Nat and I at the Mets game

 

Mets/Cubs Game

 

Still stuck on an Island?!

So I have been battling with the notion of either keeping the title of my blog or changing it since I have moved to NY. Technically, I am still stuck on an island and I am definitely still a LA girl but I'm not sure if I should change the title or not...I need some input!!

On that note, here's an update on me. I have been in Brooklyn now for 4 days. I came in on Friday night amidst thunderstorms and an unscheduled stop in Pittsburgh due to airport closures all over NY. I finally made it in 5 hours after I was supposed to come in. Once I got into the cab and was heading towards my apt. I was hating everything about NY but thankfully Nat talked me out of completely writing the city off. Yesterday I met GT for lunch in Park Slope where her and CL just got a place. It was so weird seeing her in the states and not on a damn island!! Fastforward to today, Tuesday, again I woke up at 12 noon because I am perpetually on Nat's schedule (he worked 7pm to 7am shift yesterday and is now sleeping it off). Anyways, I am still not unpacked and for all those that know me, know it will be a number of days until I am completely unpacked...I hate packing/unpacking. Today Nat and I are supposed to go to Target which is about 5 or so subway stops away (I still have no idea what that means, hehe). It will be an interesting trip to Target because I am so used to driving there and getting whatever I need/want and not worrying about taking the damn subway and having to walk with all of my crap, so we will see how it goes. After the Target trip, Nat and I are going to a Mets/Cubs game at Shea Stadium. Even though I am a Dodgers fan, I think it'll be fun. I will be taking pictures this week and posting them of my apartment and the neighborhood.

In a New York Minute

I never really understood that saying but I guess now that I am moving to New York, I finally understand its meaning. So tomorrow morning I fly off to JFK on a one-way ticket to beautiful Brooklyn where Nat and my clinical rotations are waiting for me. I am quite excited to finally be moving on in my life, both professionally and emotionally (Nat and I are finally moving in together! Yeah!). I have about 2 weeks to get acquainted with my new surroundings before my rotations start. In those 2 weeks I hope to decorate the apartment, sign up for dance classes, see some friends and make it out to Philly to visit LD. For the past few days, still here in SoCal, I have been doing nothing but packing and repacking and then packing some more; I still feel like I am not bringing anything, which I am sure Nat will contest to when he sees all of my boxes. This is just a quick recap of what I have been up to since my test. New York, here I come.

The books of the gods!

This are the money books from my Kaplan class. As you can see they are tattered up and attacked by as many post-its as I could fit on a page! I am kinda unsure what I am going to do with them now. Any ideas?

 

My desk at the height my studying!!

This is what my desk looks like right now, 1 day post test. As you can see, all of my books are scattered all over the place; I have notes in every crevice of my desk. Messy, I know, but this is how it was studying with so much material possible to fit inside your head!

 

It's All Done!!!

Yesterday was the day I had been working towards for the last 8 weeks...I finally took my Step 1 test. I got up at around 630am, had breakfast, made myself some lunch and set off to downtown Glendale to take my test. I refused to listen to music in the car because I was afraid it would be stuck in my head throughout the entire test! hehe (hey, anything to help my confidence). So I made it to the test center at 740am, my test was not supposed to start until 830am, but luckily I was the first one there and they let me start early. I sat down at my little cubicle, prayed a little prayer of hope and started. I did the first 4 sections before lunch and then decided to only take a half hour lunch instead of the full hour just because I didn't know what to do with myself with the extra time. I finished the test around 315pm, which surprised me because when PP told me he finished at 330pm I was shocked that he ended so early. I walked out of the testing building and tried to let it all soak in. I was done!!! I had a feeling of accomplishment for finishing but I had a feeling of great uncertainty for the test itself. My wonderful and amazingly smart Kaplan Path teacher said that the majority of people walk out of the test feeling like they failed; it's when you walk out super confident that you should be worried. Well I was neither, I was right in the middle. So in conclusion I am very very glad that it is over, I studied my ass off and did they best that I could. Now all I have to do is enjoy what little summer I have left and wait for my results. Today I am sleeping and being a veg just watching TV and catching up on movies I haven't seen. Tomorrow I have treated myself to a facial and massage at Bliss Spa, I am so excited! The rest of the week is wide open! I know what I won't be doing...studying!!!

The End is Near!!

So I take my test in 2 days now. What can I say? I am very very glad to be close to the end. This has been a hell of a ride for the past 7 weeks. Overall I feel ok for this test; I have my days where I am confident and then I have my bad days when I am not so confident. All I have to focus on now for the next day or two is to keep my chin up, remember as much shit as I can and just keep saying that this will be all worth it in the end when I am a world-renowned pediatrician treating celebrity's children in beautiful SoCal. (a girl can dream, can't she?) Please pray, to whomever it is you pray to, that I do ok on this test. Well, I am at a loss for words right now cause all I can think about is mesotheliomas and there correlation to asbestos exposure and other sorts of important medical stuff. Keep your fingers crossed!!