Friends in February

In February, we were glad to have lots of friends make their way through Memphis for a visit. We had a blast taking them to some of our favorite Memphis locations and teaching them to dodge bullets.

Thanks to Amy Stroup playing a show in Memphis and Lipscomb sending some friends to recruit - we had a great reunion of a lot of old friends. We went to our favorite Mexican Restaurant, Happy Mexican. Unfortunetly, the rest of Memphis also wanted to take their friends there which left us a 2.5 hour wait behind a party of 45. I didn't even know you could walk in with a party of 45 - but that was apparently what was going on. Instead, we had a fun dinner at El Mezcal (our former favorite Mexican restuarant). Afterwards, we took the opportunity of being in East Memphis (per normal) to make our way to Muddy's Bake Shop. Let's be honest. If you come to Memphis and you didn't go to Muddy's - you didn't hang out with us. That place is the glory.

Elizabeth, Amy, and Sarah at Muddy's Bake Shop.

James and Daley outside of El Mezcal.

On Valentine's weekend, Meggie, Caroline and Ashleigh came down for what has become an annual trip of Memphis fun. We had a blast with them doing Memphis things and planning for Andrew's nursery. For those of you who don't know, Ashleigh is an extremely talented artist and her canvases are starting to cover the walls of our apartment. We can't wait to see all the great things that will make Andrew's nursery so special and happy.

Elizabeth, Meggie, Caroline, James and Ashleigh at Muddy's.

It is always great to share our lives with friends and show them some positive things about Memphis. There really are a lot of things about Memphis that we will miss... Elizabeth may miss more than me - I spent way too much time inside the hospitals.

Like Father, Like Son

So...after much debate (just to bring us back to square one) Baby Parnell has a name...(drum roll)... James Andrew Parnell, II. That's right, not junior, and don't even think about calling him "JJ" or "J-R". Please call him Andrew. Anyways, we can't wait to meet him, but also hope that he doesn't decide to arrive early. At our last ultrasound he was measuring overall just 1 week ahead of schedule (which doesn't change his due date of May 21) and weighing 1lb 13oz. I would also like to mention that his abdominal circumference was measuring 2 weeks ahead of schedule. I will choose to attribute this to several things..1. he takes after his dad 2. his placenta is awesome 3. he loves all the Muddy's cupcakes I feed him. Please keep him in your prayers as he continues to grow and develop. We love him so much already!

DC: Taxation Without Representation

After a busy few days of residency interviews, Elizabeth and I continued on to our nation's Capital to see the sites and visit our good friend, Becky. Neither Elizabeth nor I had been to DC since the "all 8th graders in America go to DC and their parent's freak out" trip, so we were excited to be able to appreciate a lot of the things that we probably didn't at a time when we cared more about “who was sitting in the back of the bus with our former best friend” than if our congressman wanted to eat lunch with us.

On Thursday, Becky picked us up at Reagan National and we headed out for a day of site-seeing. First to fuel our tanks, we ate lunch at President Clinton’s favorite restaurant, Lauriol Plaza. We decided to tackle some Smithsonians. After viewing the finest work of America's taxidermists at the Museum of Natural History, we continued over to the Museum of American History. Here Elizabeth was able to delve into the life of Julia Childs and stare with googly eyes at her kitchen pictured below.

We checked into the Capitol Hilton (courtesy of Sam Parnell, Jr and his Hilton Honors Points) and then went to Becky’s apartment on a beautiful street pictured below.

From there we partook in Becky’s favorite frozen yogurt shop, Mr. Yogato. Noticed my stamped forehead in the picture below, rightfully earning 10% off my order.

Friday morning, we conquered the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and saw more money than we will ever have in our entire lives. We then headed to the White House to keep our lunch appointment with Barack, Michelle and the girls. They cancelled because they heard we were Republicans so we settled for a tour of the East Wing. After lunch at Potbelly’s, we visited the Holocaust Museum before going to meet Becky at the Capitol.

That’s when the magic began. Becky afforded us an all-access (or at least more access than I imagined) tour of the Republican Leader’s Office and various Capitol landmarks. No doubt the highlight of our trip.

SIDENOTE: Below you will see the view from Becky's office window. Somehow I was jealous that when I turn around while being blown away by a day's work, I see people vomiting and soiled linens. Becky, well, she sees this.

Since the good Senator from Kentucky had stepped away from his desk, I took the opportunity to help him catch up on some paperwork about the Healthcare bills.

Our nighttime activities included a delicious dinner at Faccia Luna in Arlington, VA followed by a tour of the Lincoln and World War II Memorials.

Afterwards, we checked into the most bizarre nice hotel I’ve ever stayed at – the Liaison Capitol Hill. Just think of a martini bar and combine it with an upscale hotel. Boom. Liaison Capitol Hill. Thank you Hotwire for your great hotel location, low price, and nice accommodations. No thank you Hotwire for the weirdness.

On Saturday, we decided to start the day with an early lunch at Ben’s Chili Bowl – an absolute gem. After consuming a few chili dogs, chili cheese fries, and bowl of chili we were feeling less than healthy. In fact, I’m not sure we felt good at all afterwards – but it was certainly some unique eating that I would highly recommend.

After Ben’s Chili Bowl we had to go to Walter Reed Medical Center – not to have our stomach’s evacuated or for a heart attack, but because I drug the crew to the National Museum of Health and Medicine. I found several of the exhibits interesting, and I think the others were pleasantly surprised. My favorite exhibit was a mock trauma bay tent from Iraq – no doubt, I’m an emergency medicine nerd. See a favorite quote from it below.

Saturday afternoon, we visited the Library of Congress where we bailed on the most boring tour ever. Later we went to Georgetown, where we met our friend Claire who goes to George Washington for dinner at Clyde’s. Becky’s suggestions continued not to disappoint. We enjoyed seeing Claire and catching up.

Afterwards we met some of Becky’s friends and then turned in for the night.

Sunday, we went to Capitol Hill Baptist Church with Becky and then to Le Bon Café for lunch. Becky then delivered us to the airport so we could fly home.

We had a fabulous experience in the District and really enjoyed seeing Becky and Claire. We are indebted to Becky for her hospitality and will recommend her to anyone as a DC expert and tour guide.

2458 miles later – we ended up back in Memphis. I think I wore Elizabeth and baby Parnell out.

3 Days: 3 Up, 3 Down

Last week, Elizabeth accompanied me on the residency interview trail to North Carolina. We flew into Raleigh on Saturday and traveled to Winston-Salem where we stayed with Brian, Katie, and Nathan Kornrumpf. We had a great time over the weekend hanging out and catching up. Brian had a 30 hour NICU call Sunday into Monday so James spent Sunday afternoon watching the Vols beat #1 Kansas and Elizabeth played with little Nathan. And for the record, Nathan may be the best behaved/tolerant/calm/easy-going/coachable baby I've ever been around.

After exploring Winston-Salem, Elizabeth and I attended dinner with the Wake Forest residents at Foothills Brewing Company on Sunday night. My interview at Wake Forest was on Monday. During our visit, I took Elizabeth to Wake Forest University's campus, as I had considered it for undergrad. It is a beautiful campus and is a must see if you are in Winston-Salem. Below is Wait Chapel on the campus of Wake Forest University.

On Monday afternoon, we headed to Chapel Hill, NC to take in UNC-Chapel Hill where we stayed at the Siena Hotel. Thank you priceline for your favorable rate and to the hotel for their 400 thread count sheets. My interview at Chapel Hill was on Tuesday morning and I got to have lunch with Dr. Tintinalli - Guru/textbook writer of Emergency Medicine. Below is a picture of UNC-Chapel Hill's famous bell tower.

Tuesday evening, we scrambled to Charlotte arriving 30 minutes before our dinner with the residents from Carolinas Medical Center at Rock Bottom Brewery. I know, lots of bar food. I interviewed at Carolinas on Wednesday morning. By Wednesday afternoon, we were tearing up the road back through Chapel Hill and into Virginia.

Needless to say, I loved having Elizabeth with me and being able to share the experience of residency interviews with her. I think she enjoyed meeting the resident's spouses and getting to know them with me, or at least she was a good sport about it. I think I wore her down with the 3 interviews in as many days, but we had a pleasure trip ahead of us. Our trip continued into our next blog post - Washington DC.

Merry Christmas

Sorry for this excessively long post and all the pictures. James and I had a wonderful Christmas. We were able to spend time with both of our families on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We were thankful it worked out as we don't know where we will be Christmas 2010. We had Christmas Eve brunch with my family in Hendersonville. It was delicious and good to see my aunt as she lives in California. We then went to Murfreesboro for Christmas Eve dinner with James' family. Christmas morning we had breakfast with James' parents and then left for Ripley, Tennessee (the center of the universe). We found out a couple weeks before Christmas that we were having a boy and we wanted to make that a surprise for our families. I painted glass ornaments that said , "It's a boy!" and we wrapped those up for our parents. It was fun to watch them open those. I am especially excited for my dad. He's raised 3 girls, so I know he must be thrilled to have another male to be a part of the family. We hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

Nanny finding out it's a boy!

Dad finding out the good news.

Cousins :)

It's not a Goldendoodle, but it will work for now.

Eli loving his puppets.

James' parents with their ornament :)

Coney.Island.Steamer.

More Lowcountry

We enjoyed the rest of our Charleston trip. The cooking class was lots of fun. We had Pecan Crusted Grouper (fried in an iron skillet), Onion and Zucchini Casserole (much better than it may sound), and Carolina Gold Rice Pudding with Apply Bourbon Sauce (very yummy). James and I had never had rice pudding before, but the one they served made me a believer. We went on a carriage ride which we also enjoyed. It was fun to see new places and hear little bits of history. We are already looking forward to our next trip to South Carolina!

Highlights of the Lowcountry

James and I left for Charleston Thursday after I got off work. His interview was Friday morning at Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). It was rainy in Charleston Friday, but I was determined not to sit in the hotel room. Luckily, James had not worn his rain jacket to his interview, so I put it on and headed to King Street to try to finish up some Christmas shopping. Needless to say, I was totally soaked four hours later when I made it back to the hotel. After finding some drier clothes, James and I headed to the mall as outdoor activities were not possible. It poured the entire afternoon and there was lots of flash flooding. We went to Sullivan's Island for dinner and our waitress advised us not to return downtown, but instead to go to the Isle of Palms, see a late movie and then go back downtown at midnight. When we left the restaurant it was no longer raining, so we did what she told us not to do and headed to Charleston. Fortunately we made it back downtown, shortly before they closed the roads. There was a break in the rain, so we went out in search of dessert. Many places had closed early because of the rain (this was similar to a "snow day" in Nashville), but we did find some delicious birthday cake ice cream at Hyman's General Store that tasted strangely like Funfetti cake. James won a $25 gift certificate and we returned Saturday night for dinner and more Funfetti ice cream :).

On Saturday we went to The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island for breakfast at the Jasmine Porch. It is the best breakfast buffet I have ever had and much easier to enjoy when wearing elastic waist maternity jeans :). James and I each enjoyed made-to-order omelets (his with shrimp and crab meat and mine with peppers and mushrooms) along with fresh fruit, French toast, grits, and biscuits and gravy. We walked around Kiawah a little while before heading back to Charleston for the Christmas market, more shopping, and dinner at Hyman's.

We are planning on attending a cooking demo class at Charleston Cooks on Sunday and hopefully a carriage ride (a touristy thing we have never done here). More to come later on the class and carriage ride.

Special thanks to James' parents for our luxurious lodging and my parents for their SkyMiles :).