Life in Pictures: Power couples, selfies and other random parts of This American Life.

I love this city. Snapped this while walking during a very wet March of Dimes March for Babies.

I'm not fan of walking or running or doing much of anything in the rain. This former premie trucking ahead of me put it all in perspective though. She wore her superhero cape with pride. And stayed in front of me the entire time.

Yep.

Went to Toronto at the end of April for the Society of General Internal Medicine meeting. I'm a fan of Toronto for sure. Pretty strong photo of the CN tower taken from a cab window if I do say so myself.

It was awesome to see some of my favorite people like Kevin S. and Natalie L. I love seeing people I haven't seen in a long time and catching right back up as if we never left each others' sides.

I didn't know Natalie was coming. I saw her from the side and pretty much stalked her feet since she was on the other side of the poster presentation row from me. Was sure it wasn't her. Leaped for joy when I learned that it WAS her. Yay!

Our BST Mode (Bite Sized Teaching Mode) conference was presented as a poster at SGIM this year. The poster was put together by one of my favorite residents, Jennifer S. She rocked it!

That Jennifer.

This woman makes me better. Jennifer will be one of our chief residents at Grady next year. I have never been more excited to work with someone in my professional life than I am about Jennifer (and her co-chief Lucas) next year. It is going to be an outstanding experience and we are going to do some transformative things. I am SO happy to be connected to her.

This is Joe. He's a former chief resident of the Profesora in Pittsburgh and is now in Seattle, Washington at University of Washington. I met him during my visiting profesora-ship at University of Pittsburgh back in 2010. I re-met him when he stopped me in Toronto and then had the pleasure of learning from him during one of his workshops. It was awesome.

This beautiful, brilliant young woman is only an intern yet she presented at SGIM like a seasoned faculty. Also one of the Profesora's current trainees, I beamed in her direction just as Shanta would were she there. Yeah, so that was a highlight.

Something about drinking Canada Dry while in Canada just seems right to me. So I did. A lot.

Dude. It was snowing in Toronto. My Grady BFF Lesley was silly enough to react with me in this lovely selfie.

Snow. In April. What the -expletive-?!

Does your mom have an avatar that frolics on FaceBook AND sends you text messages like this one? Hmm. Well mine does. So there.

Hey. Tell your mom to do better.

Ha.

My boys get along very well. They fuss, of course, but mostly they are always in lockstep. They couldn't be more different, either. I love this and count it as a true blessing.

There's this company called King of Pops that has these popsicle carts all over Atlanta selling gourmet ice pops. We love them. It's finally warm enough for them to be out for the season. This was a snap of us after having the first of many King of Pops experiences this summer.

I don't know how to use chopsticks. But I always try for the first five minutes of eating sushi or ramen. Then I give up and use my fork. Or my fingers.

Yes, I've had multiple people try to teach me, too. I think I have a brain glitch that won't let me master it. Kind of like when your brain won't remember how to get to certain places by car no matter how many times you go. Does this happen to you? Or is it just me?

Sometimes we laugh at Grady. Sometimes we cry. But sometimes? We dance. Love this place.

I worked late the night I took this photo. This sign was sitting in the lobby and I really appreciated it.

Okay. So here's something super awesome. This delicious cake was made from scratch by one of my graduating students, Jennifer D. She is (obviously) gifted in the kitchen and loves to bake. But beyond that, she is--hands down--the most thoughtful human being I've ever met. And this is saying a lot considering I know some really, really thoughtful human beings.

So this cake. Yeah. Okay, so it is a dark chocolate-espresso-banana-nut cake. And that is significant--let me tell you why.

Dark chocolate, coffee, coffee-flavored things, nuts and banana-with-chocolate are my absolute favorite dessert-type-thingy flavors. Never, until this cake, had I ever had them all combined into one delicacy.

This cake is literally at the very top of the top three desserts I've ever had in my LIFE. Partly because it was simply delicious. But also because it wasn't lost on me that she'd carefully thought about these flavors and remembered what I liked. Moreover, she showed me the recipe and it was a lot of work. A lot.

One of the kindest gestures anyone has ever extended to me. I appreciated this cake so much.

Not only is she an elegant pastry chef, she is also gorgeous, driven, and kind. Orthopedics is lucky to have her joining their ranks in July.

Here's some cool shots from one of my favorite races of the year--the Atlanta Women's 5K. I was trying to get under 30 minutes for my time but missed it by 20 seconds. I still had an epic time, though--and stopped to smell the roses with friends, colleagues and students.

It was such treat to run into my SG Delta advisee Amaka at the finish line. Love seeing my students doing healthy things.

And my colleagues, too. Took this fun snap with my fellow Grady doctor, Natasha T. Good times, man.

Had an amazing time in D.C. at the Society of Hospital Medicine meeting. Added bonus? The BHE joined me. Awesome sauce!

His beard is a new thing. It has given me an insane crush on him. Doesn't he look hot?

Good heavens.

That beard is giving me LIFE, chile. LIFE!

This was one day when I was in my local Target getting a bunch of random things from a list and learned that the item at the top of the list--wine--was no longer being sold there. The Target associate told me that "Target stores in Atlanta have opted to stop selling wine and alcohol."

Say WHAAAAATTT?

I sure went to the Target corporate FaceBook page to let them know that I didn't approve of this little change. I mean . . . this mom needs to be able to get zip locks, tweezers, ground turkey, a bathing suit cover up, Swiffer refills, cabernet sauvignon, and some capri pants all in one place.

Turns out that THAT associate didn't have her info straight. My other local Target still has the vino row--yahooo! There were so many moms over forty on that aisle that we could have held a book club right then and there.

Bwaaah.

I sent this pic to my BFF to let her know that one of our favorite cabs was on sale. Not to mention the extra 5% off you get with the Target debit card.

Mmmmm hmmmm.

Yeah. So I'll never be shopping at that other Target again. I mean, unless I'm desperate and already have wine.

Ha.

Oh snap. Another thing about Toronto that also hurt my heart more than the snow in April was the fact that they closed all of their Target stores.  I talked to the cab driver for twenty miles just about that. I kept saying, "But WHHHYYYYYY????"

He had no idea what I was talking a-boooot. #nevergoingtoliveintoronto

Ha.

I used to joke my mom nonstop about her 757 trillion pairs of readers stashed all over the house and in her car. The eyeball gods must have heard me. I am typing these whilst wearing some leopard print readers and can picture at least four pairs in various parts of my car as we speak. And two more in my bathroom. And six in various purses.

Yup.

Our graduating students had their senior banquet yesterday. Totally one of my favorite events of the year. Am I blending in as a medical student? What do you say?

Loved seeing my two favorite newlyweds, The Lockwoods. Wink.

My sole survivor from SG Beta, Mara. She had a research detour and is on her way to Hopkins to do Anesthesia. Wow!

With my SG Gamma advisee Courtney C. and my adopted advisee Maureen M. Two of the strongest girls I know--literally and figuratively.

Oh, this one. Erica U. She just has my heart and knows it. It has been a dream being her small group advisor. I will miss her so much that every time I think of it I tear up a bit.

Oh! And this:

The senior class votes on a bunch of class favorites and awards. One of the most coveted is the "Ultimate Power Couple Award." How exciting was it to see two of my favorite students and power couples, Erica and Lauren, win this year!

Yes. All of that stunning beauty, sass, and brainpower is captured in one amazing duo. I was proud to see one minor difference not stand in the way of this acknowledgement. And sure, those awards are all in fun for the most part. But to me, this was significant and kind of a big deal. Yeah. So go, Emory, man.

Plus I love them both so it gave me an excuse to stand up, clap and hoop with my fist in the air.

Ha.

Last week Michelle Obama asked America to wear their college shirts for the day to inspire kids to reach higher. And so I did.

Here's me watching Zack play flag football. He told me I looked like "a cool mom" and not "like a regular mom." I'll take it.

My best friend Lisa left her designer shades in my car. To torture her I took a series of very obnoxious photos whilst rolling around the streets of the ATL with them on my face. With my Delta ring prominently displayed. Did I mention she's an AKA?

Ha.

I love hanging out with my favorite 10 year old boy. This was taken way back when he was only 9.

I was famished this day and my friend Lesley M. caught me scavenging in the break room. This random pasta was there along with lonely stalk of broccoli. Pathetic, yes. But surprisingly filling.

Ha.

I was so thrilled to pin and sponsor my BFF Lisa D. as a new member of Jack and Jill of America last weekend. Finally the Delta and the AKA get to belong to the same organization and attend the same meetings. Woo hoo!

Such a fun day at our annual mothers' luncheon.  Which, thanks to me and a few others, erupted later into a selfie-palooza.  Ummmm, yeah.

It helps me to stay connected to community service organizations like my sorority (Delta Sigma Theta) and Jack and Jill. It's definitely a crap ton of work. But it's so meaningful and makes a difference. Plus I think it makes me better at the other things I do.

Had another event right after the mothers' luncheon and didn't have time to change out of the all white attire. I simply added some red accessories and. . .voila! A new look. Well. . sort of. Hell, at least I was wearing my own shades.

Ha.

Wow. I'm just realizing that I know some ridiculously attractive people. I'm just saying.

Sheesh.

Punctuated that day by meeting up again with my best friend. That late afternoon was spent with Prosecco and tapas on a bustling intown restaurant patio with some excellent conversation and people watching.

I think that just about catches us up. What have y'all been up to?

***
Happy Thursday-almost-Friday.

Now playing on my mental iPod. . . .