Monday Gosling Meme

As our PUBH rotation is in full swing, 

I thought I would post some public health related ones over the next few weeks

Falling into Fall

This past Sunday was the first day of fall which means life is full of fall things like: 

Decorating your house with gourds

Stocking up on apples, Asian pears and acorn squash

Transforming the spring and summer garden into something a bit more fall friendly

Getting a little DIY with all the herbs whether it be drying them.  Before:

After:

Or making TONS of homemade pesto

BEST Fortune Cookie Ever

So last night I grabbed some Chinese food for dinner and this is what I found in my cookie!

Maybe I should go play those numbers in the upcoming lottery

Monday Gosling Meme

50 States Ride

What do you do when you cannot bike across the country for a second time?  You bike the 50 state streets of course with WABA and hundreds of other local bikers.  Yesterday I finally broke down and replaced the bar tape on my handle bars (after 6500+ miles it was time for a change) and took Bernard apart for a fork to derailleur clean.

This morning it was up bright and early to hit the road and meet up with Steph and some other B&B'ers from other years.  Turns out I put the ride down as an hour earlier than kick off time, but that only left time to get caffeinated and catch up.   Chai latte from Tryst ... don't mind if I do!

At mile 50 we stopped for a final water and banana break and then headed off to conquer the last major hills and wind our way back to Adams Morgan.  If I didn't know any better I would say this could be a picture taken from last summer. 

All of the riders headed over to Mellow Mushroom for the after party; we got there in the nick of time because after we ordered lunch the skies opened.  We decided to stick it out for a while under an umbrella, but headed inside when the pizza showed up (definitely got some stares from everyone inside).

 

All in all a total success!  Steph has a LONG list of things she needs to check out in the District and I have had my third SUS ride this year (exhibit one and exhibit two)!!

Happy Park(ing) Day!!

PARK(ing) Day is "an annual worldwide event where artists, designers and citizens transform metered parking spots into temporary public parks."  The idea started in 2005 when a man in San Francisco transformed a metered parking spot into a public park (pictured below).  As the idea spread around the country, many asked him to set up a similar instillation in their city.  And voila ... Park(ing) Day was born. 

Every year I used to see tons of people in DC manning parking spaces downtown and was shocked to see a converted parking space in Baltimore this afternoon.  Sadly I was running late for a meeting and was not able to stop for pictures, but it looked like they had a luau theme going on.  Here are some pictures snagged off the internet from other Park(ing) Days.

ROAD TRIP!

I have always loved road trips!!  You, the open road, some friends, your favorite snacks and some good jams.  What could be better than that?  Well maybe riding a bike and doing all of the above, but that is another story.

Sadly, there has been no time for any road trips recently, but I am starting to gear up for a couple this fall which will allow me to take the open road (weddings, fall break, etc).  A couple of months ago Kelsey, a faithful reader here, used a website called Roadtrippers to map out her trip from Columbus, OH down to Mobile, AL.  This cool site helps you find cool places to eat, sleep and get your tourist on. 

Need some inspiration for your next trip?  

I am down for I am down for 1, 2, 5, 7, 8 if anyone is interested. 

On the upside I did get a great package from the state of Maryland with TONS of routes in and around Baltimore.  I am excited for the fall semester being lighter because I will hopefully be able to check some out!!

Monday Gosling Meme

Wellington Wrap Up

One of the good things about this semester is we have three day weekends (i.e. no Friday class/clinicals) which is a godsent after the crazy summer schedule we all just survived.  When I was living in DC my grandmother would come once a year to visit and play tourist.  This year, we switched things around and I headed down to Florida to visit her, my grandfather and aunt.

The one good thing about heading to Wellington is the routine ... 

it pretty much does not deviate from trip to trip.

Play some tennis (and some ping-pong)

Hang with the family



See crazy photos from LONG, LONG ago

Then the trip comes to an end and I trade in the land of horses for the city of ravens.

A&P Done Right

Although it has been many years since I took my formal A&P class I can tell you that we never had anything like this (meet Zac).  Instead our lab was filled with pictures and plastic replications. 

Monday Gosling Meme

Beast Mode

Total Miles: 111.78
Start Point: 100th St & Lenox Ave
End Point: 100th St & Lenox Ave

The gang Jay and I were up way before the sun rise to throw on our kits, pump up our tires hit the road to meet up with the other thousands of riders for the NYC Century ride.  Our route would be just over 100 miles and take us through Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx.  (I was not the best about taking photos, so I took a few off Instagram).

In less than an hour we were coasting moving at a snails pace over the Brooklyn Bridge

Around 0830 we were starting to get hungry and what better place to stop for second breakfast than at the one and only Nathans Hotdogs (dance video taken as well).

Part of the ride took us through the Rockaways which I have not visited since January when a couple of us helped with some of the rebuilding efforts.  After lunch we came across a five star chalking which pointed the way to a velodrome; a great way to get in some speed (especially after eating some pizza and Blue). 

Still doing pretty well with 17 miles to go!

And then off to Bronx for the final leg of the trip!

This guy had one of the best jerseys of the day (not anatomically correct, but still cool)

The best part about wrapping up the ride, besides getting off the bike seat?  

Seeing SUSAN (and eating some burgers)!!!

The Blue Jays Fly with Some Orioles

Several members of our Fall Accell class signed up to take some of the newbies under our wing in the mentor/mentee program (look at all these bird references).  For the first event, school sprung for some tickets to tonight's Orioles game making this the second game I have ever attended. 

After the sun went down, things started to get cooler and made me VERY excited for the fall!!  

All in all a great game and the O's took it 4-0.

This Is Public Health

Level 4 means one thing ... Public Health rotation!!

This semester I am working in a local elementary school and after orientation it looks like we will be working with the school nurse, doing health education and helping with the upcoming flu vaccination program/hearing and sight screenings.  

The first day of class not as exciting.  After the first few minutes of class myself and some of the other MPH'ers realized that this would be a repeat of many of the classes we took in grad school.  In typical public health classes, things kicked off with the This is Public Health and Unnatural Causes videos.  

Fingers crossed they keep things interesting with guest speakers and discussions.

So Long Summer ... I Barely Knew You

Today marks the last day of summer vacation and tomorrow hundreds of many Hopkins students head off to clinical/class.  At least I: 

Survived a crazed summer

Got to spend some time at the beach

Played in the garden 

Cooked lots of new things

Rode my bicycle  

Ate my first Maryland crabs

Traveled to far off lands (with far too much stuff)

And marked a few things off my 30 Before 30 List

Here's to 45 days amazing days in our public health rotation, 102 days until we are FINISHED

and 109 days until I cross that stage, get my pin and can add BSN to my alphabet soup.

(Not that I am counting or anything)

Happy Birthday DAD!!

Happy Birthday to the most fantastic father out there!!

Monday Gosling Meme