Knit vs. Crochet: Birth-month wrap-up

Recently I've noticed a trend of my friends jokingly referring to the month that their birthday falls into as their birth-month, and celebrating accordingly. My birthday falls in early May, and I realize (now that it's June) that it was perhaps the BEST. BIRTH. MONTH. EVER. (Since the one, I suppose, during which I was actually born.)

To start the month, I went on a 10-day trip to Italy by myself--the first time in Italy (my first time in Europe, truth be told) and the first time traveling overseas alone. As a "petite" (read: scrawny) female, I approached the idea of traveling solo with a little nervousness mixed in with my excitement, but I figured--hey, I've lived in Shanghai, Chicago, and NYC--I can handle a little jaunt to a Western country where they're used to tourists and practically everyone in the cities speaks a little english. I packed light and visited the tourist circuit of Milan, Venice, Florence, and Rome.

It was, without a doubt, the nicest thing I've ever done for myself.

I spent time (in near-equal portions) running like crazy through all the tourist highlights (the Piazza San Marco, Michelangelo's David, the Sistine Chapel, the Colosseum...the list of famous stuff goes on) and relaxing with a glass of wine/scoop of gelato and doing nothing. Being alone was beautiful--if I wanted to sit and admire The Birth of Venus for half an hour, I could. If I wanted to zip through the myriad treasures of the Vatican Museums intoning "boring, boring" in my head, I could. The downside was not to be able to share all the beauty, humor, and deliciousness with my SO, who I heartlessly ditched at home.

From the top: Rigatoni alla' amatriciana at Osteria da Nerone right by the Collosseum. Salute in Venice, Giro d'Italia banner in foreground. Trevi Fountain in Rome by night. Sunset over the Arno in Florence

Almost immediately after I returned from my trip, I graduated from medical school--an affair that took up a long weekend and involved several hours of wearing a hot, stuffy, poorly-dry-cleaned rental gown and a ridiculous hat. Nonetheless, it was exciting and gratifying to finally get that diploma--after all these years of hard work, sleep deprivation, and stress--I'm now Sara, M.D.! (Dr. Sara, if you prefer.) Not that the hard work, sleep deprivation, and stress will be ending with the diploma by any means...

Then, to cap off BEST.BIRTH.MONTH.EVER. I went off with my fiance and select portions of both our families down to St. Lucia and got married. Our wedding went off without a hitch, both families seemed to have a good time, and then we sent them home and had a fantastic honeymoon. We did a little scuba diving, flipped a catamaran, and climbed a 2,600 ft mountain (though really we only climbed 2,000 ft of it, as the climb started at 600 ft above sea level). And I ate foie gras twice. Basically, the perfect way to end 7+ years of living in (delightful) sin and start a legally-sanctioned cohabitation together.