A Side of Sweet

Old Delhi, India {Travel}

For my first day in India, I hired a cycle rickshaw for the steep price of $7 for the whole day. He biked me all over Old Delhi and we got to see all the main touristy stuff, plus a few off the beaten path places – like this enclosed compound below: Old Delhi, India

From the roof, we could see a man drying traditional chappati bread:

We also stopped at the famous Old Delhi mosque – Jama Masjid:

I wanted to scoop up all of this powder that is used for the Indian Holi Festival. So pretty!

My rickshaw driver was a bit reckless. Delhi is crowded and there isn’t much order on the streets. He tried to skirt by this taxi and ended up taking off his mirror! There was a shouting match and my driver fled the scene! He spent the next few minutes looking nervously over his shoulder, but we were able to lose our pursuer.

We stopped by the Ghandi Museum – Outside were the famous “Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil, See No Evil” Monkeys.

Our last stop of the day was the Red Tower – a UNESCO world heritage site.

This is a shop a few blocks from my hotel:

Today I’m going to explore Delhi a bit more and then it’s time to head north to start my work at Delek Hospital!

Namaste from India! {Travel}

Hello from Delhi, India – after a fairly uneventful journey with a few tight connections, I arrived in Delhi late last night. Unfortunately, my backpack didn’t have as much luck as I did, and had to spent an extra night in Amsterdam (insert Red Light District joke here). I had planned to only spend on day in Delhi and get an overnight train to the north of India so I could start my work at Delek Hospital in Dharamsala.

Instead, I had an extra day to explore Old Delhi. My flight landed at midnight, and by the time I had the lost luggage situation sorted out and stood in the slowest customs line ever, I didn’t make it to my hotel until 3:00am. Thanks to advice from online travel forums, I booked a hotel room in advance that included airport pickup. If you don’t have a designated driver, cabs have the tendency to take you on a wild goose chase all over Delhi and try to drop you off at various other hotels, giving you the excuse that your hotel is full or under renovations. It cost a pretty penny – about $35 USD – which is about $25 more than I hope to spend on a hotel room for most of my other nights in India! To take one bit of stress out of the equation definitely made it money well spent.

Mum Cupcakes Frosting Technique

How sweet are these pretty mum cupcakes? You may remember that I am participating in a quest to find the Ultimate Chocolate Cupcake, with Stephanie from the Cupcake Project. These cupcakes were part of the 6th round of baking and I used this frosting technique to make them a little fancier than the traditional Wilton 1M swirl. I got the idea from these chrysanthemum cupcakes from Martha Stewart. Patients is definitely not a virtue I practice often, but I was still pleased with the overall result. I used a swiss meringue buttercream and I love the snowy white of the frosting against the dark chocolate cupcake. It would be fun to dye them with a little gel food coloring as well though!

It’s been a stressful week here. I had my last exam and my last rotation of medical school yesterday. Today residency placements are announced and I’ll find out where I’ll be working for the next three years! I also leave for India this afternoon! Needless to say, I’m a bundle of nerves. I’m going to shift gears on the blog to more travel stories and photos while I’m working in a Tibetan refugee hospital for the next 6 weeks.

Ok, so onto the technique….

Your Running Myths – Busted!

Check me out as a featured blogger on the Brooks blog today! I’m busting some common nutrition myths and sharing a healthy running recipe. Good nutrition does not have to be complicated or expensive!

Running Myths - Busted!

I am a loyal Brooks shoe and clothing fan (read more about what to wear, whatever the weather) and I’m excited to be featured on their Blog. This is my first of four running myth posts for the Brooks blog!

2013 Sundance Film Festival, Part III {Travel}

Skiing Park City | Running Blonde
Of course, a weekend at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival wouldn’t be complete without a day of skiing! We hit the slopes of the Park City Ski Resort. The snow was so-so, but we still enjoyed ourselves. Of course there was a huge storm that dumped a bunch of powder the day we headed home!

2013 Sundance Film Festival | Running Blonde

Park City Ski Resort | Running Blonde

Check out that beard! He’s promised to trim it before the wedding. For now, I’m jealous that he has a built in face-warmer! 2013 Sundance Film Festival | Running Blonde

Skiing Park City | Running Blonde

And of course, no long day of skiing is complete without some hottub action:

Skiing Park City | Running Blonde

During my interview in SLC, the residents talked a lot about their love of winter sports and how they get away to the mountains whenever they can. Given that this view is only 35 minutes outside of town, I can see why they are hooked!

2013 Sundance Film Festival | Running Blonde

Don’t forget to check out Sundance Part I and Part II!!

2013 Sundance Film Festival, Part II {Travel}

Because it was the closing weekend of the film festival, there wasn’t as much going on. It seems like most of the celebrities had already slipped town. This was definitely a disappointment, as I was absolutely convinced that I was going to run into Susan Sarandon and George Clooney. The biggest celebrity we saw was main actress from the most terrible doctor show on television right now (and that says a lot as most of them are pretty terrible), Mob Doctor. I just went to google it now, and it looks like it was canceled halfway through its first season.