You know I'm here for the party, and I ain't leavin til they throw me out... Gonna have a little fun, gonna get me some... you know I'm here, I'm here for the party!

Oh me, oh my... it's been a while since I've updated, so let me bring you up to speed. Ahhh... well Joel (a frequenter on my blogs) came to DC, as did my wonderful best friend from high school- Sara! They came on the same weekend... and we had an absolute blast! Our Friday night began like this... 

Grant, Joel and I waiting for the show

Sara's first drag show!

And ended like... well, believe it or not, I don't have any pictures of that. But, it wasn't pretty... and, it wasn't me.

Saturday was a bit more mild, we met up with some of the kids from GCN and more or less had a recovery day... until Sunday- which went a little something like this...

The crew! 

Sara and I at the bus stop on Sunday Funday

And then...

And so it begins...

Note the mimosa in the foreground...yea, I lost count after 5

One of the most important relationships in a girl's life... 

And finally...

The "cookie monster" jacket

That would be Joel...striking a pose at LOFT

Sunday Funday strikes again. Good times. I was so sad to Sara go, but it was so great to have her here! We can go months or a year without seeing each other and always pick up right where we left off. After almost 15 years of friendship I'm really thankful for that. What a weekend!!! #College! Can't wait to do a repeat.

The next week, I was off to New Orleans with Jordan for the Emergency Nurse's Association Leadership Conference. Ahhh-maa-zing! The content was fabulous and was exactly I needed to get recharged and energized to bring our ED to the next level.

Of course Jordan and I needed to get in a little sightseeing while we were in town...

That would be Jordan and I holding on to a hand grenade- allegedly the most potent drink on Bourbon St.  Most potent? I think not. Most calories? Most definitely. 

Legs!

Cafe au lait and beignets! Delish! Really neat experience. Side note- you have to walk through the kitchen to get to the bathroom... a little odd. But man, that place runs like an assembly line. 

Church during the ghost tour. 

Sunday Funday and $2 Bloody's?! Does it get any better?!

After spending 5 days in NOLA I was ready to come home. It was a great experience, but there was an inescapable scent throughout the city that I wasn't too fond of... the amount of drunks I saw on a daily basis was unnerving... and I wanted to take each and every one of the homeless people I encountered home with me. And what's up with all the dogs?! All of the cracked out kids living on the street had a dog... Odd. While I was there I met up with an old friend from HS that just moved there- Nick. It was so great to see him- it had been 10 years or something. And, I also saw my old boss- Johnie! Having her there was huge for me. She has been my mentor all these years and it was nice to sit down and discuss my current situation with her. Her perspective and words of encouragement were invaluable to me.

This week wasn't too bad. I had to play catch up quite a bit from the work I missed while in NOLA and then towards the end of the week I decided to develop this weird body ache, headache, fever thing... Haven't quite been able to break that yet- so today I'm just laying low.

On a brighter note, DC is beginning to feel a bit more like home. I still miss Houston all the time, but I'm becoming more familiar with DC, where to go, how to get around and I like it more. So, that's definitely a good thing. It's been a long time coming.

Also, my team has done an amazing job with our patient satisfaction in the department! When I saw our most recent scores I nearly cried! So proud of them! They are amazing and work so hard.

Lastly...snail mail is the best. There is nothing like opening an envelope addressed from a far away friend and finding this:

So loved!

Peace and love, people!