its been a while

i feel like i have neglected my blog in the past month but i think i have a good excuse! school has definitely been picking up with exams every week and even sometimes 3 exams/week. however now i get sort of a "fall break" because today begins the first day of my rotation at:

yes! costco pharmacy! i think its really cool that we have 1 week of rotation in the fall and one in the spring our 1st year! costco pharmacy is my community pharmacy rotation then i have an institutional pharmacy rotation at mercy medical center. im really excited for costco but also scared because i've only been in school for like 2 months...maybe because its costco and everything comes bigger and in bulk i will be dispensing pills like these

HAIR

As we all know, i have a lot if it. yes, hair. My friend was saying how she's growing her hair out a little bit longer so that she could donate it to locks of love and I thought.. well my hair is pretty long now.. i wonder if i could donate it! And to my luck, they take permed hair! My hair is pretty long now (almost to my belly button) and thick! So hopefully my 10inches or so can actually make 1 wig because apparently it takes 20-30 donations to make a wig! I think it has to do with length and color.

So of course everyone knows Locks of Love

However, there has been much controversy surrounding this organization as I have learned on Wikipedia. A common misconception is that the hair donated will be made into wigs for cancer patients but this organization was actually made to help people with the illness alopecia. The organization also apparently raised a lot of money selling donated hair but only provided 113 human hair wigs. How mysterious...

So I googled donating hair and found a different organization called Wigs for Kids.

Both have really cute logos! But what I thought was cool about this site was that it showed you the process of "How your hair becomes their hair"

http://www.wigsforkids.org/content/how-does-your-hair-become-their-hair

Which makes me feel more at ease knowing where my hair goes and how my hair is made into a wig should I decide to donate it. If I do decide to donate it I'll have to grow it out a little be longer because I'm sorry but I don't want to be stuck with this haircut:

Once upon a time in first grade I did have a haircut similar to this little girl's except my hair is 10x thicker than hers so... don't want to bring back that look anytime soon.

mustache ~~

i wish i was in NY because this saturday is the annual mustache competition!

"For the third year in a row, people are coming from near and far to celebrate facial hair long and short, quaffed and unkempt at Donny Vomit’s third annual Coney Island Beard and Moustache Competition.

Shaving Demonstrations and Victrola Spinning by the Antique DJ, Michael Harr starts the night off while contestants enter their furry faces in categories including Best Moustache styled, Best Moustache Natural, Best Beard Style, Best Beard Natural, Best Fake (or real!!) Female, Best in Show and the coveted Worst in Show.

Entertainment by Cowboy and World Champion Trick Roper, Chris McDaniel and Jennifer Miller, The Lady with a Beard.
Judges (Cowboy Chris McDaniel, Heather Holliday & Donny Vomit) will award the best display of hair with customized Coney Island Fez’s-an honor that only few can cherish.
Come out whether as spectator or competitor-and enjoy a night of lovely faces, Schmaltz Brews and good company!

Coney Island Beard and Moustache Competition

Saturday, September 11

6 pm

$15
Coney Island USA

1209 Surf Avenue"

I WISH I COULD GO!! This is why I heart NY. This made me really sad so during class today I looked up some cool stuff in Baltimore and though its not NY, it's still pretty cool (I guess). There's this tower near where I live that was converted into a gallery space and once a month they have opening viewings! The next one is October 2nd and I'm excited to go!

what it looks like now

erected in 1911 but it no longer has the seltzer bottle at the top

I wish I had more free time do explore Baltimore but starting next week, I'll have at least 1 exam per week. When will I have time to fall in love with what calls itself the "greatest city in america"?

water aerobics!

Last week I attended a water aerobics class at the gym here (it's free!) and I have fallen in love with the "sport". It was advertised as the "world's largest water aerobics class" and so I was expecting a lot of people to show up but there were only 5 people including me.

This looks more like the "World's largest water aerobics class"

 I also was expecting a lot of old ladies because when I think water aerobics I picture this:

But there was only 1 older woman there. We did use what the old ladies are holding though. Those water weights seem so light because they're foam material but man, in the water with resistance, it is a intense work out. It was also a lot of this:

It was a full body workout. What was fun was that they blasted really upbeat music and we would do everything to the beat. It was a lot of jogging, lounging. walking with high knees, arm curls, and abs. And what's water aerobics without the foam noodle?

Yes, we did use it for many of the exercises. I'm planning on continuing this class because it's so much more fun than running on a machine or lifting weights. Maybe I'll invest in a swimming cap like this one:

cute floral cap

In case you didn't know what to get me for Christmas or my birthday, I would be very happy with this! (apparently it's made by speedo)

Finally, I'll end today's post with this cute picture (as if I don't put enough pictures already)

-devotion-

This is kind of late but I never wrote about my white coat ceremony that took place on August 27th. That day, I, along with 160 classmates were "inducted" into a profession. Like any formal school event, it was long and boring. It was comparable to graduation; they called each student up on stage but instead of receiving a diploma, they "donned" us with our white coat and as you can imagine, it was very awkward to have someone help you put on a coat. Despite the predisposition I had for such school events, the speaker really got me thinking. He talked about devotion and what that means in a pharmacy career. He reminded us that behind every prescription is a person who is a loved by somebody and that we should devote ourselves to "a lifetime service to loved ones." And of course after the ceremony there was a reception.

with my family <3

with some friends!

yeeeeeeah! its official

However- there is a different type of devotion I would like to discuss - devotion to possibly the worst baseball team! yes! I've been to 2 games in the past month. This past Friday, I went to the bullpen party @ Camden Yards where Baltimore's own Orioles play. This was the $10 all you can eat and drink event. I don't have much to say because I wasn't even really paying attention to the game except that I tried getting my money's worth so enjoy these pictures!

lots o' beer

a cool study group drinks together :D

that's devotion and love right there

yeah we left the game during the 4th inning

@ pickles, our fav

I think my $15 t-shirt was put to good use. I have a feeling this will not be the last game I go to haha. 

my room!

so as promised... here are pictures of my room!

my desk area

close up

my queen sized bed!

with the lamp i had to hot glue to the ceiling

my walk in closet!

my bathroom

so if you guys ever wanna visit..... you're welcome to come =)

tonight i'll be going to my 2nd baseball game! the team here is called the orioles.. they suck but its all about the atmosphere right? tonight's event is sponsored by the school and for $10 you get admittance to the game and unlimited food and beer... UNLIMITED! sooooo after a long week of 9-5 classes i think i will enjoy myself tonight =D

BALTIMORE

So this will be a really long post because I've been thinking about starting a blog for at least a week already so I have a lot to say! I created this blog for the purposes of documenting my time in pharmacy school in Baltimore and to provide updates for those in LA (miss you guys!) and those at home. 

Actually I take it back, this will be a normal post because instead of 

jam packing everything into this post I'll first show you guys what its like here and where I'm living!

Baltimore! This was probably dangerous.. since I was driving.

I was stopped at a red light near where I live and saw a bunch of Asian tourists taking a picture of this building so I conformed. I'm not exactly sure of its importance but it looks pretty.

Edgar Allan Poe's buried across the street from my dorm.

Some people even left letters for him! (If you look on the top right side of the tomb you can see the letters)

So I'm still not sure how this formatting works so please excuse the messiness. I can't figure out how to put pictures side by side then typing more afterwards. Guess I'm still pretty new to this and need some time to get used to it.

some views at the inner harbor:

Love this picture!

I think that's it for now! It's kinda late and I have a full day of class tomorrow. Stay tuned for pictures of my room! Just as a reminder for myself and a preview as to what's to come... I have to write an entry on my room so that you can see what its like, the baseball game I went to, and of course, my white coat ceremony!

One last closing thought: What's Baltimore without blue crabs?

@Obrycki's