cinnamon Sugar Biscotti.

Merry Kitty Christmas - these cats are spoiled!

Look what Santa Paws brought our kitties.  Somehow they were on the nice list. . . .

iPad Game Just for Kitty

Another brillian reason I want an iPad for Christmas:

iPad Game Just for Kitty: "

When the iPad first came out, you might have seen the YouTube video Iggy Investigates an iPad. Well, the designers over at Little Hiccup were inspired by Iggy’s antics and created an iPad game just for cats. You can choose laser pointer or mouse and let the chase begin. Kitty can even try to beat her own high score. Now that sounds like a really good reason to get an iPad for Christmas!

The new iPad game for cats can be downloaded for free from the Apple iTunes store.

"

Fashion smashion!

Had a lovely evening last night with my fellow "ladies of urology."  We enjoyed a fashion show, a holiday market, and a delicious martini.  (Also got to break out my new XXI dress and VS boots!) I could have people watched for hours.  Got to see fascinating things such as a crazy Cruella De Vil inspired style where she had half a head of pink hair and the other half was black, I'm still wondering if there was a wig involved. . . . .

Also got to see lots of fun street style, which suprisingly made me feel quite ordinary in comparision. 

(This puts the absolute fashion craziness into perspective.)

Yelp Christmas Party

My extreme yelpiness scored us an invite to the annual Merry Kitschmas Party @ Beer Kitchen in Westport.  Had so much fun getting all dressed up and enjoying the complementary aperitifs.  Happy Holidays!

Sweet Paul

So this is an AWESOME online magazine with absolutely delicious looking recipes.  Here are some of my faves that I can't wait to try:

• spiced pumpkin trifle (p67)
• sparkling sangria (p86)
• maple lemon smash (p100)
• fig and vanilla infused vodka (p102)
• cranberry & almond streusel cake (p109)

	Look inside >
Holiday 2010

Uncle Flip

Huevos Rancheros

Dinner tonight - Huevos Rancheros from a new cookbook I picked up called "The Working Cook."  The title rang true and I was able to get this to the table in under 30 minutes.  Luckily I have a very talented husband to fry me up some eggs over easy. 

This weekend marks the start of the holiday parties - we've got 3 on Saturday!  One with my knitty friends, my offical work party, and felipe's unoffical resident party to which I'm taking Aunt Louise's delicious creamed corn.  YUM!  We finally got our tree up and it fits perfectly between the chairs, I'm so glad I got a tall skinny one.  We've even got a few presents under the tree for those of you that have been nice this year;)

M.B.A.'s Have Biggest 'Mommy Penalty,' Doctors the Smallest

Fascinating - - - -

M.B.A.'s Have Biggest 'Mommy Penalty,' Doctors the Smallest: "Among highly educated women who take time off from their careers to raise their children, women with M.B.A.'s suffer the largest percentage 'mommy penalty,' while those with medical degrees suffer the lowest proportionate loss, with female Ph.D.'s and lawyers falling somewhere in between."

A Very Merry Kitty Christmas (part deux!)

An Honor

I've never claimed to be much of a politico.  I do vote, but I never debate politics nor follow the health reform.  However, somehow I was chosen to have the honor of representating Kansas residents when Dr. Berwick (CMS Director) came to town for a visit.  I must say, the drama-queen in me had so much fun.  There were about 12 power players at the table all vying to have their voices heard and to push their own agenda.  While I was not invited to sit at the round table, I did have a strategic seat next to the breakfast food and coffee!  Perhaps this could someday lead to a gig as the next Dr. Gupta?

A Very Merry Kitty Christmas

We decided to let our spoiled little brats have an early christmas present.  Boy was it a hit!

4th Amendment Wear

Thought gpa might get a kick out of this. . . .

4th Amendment Wear: "

Now there’s a way to protest those intrusive TSA X-ray scanners without saying a word. Announcing 4th Amendment Metallic ink-printed undershirts and underwear! Via Fubiz

Merry Christmas from the kitties

Luscious Slush Punch

 

Recipe:  Grandma's Slushie Punch

Yum!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Gobble, gobble, gobble, until you wobble, wobble, wobble! (Quote courtesy of my cousin's facebook.)

I think I'm still wobbling from our delicious family feast -- my faves were the pickle roll-ups, decadent macaroni and cheese, creamy cranberry salad, juicy-juicy turkey, and rich pecan pie with fresh whipped cream.  My family definitely does not hold back when it comes to comfort food.  

I always forget how much fun (and crazy) my family is, but am always quickly reminded as soon as I come home.  The "babies" are growing up so fast and are two of the cutest little ladies.  Mason is absolutely adorable and does an excellent job standing up for himself around all the girls.  Jaelynn is a little princess with the prettiest hair and sweetest smile while Kaylee is the best big cousin ever.  She does such a good job taking care of the little ones, I definitely have plans to hire her to baby-sit my own some day (does that sound okay with you miss kaylee?  I promise to $$ you well.)

p.s.  grandma - will you post a link to that yummy punch????? 

Sunday night

I'm such a fan of lazy Sunday afternoons.   Despite being on 30 hour call in the hospital overnight, I managed to get a good 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep with a few more hours of intermittent napping thrown in for good measure.

I stopped at the grocery on the way home and picked up some delicious holiday-blend coffee from the roasterie and enjoyed a lovely french-pressed cup while browsing the internet.  I've got a huge crock of beef stew in the slow cooker that is starting to smell delish, and I rented the new Predators.  Definitely looking forward to curling up on the sofa with the hubby and sipping on some red wine (I had no choice but to open a fresh bottle as it was listed in the recipe for the stew.)

Our little Loki is on his way over for a play date this afternoon.  We'll see how he likes the backyard and how he does on a walk around the neighborhood.  The sun is shining and the weather is definitely cooperating with a long leisurely walk - - just have to remember to keep a few poopie scoopie bags in my pocket. 

Garfield 18.11.10

Garfield 18.11.10: "
© 2010 Jim Davis & Paws, Inc. See all 11841 Garfield Comics easily at http://ivanov.in/garfield/

"

dinner

on the menu for tonight - slow cooker lemon garlic chicken and rosemary roast potatoes.  prepped the meal last night so all Felipe has to do is:

1. put the inset in the crockpot
2. turn it to high
3. add extra juice and rosemary (pre-mixed) 3.5 hours later
4. preheat the oven
5. dump the preseasoned potatoes onto a baking sheet
6. stir the potatoes every 15 minutes
7. greet me with a nice glass of red wine when I get home from a long day of call

Can't wait to come home to a yummy-smelling house and warm cozy dinner.

Elo & Jackson's Bayou cousins

If alligators ever attack Kansas City, I'm sure my kitties would defend the house.

How-To: Chili And Cornbread in a Jar

This is so cool!

How-To: Chili And Cornbread in a Jar: "

grumpy

Super grumpy after a LONG day of work and then managing to get lost on the way home after I stopped for gas.  Thank goodness the day is over and I get to take a LONG hot shower and crawl into a warm bed under my electric blanket.  Only 6 more days of work and then I get a glorious day off.

what a jerk!

Just kidding - I'm talking about my Jerk Chicken Chili.  Wow!  Pretty easy, probably an hour from stove to table.  Gotta love rotisserie chicken, and I just couldn't say no to a square of semisweet chocolate!  Served up hot, garnished with some cilantro, sourcream, and corn chips.  One of my fave (and easiest) chili recipes.  Anytime I get to break out my blue dutch oven I'm in heaven.  And the company couldn't have been better.  I love having friends over for a laid back dinner.

new nerdy specs

My glasses have arrived - and they are just as spectacular as I imagined (no pun intended.)  Definitely have the Melissa-flair!

lunch: cheesy eggs & grits

I'm totally trying to get into grits - they are SO versatile and pair perfectly with cheese and jalapeno.  I had a HUGE pat of butter on top but it melted away before I could snap the pic.

Happy Birthday Jill!

Congratulations!

My MIL has been awarded a 6 month sabbatical to pursue a special project designed to help latino college students graduate - she worked very hard designing a project, preparing a proposal, and giving a winning presentation.  

(You know she's got what it takes, just look how far her son has come!)

 Congrats!  Here's a link to JCCC's website and her picture - http://www.jccc.edu/home/depts.php/5303/site/meet

Happy Anniversary!

Look at this HOT couple!  Congrats!

Can't wait until me and the hubby make it to 55.

hot mama

To Felipe; From Eloise