cake + games

Four years ago while still in med school (calculating the time makes one feel old...), a frenzy not unlike the current Linsanity swept through my friends, leaving us preoccupied day after day and not wanting to do anything else when we were hanging out together. That craze, my friends, was Settlers of Catan.

I actually first learned to play this game during college, late at night in the dead of winter around a table in rural New Hampshire. I didn't immediately love it right away, and I think I probably only played a game or two. But, I happen to have some intensely game-loving med student friends, and between one who owns about as many German-style board games + related games that will fill his bookshelf and another who simply loves the competitive edge and winning at games of any kind, well I guess the combination of everything brought Settlers into our collective lives and never let go. 

Settlers is an enormously popular game that gets addicting to play because it involves a combination of strategy and luck. That is why, despite having played the game for years now, I still easily lose most games I play with people who've barely picked up the game. And for naturally competitive types and nerdy types such as med students, this game is so perfect. When you don't have quite enough time to go out because you're a student but you still want to be social, games provide a nice way to chill with your friends without needing to go out and spend loan money. So, why was it such a frenzy for us? I can't tell you why, but somehow it took hold of us. We would play a game after lectures almost every day of the week. Occasionally we swapped in some other games (game owner friend introduced us to a lot of games...). But mostly it was how we hung out. We even brought it on ski trips, you know, for night entertainment when there wasn't much else to do out in the boonies. 

Ski trip essentials: gear, water, PB+J sandwiches, and board games

So the Settlers frenzy died down after a while. After all, third year of med school was about to begin and we simply wouldn't have the time anymore... but that didn't mean that we stopped playing games. We'd slip in the occasional game during clinical rotations, but it mostly meant that when we got together for trips we'd bust out the games again. In fact, for our last hurrah as an entire group before most of my friends graduated, we all met up for an amazing week in Orlando to soak in the sun, visit Harry Potter land and Disney World... and play games.

Late night games after a day at Universal

More games on the last day before we departed for the airport... 

Intense focus, part I

Intense focus, part II

You might think it a bit odd that a group of adults would willingly play such games, but the beauty of playing games is really in the group you're with. Play the "best" game with a group of duds and you'll have the worst time ever, guaranteed (unfortunately learned by experience). With the right people, though, games are so much fun. 

So what could be better than a night of games and beer? 

Games, beer, and CAKE! 

My friend L who is a med student in LA and fellow food enthusiast cued me into a fabulous sounding cake from Sweet Lady Jane when I mentioned wanting to try out cakes and find a good birthday cake. We didn't get this cake for my birthday since we were too eager to eat it, but we figured a good time as any to have cake would be for the inaugural game night I was hosting to share the game of Settlers with some good college friends of mine who amazingly had been my close friends all this time without hearing me rave about Settlers.

At Sweet Lady Jane, SO excited to have cake

Sweet Lady Jane's Triple Berry Cake

SLJ's Triple Berry Cake is a fabulously delicious cake. It not only looks gorgeous, but every bit from the soft, sweet but not too sweet frosting (a la Asian birthday cake) to the tall layers of spongey buttercake with berry layers - it was all perfect.

Games + cake = <3

Throw in some Settlers of Catan and a handful of beers, and it was a weeknight party to remember. The game was a success among my friends, who enjoyed it a lot. I may have even persuaded one of them to buy his own game after a few more games... All in all, it was a fun time because there was great company, a fun game, and delicious cake (in that order). It has been random Wednesday night hangouts like this that have reminded me how thankful I am to have had this awesome month to hang out and go on rotation at UCLA. Having the time to hang out after work and being close to friends who I want to spend time with... these are things most people take for granted. But I know at least in medicine you can't, and it's why I cherish it even more. 

B: (deep in thought) "Where should I place this road..."
C: "How long is this game going to take? We haven't even started yet!"

Happy friends, playing + eating :)