No White Christmas this year...Holidays in Cali!

I am very fortunate to have spent and continue to spend a beautiful month in Pasadena. I came down to Dec 15th to do a month long rotation at Miller's Children's Hospital of Long Beach, associated with UC Irvine, in Peds GI. I t has been great being home especially the weather. Carib is adjusting being back very easily...she's acting like she has never left. One major bummer is that Nat is still in NY; unfortunately right after Nat finished with Baltimore he started a month of ER at Maimo. He did however have a couple of days off for Xmas so he came out to Pasadena to spend the holidays with my family and me. As you can tell by the picture, Carib was acting as Santa Claus this year because it was her 1st Xmas with us!

Even though Nat was only out for a couple of days, he did get in some SoCal surfing! We went down to Huntington Beach where it looked like every single surfer in SoCal had the same idea as Nat...quick surf before Xmas eve.

So after Xmas the next big thing on my schedule was my Bridal Shower! There were about 25 women that came...4 out of 6 of my bridesmaids, some of my other friends and then some of my mother's friends. My wonderful MOH (maid of honor) came over on Friday night and helped my mom and I cook (actually her and my mom did the majority of the cooking..I helped as much as I could, hehe). We cooked for about 4 hours and then started up again early Saturday morning. Before the shower started, there was a knock at the door and who was there to surprise me but my roommate from college whom I had no idea was coming. Of course being the wussy I am, I broke out in tears from the pure shock of her being there. After the crying came the fun, games and food. We played the toilet paper wedding dress game and everyone had such a fun time with it.

After all the games and eating came the opening of the presents!! Nat and I really made out...we got some great stuff; sheets silverware, bowls, dish towels, pots and pans and a Kitchen Aid mixer from Nat's mom and Grandma!! Now I just have to learn how to cook so I can use all of this great stuff.

Overall, I couldn't have asked for a better Bridal Shower. I had a great time and it was so nice that so many people came out especially my bridesmaids that came from all over the state of California! I will be posting many more pictures!