Slowly but surely, I'm recovering. I've felt well enough to work my two 12-hour shifts Monday and Tuesday, and I'll be going to my clinic this afternoon. I still can't really hear much, but my cough is MUCH better. I'm still very tired, but I'm definitely on the mend.
I have to give Hubby props for the extreme patience he showed with me this past week while I've been sick. He was working from home that week but still paused to get us meals and would bring me whatever I needed no matter how busy he was. He also dealt extremely well with my turning down his dinner ideas and requesting spicy meals (since I really couldn't taste much else).
Hopefully by the time I'm back in the ER in three days, I will be so much better that people will stop asking me if I'm okay!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
On the mend
I am finally starting to feel a little better. I can actually breathe somewhat through my nose, and my cough doesn't make me sound like Doc Holliday anymore. :) My voice is still gone, but I don't feel like I'm knocking on death's door anymore. Yay!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Worse still
So just when I thought things were heading in the right direction, I got a new blow today. Hubby and I watched CSI last night, so I spent at least half the night dreaming I was at work but had to do some CSI-like things on one of my patients. It was truly bizarre. I woke up this AM with no voice but a slightly improved cough, so I decided to tough it out and go to work.
On the drive in, I began to regret the decision. I had no voice to order my regular coffee, but at least the Starbucks ladies had a vague clue what I was ordering. My checkout started off with, "This little guy needs an LP ..." which of course I proceeded to miss completely while I sweated profusely and snot poured out of my nose (I was wearing a mask, so no one knew). I then proceeded to pick up a chart for a 15 year old who busted his lip open at school when he tripped and his grill ripped his lip WIDE open. He actually had 2 grills (upper and lower), but his wise mother told him to kiss the grills goodbye after today's incident. With a little supervision from the fellow, I sewed up that laceration very nicely (if I do say so myself) and saw several more patients before finally admitting how awful I felt. I had another resident that I really trust look in my ears because I noticed that my right one was starting to hurt and that I was having a really hard time hearing out of it. Oh yeah, this pediatrician has an awful ear infection!! It's the second one I've had since start residency, both of them associated with horrible colds. My fellow resident wrote me a script for antibiotics, and I had it filled at the hospital pharmacy. The pain is actually getting worse, and I'm just hoping the eardrum doesn't rupture at this point (although I'd probably feel better if it did).
Around 2 PM, I finally called uncle and called my chief to tell her that I didn't think I'd make it in tomorrow. I was dragging all day today and honestly couldn't picture another day back at it, and by the tone in my voice (or lack thereof), I think my chief realized that I'd really tried but couldn't make it all day. She called another peds resident in the ER and had him send me home so that I could get some rest.
Now I'm back at home in my spot on the couch, orange juice in hand, waiting it out. Hopefully this will all turn around soon.
On the drive in, I began to regret the decision. I had no voice to order my regular coffee, but at least the Starbucks ladies had a vague clue what I was ordering. My checkout started off with, "This little guy needs an LP ..." which of course I proceeded to miss completely while I sweated profusely and snot poured out of my nose (I was wearing a mask, so no one knew). I then proceeded to pick up a chart for a 15 year old who busted his lip open at school when he tripped and his grill ripped his lip WIDE open. He actually had 2 grills (upper and lower), but his wise mother told him to kiss the grills goodbye after today's incident. With a little supervision from the fellow, I sewed up that laceration very nicely (if I do say so myself) and saw several more patients before finally admitting how awful I felt. I had another resident that I really trust look in my ears because I noticed that my right one was starting to hurt and that I was having a really hard time hearing out of it. Oh yeah, this pediatrician has an awful ear infection!! It's the second one I've had since start residency, both of them associated with horrible colds. My fellow resident wrote me a script for antibiotics, and I had it filled at the hospital pharmacy. The pain is actually getting worse, and I'm just hoping the eardrum doesn't rupture at this point (although I'd probably feel better if it did).
Around 2 PM, I finally called uncle and called my chief to tell her that I didn't think I'd make it in tomorrow. I was dragging all day today and honestly couldn't picture another day back at it, and by the tone in my voice (or lack thereof), I think my chief realized that I'd really tried but couldn't make it all day. She called another peds resident in the ER and had him send me home so that I could get some rest.
Now I'm back at home in my spot on the couch, orange juice in hand, waiting it out. Hopefully this will all turn around soon.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Worse
Last night was another night spent without sleep. Despite multiple doses of medicine, I still couldn't sleep more than 2 hours at a time because of my cough. This morning I still had no voice, and my sinuses are becoming tender, so with the encouragement of my hubby and my clinic attending, I called in sick today. I felt horrible doing it, but like my attending pointed out, I'm probably more sick than most of the patients coming to clinic today.
I've used probably half a box of Kleenex today, and despite having the ones with lotion in them, I still look like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. When I was going downstairs to boil some water to make steam, Hubby wisely reminded me that we have a steamer he uses on his pants, so I've intermittently been breathing in that steam for the last few hours. It's actually making me feel better! I still can't really breathe out of my nose, and my voice is still nonexistent, but I'm hopeful that I will be on the upswing in the next ten hours so that I can make it through my twelve hour shift in the ER. If the day is light enough, there is a teeny chance I will get to go home early, but since I'm pit boss tomorrow, I'm technically in charge and may have to stay the entire time.
I haven't had a cold this bad in just about a year. I hope it doesn't come back anytime soon; I don't think I could take much more of this.
I've used probably half a box of Kleenex today, and despite having the ones with lotion in them, I still look like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. When I was going downstairs to boil some water to make steam, Hubby wisely reminded me that we have a steamer he uses on his pants, so I've intermittently been breathing in that steam for the last few hours. It's actually making me feel better! I still can't really breathe out of my nose, and my voice is still nonexistent, but I'm hopeful that I will be on the upswing in the next ten hours so that I can make it through my twelve hour shift in the ER. If the day is light enough, there is a teeny chance I will get to go home early, but since I'm pit boss tomorrow, I'm technically in charge and may have to stay the entire time.
I haven't had a cold this bad in just about a year. I hope it doesn't come back anytime soon; I don't think I could take much more of this.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Ughhhhhhhh
I forgot to mention that I have been sick all weekend. It started with a sore throat Friday morning and has now progressed to a yucky hacking cough, fever, laryngitis, nasal congestion, and a still horribly sore throat. My voice kept getting deeper throughout work yesterday, and by last night I felt horrible. I couldn't sleep flat, so I spent most of the night curled up on the chaise lounge. Hubby woke up at 6:30 to start working, but I ended up sleeping in til almost 11:30. He checked on me around 10:30, but it took me another hour to muster up the energy to get out of bed. He suggested I go see a doctor, and (as usual) my response was, "I am a doctor." I knew this was just a virus, but I conferred with my dad (also a doctor) who agreed and suggested some supportive therapies to try.
Now I'm sitting on the couch relaxing with a Yorkie curled up next to me while Hubby watches some ridiculous movie on TV. We've ordered dinner in since I'm obviously in no shape to be cooking tonight, and I've already taken my first dose of cough medicine. I am scheduled to be in clinic tomorrow at 1 PM, and I really really hope I'm feeling better by then since cancelling my clinic that late isn't an option (my fellow residents would have to pick up the slack and see my patients). Here's to Chinese noodle soup and lots of rest before tomorrow!
Now I'm sitting on the couch relaxing with a Yorkie curled up next to me while Hubby watches some ridiculous movie on TV. We've ordered dinner in since I'm obviously in no shape to be cooking tonight, and I've already taken my first dose of cough medicine. I am scheduled to be in clinic tomorrow at 1 PM, and I really really hope I'm feeling better by then since cancelling my clinic that late isn't an option (my fellow residents would have to pick up the slack and see my patients). Here's to Chinese noodle soup and lots of rest before tomorrow!
Monday, May 19, 2008
Hilarity ensues
There is no way I could not blog about some of the things that happened today. My first shift back on days s-u-c-k-e-d. There was up to a seven hour wait during the day in the ER, and people were in all sorts of bad moods. That said, here are the two highlights of my day.
1) I needed to sew a 3 cm laceration on the forehead of a two-and-a-half year old. My attending decided the little guy didn't need to be sedated, so we "papoosed" the little guy (wrapped him up good and tight on a backboard). It took two fire fighters in training (they come to the ER to learn some basic skills) plus the papoose to remotely hold this child still. My attending sewed the deep layer and left me to sew the superficial sutures. The little man was not happy, and my attending started to sing "You Are My Sunshine" to distract him. He wasn't very amused, so she quickly switched to "Jingle Bells." I poked fun at her since it's May, and she told me, "Be quiet, that's the only other song I know!" The next thing I know, I heard these words over my shoulder: "Come and listen to a story about a man named Jed, a poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed ..." I almost died laughing as one of the fire fighters joined in singing the Beverly Hillbillies theme song to my little Hispanic patient. Priceless.
2) Later I was taking a history from a mom about her five-and-a-half month old who presented with nasal congestion. As I was running through my review of systems, she mentioned, "Yeah, I've noticed that his right ear smells like corn flakes or a burrito." I think I stopped dead in my tracks for about two seconds before proceeding on. Completely random.
There are still six weeks of fun to be had in the ER!
1) I needed to sew a 3 cm laceration on the forehead of a two-and-a-half year old. My attending decided the little guy didn't need to be sedated, so we "papoosed" the little guy (wrapped him up good and tight on a backboard). It took two fire fighters in training (they come to the ER to learn some basic skills) plus the papoose to remotely hold this child still. My attending sewed the deep layer and left me to sew the superficial sutures. The little man was not happy, and my attending started to sing "You Are My Sunshine" to distract him. He wasn't very amused, so she quickly switched to "Jingle Bells." I poked fun at her since it's May, and she told me, "Be quiet, that's the only other song I know!" The next thing I know, I heard these words over my shoulder: "Come and listen to a story about a man named Jed, a poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed ..." I almost died laughing as one of the fire fighters joined in singing the Beverly Hillbillies theme song to my little Hispanic patient. Priceless.
2) Later I was taking a history from a mom about her five-and-a-half month old who presented with nasal congestion. As I was running through my review of systems, she mentioned, "Yeah, I've noticed that his right ear smells like corn flakes or a burrito." I think I stopped dead in my tracks for about two seconds before proceeding on. Completely random.
There are still six weeks of fun to be had in the ER!
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Did I really just do that?
I'm back in the ER for 2 months straight! That translates to 4 weeks of day shifts and 4 weeks of night shifts. My merciful chiefs have split up the nights so that I work 2 weeks of nights, 4 weeks of days, and then 2 additional weeks of nights. I just finished working four 12 hour night shifts in a row. By the time I count in checkout and the drive to and from work, I'm only home for about 10.5 hours each day. I have been tired but okay, but after work today, I came home and crashed. I've been go-go-go for the last four nights, and I am beyond thankful that I'm not bad for a fifth night in a row!
As a second year, I'm responsible for making sure the traumas and critical patients are covered. I was definitely terrified of this when I started second year, but I've now realized that I have sufficient back-up and have learned enough to feel comfortable working with the sickest patients. Our nurses, techs, and respiratory techs are AWESOME and help me out so much.
I'm working on becoming proficient in my procedures and have gotten to do a few laceration repairs and lumbar punctures (spinal taps) over the last several nights. We are supposed to be signed off on lumbar punctures (or LPs) as interns, so I have been "signed off" for a while and am allowed to perform them without being observed. Unfortunately, I have had a run of HARD taps for the last few months ... so hard that people with more experience me have not been able to get these taps either. I know that should make me feel better, but my self-confidence has been shot. The most frequently tapped patients are little babies less than 2 months old who are undergoing a work-up for sepsis, but we also tap older children as we see fit according to their clinical picture and our index of suspicion. My personal feeling is that the little babies are easier to tap due in large part that it's easier to hold a baby still than a big squirming kid still, but even in babies, performing a tap can still take a while even if you do everything perfectly. A few days ago, I tapped a four year old; while it took some time and a little help from our fellow, I still got it on the first stick! I have been feeling a little better about my ability after that.
Last night a 4 month old needed a tap, so despite my nerves, I set everything up and got the baby into position. I cleansed and prepped him and felt one last time for my landmarks. I slipped the spinal needle in where it was supposed to go ... and beautiful clear fluid immediately came out. The clinical tech who was holding the baby laughed at me when it was all over because of the look of joy and surprise that washed over my face. I was done with the entire procedure in less than two minutes, by far the fastest I have ever done and, according to the tech, the fastest he has ever seen done by a resident. The analysis of the fluid showed that it was a near-perfect tap and actually provided us with essential information in treating this patient. I was grinning ear to ear when I finished. I'm back, baby!!
I was still riding off the high of rebuilt confidence when my shift ended shortly after 7, so I expected to have trouble falling asleep later. Ha ha ... apparently the adrenaline wore off because after I showered and ate my first meal in 14 hours, I was asleep within 30 minutes and slept for seven hours straight. I'm extremely thankful that I have tonight off because tomorrow I will have clinic at 1 PM and will then work my 12 hour ER shift starting at 7 PM, and I still have more sleep on which to catch up. I'm actually looking forward to tomorrow night's shift; I'm back and ready to roll!
As a second year, I'm responsible for making sure the traumas and critical patients are covered. I was definitely terrified of this when I started second year, but I've now realized that I have sufficient back-up and have learned enough to feel comfortable working with the sickest patients. Our nurses, techs, and respiratory techs are AWESOME and help me out so much.
I'm working on becoming proficient in my procedures and have gotten to do a few laceration repairs and lumbar punctures (spinal taps) over the last several nights. We are supposed to be signed off on lumbar punctures (or LPs) as interns, so I have been "signed off" for a while and am allowed to perform them without being observed. Unfortunately, I have had a run of HARD taps for the last few months ... so hard that people with more experience me have not been able to get these taps either. I know that should make me feel better, but my self-confidence has been shot. The most frequently tapped patients are little babies less than 2 months old who are undergoing a work-up for sepsis, but we also tap older children as we see fit according to their clinical picture and our index of suspicion. My personal feeling is that the little babies are easier to tap due in large part that it's easier to hold a baby still than a big squirming kid still, but even in babies, performing a tap can still take a while even if you do everything perfectly. A few days ago, I tapped a four year old; while it took some time and a little help from our fellow, I still got it on the first stick! I have been feeling a little better about my ability after that.
Last night a 4 month old needed a tap, so despite my nerves, I set everything up and got the baby into position. I cleansed and prepped him and felt one last time for my landmarks. I slipped the spinal needle in where it was supposed to go ... and beautiful clear fluid immediately came out. The clinical tech who was holding the baby laughed at me when it was all over because of the look of joy and surprise that washed over my face. I was done with the entire procedure in less than two minutes, by far the fastest I have ever done and, according to the tech, the fastest he has ever seen done by a resident. The analysis of the fluid showed that it was a near-perfect tap and actually provided us with essential information in treating this patient. I was grinning ear to ear when I finished. I'm back, baby!!
I was still riding off the high of rebuilt confidence when my shift ended shortly after 7, so I expected to have trouble falling asleep later. Ha ha ... apparently the adrenaline wore off because after I showered and ate my first meal in 14 hours, I was asleep within 30 minutes and slept for seven hours straight. I'm extremely thankful that I have tonight off because tomorrow I will have clinic at 1 PM and will then work my 12 hour ER shift starting at 7 PM, and I still have more sleep on which to catch up. I'm actually looking forward to tomorrow night's shift; I'm back and ready to roll!
Monday, May 05, 2008
The Big Apple -- Part 3
Wrapping up!
Friday
We had been tipped off by the concierge that if we wanted to go to Ellis Island, we needed to get there early. The line for tickets opens at 8:30, but he recommended getting there an hour early. When we got there, we were probably already about 10th in line, but the line quickly grew to over 50 people in a matter of minutes. I was glad we listened! Oddly enough, there's no actual charge to go to Ellis Island or Liberty Island, but there is a charge to ride the ferry. After we purchased our tickets, we stood in yet another line to walk through security prior to boarding the ferry. In further proof that my Hubby knows more people than I could ever hope to, he ran into another guy from his work while we were waiting in the security line. We finally made it on to the ferry and had an AWESOME view for the ride in. We stopped at Liberty Island first. An interesting (and important) fact is that a ticket on the ferry does not necessarily guarantee you entrance to the Statue of Liberty; if your ticket did not say "monument access" on it, you were out of luck. There was a little French lady who did not speak any English in front of us whose son had stepped out of line for a minute, and the park ranger kept trying to explain that she wouldn't be allowed inside the Statue. It made me sad that I didn't speak French! Her son finally came back, and when she realized that her ticket wasn't also for the Statue, she got mad! Oh well, c'est la vie. ;) We had to go through another security line to get inside, and once we walked through the museum, we had to walk up about six flights of stairs to get to the observatory at the base. No one is allowed up to the torch or crown anymore, but the view was still great. Hubby took some great pictures! After we finished on Liberty Island, we went on to Ellis Island; we easily could have spent the rest of the day there, but we were getting hungry! We decided that we wanted pizza again since it's just so different and delicious up there. We had Lombardi's for lunch - yummy! That night we decided to enjoy another steak dinner at Benjamin's Steak House. We then walked over to Grand Central Station before heading back to Times Square. We wrapped up the night by visited the huge Toys R US (there is a ferris wheel inside!) and heading back to the M&M store to buy some candy and a little souvenir for me.
On the ferry on the way to Liberty Island
He always makes me laugh.
Friday
We had been tipped off by the concierge that if we wanted to go to Ellis Island, we needed to get there early. The line for tickets opens at 8:30, but he recommended getting there an hour early. When we got there, we were probably already about 10th in line, but the line quickly grew to over 50 people in a matter of minutes. I was glad we listened! Oddly enough, there's no actual charge to go to Ellis Island or Liberty Island, but there is a charge to ride the ferry. After we purchased our tickets, we stood in yet another line to walk through security prior to boarding the ferry. In further proof that my Hubby knows more people than I could ever hope to, he ran into another guy from his work while we were waiting in the security line. We finally made it on to the ferry and had an AWESOME view for the ride in. We stopped at Liberty Island first. An interesting (and important) fact is that a ticket on the ferry does not necessarily guarantee you entrance to the Statue of Liberty; if your ticket did not say "monument access" on it, you were out of luck. There was a little French lady who did not speak any English in front of us whose son had stepped out of line for a minute, and the park ranger kept trying to explain that she wouldn't be allowed inside the Statue. It made me sad that I didn't speak French! Her son finally came back, and when she realized that her ticket wasn't also for the Statue, she got mad! Oh well, c'est la vie. ;) We had to go through another security line to get inside, and once we walked through the museum, we had to walk up about six flights of stairs to get to the observatory at the base. No one is allowed up to the torch or crown anymore, but the view was still great. Hubby took some great pictures! After we finished on Liberty Island, we went on to Ellis Island; we easily could have spent the rest of the day there, but we were getting hungry! We decided that we wanted pizza again since it's just so different and delicious up there. We had Lombardi's for lunch - yummy! That night we decided to enjoy another steak dinner at Benjamin's Steak House. We then walked over to Grand Central Station before heading back to Times Square. We wrapped up the night by visited the huge Toys R US (there is a ferris wheel inside!) and heading back to the M&M store to buy some candy and a little souvenir for me.
On the ferry on the way to Liberty Island He always makes me laugh.
Still another beautiful day
Having fun
Hubby took this.
He took this one too.
Saturday
We were worn out, so we slept in late and had Jamba Juice for breakfast. We had to leave the hotel by 12:30 to catch our flight, and since I was craving a burger, we decided to walk over to Ruby Tuesday's and get something nearby that would be quick. The ride back to the airport was not nearly as eventful as the ride over, and we made it through security so quickly that we had an hour and a half to wait before the plane took off. Hubby and I relaxed through the uneventful ride home, and as soon as we made it back to Texas, we drove for about an hour to pick up Sebastian from Hubby's mom (we told him he was going to "puppy camp" for the week). Our vacation was awesome, and I couldn't have asked for a better week with Hubby, but it was still so great to climb back into our own bed and go to our own church the next morning. Anniversary vacation 2008 was a success!
The Big Apple -- Part 2
Continuing on ...
Wednesday
We could not have asked for a more beautiful day.
Strawberry Fields, a tribute to John Lennon
9/11 memorial
9/11 memorial
Wednesday
We had initially planned to go to Ellis Island this day, but after our big dinner (and the wine), we decided to sleep in. :) It was wonderful! Since Hubby is a platinum member at the hotel where we stayed, we were able to partake of the hotel's complimentary breakfast buffet each morning. When we went down this particular day, we happened to run into one of Hubby's close business associates who regularly works in New York; after talking for a little bit, the Associate offered to take us out to lunch - yay! This only left us with about two and a half hours to walk around, so we decided to amble over to Central Park. That place is huge! We watched a group of high schoolers play softball, little kids riding the carousel, and a group of people setting up to film a scene for a movie or TV show.
We could not have asked for a more beautiful day.
The tulips were amazing.
Strawberry Fields, a tribute to John Lennon
If you look directly over my left shoulder, you can see this weird guy who was dressed up like a wizard.
After Central Park, we met Hubby's buddies for lunch at Bobby Van's Grill; I was so glad I changed to get a little more dressy for lunch! We had the best steaks of our entire trip here (although I honestly do prefer Hubby's steaks -- my boy can grill like none other). After we finished lunch, we walked over to Rockefeller Center and perused the NBC gift shop for a bit; Hubby later ended up getting this t-shirt as a sign of his devotion to one of our favorite tv shows. We did a little more shopping, and I finally found a pair of black high heels that is narrow enough to fit my little heel. I was so excited! We were both getting pretty tired from all the walking and dodging, so we went back to the hotel for a nap before the evening. We had tickets to see Wicked that night, so we ate dinner at a little restaurant right around the corner from the theater. Can I just say that Wicked was amazing? WOW, I was so enthralled! It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip!
Thursday
After breakfast, we wandered back to Rockefeller Plaza to watch the taping of the Today Show. We actually made it on TV! We got really tired of having this group of pre-teens screaming in our ears over Fran Drescher (the Nanny? really?), so we left and went back to Greenwich Village to get more pizza at Joe's Pizza. The restaurant itself is extremely tiny, so we took our slices and sat out in a little park across the street. It was yet another lovely day, so we had a really good time! Afterwards, we walked down to Ground Zero and looked at some of the historic buildings in the area. We were craving sushi for dinner, but unfortunately the concierge was out that evening, and the girl at the front desk obviously didn't know what she was talking about when it came to recommending sushi (she was sweet, but a boring California roll is not my idea of great sushi!). Thanks to my iPhone, we found Kodama and were able to have some very interesting rolls that I'd never tried before. After dinner, we went to Serendipity 3 for their famous frozen hot chocolate. It was good, but I have to admit that I was a little let down after all the hype (plus I was slightly annoyed that the waiter made us each order one as there was an $8.50 minimum per person -- I only drank about a third of mine, and I knew ahead of time I couldn't come close to finishing one!).
9/11 memorial
9/11 memorial
Like I said, these things were huge!
Our last two days soon ...
Saturday, May 03, 2008
The Big Apple -- Part 1
I had to skip work today because the dreaded gastroenteritis has hit me, and I don't want to get all the Heme-Onc kids sick (I'm cross-covering for an intern this weekend). I've been pretty much useless today, so since I've had a nice little nap, I feel that I should do something relatively constructive like blog about our trip.
Sunday
Our plane was an hour and a half delayed in taking off from the airport, so we were late in getting to NYC. When we finally landed and got our bags, we took a car service from the airport to Times Square. Scary!! The driver talked on his cell phone and was yelling in Arabic most of the time, and I was so thankful that we had seatbelts on! He was definitely not paying close attention to the road, but we arrived safely in one piece. After getting settled in, we decided to walk around Times Square for a bit and ended up having dinner at John's Pizzeria; the pie was delicious, and Hubby got to have one of his favorite beers that he can only find in the Northeast. After dinner, we continued our exploration by foot and made stops at both the M&M store as well as the Hershey store. We finally got tired and headed back to the hotel where we slept like babies; I was really surprised how quiet the room was considering we were facing 7th Avenue.
The wind was crazy! 
My boy loves chocolate. :)
Monday
We got up that morning, had breakfast at the hotel, and headed out for our Foods of New York tour. Our tour guide was very interesting, and we spent over 3 hours wandering around the west side of Greenwich Village and tasting all sorts of different foods. We had a slice of New York style pizza from Joe's Pizza, samples of fresh bread, pesto, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar from O & Co, a cheese/ meat/ bread/ olive sampler from Murray's Cheeses, chocolate-covered pecans and almonds sold at this really cool herb store called Aphrodisia, chocolate chip cookies from Milk and Cookies, Thai chicken dumplings from Lime, and a final slice of pizza from Bleeker Street Pizza. We also learned quite a bit about local history and architecture and had such a blast! After the tour was over, we walked over to Chelsea Market; unfortunately, we weren't able actually to visit the Food Network, but we did see some really cute shops. I would totally shop there if I lived in New York! We easily walked over 5-6 miles that day, so despite all our snacking for lunch, we had still worked up a good appetite for dinner, so we walked up to Hell's Kitchen and had dinner at Uncle Nick's Greek Cuisine. I had some of the best gyros I've ever had, and Hubby enjoyed some lamb kabobs while we were both introduced to Greek wine. So good!
Hungry at the beginning of the food tour
Bleeker Street Pizza was a great way to end the tour.
These cupcakes from Chelsea Market were precious!
Tuesday
Our anniversary was here! We spent the morning shopping; I managed to find three pairs of petite pants that fit me, and (joy of joys!) they were all on sale. I was so happy! :) Then we went to what we are now referring to as the biggest rip-off of NYC, the Empire State Building. We got suckered into this thing called the NY Skyride; it turned out to be a Kevin Bacon-narrated movie attached to an inside roller coaster simulator. I got extremely nauseated at the end of the ride and took almost 30 minutes before I felt back to normal. :-p After visiting the top of the building, we walked back to the hotel for a nap before dinner. We had dinner at this extremely romantic restaurant called One If By Land, Two If By Sea. Hubby had the quickly seared buffalo rib eye, the beef wellington, and the dark chocolate souffle with rocky road garnish; I had wild mushroom and Parmesan crumble, the cushion of veal with butternut squash and broccolini, and the warm chocolate tart. All of the food was absolutely amazing, and my mouth is watering right now just thinking about it. We had an amazing bottle of French Bordeaux wine, and the service was superb. I will remember that dinner for a long time!
So in love
More to come shortly ...
Sunday
Our plane was an hour and a half delayed in taking off from the airport, so we were late in getting to NYC. When we finally landed and got our bags, we took a car service from the airport to Times Square. Scary!! The driver talked on his cell phone and was yelling in Arabic most of the time, and I was so thankful that we had seatbelts on! He was definitely not paying close attention to the road, but we arrived safely in one piece. After getting settled in, we decided to walk around Times Square for a bit and ended up having dinner at John's Pizzeria; the pie was delicious, and Hubby got to have one of his favorite beers that he can only find in the Northeast. After dinner, we continued our exploration by foot and made stops at both the M&M store as well as the Hershey store. We finally got tired and headed back to the hotel where we slept like babies; I was really surprised how quiet the room was considering we were facing 7th Avenue.
The wind was crazy! My boy loves chocolate. :)Monday
We got up that morning, had breakfast at the hotel, and headed out for our Foods of New York tour. Our tour guide was very interesting, and we spent over 3 hours wandering around the west side of Greenwich Village and tasting all sorts of different foods. We had a slice of New York style pizza from Joe's Pizza, samples of fresh bread, pesto, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar from O & Co, a cheese/ meat/ bread/ olive sampler from Murray's Cheeses, chocolate-covered pecans and almonds sold at this really cool herb store called Aphrodisia, chocolate chip cookies from Milk and Cookies, Thai chicken dumplings from Lime, and a final slice of pizza from Bleeker Street Pizza. We also learned quite a bit about local history and architecture and had such a blast! After the tour was over, we walked over to Chelsea Market; unfortunately, we weren't able actually to visit the Food Network, but we did see some really cute shops. I would totally shop there if I lived in New York! We easily walked over 5-6 miles that day, so despite all our snacking for lunch, we had still worked up a good appetite for dinner, so we walked up to Hell's Kitchen and had dinner at Uncle Nick's Greek Cuisine. I had some of the best gyros I've ever had, and Hubby enjoyed some lamb kabobs while we were both introduced to Greek wine. So good!
Hungry at the beginning of the food tour
Bleeker Street Pizza was a great way to end the tour.These cupcakes from Chelsea Market were precious!Tuesday
Our anniversary was here! We spent the morning shopping; I managed to find three pairs of petite pants that fit me, and (joy of joys!) they were all on sale. I was so happy! :) Then we went to what we are now referring to as the biggest rip-off of NYC, the Empire State Building. We got suckered into this thing called the NY Skyride; it turned out to be a Kevin Bacon-narrated movie attached to an inside roller coaster simulator. I got extremely nauseated at the end of the ride and took almost 30 minutes before I felt back to normal. :-p After visiting the top of the building, we walked back to the hotel for a nap before dinner. We had dinner at this extremely romantic restaurant called One If By Land, Two If By Sea. Hubby had the quickly seared buffalo rib eye, the beef wellington, and the dark chocolate souffle with rocky road garnish; I had wild mushroom and Parmesan crumble, the cushion of veal with butternut squash and broccolini, and the warm chocolate tart. All of the food was absolutely amazing, and my mouth is watering right now just thinking about it. We had an amazing bottle of French Bordeaux wine, and the service was superb. I will remember that dinner for a long time!
More to come shortly ...
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