Surgery Update

Surgery went very well and I am at home now being taken care of by my wonderful nurse, Cassi. We snapped a few pictures before I went into surgery.

I am getting prepped to go into surgery.

I had to wear a mask and hairnet, and Cassi mom and I got a good laugh out of it.

This is me set up at my apartment a few hours after surgery.

 Everything went really well and I am trying to stay on top of my pain. Cassi is taking such good care of me. Today (tuesday) the nerve block is gone and the pain is substantially worse than yesterday, but I am feeling good and being very careful.

Surgery Day

It is almost 7. I didn't sleep well, at all. It's the same kind of thing that stills keeps me awake the night before Christmas, I was so anxious, I couldn't sleep. I just finished showering with my pre- surgery spongey thing and I am ready to go! I will post as soon as I can. I love you all, and if you can, I love visitors!

Day 282 Gay Pride

Cassi and I walked up to Capitol Hill today and met a friend for coffee at Vivace, our favorite coffee shop. the Gay Pride Street Fair was going on today and we walked around all day listening to music, live performances and looking at the vendors' goods.

Josh was so nice to come down with his girlfriend Annie today and hang out before Monday's surgery. The 4 of us went out to lunch at a great sandwich shop called the Honey Hole.

For Lunch: Ham, tomato, pepperoncini, lettuce, avocado, and mustard on fresh baguette. I also snagged a few of Cassi's fries. Then we took Josh and Annie to Molly Moon's Homemade Ice Cream.  I tried the balsamic strawberry, and the honey lavender. Both were fantastic but the honey lavender might be the best ice cream I have ever tasted.

We walked around for another couple hours and by that time we were exhausted and needed to come home and chill. We were planning on going out tonight to some of the night life festivities but cassi and I decided we would just go out to dinner to celebrate our pride.

For Dinner: we went to sushi, had some edamame, some veggie gyoza, and we split a couple of sushi rolls.

Now we are home and ready to hit the hay, goodnight!!

Day 281

I just got home from Arlington and I am awaiting the call from the doctor to tell me when I need to be there on Monday morning for surgery. I have plenty to do over the weekend to prepare, besides, it is Gay Pride this weekend and Seattle's Pride celebration is fantastic. I am no longer drinking, I got really sick of celebrating and now I just want to go back to being wholesome lil' old me. Yesterday I went up to Arlington with Ally and I got my haircut at Alison's. I wanted to get a trim because I wont be able to do a whole lot after surgery.

Cassi and I stayed the night in Arlington with Ally and Shay and we made homemade pizza. I sliced and pre-griddled zucchini, mushrooms, bell peppers, and eggplant. The pizza was really good. Then we relaxed and watched The Blind Side. It was very good.

I am feeling pretty emotional about surgery and stuff. I feel like it's sneaking up on me and I am dreading the helplessness and the stagnancy of not being able to do anything. Not to mention the rehab and strengthening is a long and painful road. Oh well, I'd rather have it sooner than later.

I just made myself a couple of eggs and I am going to clean this apartment and make it all tidy before any possible visitors I might have.

Making a Change

I have decided to change the format of my blog. I will still be using this space to hold myself accountable for the things I eat and how I treat my body, however I am about to go into surgery and I won't be able to blog everyday. I really want to use this blog space to document my experience and recovery from surgery. I still want to lose another twenty pounds and I promise you that I will. Nothing has changed about my mission, but because of surgery I might not be able to keep up with writing every single day. My entries will be formatted similar to how I wrote about Charleston, and I really want to incorporate a lot of pictures for my recovery so you're with me every "step" of the way.

The Weekend In Charleston

Wow! Charleston was incredible. Aunt Lisa and I had an amazing time together. I arrived on Thursday even and the fun started immediately. Both of us, being food junkies, had certain things we wanted to try. I have never spent much time in the south and went in with an open mind and a sense of carelessness in order to fully experience the south, its rich history, and its delicious southern cuisine. Boy did we eat. Every morning we woke up and planned our day around what we were going to eat and what we want to explore. As much as the food blew me away I was equally impressed with the service and southern hospitality  we received from everyone we spoke to. Everybody was so nice and helpful! That is something that Seattle doesn't have so much, but when John, the bellhop, opened the door to the car as we arrived at our wonderful hotel I knew I would be experiencing a new kind of costumer service. 

On the way up to our room John explained that a law was passed in Charleston shortly after the hotel was built that no building in Charleston could be higher that St Michael's Church. Making this hotel on of the tallest in the city. Our view from the room was incredible, we saw all of Charleston, which consists of old brick houses and buildings separated by so many beautiful churches. What a neat place.

For Dinner on thursday night we went to a restaurant called Rue de Jean. I had 

Seared palmetto striped bass, truffle polenta, roasted asparagus and tri citrus beurre blanc. It was fantastic. I also had a mint julep, a small spinach salad and Pots du Creme for dessert. 

It was so good to be reunited with Aunt Lisa. I can't remember the last time it was just the two of us and this time was much needed and long overdue. 

We woke up the next morning grabbed a quick breakfast and hit the pavement. By the time we were out walking around at 9am it was already 90 degrees.  We did the city today on foot.  We toured beautiful houses and churches and admired the amazing architecture. I kept on thinking, man if these walls could talk.

This was a very popular style of house, one unique to Charleston. Very old, but beautifully restored.

We learned that the idea of symmetry was very important in early early houses.

St. Michael's Church.

This is the oldest cemetery in Charleston and is located right in the city behind an old church. Some of the graves in here date back to the 1600s.

For Lunch we went to Jim and Nick's BBQ, once of the foods on our list was good bbq. Many said that this was the place to go. It was INCREDIBLE! I can't remember the last time I had bbq and it really was the best I have every had. We had ribs and brisket and shared. It was a great place and the food was almost too good!

By late afternoon we were feeling pretty tired, we went back to the room and relaxed for a while before getting ready to go to our dinner. Wendy the concierge was so wonderful and she got us a reservation at a great seafood restaurant out by the water  called the Boathouse on Breach's Inlet. I had lobster, something that I had loved since I was very young. I had expensive taste for food even as a 3 year old. The lobster was very very good, the best I have ever had. Another incredible dining experience.

We woke up on Saturday morning nice and early and went to the Saturday Farmer's Market conveniently located in the park across the street from our hotel. The hand made to order crepes were recommened to us by a few people and so that it was we had. After the market we went did the ferry ride and the tour of Fort Sumter. The location where the first shot of the civil war was fired among many other huge events.

After the boat tour we grabbed some carrots and yogurt and drove to tour Drayton Hall Plantation. It is a huge plantation that dates back to the 1730's and has been preserved, NOT restored. It was incredible.

For Dinner tonight we went to Poogan's Porch a low country restaurant. I tried fried green tomatoes for the first time and I also had Shrimp and grits, something that was on every menu here in the south. We had a fantastic time and even got a little silly after our wine with dinner!

We got to sleep in a bit on Sunday morning and went to brunch at 11. We weren't expecting this highly recommended brunch spot to be located in a hotel but as soon as we tasted the food we realized why it was so popular. We had she crab soup another southern favorite, and I had a crab cake breakfast with veggies and breakfast potatoes. After brunch we walked around a bit more then drove to Folly beach, an awesome beach town. We walked on the beach and dipped our toes in the water, which felt like bath water it was so warm.

By this time in our trip we had seen everything on our list, except for one. Where were we going to get fried chicken? I  honestly cannot remember the last time I had fried chicken and it was definitely one thing I wanted to indulge in before I went back to the regular life of salads and nuts. We got back to the room and I started looking through the southern magazine that was on the desk. Ah Ha! I found a small article about a place called Gullah Cuisine and we put in a call, and that was it!  The place was perfect, casual, nothing fancy just damn good food, especially the fried chicken! The owner/chef was there and talked to us, She was an older black woman who everyone called Miss Charlotte. We bought her cookbook and she signed them for us! It was a perfect place and I am so glad we found it.

We came back to the room, and packed up our things. I can't believe it went so fast! I left the next morning, real early. The trip was perfect. The food, the history, the cocktails, the hot sun, and amazing people, but most of all the time with Aunt Lisa. We indulged and did so much, but we really got to hang out and talk and that was the best part about the trip. I definitely couldn't have done it with anyone else, it was precisely an Aunt Lisa and Katy trip, and we had a blast! Thank you so much!

Day 271

I got my grades today. I got a 3.9 for the quarter and I am really excited that I finished so strong.  I met up with Ally and Shay this afternoon and we went to some shops and hung out. I didn't eat much today, nothing at all actually until I got home from work just now. I was fasting for the day because I have felt so sluggish I felt like I needed to clear out my body. But I got home tonight and was really hungry.

For Dinner: Grilled tofu with a cucumber salad and a sesame, soy, ginger dipping sauce. It was really good. I have never really made a sauce like that but I used: soy sauce, brown sugar, lime juice, fresh garlic and ginger, sesame oil. cayenne, and a splash of dried mustard. It was nice and tangy!

Day 270

For Breakfast: I woke up this morning and felt like I needed to do a cleanse. So I drank 32oz of room temp salt water, and flushed out my system! Too much information?

I spent the morning taking care of a few things. I figured out some financial stuff and took Cassi to work. When I came home I decided I needed to try out my new knives and I ought to do that by making myself some soup.

For Lunch: Chicken and vegetable soup with fresh ginger. I basically made my chicken soup with carrots, onions, and celery, but instead of seasoning it with my italian style herbs, I chopped fresh garlic and ginger and used chili flakes and sesame oil. It was very good. I also added some zucchini I had in the fridge.

I just checked my grades, not much yet, but I did get a 3.7 in my food class. I feel good about that because that final was a toughy. And Christina  gave me a grade verbally already but I will be excited to see what 15 credits of thesis 4.0 will do to my GPA!

Day 269

For Breakfast: Coffee.

I woke up particularly early this morning up in arlington. I came downstairs to watch the food network and soon everybody else was up. We basically all got up, got ready, and went our separate ways. Cassi and Josh took off and Mom, Dad, and Shay left soon after. Tim, Ally, and I went shopping. I had to get a gift for a baby shower I was going to today. After we were finished at the Outlets we headed down towards Seattle. Little did I know a surprise party had been in the works for some time. We got off a a weird exit when we reached Seattle and i started getting suspicious. We drove down to Magnuson Park and before I knew it I walked right into my own surprise graduation party. Cassi and my family planned and put on the whole thing! We had so much fun! A bunch of people came and celebrated with me. Soccer girls, school buddies, even Cassi's Aunt, Uncle, and cousins were there. It was really nice!

For Lunch: BBQ Chicken breast on a mini whole wheat bun with lettuce, tomato pickle and onion. There were veggies, fruit, snacks, chippies, and lemonade.

We had so much fun!!! I have never had a surprise party before and it was really sweet for everybody to do that for me. It has basically been the best weekend ever! I opened my graduation present from Cassi at the party. She got me an incredible set of special knives. A chef Knife and a pearing knife and she had them monogramed. They are so beautiful and sharp!

The first thing I did when I got home was plant some more herbs in a planter that Cassi's Aunt and Uncle got me. It is a perfect size for the herbs I had from my soccer team.

Later tonight Cassi and I drove over to the condo and hung out with Ally, Mom, and Dad. I brought over a special bottle of wine that I won in a competition. It was a 97 Cab from Napa Valley and it was very good. Then we came home and went to bed.

Day 268

Tim stayed at our place last night and we woke up early and went up to Arlington, we stopped at louisa's and got breakfast on our way.

For Breakfast: Americano and a fresh raspberry scone.

We got up to the farm and it was beautiful outside. We hung out all day and played outside. We even went on a hike. That's right folks I went on a real hike with my new hiking boots! I wore my brace and for the most part I felt really good. It felt really good to be active again! I had an apple for a snack but we basically skipped lunch.

For Dinner: Homemade spaghetti and meat sauce with a chicken garlic and artichoke sauce. It was really good!

Day 267

Cassi and I spent the morning getting ready for graduation tonight. I went to the CHID department to fill out some paperwork to have my thesis changed. When I got there I gave them a copy of my book, and everyone was really blown away. Cynthia the CHID advisor said I should have the thesis changed to a 15 credit because of how substantial it was. I am very proud!

Came home and helped clean up the house.

For Lunch: Simmered clack beans with Jalapeños and white corn tortillas.

I put my dress on and got all gussied up for the big night. We met at Cicchetti, a small plates restaurant just a block up the road. Then we went to graduation. It was very nice. And Shay made sure to take a lot of pictures. Here is a link to the slide show of all the pictures!

Graduation Pictures!

After graduation the six of us, ally, shay, time, josh, cassi, and I went back to our apartment and celebrated more! We drank some beer and had a celebration cheers with some special alcohol cassi brought back from Prague a couple years ago!

For Dinner: We ate at Cicchetti, and at the gradution, and at home. Basically all night. We had fresh baked focaccia bread and asparagus, and a margarita pizza at Cicchetti, and chips and salsa and toquitos at the graduation and at the apartment. W snagged a tray of food from graduation!

It was an amazing night!

Day 266

For Breakfast: Grapefruit.

I relaxed most of the morning and when Cassi got home from class we ran some errands. I took my books back to the bookstore and looked at a whole bunch of Alumni stuff. I might have to get something to show off my pride. I bought a dress that is absolutely adorable, it might be my new favorite item of clothing, I can't wait to wear it in Charleston next weekend. I am going on a trip with Aunt Lisa and I am so excited. I have been so focused on school and graduation that I haven't been able to get excited about my trip, well I am getting REALLY excited now!

We met up with Tim and Tommy (Tim's friend from school) for lunch down near the market. We went to pike place brewery.

For Lunch: Salad of romaine with black beans, a wild salmon filet and jalapeños.

We went on the boat with mom, dad, tim, and tommy today. When we got home we made dinner together.

For Dinner:  Roasted brussel sprouts with pecans and garlic, grilled herbed tofu and sweet potato fries.

I had a pretty bad accident in the kitchen tonight. I was using my mandolin slicer to cut the sweet potato fries and I slipped and sliced my pinky open. It wasn't that bad but because of the pain and the blood I actually fainted and fell to the ground. I have a history of doing this but I haven't done it in front of Cassi before. I really scared her. She was leaning over me and shouting my name and I was completely unresponsive. I ended up being fine, no stitches or anything and I had my own personal nurse to help me band-aid it all up. It was an eventful cooking experience but it's always scary, fainting isn't fun.

Day 265

Only 100 days left until I hit the year mark.

For Lunch: Cassi and I made a grilled eggplant sandwich with marinara and toasted whole wheat baguette.

I went to Biosonics today and showed Ally and mom my outfit for graduation. Then I came home and got ready. I picked up a couple of friends and we went shopping. I didn't buy anything accept for a little cardigan for my grad outfit. But we had loads of fun!

For Dinner: We went to Señor Moose Cafe and I had chicken with Mole Negro served with black beans and rice. It was fantastic.

We ended up meeting back up with Cassi after she got out of her class and we went out for a couple of celebration drinks. Allison and I are both graduating and that is definitely reason to celebrate. The down side to all the fun I have been having is that I haven't been feeling very good, mostly just dehydrated, but I do deserve to let loose a bit.

Day 264

Later today I met up with Ally and Shay at Brouwers in Fremont. I tried a couple of beers and munched on some appetizers. I met up with my friends on Capitol Hill and celebrated a little more! Yay for no more school!

Day 264

I woke up early this morning and got ready to go to breakfast with Christina. We met up over in West Seattle at a place called Luna Park Cafe. It was real good.

For Breakfast: Two poached eggs, wheat toast and a cup of fruit and coffee of course.

We talked for hours and we went over my thesis. After realizing how big my project is we decided that I should email my department and see if we can get it changed from a 5 credit thesis to a 10 credit thesis. She seemed really impressed with my work and I am so happy that it all turned out well. After breakfast we went to her knew house and she gave me a tour, it is adorable. West Seattle is such a pretty place, maybe Cassi and I will look into moving there sometime. We took her dogs for a walk and then called it a day.

I went to the U district and met up with my friend Allison. We went shopping for some cute outfits because she is graduating too. I found a cardigan to go with my dress!

We met up with Cassi down town and grabbed some lunch.

For Lunch: Spinach salad with onion, mushroom, avocado, spinach, walnuts, bacon, and balsamic vinaigrette.

Now I am home and absolutely exhausted. I feel like sitting out with my tomato plants and fooling around on my guitar, which is exactly what I am going to do . . .

Day 263

For Breakfast: Americano. 1 petite slice of my zucchini banana bread.

I went to school and studied for my final. Then I went to lunch my my buddies from class.

For Lunch: Vegetarian pho soup.

I went to my final and did pretty well, it was kinda hard. I got a paper back that was a huge part of my grade and I got a 4.0!!! Yay for me! After class a group of us girls went to Solstice cafe and had a celebratory drink. That's it folks, I am done with college!! Adios UW, adios!

I met up with Mom, Ally, and Shay, we looked at shoes downtown for a while but didn't find anything I loved. We stopped in at Ilfornaio and got some food!

For Dinner: Caesar salad with no cheese, and grilled salmon. It was delish.

I had a glass of wine tonight with everybody at the condo, but now feel really crummy. I think not working out has had a really bummer effect on my disposition, I feel worthless that I haven't gone to the gym in so long, tomorrow I will go, I hope.

Day 262

I had a wonderful group of girls come over today and we studied and chatted for a few hours. I am feeling pretty good about the test coming up. We munched on homemade zucchini-banana bread that I made this morning and we also had some veggies, fruit, and coffee while we were studying. My tomatoes are looking really good. I have 24 so far, I counted them this morning. Most of them re still really tiny, but they still count.

We met up with Mom, Dad, Ally, and Shay and we went to Jhanjay Thai.

For Dinner: Ginger Delight: Steamed mixed veggies with steamed tofu in a fresh ginger sauce with brown rice. We also split a dessert with black sticky rice and coconut ice cream. It was really interesting.

Day 261

For Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, thinly sliced canadian bacon. Coffee.

I busted out my thesis today and was finished around 2 pm, with the huge help of Ally. That's it folks, I'm DONE with my thesis!!!!!! I was in a twilight zone the rest of the day, I don't think it really sunk in.

Us girls (Mom, Ally, and I) decided we need a girls night. We went and got pedi cures and then went to dinner and then dress shopping for graduation!

For Dinner: Cup of minestrone soup and a salmon nicoise salad from Nordstrom Cafe.

For Dessert: We stopped at Red Mango and got a small frozen yogurt, I had madagascar vanilla with raspberries, blueberries and dark chocolate.

Cassi picked me up and we went home and to bed. I feel like I haven't seen her in a week because I  have been so busy! It was nice to relax with the weight of my thesis off my back!

Day 260

Wke up nice and early and had Cassi drop me at the condo. Ally and Shay were there and Ally and I worked on my thesis. As it turns out the software I have to use for my project is incredibly frustrating! We worked all day.

For Breakfast: Americano

For Lunch: Eggplant with black bean sauce from Jhanjay Thai. Delicious.

By the time Ally was getting reading to head up to Arlington I decided I should just go with them and work on it up there. I definitely couldn't handle the distraction of my apartment, I always find something else to do but work. We worked until 2 am and then went to bed.

For Dinner: Homemade Swedish meatballs and red potatoes with a beautiful green salad. Mom had made a Swedish dinner for her book club last night and had lots of leftovers. She did this because the book they were reading took place in Sweden. How fun is that? I want to have themed dinner parties!

Day 259

I went to class today and then to the Q center on campus. Our queer 101 class was meeting there. Afterwards I promised some classmates of mine that we would go out for a drink to celebrate the end of the quarter. We went to College Inn, I had a beer, but could hardly finish it. I didn't feel like drinking after the first couple of sips. I went home and made myself lunch.

For Lunch: Grilled chicken breast of a bed of romaine with capers, and artichoke hearts in a lemon/olive oil dressing. Really simple, and very good.

I worked on my homework all night long. When Cassi got home we had a bite to eat.

For Dinner: Whole wheat penne tossed with eggplant, garlic, fresh herbs and marinara.

Day 259

For Breakfast: Two egg omelet with jalapeño and cilantro, topped with a dash of salsa. Coffee. Cassi and I got a new Fair Trade Sumatra blend and it is really really good!

I am at school early again and I am working hard on my homework. I just finished as assignment for my food class and I all I have to do is show up to my Queer 101 class and then I am done for the day. The only assignments I have left to work on are my thesis and studying for my final in my Food class. I hear the final is terribly hard!

Day 258

For Breakfast: Americano. Nonfat blueberry yogurt.

I went to school nice and early today. Ally came with me and she helped me work on my thesis. She is a master formatter, and having just completed her thesis she offers so much help!!!

Mid-Morning Snack: Blueberry bran muffin.

Cassi and I went grocery shopping today. So good!

For Lunch: I had whole wheat flat bread on the grill, I used the whole wheat pizza dough from trader joes. I made an herb/olive oil spread using the herbs from my garden and grilled some eggplant, tomatoes, olives and artichoke hearts to go with. So good!

I worked on homework all night long and when Cassi got home from volunteering we cleaned up the apartment.

For Dinner: Peanut butter and jelly sandwich of toasted wheat.