A Quiet Sunday in Salt Lake City

I had another early morning flight today, but the upside was that it was only a 1 1/2 hour flight to Utah! So, so short compared to my recent east coast flights. I had the strange experience of googling 'Salt Lake City' right after the plane touched down because I realized that I wasn't quite sure exactly where I was located in the U.S. and what the heck I was going to do that day. I'm definitely planning on the fly here! After taking a shuttle to the University Guest House (a hotel located on campus....very convenient) I made my way down to the TRAX (Salt Lake City's light rail system) to explore SLC.

Venturing out into snowy and sunny Utah

My first stop was at Squatters Brewery to have a beer and a very late lunch. I sat at the bar and ordered an organic amber ale and a BBQ chicken pizza where the crust is made with a wheat beer and the bbq sauce is made with a stout beer.

Squatter's Organic amber: much needed for a non-Mormon Sunday lunch.

I walked from the brewery to The Gateway, an open air shopping area recommended by the New York Times travel section. I had wanted to go to a more boutique-y, eclectic area called 9th and 9th but the front desk people at my hotel warned me that most of the smaller stores would be closed because so many people here are at church all day. Let me tell you, they were right. The city was practically a ghost town (then again I was mentally comparing it to NYC where I was last and most cities would seem sparse in comparison). I planned to only window shop in the Gateway but that noble idea was shot down by Anthropologie and its pretty, pretty dresses. In my defense, we have about 5 weddings to attend this summer and I really needed another dress to throw into the wedding rotation and the one I found was a great blue color (!), very comfortable (!!) and fit me (!!!).

The Gateway

For unknown reasons there were still Christmas decorations up in the Gateway (in MARCH), although some looked as if they were beginning to be put away, like these suspicious trees below:

Renegade Christmas trees?

After my shopping adventure I walked over to Temple square to see the famous Mormon Temple and the Tabernacle (home of the choir). I found out just recently that I actually have an extensive Mormon family background, so imagine my delight when I found this in the visitor's center:

Truman O. Angell was the main architect of the temple......possibly an ancestor, I'm going to have to look into this! No worries, I won't be converting. I am a very happy Episcopalian :)

Myself, in front of the temple in question

Mormon Tabernacle

So I thought I'd share some pictures that illustrate how much the weather changed here today. When I flew in I was relatively surprised to see snow all over the ground, just about an inch or two and none on the roads, but still I was not quite expecting it. It was a sunny and relatively warm day though and the snowy conditions certainly changed. The first photo that I took of the School of Medicine was taken as I left campus around 1pm, the second as I came back around 4:30pm.

Snow

No snow!

I went to dinner on campus with the other interviewees and we got to talk to some of the first and second year students about the program.......now I just have the interview tomorrow...did I mention they are group interviews? NOT looking forward to it. But I am looking forward to flying home tomorrow night and sleeping in the same bed as my man and my puppy :)

We Ate Our Way Through Manhattan

So what to do with a free day in New York you may ask? See a show? Shop? Sightsee? No. The answer is eat. And eat and eat, well at least if you are two hungry Angell sisters. So here is the low down on our adventures of the stomach.

My day started with a triple decker bagel. I may have cut myself while slicing it but it was well worth the pain.

Here is the obligatory Elizabeth in front of her apartment pic. She has a great place in Harlem, right next to a park and down the hill from Columbia. Thanks for letting me stay with you!

While Elizabeth was finishing up a reading list for her students, I headed out for a quick wander through Central Park. As I walked out of her front door I was immediately surprised by this:

CBS was filming scenes for the pilot of their new show Rookies. If it gets picked up I will definitely try to catch the pilot to see the scene. Ah, New York!

I headed off into the park and had a great walk and called Sam and Elly to catch up.

Perhaps the best thing about said walk was that it was 73!!! NY had a two day warm spell while I was there, score!!

Elizabeth and I hopped onto the subway and made our way downtown to walk and shop (and eat). When we got off the subway we stopped by Doughnut Plant to pick up some dessert. There was a long line because the doughnuts are pretty famous…..Elizabeth got a crème brulee and something else (all the food is blurring together) and I got pistachio and carrot cake doughnuts! We resisted the temptation to eat the doughnuts and found our way to Prosperity Dumplings in Chinatown, where our entire lunch (for two) cost $2.50.

Five dumplings each and sesame bread, so yummy and totally cost effective!

After dumplings we were wandering through the neighborhood and happened to walk past the Labratorio del Gelato. They have AMAZING gelato. We tasted Guinness (so good) and Turkish Fig and ended up getting a cup of black plum and yellow watermelon. It was so good. I wish we could have tried all the flavors, they had cheddar cheese, basil, and honeycrisp apple just to name a few!

Small cup of deliciousness.

Just an FYI, we probably walked around for 20-30 minutes between each place so there was some time to digest and some walking it off (thank god!) But we were so parched and my feet were pretty tired after said walking so we stopped in a Belgium bar for happy hour.

My glass did indeed have pink elephants on it….adorbs.

So we did actually attempt to work a little culture into our day. We stopped by the box office for Billy Elliot on Broadway to see if we could get student rush tickets to the show that night. If they have any seat unsold for the show that night they sell them to students for $32 each! Unfortunately it was sold out but we know that next time I’m there we should try again on a week night.

Our second plan was free admission night at the MOMA (Museum of Modern Art). I know some people don’t like free admission nights because yes it is very busy but I actually like it more. So many of the people there are young students and families with young kids, it just makes for a really cool crowd. We happened to bump into a friend of Elizabeth’s and we all wandered around until Elizabeth and I got hungry again :)

The photography is always my favorite part of the MOMA

Having sated our cultural appetites we headed out for dhosas (South Indian). I think the pictures tell this part best:

Coolest dinner ever!

After dinner we ventured home and had some good beer and finished our doughnuts…it was a fabulously food-filled day.

Bye-bye New York, you were awesome (but my sister was awesomer!)

The Day of Mishaps (no worries it all turned out ok)

So yesterday was my Sarah Lawrence interview....and although I screwed up a few times (involving transportation, not my interview) I was a big girl and figured it all out and it worked out fine.

I got up at 6am (aka 3am to my body) and got all spiffed up for my interview and headed out into the still slightly dark streets of Halrem. I hopped on the 116 bus right outside of Elizabeth's house to head cross town towards the train station. The bus was no problem, lots of people on their way to work but I think I almost could have walked faster as it stopped on every block. After walking up to the train station, I purchased my round-trip peak tickets ($18.50!!!!!! so NOT cheap).

I found which train I was supposed to get on via a board in the station and then got on the North White Plains line. After rolling through multiple stations without stopping I started to get a little worried but I figured that the person on the train who checked my ticket would have told me if I was on the wrong train. Not so much. I asked her when she walked back through and was told I was on an express train to White Plains, about twice as far as I wanted to go. God. I got off the train at the White Plains station at 7:46 (my interview started at 8:45). The next LOCAL train to Bronxville was going to be at the station at 8:12. Needless to say I was worried about making it on time and VERY happy that I took an early train in case of problems. When I hopped onto the return train I very politely explained the situation to the ticket guy and he was nice enough to believe me and not punch my return part of the ticket (which means I would have lost about $9.25). I got off of the train at the correct station at about 8:35 and ran around to find a taxi. The taxi had no markings except for the special 'taxi' license plate and there was no meter inside but I was desperate so I went with it. I was nervous that I would have to argue with him over fare but we got to SLC and he asked for $4.30 which sounded fine to me. I walked in for my interview with about 3 minutes to spare. Crisis averted. PHEW.

My arch-nemesis

The interview went well and I got a lot of information about Sarah Lawrence. I also had the happy surprise that another Seattleite was there! She works for a prominent genetic counselor at UW and just graduated this winter and we can't figure out how we haven't met in Seattle yet. She and I hung out after the interview and explored the campus a little. Here's some pics.....

The Genetic counseling building (used to be someone's house)

A typical building on campus (this is ironically the smallest school I am visiting but the largest genetic counseling program).

The 'pillow' room in the library with beanbags....apparently we would sometimes have class in here.

This was on the podium in the aforementioned classroom. Elly - perhaps you can transfer here and take classes on the Biebs?

The tea house on campus. Adorable and quite hobit-like :)

So after we walked around campus a current GC student was nice enough to drive us to the train station......where after waiting about 10 minutes for our train I realized I had left my jacket at Sarah Lawrence. BOO. Let me just say that when I left Elizabeth's that morning it was cold enough to need gloves but when I left Sarah Lawrence it was almost 70 and sunny. So I went and flagged down another cab (who tried to cheat me on the fare so I had to set him straight and then paid what was reasonable....go me) and headed back to Sarah Lawrence. My coat and I made the return trip on the train without incident and we were quite happy to be reunited and safely back at Elizabeth's apartment.

So I made two mistakes yesterday......one VERY stressful that ended up costing me nothing, and one not stressful at all (just made me feel stupid) that ended up costing $10 in round trip cab fare. I'd pay the $10 cab fare without the stress any day.

Elizabeth and I went our for delicious cocktails to celebrate (in an adorable speakeasy in Harlem) and then caught some trains over to her old haunts in Brooklyn to meet her friend Yemi for dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant. Be excited Seattleites, because I will be dragging you out to try Ethiopian soon, its so good. Afterwords we had some fabulous beer at her favorite Brooklyn bar and then caught a train back to Manhattan and emerged at midnight into.....

Times Square!!

Happy sistas

And we went shopping at Forever21 past midnight.......crazy busy at like 1am.....nuts.

And when we got home I really, really crashed. I had been up for about 20 hours at that point!

Lazy (tired) day in New York

My flight to JFK was quite short, only 4.5 hours, which meant about 4 hours of non-sleep for me. After getting off the plane and attempting to make myself look slightly awake, I took the Airtrain to the Jamaica station, then the Long Island Railroad to Penn Station, then the C line subway up to 166th st, 3 blocks form Elizabeth's apartment in Harlem. All of this at 3am Seattle time which meant 6am New York commuters. Surprisingly it went off flawlessly and I got to Elizabeth'a about an hour and a half after my plane landed.

After 2.5 hours of sleeping like the dead, Elizabeth and I ventured off to a cafe for coffee and a croissant and the headed onto the Columbia campus to grab lunch. I hung out and got some much needed trip planning done for my other interviews while Elizabeth met with a colleague.

We came back home and hung out and Elizabeth made me a delicious Chicken Adobo dinner (see below).

I love that I have to wildly culinarily (yeah I think I just made that word up) talented sisters.

I will be up at about 6am tomorrow for the bus > train > Sarah Lawrence journey (yep, 3am again our time). But hopefully I will be looking fresh and smart and be able to hide the fact that i will be feeling well, exhausted and exhausted.

I am REALLY looking forward to being done with the interview tomorrow just so I can have fun with Elizabeth celebrating St. Patrick's day........which, speaking of I have no green to wear at my interview. It would clash with my absolutely fabulous interview outfit. So here's hoping I don't get pinched!

Off to New York!!

I'm sitting at the airport right now waiting to board my flight to NYC to interview at Sarah Lawrence and more importantly visit my sister!!

I fly a red eye tonight, get in waaaaaay early in NYC, have all day to recover and then interview the next morning (Thursday). Elizabeth and I have all day Friday to have fun in the city and then I fly back mid-day on Saturday.

It is soooo much more exciting to be flying to someone rather then just somewhere and I am so excited to see Elizabeth's new place and see Columbia and pay a much needed visit.

This is a pic from my last visit to Elizabeth in NYC, from the late fall of 2008. It won't be quite as warm on this trip but sunny and 65 sounds like heaven compared to Seattle right now!

More on the trip and inevitable jet lag later :)

Brandeis Day 3 - Boston Adventure!

Saturday, March 5^th

I booked my flight out for a little later on Saturday (5pm) so that I could have some time to explore Boston. I figured A) If we might be living here in a few months I should probably know what we are getting into and B) I paid for a ticket to get here so I’m exploring!

I was really tired in the morning and tempted to just chill at the hotel and then go hop on my flight but I dragged myself out of bed and got on the road. I planned to drive straight into the heart of Boston and park in the garage underneath the Boston Commons (think: Central Park of Boston) and then go on the self-guided walking tour called the Freedom Trail. My I-phone’s directions looked a little strange but I didn’t want to veer from my best buddy GPS so I went with it and was SO glad that I did. I ended up driving along the Charles River and getting to drive past Harvard and MIT. I didn’t get to see much but it was just cool to go past and know where they are. I parked in the garage and headed up into the Boston Commons and found the start of the freedom trail.

How did I navigate along the Freedom Trail, you may ask? Well duh, there’s an app for that. And it’s FREE. The freedom trail is awesome, you basically follow a red brick trail all throughout Boston and see like 18 of the coolest historical sites. Here's some of my favorites:

Boston Common

I love the old buildings and streets here

Just follow the trail and read the info about each site on my phone

Standing in the oldest graveyard in Boston

Turns out I happened to be in Boston on the anniversary of the Boston Massacre, these kids were doing a reenactment on the spot where it happened in 1770!

I got to tour Paul Revere's house, the oldest building in Boston.

My last stop was the famous 'one if by land and two if by sea' church.

Can I just say that I LOVE Boston. I love the old historic buildings mixed in with the modern ones, the water all around the city, the fact that I saw a lot of people with yoga mats and dogs…..this is a good city. West-Coast family and friends don’t despair, I’m not saying Sam and I will be moving here, just that if that ends up as our best option I think we would be happy, which is great.

Anyways my first Boston adventure is over (I will be back for a quick trip in early April to interview with Boston University…..can’t believe I have to make this trip all over again but that’s just how it goes!)

Brandeis Day 2

Friday, March 5^th

7am – Woke up for my interview, got ready, ate a good breakfast and made my way to Waltham to the Brandeis Campus.

FYI That is not my photo.....I missed the obligatory campus entrance photo but it was icy and not quite so pretty outside anyways.

8:30am – Parked next to a castle. Yes, a castle. I was really thinking I must be in the wrong place but it turns out that the castle is a dorm for Sophomore students (I have a feeling Sam may try to enroll for another undergrad degree in hopes of getting to fulfill his lifelong dream of living in a castle).

8:45am – Thankfully the first person I asked about the location of the Genetic Counseling office was going right past it so I bypassed wandering campus and was in the office right on time. The Brandeis program has an awesome new space. It has lounge space for the students, a kitchen, offices for all of the directors/faculty and a classroom used for many of the classes taken by the GC students. Best part was that it was so open and sunny and really makes the program more cohesive.

9am – 45 minute orientation with two other interviewees followed by 30 minute interviews with each of the directors. I’m not going to write a lot about my actual interviews but I thought they went really well and I felt like I hit it off with each of the directors.

12:30 – Lunch with the 1^st and 2^nd year students. I really liked the students, they were all laughing and having a good time and it just seemed like a great atmosphere. They have classes of 10 which I think is a great number, you still get lots of individual attention but have a more diverse group of classmates to learn with.

1:30-3 – Went to the financial aid office with one of the other interviewees (always depressing to hear tuition numbers but at least I found out there are scholarships awarded to some students) and then we walked around campus with her and sat and had coffee in the student union building.

This is a photo from one of the science buildings; the campus sits on a hill overlooking Waltham.

3-4:30 – Sat in on the Clinical Genetics class with the first year students and LOVED it. This is so my field.

Finally drove back to the hotel EXHAUSTED (especially since I woke up at 4am Seattle time). Had a celebratory Samuel Adams Brick Red Beer and leftover pizza for dinner and told Sam all about my day and went to bed happy!