Due to a number of really awesome circumstances and a bunch of stars aligning in my favor, I ended up basically being paid to go to San Diego for the fall ACOEP conference in early October. <3 It was awesome.
I helped us book plane tickets and we ended up staying at a Motel 6 about 2 miles from the hotel the conference would be in. I’m slightly sad about this because I was all for us staying at the hostel 0.3 miles away, straight-up in downtown and surrounded by glorious eateries…but two of our party were avidly against it because they’d watched Hostel. Neither of them ended up coming. D: sigh. We could have saved a buttload of money and time, but you live and you learn. Next time, I’m just gonna go for it and coerce others to come along with me. :O
I managed to see a friend I haven’t seen since…probably somewhere while we were both in undergrad (we went to elementary school through high school together). She kidnapped me and we went to a intermediate/advanced pole class together at Fun Pole Fitness! :D I haven’t even touched a pole since July, which is pretty ridiculous, considering that I have one in my apartment (albeit currently in pieces and hidden in my closet, but still). It was a good workout, and we learned a lot + had a bunch of fun. :] I was reppin’ my Norcal Pole Posse tank top from Twirly Girls. :D
I’m aware that this looks kinda ugly right now, but please know that it’s my second or third attempt. >_> I think she called it the Rico(sp?) Split. I was learning how to turn that into a Cupid.
Despite “lunch” being listed on the schedule for the start of the conference on Saturday, lunch was not actually provided and of course, that’d be the one and only time I chose not to bring food with me (sigh). By dinnertime, I felt like my insides were eating me and I’d devolved into silence (I get cranky when I’m hungry), so we tried to go to a sushi place downtown that a couple of my friends had suggested, but they were extremely rude, so we opted for a Thai place around the corner (Thai Time!). The food was delicious! :D! (We have no Thai restaurants here, so it’d been a while. :[ ) Pete and Mike ended up matching, right down to the shoes (almost).
There was a social of sorts from 7-9 p.m. where they rented out the entirety of Hennessey’s. Open bar and free food. I think everyone else was most excited for the open bar, but I was overjoyed about the latter. I probably ate the equivalent of 5 dinners while I was there. <3 It was glorious. Pete and I decided to help distinguish between the two of them (top handprints = Pete; bottom handprints = me)
Since we were missing two quizzes (I hate the Exam Center forever and ever,but that’s a whole ‘nother story that I probably shouldn’t get into), we figured that some studying might be a good idea. D: I found us a coffee shop (LION Coffee :) to study at on Sunday, so we hung out there for a couple hours. I have a new love for acai bowls and would absolutely love to recreate them, but they don’t sell those smoothie packs anywhere near here, so I may have to wait til I get home for winter break.
Med students on vacation. :[
I just realized I don’t have any pictures of our entire group together. They exist somewhere, but I don’t know who has them. :[ In any case, we managed to score tickets to this fancy schmancy gala. They were supposed to be a couple hundred bucks per ticket, so I assumed there was no way in hell we’d be going. As such, I didn’t pack a dress that would work for the occasion with me and ended up having to go buy one (+ shoes…). Sasha and I managed to do some pretty effing efficient shopping though, and we got stuff that’d work for both fancy events + clinic, so hooray for articles of clothing that can multi-task! I even met Ron Burgundy! :P
All in all, it was great getting to escape for 5 days, even though my grades ended up paying dearly for it (once again, thanks a whole bunch, Exam Center). They’ve been salvaged though so it’s a-okay. I didn’t anticipate the conference being so packed full of events though (did I ever mention that the main reason I went was really because it was San Diego?). I didn’t end up getting to go to the beach or the sushi buffet (and a lot of other eateries), but I had a lot of fun anyway.
Mike and I watched a sunset together to make ourselves feel better about not having time to go to the beach (those palm trees off in the distance = where the beach was ;_; ).
We got to do an intubation lab and an ultrasound lab, and I talked to a bunch of residency programs and people who may be really awesome to work with in the future. My not getting to go to these places just means that I’ll have to come back someday, right? :]
Until then, stay classy, San Diego! ;)
