Fo' Down Fo' Sheezy

Four down, 2 to go. I was there a looong time today because I had to meet with my doctor.  I got there at 9am and left at 4:30 pm. I am exhausted from the Bendaryl and already feel kinda nauseous. But I see a light at the end of the tunnel with 4 under my belt and only 2 more to go. We watched a movie and got free Tommy's for lunch so it wasn't bad. I go back tomorrow for hydration which is only 2 hours and then I am free for the next 3 weeks. Thank you to everyone for all of the kind posts and texts. It helps a ton!

2 Celebs and Cupcakes

This morning was very productive. I had a follow up appointment with my awesome surgeon, who always makes me feel better about what I'm going through. Afterwards, John and I decided to get some breakfast at Le Pain Quotidien in Beverly Hills since it was right around the block. We sit down and John says, "Um Jamie Lee Curtis is at that booth over there." She sure was and she looked stunning.  We tried to pretend we weren't staring at her while we ordered our food. She gets up to leave and not 2 seconds later Elizabeth Berkley (of Saved By The Bell and Showgirls fame) walks in with her lil boy. She was  a little odd though. She wanted to sit in a certain section and kept asking people if they would move. I think it was so her lil boy could sit in a booth, but it was still weird. One guy did offer his seat and then continued to talk to her for a good 20 minutes. She was kinda loud and part of me wondered if she wanted to be recognized. Her child was adorable and she actually looked pretty good herself. After breakfast, we wandered across the street to Sprinkles where we got a cupcake for each of us and one for Bert. This is the most I have done since Friday.

This is pretty much what she looked like. Super long straight blonde hair

This is pretty much how she looked as well.

This Is 40

Today is my 40th birthday. Instead of celebrating in Palm Springs like I had originally planned, I am in bed recuperating after my 3rd chemo treatment. I have to keep telling myself that sometimes life throws some curve balls at you and you just have to deal with them. I have gotten so much love and support this week/weekend. People have sent me beautiful cards and flowers and gifts. John has been amazing. From going to Sharky's at 9pm Friday night because I was craving a burrito to running to the Bagel Broker yesterday morning because mama wanted a biali. He also decorated the living room with banners and balloons and surprised me with lunch, cupcakes and the Michael Kors watch I wanted!I have the best man in all the land!

My bday lunch from Mendocino Farms

My new watch!!

Cupcakes!

Bertie with my caution cone on his noggin'

Flowers and balloons for my bday!

Huge 40 balloons

Of course we had to try to put the cone on Lola's head (while Bert watched)

Meet Me Halfway, Across The Sky

I am halfway done with my treatments. I will still need Herceptin through May but that's not a chemo drug and my hair will grow back during that time. As sucky as I always feel after, it does go by fast. I will be done September 11, then most likely having surgery a month later. I brought some "healthy" cookies for the nurses today for my birthday. It felt like when I was a kid and my mom would bring cupcakes to class for my special day. I had to get my full dose of Benadryl today and it knocked me right on my arse. The second I got home I went to bed for 4 hours. I woke up to John coming home from the store with flowers for me :) What a lovely way to wake up. I do feel a bit nauseous already but I think it's because I haven't really eaten a ton today. I am trying to eat and drink water and I am doing magnet acutherapy on pressure points for nausea. Hoping it works. Tomorrow I get hydration!

Just a sample of what my IV looks like on infusion days

El Encanto, Santa Barbara

My 40th birthday is this Sunday. Originally I had a whole Palm Springs trip planned but life happened and I had to make some adjustments. We decided to go up to Santa Barbara for the night this past Monday right before my next treatment and while I am still feeling somewhat okay. We stayed at the El Encanto (http://www.belmond.com/el-encanto-santa-barbara/). It was absolutely amazing. They agreed to waive the cancellation fee if I woke up the day of and didn't feel well. We got to the hotel and the staff couldn't have been nicer. They upgraded our room and brought me a chocolate mousse cake thing that said "Happy Birthday" on it. We lay by the pool, ate a ton, napped and relaxed. It was perfect. We were able to bring Bert and they had a doggie bed, food and bowls for him. Today I started to feel a bit anxious, and I think it's because my next treatment is Thursday. I am really sad that I will be spending my 40th birthday in bed, but I am grateful we got to get away for a night to celebrate.

They gave us pillow cases with the first letters of our last names

Chillin' by the pool

Bert sunning himself on our patio

View from our diner table

For Every Season, Churn, Churn, Churn Your Own Almond Butter

GUYS! I just made my own almond butter and it took no time at all. I had a bag of organic, unsalted almonds in my cabinet which I threw in the food processor for about 5 minutes and BOOM almond butter. I saw the recipe on www.detoxinista.com. She said hers took about 20 minutes so I was prepared to be patient but it seriously took 5 minutes, maybe less. I also didn't use as many almonds as she did, which may be why it didn't take long. I added a touch of sea salt and dipped some apples in that shit. The problem I have with buying pre-made, organic almond butter is I feel like it goes bad before I can eat it all. This way, I can buy a small quantity of almonds and enjoy the butter before it expires.

Baby, You're A Firework

My 4th of July was uneventful, but I was okay with it. John was in Cape Cod with his family, so it was just me, Bert and Lola. I was invited to a BBQ, but I can't be in the sun and even in the shade, it's just too hot with my wig. I also didn't really feel like being social. I bought a bunch of food and cooked all day. Cooking/baking is like therapy for me. I am on a healthy recipe kick right now. Some of them have turned out great like the eggplant lasagna in the previous post. Others have turned out crappy like the blueberry crisp I made that has 0 sugar. As much as I am trying to stay away from sugar right now, sometimes a recipe calls for it. So the animals and I watched a Real Housewives of New Jersey marathon, ate food and watched fireworks out my bedroom window.

What made me feel the best is all my friends who have checked in on me the past few days, knowing John was out of town. They offered to bring me food or keep me company and I was so touched. I have such a great support system. I have friends I haven't talked to in years who check in on me weekly, which is amazing. Although I am a bit more of a hermit this time around and not feeling as social, I still appreciate people checking in. It means so much to me. If you are reading this, you know who you are :)

Healthy Lasagna

My pal Stacie inspired me to put this recipe on my blog. I try to eat as healthy as possible and I am always looking for new and fun recipes to try. I don't eat dairy (for the most part) and I keep hearing that grains aren't as good for you as we thought. I found a noodle-less, dairy-free lasagna recipe that I tried yesterday and you would never know those 2 things were missing. It was soo good and I can't stop eating it. I improvised a bit by adding the veggies I liked and adding grass-fed ground beef.

Here's the recipe (please note, I used all organic ingredients):
2-3 eggplants (Since I was just cooking for me, I made a small batch of it, but I'd recommend using 3 eggplants if you are making the dish for 2 or more)
1 zucchini (Again, you can adjust quantity)
1 container of shitake mushrooms
1 jar of tomato sauce
1/2 pound of grass-fed ground beef
1 bag of mozzarella Daiya cheese
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Thyme
Oregano
Pre-heat your oven to 350. Slice the eggplant into pretty thin strips, lengthwise, and brush with olive oil. Then sprinkle, salt, pepper, thyme and oregano. Throw them in the oven til they are brown and soft. Meanwhile brown the ground beef with the same seasonings you put on the eggplant  and when it's done, add a bit of the tomato sauce. Saute the mushrooms and zucchini in a bit of olive oil and add the same seasonings you put on the eggplant.  Put a little bit of tomato sauce on the bottom of a baking dish. Put one layer of eggplant, then add all the ground beef, all the veggies and some Daiya cheese. Then, add another layer of eggplant, another layer of sauce and top it off with the remaining Daiya cheese. You can do as many layers as you want. Throw it in the oven at 350 for about 30-45 minutes until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese has melted. Take it out of the oven and enjoy!