Friday on the Front Porch

The quinticential Chapel Hill way to spend your Friday Happy Hour in the summer is at The Carolina Inn for FOFP (Friday on the Front Porch). It's a fairly recent happening in town that started when I was a junior in college. Instead of the typical watering hole, a bluegrass band plays for the hippy children dancing on the lawn, the yo-po's (young professional) fresh off work, the wealthy alumni that don't need to work, and the occassional toolbag resident physician that wears their scrubs out of the hospital (my personal pet peeve-- it's gross-- please don't do it med school and nurse friends!).

I intentionally blocked my work schedule so I could start my weekend off right. Some pretty big moments have happened at FOFP.

- I shared my first FOFP with my beloved college best, Biz (Alicia), which became a weekly staple.
In college we would get home from class and prepare our special concoction of Cheerwine and take the long hike up Cameron Ave to the porch. Sweat dripping from out legs, we always arrived to a packed house, literally standing room only. It's the perfect catapult to a night on Franklin-- start with dinner outside (think Los Pos, R&R, TopO) and stay cool in the night air (weather pending) (think He's Not, Lucy's, Goldie's).

- I wished Chapel Hill good-bye before heading up to New England for a summer. Meet Nasty (Andrew). He's the Starsky to my Hutch, the Blue Steel to my Zoolander, the Lilo to my Stich.

- I officially met Meg, whose friendship would change my way of life in a big way. Keep a look out for our friendiversary coming up.

I remember when we first hung out and after a few short minutes, we both thought, "Um. Why are we not friends yet? That will have to change. This is kind of a big deal."

- Celebrated my first LDOC from Dook. I know, I know. But let's be serious. I'd rather hang out in Chapel Hill than with the antisocialites of Dook.

-Reunion with D.C. after his long drive home. I had no clue what I was in for.

You too could experience Southern culture at its towniest. 5 pm, every Friday. Bring a blanket and an empty belly.

Post Secret PNP

I really wish that I were the author of this postsecret, but alas I am not. But I couldn't have put it better myself. It speaks to how I feel regarding the next 7 months of my life but it fails to address the part where people ask, "What are you going to do when you're done?" and I just smile and shrug my shoulders... Never fear, there will certainly be another post about this in the not-too-distant future... most likely including a poll.

Now is as good a time as any to answer the question that I get at least once weekly from my family and friends, so I'd like to help everyone understand, "What does a nurse practitioner do?" I'll try to map it out--

Finish undergrad: Graduate with a BSN (bachelors of science in nursing)
Take a test: Earn an RN
I'm now a bedside nurse.
Finish grad school: Graduate with a MSN (masters of science in nursing)
Take a test: Earn an NP (I'll have a PNP since I'm specialized in pediatrics)
I'll be a nurse practitioner.

As a PNP, I am an advanced practitioner in the clinical science of nursing. My scope of practice is to assess, diagnose, treat, and manage pediatric patients. Nurse Practitioners are generally licensed through nursing boards rather than medical boards.
Here's what NAPNAP has to say about us.

But I still get the question: What's the difference between a physician's assistant and an NP?
I encourage you to read the American Academy of Pediatrics' Policy Statement on The Role of Nurse Practitioners and Physicians Assistants if you want the most accurate description.
As for an opinion, this is not the place for it. I'll just say that I have been overjoyed to be at the bedside since I was 20 years old, spending countless hours in clinical practice as a nurse, and now advancing the role as an NP.

I wrote this to try to educate my friends and family so that you can go out and be advocates of nurse practitioners and further educate the American public on the gross misconceptions of nursing and NP's.

Song of the day

B.o.B.- Nothin' On You featuring Bruno Mars
I have a not-so-secret love of music videos and this video has been rocking VH1 for a couple of weeks now. My favorite videos are the ones that tell a story and take on the challenge of being creative rather than performing the stereotypical "I'm on a boat!" Bobby Ray Simmons won me over with "I'll be in the Sky" and reminds me of a young mix between Kid Cudi and Andre 3000. I'll be listening to this song on repeat today as I sit by the pool.

In the great outdoors

This is the perfect time of year when the humidity doesn't sweat you out of your own skin and the sun doesn't go down until 9 o'clock. It's the time of year when everyone wants to hang out and get dinner or a drink outside. And the question always arises: Where can we sit outside?


In order the alleviate this repeated dilemma, I've compiled my personal favorite places to sit outside on the terrace/lawn/porch with a friend and enjoy the Carrboro & Chapel Hill spring. A word to the wise-- don't forget your sunglasses, sunscreen, and sundresses.

In order from West Carrboro to East Chapel Hill:
- Johnny's***
- Glasshalfull
- Open Eye Cafe
- Neil's Deli
- Acme
- Orange County Social Club (members & trannies only)
- Elmo's Diner**
- Panzanella
- Weaver St. Market**
- Armadillo Grill*
- The Station***
- Mill Town**
- Jessee's
- Carrburritos**
- The Courtyard
- Penang
- West End Wine Bar*
- Ham's
- Kildaire's Irish Pub
- Pantana Bob's
- Los Potrillos
- He's Not Here***
- Foster's Market*
- Top of the Hill*
- Goldie's
- Lucy's (it will never be P.T.'s to a townie)*
- Linda's
- Cafe Driade
- Spice Street
- Margaret's Cantina

*personal favorite!

Anyone free for dinner?

This one's for you Mom!

October 20, 1981: The day it all started. There's no going back from here.

Meet Bradley.

And 4 years later... November 13, 1985:

Meet Rebecca.

Moms are made for the little things. The things that make your grow up and know that the world is okay and that no matter the trials, your mom will be right behind you. Moms were made for bath time and scraped knees, for birthday cakes and afterschool snacks. The Carson's don't celebrate greeting card holidays in the typical Americana fashion and Mother's Day is no different. I love my Mom every day of the year, not just the arbitrary day in May when Hallmark tells me I should send her flowers.
So here's to you Mom! For all the things you did that made Bradley and me turn out to be the productive members of society that still live with their parents.

This Mother's Day I did not get to spend with my mom. Brad was with Mom. Mom was with Grandmother. And Dad was with Mimi. But Mom and I had Mother's Day a week early. It was perfect. I had a really crummy day at work-- a day where I needed to know that my world was going to be okay. She let me vent, then she hugged and kissed me and let me eat all the chocolate pie in the house. Best Mom EVER.

I can hardly express the gratitude I have for how awesome a child you raised... and Bradley turned out pretty okay too.

Washington, the state.

Let me begin by thanking my wonderful hosts in Seattle, Caroline & Dustin. Caroline is one of my oldest and dearest friends from Chapel Hill, the kind that was a part of all the stupid stuff you did when you were a kid. She met Dustin while hiking the Appalachian Trail last year and moved to Seattle to start a new post grad adventure on the west coast. They were amazing hosts-- Caroline introduced the idea of Southern hospitality to the Pacific Northwest with that trip! Thanks again friends, I'll be back soon!
Typical rainy Seattle weather met me at the door to the plane so we headed it off by heading to Pike's Place Market to see the tourist landmarks of the Fish Market Guys that throw fish. A few airborne tuna later, I needed a caffeine fix and little did I know that Caroline was just the girl to show me the way.
A self-proclaimed coffee snob, Caroline took me to the first ever Starbucks. Her rationale: It's okay to buy Starbuck's when you're in Seattle... It's like buying local.
As the rain abated, we headed to the best views of the city at Volunteer Park and Gasworks Park. A note to those who have not visited Seattle: The Space Needle is not that big. I was shocked to find that it's actually pretty small in comparison to the rest of the towering buildings and it's the vantage point of photographs that make it look big. Mt Rainier, however, huge.

After a dinner at Thai Toms we headed home in preparation for an early morning. The next day brought much better weather (that stayed the rest of the trip) and we boarded the ferry for the Olympic Peninsula. On our way to the coast, we stopped at the Olympic Hot Springs. The natural sulfur springs are secluded and pristine-- few people make it to the last spring which is by far the best. Give it a little chillaxing and your body has this super clean euphoria of detox that was well worth the hike. Sad as it was to leave, we had to hit the road to make it to the coast by sunset.
Need I say more...
Olympic National Park: I honestly thought that a dinosaur could come waltzing down the beach at any moment. The gigantic proportions of the rocks, trees, driftwood, and ferns the park look like a scene from Jurassic Park.
Just to give you a little perspective on the size of the trees:
This one was definitely not the largest. Some of the trees were 11 feet in diameter and stood over 200 feet tall!

As the sun went down we set up camp and built a fire on the beach. For some reason, I am a wildlife magnet and this trip was no exception: elk, deer, starfish, sea anemones, a bald eagle, and sea otters!

Dustin spotted an otter skipping around a boulder and I followed it to see a family grubbing on a fresh fish.

We next ventured to the Hoh (repeat: Ho!) rain forest that likewise looked like the prehistoric stomping grounds for Little Foot and his friends. Clear water springs, river beds, gigantic Spruce & Hemlock trees, moss, and ferns cover the landscape.
We had a layover in Seattle to rest and prepare for another excursion to Eastern Washington where we went climbing near the Bavarian themed town of Leavenworth.

Up in Icicle Creek Canyon, we set up camp at Dirtbag campground. Our first climbing was at Clamshell Cave where we set up top ropes on 6 routes (a great climbing day!) ranging from 5.6 to 5.10-- after years of talking rock with Caroline, we finally got our first climbing trip together!

I was surprised that the rock in Washington was the slabby granite that I'm accustomed to on the east coast. Although our second day of climbing was a bust compared to the first, I can't complain because it was a spectacular exhibit of my return to the rock after a 6 month hiatus.

My last night in Seattle was spent with Caroline & Dustin in the Capital Hill district at Elysian Brewery topped off with a sweet tooth fix at Molly Moon's (of course two scoops: salted caramel and theo chocolate). I was sad to leave and definitely feel like there's a lot more territory to cover, which is a good thing because that means I'll be back to visit again...
Back to the grind...