Birthday in NOLA

It's a New Orleans tradition, where if it's your birthday, locals pin dollar bills to your dress.  And I can't say I didn't hate it.  The turnout was amazing (too many new classmates to count) and we took over every bar we hopped to.  I am so thankful for all the wonderful bday wishes and love from my friends and family.

Sidebar -- my classmates are absolutely bananas.  In the best way possible.  I've only met 60 or so of the 200, and they are so normal (haha) and incredibly fun.  It's going to be a whirlwind next 4 years.

Hope everyone is doing well!  I feel like since I'm still not on any kind of real schedule, I'm completely out of the blogging world.. but am looking forward to getting back on the grind of life and school!

So much for the city..

..tell me that you'll dance til the end.
[the thrills]




I know I've been MIA for a while -- and mainly because I've been traveling and visiting friends. RSJ came to Raleigh, and I was so excited to see her! She's one of my dearest friends, and I'm always psyched to see her. All that was missing was S$!

..and the crew I spent numerous late nights with senior year of college came out! I missed these kids so much, and was super psyched for the reunion. Love them dearly.


Then it was off to New Orleans. I had an interview at Tulane (keep your fingers crossed!) and fell in love with their program, their people, and New Orleans in general. The food is delicious, the drinks are legendary, and everyone there is ridiculously friendly. I find out in about 3 weeks if that will be my new home -- and it cannot come soon enough.

Plus, I got to see my dearest friend from my time in Brazil -- LS! She's doing Teach for America down there and after my interview showed me what NoLa is all about. I adore her friends, and had the best time.

It ended up being a definite "sorry for partying" kind of night -- missed my 6:15am flight, but made it home in one piece. Tulane's attitude is "Work Hard, Play Hard" and it is something I can definitely get in line with.

This was also my first "adult" trip. I'm 23, and all my traveling has been done with someone. Friends, family, or new acquaintances. I hadn't seen LS in years, and we picked up right where we left off. In high school especially, I was the super shy kinda girl, and had a handful of close friends -- very few fringe friends. For the most part, that's how it'd been in college too. I'm def more confident, and I think this trip is part of my coming of age into my full independence. I'm doing things on my own, and picking up close friends along the way. If I go to Tulane, I know these new friends will be part of my close knit NoLa clique, besides that of the medical school community I'll be in as well (which from what I can see is pretty fun and tight as well).

..and now it's back to the real world. I'm afraid once I get into school, I'll start to check out of my job, but my boss knows this is just an interim place for me anyways. and I'll get back to blogging on the reg.