Music Monday

Sunday Thoughts

On When the newborn is presented in church:

But the ultimate meaning, and also joy of this rite is to be found- as the church understands and experiences it- in the light and the joy of the mystery of Mary, the Mother of Christ. As the mother stands at the entrance of the church, holding her child in her arms, ready to offer it and thus her very motherhood to God, she faces in fact, another Mother with another Child in her arms: the icon of the Theotokos, the very icon of the incarnation and of its acceptance by creation.

source

And the church, in her prayers, unites those two motherhoods, fills human motherhood with the unique joy of fullness of Mary's divine Motherhood. The Child Whom she bore, with whom as mother she was fully united, who was her whole life, made her, "full of grace." And now this grace fills the Church; and it is this Grace- the Grace of Mary, the Grace of the Church- that each mother receives yet also gives as she brings her child to God.

- Of Water and the Spirit, Fr. Alexander Schmemann

Music Monday

You guys are getting two for the price of one today

Aren't you just the luckiest!

that is, if {you} actually exist :)

Found this gem on reddit

Made me think about how few top 40 artists of our day 

would actually sound anywhere near this good 

if you stripped them of the synthesizers

their million dollar producers

and big budget music videos

and stuck them in an empty hall

and just let them go.

I think the number lies somewhere between zero and .5 

{No offense to Celine D. 

She is a vocal beast and I love her.} 

what do you guys think? 

anyone you know of today who could pull this off?

And Peter sent me this this morning

after a rough and stressful night.

I think. 

I think. 

he just might be a keeper (:

hope everyone has a wonderful and productive week!

Music Crush: Brandi Carlile

That voice.

that soul.

those lyrics. 

need I say more?

Caught in the Briars at Boston Public Library

I was on my way to the library today

to get some hardcore reading done 

when this lovely song popped up on NPR

apparently some genius decided to record Sam Beam performing in the Boston Public Library,

and came up with this gorgeous video

I had the pleasure of meeting Sam Beam at a show back in Tallahassee

He was such a lovely fellow,

I asked him if he'd be playing any songs off of In the Reins 

and he offered  a coy "we'll see"

before snapping a photo with my friends and I and heading backstage.

Well, wouldn't ya know it,

towards the end of the night, 

He said,

"this song is for my friends in the parking lot."

And played a history of lovers.

I thought I had died and gone to heaven.

Fortunately, I had not,

or else I'd have missed some really great new stuff from him. 

Including this interview with Sam in Boston.

He is a wonderful guy.

Case closed.

A few other things I'm loving from this past week:

1. I browsed these images of picket fences with my Mom a couple weeks ago. We actually ended up booking our own little cottage in Delaware for Peter's chrismation! See, Pinterest really does serve a purpose!

2. Take this quiz, then let me know how you did! (I got a hundred, of course. nerd alert.)

3. Peter showed me this. Haven't laughed like that in ages.

4. Words of wisdom for my fellow worriers.

5. Peter always raves about Pizza Express in London, but after reading this post, I kind of want to check out Homeslice too :) Has anyone out there been?

6. Peter loved the original version of this film. I was not sold. But since he's the main reason I write on here, I give you the Spike Lee remake of Oldboy's trailer

7. Is sugar really toxic? Personally, I think we should just take everything in moderation, no? That being said, if you're gonna remove anything from your diet, sugar is probably the best thing to cut out!

Happy Weekend Peter (and friends. possibly.)

A snapshot (or twenty) of the weekend

Although last week was definitely not the best ever,

The weekend BEFORE it was pretty good.
I went home 

as my sister had just returned from Africa,
my big bro in New England flew down 

AND my younger brother in college was in town too

so of course,

I wasn't going to miss out on sharing a bathroom with 3 people all the fun!

And my. Was it Fun.

 We goofed around. 

Papou made strange comments about how magnificent the neighbors' tree is 

{he has Alzheimer's.

We don't understand how his brain works these days.

But we love him all the same.

he has a heart of gold

and the sweetest of souls}

A typical Dad expression.

 and a typical Dad behavior.

On Sunday, we went to church, of course.

 Here are the boys

looking ever so dapper

My Mom directs the choir at St Mark's

so she is not present

and my other brother had to go back to school

and my sister was camera crabby shy. 

sigh. 

Saint Mark's is a fairly young parish.

My Grandfather was one of the founding members in 1980. 

When I was born, 

we went to church in what would later become the hall. 

In 1996ish

the church was built

and we've been slowly 

{but surely}

finishing it ever since.

When I was was little,

I asked my parents when the church would be complete.

They told me probably by the time I was ready to get married.

Impressively, 

they weren't too far off.

Most of the icons have {finally!} been paid for

and every time I come home,

some new and beautiful addition has been painted or installed.

This weekend it was these mosaics:

Are they not the loveliest things you have ever seen?

I especially like that they quote the scripture in English,

seeing as we are a fairly dilute and mixed parish,

it just seems appropriate. 

Here's a few shots of the rest of the church.

Father Mark is a wonderful priest,

and the presbyter behind him was actually one of the first priests at St Mark's (: 

Of course after liturgy 

we had to stuff our faces with breakfast foods.

And there is only one place

in our lovely hometown 

that I always try to get to when I'm home: 

We've  been going for years

When we were little, 

we went most Sundays

with all of our cousins 

{and there are a lot of them!}

The manager would give us chocolate and raspberry cigar pastries 

as papou had helped is son get into medical school

{or something like that.}

 Papou always gets waffles with strawberries, bananas, whipped cream and honey
as you can see,
it's easy to keep him happy.
It's the simple things in life... :)

It was the perfect ending 

to a much needed relaxing weekend.

Music Monday

Hey Guys,

Last week I found out I did not pass my boards exams

this means I cannot go on in my third year rotations

until I've retaken it 

{and passed it this time around} 

I've never been so upset about something academic in my life

and I considered not talking about it here

but that would be lying

A lot of bloggers

{and facebookers, and myspacers, for that matter}

paint a beautiful picture of their lives

they selectively filter what they share with others

and while that's fine,

I didn't wan to create an illusion online that my life is perfect.

Because it isn't

It's wonderful and full of blessings

but it certainly isn't perfect. 

So here's to mistakes

failures,

the blemishes in our lives that make us human,

and most of all,

to second chances.

Life's a Beach (or maybe a pool)

Guys,

I had such a great weekend.

It one of those weekends that you just need,

to recharge your battery,

and return to work or your pursuits ready to kick some butt.

{Ok, I'm not quite at that point yet.}

But I feel gooooood. 

I spent 4th of July AM seeing inpatients,

Then bounced from the pool

to the beach

and then back ;)

I put on SPF4 "sunblock"
and, needless to say, got burned like a lobstah!
Oh well...
Not only that,
but I also fell asleep before the fireworks went off!
Talk about unpatriotic -_-

anyways, I will post the rest of the weekend photos tomorrow
but I had to share this madewell tote-
a birthday gift from Peter-
Because I am kind of in love with it.

I love the pockets,

the leather trim (classy)

and the convenient double handles

Basically, it's the bomb{dot}com

Thanks babe!

It's definitely my new summer essential :)

Have a great week folks
I promise more substantial posts are coming soon!

Music Monday

Hey Peter

(and other random folks who might have ended up here by accident)

How was your weekend?

I had a great time at home with my family

shopping,

making my papou laugh,

and welcoming my sister home from Africa 

(yep, she's definitely awesome.)

The weekend left me feeling blessed and refreshed,

and ready to start a new week

and kick pediatric psychiatry in the butt

(you know, in a good way.)

Here's the song I can't get out of my head these days.

{Peter, they're both for you.}

Clearly, I am on a love song kick.

Ok, mush time over.

Happy Monday!!

source

In case you haven't noticed,

Life has taken a turn for the busier these past weeks

apologies for the zero two people who might actually read this thing.

But it is about time I share some awesome links, no?

I mean, 

it's a hell of a lot easier than actually writing a thoughtful post

AND means I don't clutter Peter's inbox with articles and links that he might find interesting. 

Let's begin, shall we?

Have you ever thought about unconditional love? 

It's sooo easy (and super nice) to receive it (thanks, dogs around the world)

But what about giving it?

what about giving it to someone who hates you?

food for thought.

I am currently listening to this on audiobook and I love it.

The BBC show version is on netflix-

go check it out!

Ikea is designing temporary housing for refugees. 

Can you say awesome in Swedish?

Med talk:

This is crazy. That is all.

33 abandoned places that look truly beautiful.

I find it amazing that even in a huge American city like Chicago,

an abandoned building can still exist

Has anyone been to any of these places? 

I'd love to go to Sorrento 

I love Wes Anderson

I LOVED Moonrise Kingdom

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this sweet wedding shoot

First Week, Third Year

So, uh,

wow. 

I started my clinical years of medical school this week

in psychiatry, no less.

In the span of two days I have met 

a teenager who has been pregnant twice in a month,

a man with homicidal thoughts,

and countless suicide attempts,

bipolar patients,

runaways 

and children who seem to have no moral compass.

It's fascinating, intimidating, and heartbreaking all at once. 

I think it's safe to say, 

I am going to prefer third year to the first two years of medical school. 

This weekend, 

Peter came to visit us in our new beach house!

another roommate, K, had two friends visiting as well, 

so we had a bit of a full house.

I introduced Peter to my colleagues and classmates

and awkwardly showed off where I now live

We attempted to lay in the sand a bit, 

but alas, the Florida weather would have none of that nonsense, 

and kept us away from the beach for most of the weekend 

Peter was heartbroken. 

Luckily, 

the crummy weather didn't interfere with Peter's cooking skills

He made us the yummiest peperonata with chicken

a satisfied chef

yes, we lit candles. because we are romantical.

the best recipe for the peperonata can be found here

*cough* skip the sugar *ahem* COUGH

Peter's got a soft spot for Waitrose,

as he worked there growing up as a bag boy. 

This weekend I go HOME

to welcome my sister back from the heart of darkness Sub-Saharan Africa,

(sorry, that was the literary nerd in me.)

which she has somehow managed to navigate WITHOUT contracting malaria

unlike another family member that we know

(looking at you, Dad.)

Hope everyone has a lovely and safe fourth of July!

Let freedom reign 

and fireworks fly high

(ideally without anyone catching flame in the process.)

Music Monday

Well,

here goes nothing.

My first day of third year starts today. 

I start with psychiatry-

we've been told to round with a nurse if you feel uncomfortable,

as some of the inpatients can get a little "aggressive"-

I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't kind of excited (: 

Here's my song of the week. 

I PROMISE I'll post more house photos soon! 

I have been loving this video. 

Watching it is like reading a strange story

I only wish I knew more about it. 

Have  a wonderful week!