Wong-Blankenburg Wedding!

Wong-Blankenburg Wedding
Wickham Park
7.29.06
11:30am
A gorgeous and extremely HOT (90s! Dios mio!) day!
Thank goodness the thunderstorms were at bay....



Dave was my designated photographer for the day. He was quite trigger happy (and did a wonderful job with candid shots). Here are a select few from our vast collection of images:

A view of Hartford from the top of the hill where the ceremony took place.


As we walk down the aisle: Bridesmaid (matron?) Sureka, Maid (Matron?) of Honor Melissa, beautiful Bride Irene with Pastor Wong...


The wedding party: Sureka, Melissa, Irene, Groom Scott, Best Man Fred Blankenburg (Scott's brother)


The Blankenburgs frolicking...


Crazy bridal party!


Melissa and Sureka at play:



Feeding the bride without getting her all greased up.


Cute Dave taking care of my bouquet.


The hot Malempati couple. Dang, doesn't Sureka look like a model?!? (Note the 2 cups of wine in her hands. hmmmm...)


The Ultimate wedding for the Ultimate couple.
Tossing of the bouquet and garter!


Check out that grab!

What an awesome day.

Diaz Lab Retreat

Constant Work and Play

Westerns, Gels, Cell Culture, Fun!

Life in Diaz Lab

I have been working in George Diaz's lab at Mount Sinai for almost 5 years now. I started my rotation there in October 2001 and have been planted there ever since. It's been a fantastic environment to work in: good mentoring, lots of learning, and great camraderie with my colleagues. I will sorely miss this bunch whenever I finish (Hopefully soon! Cross your fingers!!)...

.

On July 14, 2006, we had our first Diaz Lab Retreat at the Diaz Residence in Haworth, NJ. George had been promising us an outing at his house for about 4 years now... and we finally got it!

Here are our intrepid hosts, the Diaz Family (minus a sleeping baby):

Arm-wrestling with Nicolas:

"Playing" with Sasha (although I seriously think she was trying to accomplish death by purple boa):

Getting kisses from the pooch:

Um, the Diaz kids eat chocolate donut and cheese sandwiches. Ugh!

Sweet Maya:

Some pictures of the Diaz Lab at play:
Uh, I take foosball very seriously... vs Auj and Heather!

Nic kicking Andy's ass in Battlefront:

Enjoying the pool:

Lab picture!
Audrey Au, Andy O'Shaughnessy, Heather Swesey, George, me in house, Peter McGuire Missing: Peng Chen (in a plane on his way to China)

Andy and Auj switch places. Shiley, come here!

Relaxing in the basement after a long day of sun.
Peter and Nicolas battling it out on Star Wars Battlefront II. Nic was kicking butt... as usual.

Peter and Nicolas taking it outside. Notice Nicolas using the force...


What a great day!
No wonder we have so much fun at work, huh?

2006-2007 Faculty Book's back cover

yay to image competitions and money!

Coco-PUFF!

Name: Coco Liu
Age: almost 9 years
Birthplace: California
Birthdate: August? September? 1997
Breed: Chow mix (notice the purple spots on his tongue!)
Nicknames: Coco-puff, Cocomonster, Coqui
Cutest feature: one ear up, one ear down. as a puppy, couldn't decide which was which...
Personality: happy go lucky (tail nevers stops wagging!), scared of strangers and shows it by barking up a storm (his bark is WAY bigger than his bite), a good guard dog (except might run under the bed once intruders break in), malleable and compliant... when he was a puppy, he was so skittish, that he would never walk in front. instead, he would always walk behind my legs.
Fears: water, NYC traffic, volleyballs, plastic bags, baby chicks
Outstanding Features: easiest dog to housebreak. when he came to me in new haven, he dribbled once and got yelled at by Dave. NEVER did it again... best dog in the world!... oh, he can also hold his pee for 12-13 hours...

let me in! let me in! (note: blur of tail)

don't disturb my sleep!

tommie likes to sleep in enclosed spaces, especially on top of dave's clothes...

• Name: Tommie Liu (although only responds to meowing)
• Age: 6 years
• Birthplace: Virginia/DC area
• Birthdate: May? 2000
• Breed: Domestic short hair
• Nickname: The Meow-Meow
• Cutest feature: has meowing conversations with me over the speakerphone (seriously!). also can always be found lying on Dave's chest every chance he gets.
• Personality: sweet, affectionate, and loyal. acts more like a dog than a cat. loves Dave the most. I come second. :(
• Fears: water, Dave's wrath, strangers
• Outstanding Features: stinkiest pee ever, still looks like a kitten (7 pounds!), swims in carpet... also likes to attack my feet or bop me in the face while I sleep (he doesn't do it to Dave! what up with that???)

Snorkeling Geeks

picture of a collage i made of some of underwater pictures acquired over the past several years. it's difficult to see, but there are pictures of a turtle, shark, humuhumu, cleaner wrasse, moorish idol, schools of convict tangs, cowfish, tangs, and silly pictures of us in snorkeling gear:

The Renaissance

This has been "home" (well, for me, my California home) for the last 2 years when Dave moved out to San Diego in 2004. Since we are shopping for a house now, this post is dedicated to the Villas of Renaissance in UTC (hopefully, the last place we will rent in a long long time)...

Stepping out into the sunny blue skies of Southern California after the long non-stop flight from JFK always brought a huge grin to my face. Check these pictures out! Can you blame me for being so happy???

A stroll around the block...


(Woman of Renaissance statue)