5th and 59th

Alex Katz: Gathering at the Guggenheim

I loved this exhibit at the Guggenheim and caught it the day before it ended. Alex Katz is one of my favorite artists and I enjoyed seeing a lot of pieces I had never seen before.

I’m slowly but surely accumulating a roster of everyday recipes I can make for easy dinners or lunches. I’ve really been loving Alison Roman’s recipes. I’ve tried a bunch of them and each has turned out delicious. This is the Potato and Leek Soup. I enjoyed learning how to cook leeks, as I have never used them before. Some of my other go-to cooking blogs are Smitten Kitchen and Amateur Gourmet.

I get asked a lot why I chose ophthalmology. Truthfully, the initial reason I chose it was because multiple family friends (including an ophthalmologist) told me it was the best field and that they recommended it. I also really loved one of the ophtho residents and one of the medical students I worked with in medical school and that sort of solidified the decision. But now that I am actually an ophthalmologist there are so many reasons I love it. In no particular order:

1. Work in an office setting. I always knew I preferred being in an office rather than a hospital.

2. We wear so many hats. In ophtho you can see kids and you can see adults. We prescribe medications and we do surgery. We are even radiologists in a way - we read and interpret OCTs, fundus photos, fluorescein angiograms, and even CT scans of the eye and orbit. We even do our own eye ultrasounds.

3. Making a difference. In ophtho there are so many instances where we can truly improve peoples’s vision and improve their quality of life. And when we do that the patients are so grateful and happy, and that makes me happy!

4. Being an expert in one field. This to me was more preferable than knowing a little bit about everything.

5. Variety. In a given day I could see patients with cataract, diabetes, eye trauma, pink eye, glaucoma, macular degeneration, tearing, a stye, and the list goes on. We see unusual and wacky things too like syphilis in the eye or ocular melanoma. I don’t tend to be bored during the day.

6. Eye surgery is fun. It sounds like a weird analogy but it’s almost like playing a video game. In cataract surgery you look through a microscope, open up a shell around a cataract (the “capsule”), break the cataract into small pieces, and aspirate it out. All through a 2.4 millimeter opening!

7. We can diagnose so many things right in the exam room by looking at someone’s eye under the microscope. It’s not like other fields where you need to get blood work or a CT scan for almost every single thing.

For New Year’s Eve we snagged a last minute reservation at GrayBarns, a farmhouse style tavern in Norwalk. I loved this place! The vibes were cozy, rustic yet upscale, and inviting.

I’m picky about salads and especially about Caesar salads. I could go on and on about how so many “Caesar” salads are not actually Caesar. The perfect Caesar has to have anchovies, pieces of Romaine in varying sizes, freshly grated Parmesan (none of the pre-grated crumb stuff), and the dressing incorporated (NO dressing on the side business!). This one was pretty much perfect and tasted so good.

I’m a sucker for a good used book store. I love finding interesting editions of books from decades past. I have a collection of books on that interest me (mostly art, history, places I’ve been) and I like adding to it organically if I come across a really good find. When I passed this one while walking through midtown Manhattan I couldn’t help but go in to look around.

The place oozes of history. Apparently it’s been in business since 1925. Not shown is a basement with tons more books.

Argosy Book Store

116 E 59th St

I've been slowly but surely upgrading some of my kitchen tools. After thinking about it for years I finally got a Le Creuset dutch oven and absolutely love it. Is it silly to say it's like a work of art? I love the cream color and gold knob. The 5.25 quart size is plenty for most dishes.