Dear readers,

Hope everyone is staying warm during this fairly chilly start to the new year! The pace of the M1 second semester has noticeably picked up, and construction is underway for the brand new Taubman Health Sciences Library: coming to UMMS in mid-2015!

Growing up in Michigan and spending college in New Hampshire, winter is not unfamiliar to me. In fact, I embrace it as a part of my identity, and couldn't imagine a year without all four seasons. Besides, the cold and snow haven't particularly changed my routine, since I already resorted to streaming a majority of my lectures. Only my intake of hot cocoa has increased...perhaps a good alternative to coffee?

Changing the subject completely -- Ann Arbor recently celebrated its annual Restaurant Week, during which at least 20 restaurants on Main Street and several other popular locations in area coordinated to serve two-course lunches and three-course dinners at set prices. High-quality, delicious, and fairly affordable food was definitely worth the celebration, and a group of friends and I went to an awesome place called Vinology after completing our Gastrointestinal Sequence quiz last Sunday. We also stopped for lunch on Wednesday at the Gandy Dancer, a seafood restaurant which from 1886 to the 1970's housed the Michigan Depot's train station in Ann Arbor (there's a new Amtrak station next-door, which I use to commute to & from home).

After next weekend's final exam for the GI sequence, I'm headed to another concert at Hill Auditorium, this time a solo piano performance featuring Denis Matsuev. Meanwhile, some of my classmates have already taken skiing trips around the area, I believe one of which went up to Boyne Mountain in the northern part of the LP (

Stay warm!