San Diego in March

Paul and I decided to trek out west for a Dermatology conference in San Diego.  I only had to be a little coerced for this trip.  Vacations are great, but sometimes they are so much work, there is a little dread attached.  We were able to convince my sweet mom to come out and spend a week with her grandsons.  For weeks prior to her arrival I was jotting down notes about things I could not forget to tell her and things I could do to make it easier.  Yes, she raised 6 kids and is one of the most capable people I know, nonetheless, she does not live here and to be thrown into someone else's frantic routine, with jet lag, has to be a touch stressful.  I ended up writing 3 typed pages of notes for her.  Also, Paul warned me that the dermatologists that attend these conferences are very well dressed and they spend their abundant means on looking good.  So, I was a bit concerned that my stay at home artist mom style would not be quite fitting.  Did I need to go to a lot of trouble to make sure I looked good?  No, but did I, yes.  Far too much, I have to admit.  I asked my friend Annie to help me go shopping and she helped me pick out some more professional clothes and a few cocktail dresses.  We went to Banana Republic and I got a coupon for 65% off of my entire purchase, so I just went ahead and bought Paul a nice suit, a blazer, pants and two pair of shoes.  For myself, I bought a black dress, 2 pair of pants, 3 pumps, 2 shirts, 2 pencil skirts, a gorgeous leather bag, a white coat and gold jewelry.  I totally splurged.  I have never spent so much on clothes in my life.  I felt great in my clothes and was glad to have them when we got there.   I think Paul was glad too.  

 The first night we were there we met a dermatologist from Portland named John Young and his office manager for dinner.  We had a nice discussion, but he did not offer Paul a moonlighting position.  He shared advise and offers to help fund us though.  That night we dressed up and went to a swanky club to dance.  The next day we went to classes and to the convention center.  I went around and learned about the companies that can help starting our practice.  We had a really nice lunch at a place called Sally's on the waterfront that we both really enjoyed.  That night we had a dinner at this really expensive restaurant called BICE with some drug reps.  Everyone drank a lot and after dinner we went to an Irish pub because it was St. Patrick's day.  After that there was a party for the Michigan Residents at the House of Blues.  That party was not fun and we walked home in the rain.  It rained for the first 4 days of our trip accompanied by lots of cold wind.  I had to do my hair 2 times some days.  Sunday the rain was very light and sporatic so we got to enjoy our time in the afternoon after spending all morning at the convention center at Bilbao Park.  We got to see the Spanish artist village.  Many artists were working in their studios there and we could go in and see them at work.  We go to see the botanical gardens and the art museum.  I was amazed to be able to walk right in and see Picasso's and Monet's and all the classics.  What a treat.  That night we met at Croces for another drug rep party.  I talked to Arathi and Anne Marie most of the time while most everyone else got really drunk.  Billy, Anne Marie and I went to a cupcake shop on our way home.

  On Monday it got sunny and we got a rental car, picked up Billy and Anne Marie and made a great day of it.  We went over to Coronado and saw the hotel.  Beautiful and spooky!  I loved it.  We ate at a wonderful place called Miguels.  It was an outdoor Mexican place.  I loved it so much.  If it were in Detroit, I would eat there all the time!  I had wonderful fish tacos and stuffed myself.  Then we drove up to La Jolla and enjoyed the drive the whole way.   We played on the beach and then went to the aquarium.  It was warm and sunny and I fell asleep in the sun on the bench looking out over the water.  It was dreamy.  We went on a wonderful hike up a small mountain with sage brush and red rocks and then down the other side to the beach.  We walked on the sand for 1/2 mile back to the car.  That was amazing.  I was in heaven.  We go tot drive by the San Diego temple on our way back to the hotel area where we ate an amazing fancy dinner at Sally's.  Incredible chefs work there!  What a feast.  The next day we came home.  I read "how to start a dermatology practice" on the way home.  I learned a lot about the business side of the field of dermatology and I feel like I will now be a lot better help as we start our practice next year.  We have to get going! :)