I'm leaving on a jet plane

On June 19th we celebrated David's birthday at Bucca di Beppo's (I think I spelled that right). It's a chain Italian restaurant that I've been to now 3 times in 3 different locations. They all sorta have the same feel. They are decorated with random little trinkets and pictures that is generally Italian-themed, but as Alex pointed out, look old, like they are from thrift stores. This makes the places look like they are unique, not chains. I'm not sure if the actual items are the same anywhere, since I have only been once in San Diego, and one time in San Francisco before. Both times (which were when I was 19 and 15 respectively-I guess I go about ever 4 years) I was completely unaware of where I was until someone pointed it out later.

The one in San Francisco was a unique experience when my grandmother and I came to visit Micah who was attending Berkeley at the time. We were in a strange room called the "pope" room for someone's graduation, and they had a bust of the pope sitting on a "lazy Susan". It was pretty weird! This one was no different. The food is pretty standard, but it's just a fun environment! Unfortunately we had some confusion and were not able to get David his birthday cake and embarrassing moment of singing happy birthday to him! I also had to leave for LA that afternoon, so I could not hang around forever! I think he had a good time!

Ryan and I escaped to LA, where we got to spend a few days with my family. We went to Coupa Cafe in Beverly Hills with my sister (right) and my mom - I had to show them what I was raving about! It was delicious (of course) but not the same as their Palo Alto location! The seating was performed by a hostess (rather than the self-seating at the PA location) and overall it had the feel of a regular restaurant. When I went in the middle of the afternoon to grab some coffee, however, it was completely dead. There was a cute little sitting area in the back with plasma screen TVs. But I think overall LA is not the coffee-shop type place. Who knows, maybe Coupa can transform the city!

We got a chance to drive down to San Diego as well. Ryan's family wanted to see him before his birthday, and it had also been some time since I was down there (probably about 3 months)! Strangely I have fond memories of driving between San Diego and LA. The traffic is generally horrible, and I am usually in a rush to get to LA, or sad I have to be going back to school, but somehow I have great associations with it. That night was no exception since we got our own fireworks show when we passed Disneyland. It's not an exceptionally special occurrence since Ryan and I are in the habit of driving pretty late at night (both to avoid traffic but also since we are night owls it's no big deal).

Once we got there, we dropped by his family's house and saw his parents and Reid and Hannah before heading out to Pacific Beach with two friends, Sahand and Kyle. It's funny how quickly things change! The area had new bars that had dress codes (which is totally abnormal for this beach area). What's funny is while they required pants and button-up shirts, there were no rules about sandals! In general guys can't get in anywhere without nice shoes, but these beach areas tend to know that the San Diego style does not involve dressy shoes! It's pretty amusing. It was a pretty nice place, but it felt a bit like a casino, with palm trees inside, a facade between the bar and the waiting area, and weird cobblestone floor!

After we went to grab food at an old dive-mexican place called "Coti"-of course some things never change.

Kyle liked it!

Ryan did too, although you can't tell!

Ryan went golfing the next day with his dad, and Hannah and Tracy went to the bead store (unfortunately I slept through this-which was actually much needed). When I did wake up I found Reid and we went to get coffee and just relaxed a bit. But as all other things, the day came to an end too soon, and we had to leave for LA again. The next morning I had a nice breakfast with just the ladies, my mom, my aunt, and my grandmother, before heading up. Ryan and I swung by Pinkberry really quickly-I GOOGLED AND FOUND OUT THEY ARE COMING TO THE BAY AREA SOON!!! But in the meantime I needed a fix.

Doesn't it look delicious?!?!?

It was super hot out (although I'm sure our temp gauge was off because I doubt it was over 110) and we were dangerously low on gas, and stuck in terrible traffic near the Magic Mountain area. To make matters worse I had to go volunteer at the NLM meeting registration desk and I had left myself NO time for traffic. I drove straight up, except for a stop we made at the Starbucks just before getting on the 101 (which included a restroom stop). Ryan and I stop here every time, in both directions. On the way down Ryan bought himself a Nintendo DS that he was able to use during the ride! I tried to convince him to buy a pink one, but alas he wanted black!

As we approached the Palo Alto area, we noticed a huge plume of smoke in the distance! Ryan and I were not quite sure where it was, but we both grew increasingly quiet as we approached the exit that would have been ours. I eventually broke the silence and pointed out this seemed terribly close to our apartment and could we drive by. It turned out it wasn't at all our apartment, but actually the Stanford hills that were on fire! Not only that, but I had remembered that Karen and Annie had schedule a dish walk for that day! There were two more fires that week! One at the dish and one on University! It's quite scary! They suspect arson!

David and I manned the registration desk that afternoon. I think we were a couple of friendly faces and we got the job done! It was fun to see some of the names on the list, and see them again (either that day or the next). Jane Peace, the visiting scholar from UW Madison, came to town for the meeting! It was so great to see her again! Ninad Dewal, an applicant last year who is at Columbia's BMI program and acquainted with many people with whom I've remained in touch from my Columbia visit (he's even living with two of them) was there as well! Mike Sneddon, a fellow UCSD-graduate from the Bioinformatics concentration during the same year who did the "interview circuit" with me as well. It was great fun!

David and I picked Noah up from the airport after finishing up! He had been on the east coast for about a week visiting family. He hadn't seen them in nearly a year! I don't know how he does it! I, of course, had to be completely obnoxious and call out "Shmoopy" and run over to him like I was his grandmother who hadn't seen him in years. I think his Sarah-hiatus was sufficient since he seemed to tolerate it with a smile! We met Ryan for dinner at an Indian restaurant, during which I was totally exhausted, even after two large nonfat extra dry cappuccinos (George likes to point out how I use way too many words to order my coffee, but this is how I like them)! We played some weird game with the waiter of "guess our meal". I thought Noah knew the guy, but it turned out he just started guessing for fun. It was pretty funny! In the end I ate everything in sight, then went home to go to sleep!

The next day we had to do our poster session, which was poorly attended, but I got to see everyone! On Tuesday I made the rounds inviting everyone to the night on the town, which I then didn't really attend. I went long enough to see the Columbia students get super drunk! They are new yorkers after all! The conference was good overall. I don't know if it was a success as far as showcasing the reason why Stanford scored the highest on the renewal grants of all the training programs in the country. I hope I added to it, but I don't think anyone really looked at my poster. The few people who asked questions were not even from other schools! My print was also slightly off which Noah said made him feel "a little sick" to look at. He pointed out we seem to be making it a habit to have posters side-by-side, but whereas last time his looked a bit scattered, mine was the dud this time!

That Friday we celebrated Serafim's success by having our lab meeting at a Mexican restaurant! It was REALLY good but the portions were ridiculously large! I have to say I'm just extremely happy in my lab! I'm a bit sad to be leaving at this point, but George assured me my desk would be available when I got back, and I didn't need to leave anything behind to "mark my space". He had officially added my name to that space on the website, which is very exciting! I like that spot, so it's perfect for me! Unfortunately Olga is no longer behind me, so we will see who takes over!

In the afternoon it was back to work, but it also happened to be the same day that the iPhone was being released! It was complete mayhem all around! We had seen people lining the streets (at the most random locations at Page Mill's ATT store-which has no shade) when we drove to the mexican restaurant. George sent me pictures of some people who had been camping out in front of the New York store for a week. It is pretty disgusting when you think about it. What about showers, bathrooms? Hygiene just doesn't matter to these people! It turned out the one guy at the front of the line in New York actually didn't have the money, he does this every time there is a big release just for attention!

George and I decided around 5 pm (the release time on the west coast was 6pm) that we would just head over the the apple store in the Stanford mall and see what was going on. No videos or major pictures had popped up on websites, so we just figured why not go over and see? When we got there, Alain was there as well, with the same thought in mind. We're not willing to wait in line, but if we are still around when the lines clear, why not see if any are available, buy some, and sell them online? As it turned out none of them were ACTUALLY sold out, but I got some shopping in for myself (cheating-I know, but I'm like 3 lbs shy at this point)! I also spent time shopping with George for a suitable outfit for a wedding he is attending in Greece this summer!!!

On Saturday we went out in the city, and I sang karaoke (I don't sing well at all) and we had a pseudo-"Sarah going away" evening. It was nice to hang out with Beth, Julie and Mike and Sharon. But half way through the evening I got really sad about leaving! This whole experience has been forcing me to think a bit about my situation. I can't help but wonder how often I will have to be away. I think in general I will be on trips to places where I am at a conference, and probably largely distracted, but I can still foresee myself getting lonely, and possibly feeling guilty about leaving Ryan alone so often. We will have to see what happens!

On Sunday I went to the driving range with Ryan, Sharon and Mike. I didn't do too terribly, but I shouldn't be planning on becoming a pro any time soon! At one point I actually hit a ball that went straight back into the division in front of me that was holding the balls, perpendicular from the direction it should be going. The scariest part is, it could have actually hit the person in front of me (which actually happened to Beth)!!!! I also had one fall about 2 feet in front of me. I know I'm not supposed to, but I took it back. I just couldn't stand to look at it! It was pretty bad!! Ryan was doing a great job coaching me! By then end I hit a ball about 180 yards!!!

The funniest part was on Tuesday I started to get a pain in my side, and I could not figure out why. I was convinced I was getting a kidney stone! I had been warned before that heavy coffee drinkers are prone to get these, and I am nothing if not a heavy coffee drinker since last August! It turned out I had just pulled a muscle at golf, but it was pretty funny! I just wanted to make sure I didn't end up on the ground in the airport in pain, like a friend of mine had a few years back. Come to think of it he lives in Chicago, which is where my layover is! Thankfully it was nothing, but the doctor, used to dealing with grad student I imagine, told me to "chase coffee with a glass of water" to avoid them! I also learned a trick, if you want to see a doctor at Vaden, say you are having organ pain! We also saw Ratatouille, which was a surprisingly entertaining movie! I don't usually watch cartoons, but I was certainly taken!

While I was on the roll of cheating, I also needed to get some shorts for the assuredly terrible weather on the east coast. Notorious for hot and humid, I was not really equipped to head over there. Also, of course, there is the issue of sales. At this point my deal with myself had just been lost, and I may as well not have a stipend at all! Beth and I went shopping, and we put a truly outrageous amount of clothing into our dressing room! In the end, I did control myself and buy things that were mostly relevant to the whole "east coast heat wave" issue. I also did a good job at returning things the next day!

On the 4th of July, our plans got pretty messy. We woke up relatively late, and went to the chili cook-off that Palo Alto holds annually! We met David, Guanglei, Alex and Noah, as well as Arlo! We stayed for a bit, but it was entirely too hot to eat chili, or stand outside in long lines. Ryan had about two cups, then we gave up. We met Julie and Beth at PF Chang's, and had a very american dinner ;). Then we headed over to our apartment, baked cookies and cupcakes, and tried to watch fireworks from our apartment! Unfortunately they were completely blocked by the other building!!

Ryan enjoying freshly baked cupcakes while waiting for fireworks!

Beth excited about the upcoming fireworks on our balcony!

What we actually ended up seeing was...nothing :(

At least they went home with some goodies!

Today I just finished up by gathering the things I needed for my trip. Ryan was sweet enough to take the afternoon off, we enjoyed a lunch. I am packing, and hope to get at least an hour of sleep! My flight is at 6am, which means we have to leave at 4!!!!!!