Hey Girl, Let's Eat

We are now at two weeks into living in California.  Things are pretty.. pretty.. pretty.. pretty great!  Anyone watch Curb Your Enthusiasm?

Meeting new people is scary and can cause a lot of unnecessary anxiety.  We've luckily had a nice time bonding with the other traveler nurses throughout orientation.  They are all floor nurses and Jared and I are both ICU nurses.  Unless you are a nurse, I am not sure you will not understand the personality differences between the two.  The floor nurses, while nice and friendly, mostly have one-upper stories which can be exhausting to listen to.  Jared shared a SNL character with me that nails it on the head:

Penelope  (<--- click on it)

Floor nurses apparently do it just a little bit better, so...

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A few paychecks have come through so Jared and I celebrated with a trip to Beverly Hills to visit a certain actor's (see below) restaurant.  

hubba hubba

It is a Moroccan restaurant with the best hummus I've ever had.  Mr Actor could have been my waiter that night, we never would have known.  It was SO DARK in there.  I like dark and I like candle light but I couldn't even read the menu!  We just ordered based on what we heard the waiter offer.   It was still excellent!



Maybe he was in the back doing dishes?  Hey girl...

On our way in, we drove by a few notable places, almost too fast for my camera because they were one on top of the other but I got a few snaps in:

RIP Whitey

Via Rodeo

While we waited for our reservation we decided to stop for a glass of wine, al fresco.  We found a neat little spot where we thought we might be able to catch a glimpse of a celebrity or two, paparazzi was nearby afterall.  Sadly, we only saw dogs and unfamiliar faces but it was a gorgeous little spot anyway.  I imagined what it might be like to bring Max to Beverly Hills.  No. Way.

Cuvee

 Finally, it's 8:00.

Tagine 

There were maybe ten tables inside.  It was a delicious and quaint little restaurant, I can't wait to share it with my visitors.  Bring your headlamps!

Our last day of orientation has passed, phew!  In celebration, we decided to gather up the travelers for a happy hour and sunset to celebrate.  We shared some good nursing stories and made plans for future adventures. 

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I took Max to the beach again.  It was NOT as successful as the first time.  I thought on a Friday after 5pm, plenty of dog owners would be on the beach.  Sadly, it was only small dog owners who were a little uneasy with Max's size and eagerness to play.  He really proves to be a good dog when we are in public.  He listens (most of the time) when I call and doesn't cause problems with other dogs.  Unfortunately, the first time there were plenty of dogs his size but he drank so much ocean water that he got insta-diarrhea and just barely made it to the yard area to "toilet."  My travel water dish also got washed away by the ocean waves.  Lessons learned.  This visit, I stopped him from drinking ocean water and placed the bowl further back in the sand only to look over and he was pooping in the sand.  Agh!  At least it was solid.

beach buds

Tonight and tomorrow are my first nights of actual bedside working.  I am looking forward to it after my month long hiatus.  Wish me luck and wakefulness!

XO