Arriving in Miami!

On July 26, my apartment lease was up so I packed it up, put it in storage, and took the things I needed to Vipul's apartment, where I was supposed to be packing up his junk, but I was soo tired. Anyways, helped a bit while he was studying, and looked up tons of craigslist postings for a place to live here in Miami, as well as flights to ship my Conner to California :(

Vipul took his Boards 2 Aug 4, we packed and put things in storage Aug 5, packed more and put things in storage the next morning, cleaned, cleaned, found a really great babysitter for Conner, packed up the car really tight, Vipul saved the maintainance guy's life on the way out, and we left KC at 4 pm! It's valid to say I dislike moving.

Vipul insisted on driving until he was dead tired, which left me to drive from 2 am to 6 am. It was pitch dark, winding mountain roads, and ALL the 100 semis on the same highway were driving, and they drive NOT AT ALL SAFE! It was terrifying!! And then we drove through Atlanta in early morning traffic and that was scary too, they are the worst drivers ever!!! We ended up taking a 1 hour nap, and Vipul drove, and then I drove into Miami which was scary too. NEVER MAKE ME DRIVE AT NIGHT, OR IN BIG CITIES I'M NOT FAMILIAR WITH!!!!

Anyway, we stayed at the Hyatt downtown, so got here, BTW, don't stay here if you don't want to pay an extra 30 bucks a day for valet parking since it's pretty much your only option..
Anyways, called the places I had looked up to see the apts and studios..most were in South Beach so we headed that direction. Not that great. (aka 400 sq ft tiny stupid studio yards away from the ocean for 1250/mo) We went to a Starbucks on Lincoln Rd, and looked at some new postings on cragislist, met a very nice visiting couple from Paris, and found some better places. We ended up back in downtown at a tower called The Ivy. Really nice place, huge hurricane windows (it is the season!), modern furniture (which Vipul likes), the entire 10th floor is all amenties - spa, gym, arcade, tons of lounge areas indoors and outdoors, volleyball court on rooftop (of garage) recreational pool, lap pool, 2 shallow tanning / decorative pools, hot tub - all saltwater, and best of all, palm trees :). Just a 10 minute drive to South Beach! And even more perfect, I ran into my girl friend Angela from TULSA who is living 2 floors above me! What a freaky deaky coincidence.
Anyways, still settling in but we've been to the ocean, which is gorgeous!, Sushi Samba is one restuarant we went to on Lincoln Road, we went to one called Auro or something..I actually didn't pay attention to the name because seriously they are all the same..with Vipul's classmates.
Today, I am getting my Yellow Fever vaccine and Malaria prescription for Belize!


Maybe I'm just a fattie but I really think people like reading/watching about food (aka Food Network is preeetty popular, new movie Julie and Julia, etc) so I'm going to keep a food diary for your tasting pleasure, and also so I remember some really fantastic recipes for later.

*MIAMI DISH DIARY*

Our first night in our new place we ate green leaf lettace salad with chopped green onions and lime juice with my House Dressing, and leftover bufula mozzerella pizza from an Italian restuarant in South Beach who serve buffalo everything! (lots of cheese pizza, buffalo burger, sausage, etc). Fratelli de Bufalo. It's pretty good but there's better.

My House Dressing
(add to taste)

Balsamic Vinegar
Olive Oil
Dijon Mustard
Crushed garlic
Chopped green onions
Fresh Lime or Lemon Juice
Salt and Pepper
Splash of soy sauce

It is out of this world!


The other night we went to the local groccery store Publix, and bought some fresh salmon. It was over a pound, I cut it in half, and made the most delicious dijon mustard glaze for it. It was the BEST salmon I had ever made or eaten by far. The recipe can be found at http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/broiled-salmon-with-herb-mustard-glaze-recipe/index.html
and paired with roasted asparagus, XX!


Last night we ate a lighter dinner of Egg White sandwich, and Roasted Balsamic Potatoes. The egg sandwich was delicious and simple. Of course, I didn't use the bacon. Try the recipe at http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/fried-egg-and-avocado-sandwich-recipe/index.html


The potatoes take forever so you might want to boil them first. I just added fresh chiffoned basil, some olive oil, lots of balsamic vinegar, salt & pepper, maybe a little cayenne pepper and cumin, and stuck it in the oven. Obviously one of my favorite ingredients is balsamic vinegar!

Fresh

Typical behavior. I have not touched my "blog" since my first post. Well that's going to change! :)



So I am going to start over fresh. My life. Well, more like the tangible things in my life. I am a hoarder. I like to buy things and keep them and hoarde them and look at them. My lease is up July 26, I'm going to Miami with Vipul while he does his 6 week Pediatrics rotation there, and in the middle of that I am leaving for my service-learning trip in South America. When I come back, I'm going to wing it. I might stay with Vipul a little longer, maybe come back to KC, or go live with my parents in OC so I won't have to pay rent, the reason for me working. I don't like to go to work :(


Obviously I'll still try to find a part time job or Something within all of this, but I'll probably take another course to get me prepared for med school, and I really really miss dance so I'm going to try and find a studio, learn the guitar, learn French, learn to skateboard, etc etc.



The climax of this blog is... I'm selling me car!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will be car free for at least 1 month!!!!!!!!! And I am SO excited. Here's why.


I hate driving. It is a pain, especially with bad traffic, bad drivers, and bad road design. (aka KC)



I hate driving in the hot sun. It is hot and uncomfortable. I hate finding parking. I hate having to stop and get gas. I hate sitting in those seats. I get carsick and claustrophobic. Oh I wish I could apparate like Harry Potter. Also:




1) I drove my BMW around for a few weeks in KC with a tag that expired 6 months ago. I had no idea because I hardly used my car in college. I was pulled over by highway patrol. Awesome. So I had to take my Oklahoma tag, and change it to a Kansas tag. I had to also get my car inspected first. Then I had to pay the hundreds and hundreds of $$. Remember, I now also have a job where I have to work from 8-4:30. What time is the DMV and inspector station open? 7-5. In the opposite direction of work.


2) My tag was only good for a few more months until everyone had to renew their tags again. So I had to go back to the DMV and renew it in November. It seemed like EVERYONE was there. That was fun. Oh and the $$.



3) I went to Cali for Thanksgiving. The day before I came back, it apparently snowed a little and was cold. When I was driving from the airport after getting Vipul, we were going to pick Conner up. I slid on black ice and my rear wheel drive car completely went crazy and uncontrollable. The computer system locked it up, I couldn't brake I couldn't accelerate and the steering wheel was loco! Thank God there wasn't incoming traffic, we were totally in their lanes. And then we slammed headon into the metal railling right after the highway bridge. Thought we were surely to die!! Actually since BMWs are made with so much steel and metal, we were fine. The front of the car looked almost great actually, but the windshield cracked the airbags employed. Since the airbags are like $800 each, and all the other small things wrong, this car was considered "totaled". Great because my dad cancelled my collision insurance a few months back.


4) oh man I need to take a break. and I'm hungry too. :(


5) Okay so everything stupid and wrong that can happen does in my life. I didn't have my current AAA card so they couldn't find me in the system and tow it. It was FREEEZING cold and everything was a whirlwind. So Vipul was trying to get his to do it, and the POlice ugh was saying we had to get it towed off the road (side of the road) or she'll have to call and do it. IDIOT. Why? (why not) Mostly because since we finally called a towing company they recommended, it was a private call. Therefore, they were able to charge me like $275 or $350 or something to tow it TWO miles (plus then they lied and said 4 but it's still NOT a lot). Had the dumb bitch 50 called, they would only legally be able to charge me about $75. So I tried to get that dealed with but no avail. Just another added slice of cake on my life.


6) Sold the car, pretty cheap to a mechanic. I never transferred the tag and he gave it to his friend who drove it to Cali so hopefully his friend won't commit a deep crime. I need to go to the DMV sometime AGAIn.


7) Bought my current Volvo. Had to visit the DMV again to pay the taxes and fees on the tag and title. $$$$$. I got a nice nice tax return back (fed govt paid me 50 cents this year!) but I gave it ALL to my parents who paid for this Volvo.



8) The passenger front window stopped working. It eventually fell all the way down. So I took it to some places had it looked at. The regulator motor thing in the door broke. So I got a used part and had them put it in for me. I was there for houuurs. They could not get it. So I came back the next week and waiting again for HoouUURs. STILL didn't work, and then he ended up cracking a bit of the window in the bottom corner. So they ordered another part and I need to STILL go in and have them put it in. HEADACHE. ps They are located in the opposite side of town by the stadium or some ghetto ness!


9) One day, I went to go to work, and my car would not get faster than 5 miles an hour. GOD I HATE CARS. I truly want to move to San Diego and just ride a bike around. THANK god I don't have to pay for my own insurance too bc I would be mad like all the time. Anyway, so I called some places, Volvo charges $110/hr just for labor, so no. Took it to midas and they were wooonderful and even took me to work and then brought me back in time so I could go to my doctor's appt. It still cost $600+ bc my actuator failed. It's an electronic part that just sometimes decides it's reached the end of its life. At least it wasn't the motor.



10) Yes, there is more. Now my low beam headlights are no working. The fuses look fine, the bulbs look great. And both of them are out. Volvo and Auto parts store told me to replace the bulbs but I don't think that's it. I looked on the net and other people had this problem too.


Anyway, I'm so terribly done with cars. Plus I could use the money for my trip and for paying rent and etc when I come back. Oh and to buy a cheap possibly not European car bc their parts are expensive! But then it has to be a convertible bc I have LIKE it for some reason or another.


So if you know anyone that wants a SAFE, LUXURIOUS, EUROPEAN car in great running order, it really is a nice car.




2003

Blue

Engine: 5Cyl. 2.4L Turbo
Drivetrain: FWD
Transmission: Automatic
Mileage: 127914


Air Conditioning F&R Side Air Bags Power Steering Power Windows Traction Control Power Door Locks Leather Sunroof Tilt Wheel Dual Power Seat Cruise Control AM/FM Stereo Single Compact Disc Dual Front Air Bags Front Side Air Bags


$8999 willing to negotiate

Bonjour!

Hi everyone!

Wow! I have a blog! This is very exciting, mostly because I have always wanted to keep a journal, and write down my thoughts and share them with others. Not only is my journal very neglected, it doesn't even exist! Haha, corny.

Unfortunately I can't write too much because I'm doing so well at improving my worst quality: procrastination. I'm sure many of you know what that is ;). To sum up my present life, I have just finished Miss Kansas 2009, which was a BLAST. I had so. much. fun. And I learned a lot. I think it finally pushed me over to the other side of procrastination (plus the thought of starting med school). There was a lot of work involved, especially since it was my very first time and I had no idea what I was doing. However, if I had just started later and taken more active initiative, it would have ran smoother and I might have performed better! Either way, I made Top 10 which was awesome and crucial since only Top 10 compete on Saturday final competition night, and that was the only night my parents were able to attend since they had to fly in from California. My peers were truly remarkable women and each and every one of them has given me something to take back from the experience.

I wish I could just talk and talk about it but I am re-applying to KU and applying to some D.O. schools and UMKC and I really need to finish it soon....because I AM GOING TO DO A MEDICAL SERVICE LEARNING TRIP IN SOUTH AMERICA!!! yayyyyy. I am super excited. SUPER. It is from August 15-28 in Costa Rica and Panama. We will go to villages and set up clinics and provide basic healthcare checkups and assessment, treatments, and education for those people who don't have the accessiblity or affordablity to obtain it. It is a great learning experience for me because we basically act as family care interns and get to stitch, give shots, i think even deliver babies if needed! It also is an impactful way to give back, and puts meaning back into my very currently dull uncultured life. Miss Kansas has given me practice and opportunity for seeking sponsorship since the trip will cost me roughly $2500 dollars so I need to start raising money as well. If you know someone who can help, please let me know! If you are interested, they have all types of trips including medical, dental, vet, spanish, educational, biology, etc. Visit islonline.org for more infomation.

Other things to do:
Paint
Garage sale!
Learn more guitar
Learn French


I leave you with one other thing: It is too expensive to go to Makeup Rehab, but it is too expensive not to.