A Miami Winter

Today I'll take a break from house speak and packing updates and flashback to the holidays in Florida. So much happened in those two weeks. I'll definitely need to break the trip up. We first flew into Orlando and headed down to Miami for a few days. We stayed with my cousin Varsha who has recently started Med School in Miami. Meet Varsha:

one of my favorite nights in DC -- Chinatown -- making friends with the PoPos.

sunglasses indoors. typical Varsha antics 

We spent three days total in Miami. She was a great host. Even skipped class to hang out with us on south beach -- ah, the tough sacrifices she made for us. 

We went to The Carlyle (right on South Beach) for happy hour... at about 1pm. 

We had extra large delicious drinks. Sangria for me and frozen margarita for Varsha.

Then we walked around the beach for a bit while I took lots and lots of pictures. 

We hung out with some of Varsha's med school class at an ugly sweater party and again the next night for a drinking games party at Varsha's place. They're definitely a fun bunch. Makes me question the future of our healthcare profession just a little, lol (completely kidding). I was happy to see her making lots of friends and having fun while being away from home. Trying to convince her to leave Florida for her residency. I've got three solid years to convince and hoping Miami is a good baby step. =) We had a lot of fun in Miami and then headed up to Orlando to hang out with friends and begin our marathon of visiting family! 

More on Florida time tomorrow! 

Life's Little Things -- Appliances Edition

Thing 3: So how many people does it take to get a refrigerator water dispenser to work? Evidently 3. I had been trying to figure out why the water dispenser in the fridge was not working. I could hear ice being made which would lead me to believe that a water line was working. Sketchy and Kerry played around in the back of the fridge making sure lines were connected. I continuously pressed the button to make water come out. Finally Kerry had the bright idea of reading the manual. I know, genius. Anyways, this led to some magical code for how to get the water to work. Evidently for brand new appliances, you have to hold down the button for five second intervals and continue this until water decides to come out. I guess this is some form of warming for the first time? Either way, it was a ridiculous situation of three people staring at a fridge like it was some kind of foreign item. 

Thing 4: As if I didn't feel dumb enough about not knowing how to operate a water dispenser on a fridge, I found myself confused by the stove. In an attempt to cook a meal in the new kitchen I was faced with a knob that had two highs and two low settings. After playing around with the knob for a good while, I realized that there was a burner within a burner! The knob was for two burners in the same area (bottom left). It blew my mind and also made me verrryyy happy. While it seemed confusing at first, I now think it's an amazing range with five burners but looks like four! 

I'll need to upload pictures to give you a better idea of how this was confusing to me. Just find it funny that I didn't really know how to use any of the appliances in the kitchen. 

Here's to hoping I can find my way around the sink and microwave without consulting a manual.