February 23, 2016

It’s my birthday (I’ll spare you the details of the digits — and since I won’t be eating any cake, there won’t be any candles to count and throw me under the bus — ha!). It’s been a weird and sort of miserable last few days. I caught some crud (which is somewhat rare for me because my hyperactive, allergic body tends to not only aggressively fight off foods, but also real foreign invaders, such as bacterial and viral infections — finally, a PERK of food allergies!). I’m slightly feverish, achy and snotty, and in no shape to slap on a party dress and celebrate. On top of that, it’s a Tuesday — not exactly the best day for a celebration, despite the fact that the nearby Harkins theater is playing Breakfast at Tiffany’s — for only one night. On my birthday! The hubby went off to work like he would on any other Tuesday, giving me a sweet kiss on the forehead and a promise of a rain check for a super-fun birthday as soon as I felt up for it. Not willing to let me birthday pass without proper acknowledgment, my parents dropped by to tie a couple helium balloons to the shrub, hand off a bud vase with freshly-cut roses from their backyard (which were lovely, despite not being able to smell them), and deliver some thoughtful gifts and a beautiful card, which I would open on the front porch — at a safe distance from them, so they could avoid getting my plague (my family is a bit of the Howard Hughes variety when it comes to staving off sickness, and who can blame them?!). I sat like a slug in the dusty chair on the porch and they smiled at me from about 10 feet away. Then mom ordered me back to bed (“Yes, mom. Okay, mom.” Mother always does know best.).

I crashed for a few hours, slathered on some essential oils, grabbed a pile of Kleenex…and met my mom and sister at the movies. In case you’re wondering (or downright judging, which I can’t blame you!), we sat in the very last row and had many seats between us and the next moviegoers, and I wore a fashionable plaid scarf over my nose and mouth like a Burberry bandit to keep from spreading my germs. I also wiped down the armrests and the plastic part of the seat in front of me with antibacterial wipes, leaving (hopefully) no trace of my flu-ish presence. The group of women in front of us coughed and hacked half the movie, so I wasn’t really worried about giving THEM anything, anyway.

Air-popped popcorn with coconut oil and sea salt, and my bottle of homemade kombucha coupled with Holly Golightly, hunky George Peppard, “Cat” and unparalleled girl time? Sounds like a great birthday to me (fever and all).

January 1, 2016

It’s officially 2016 and I’m definitely feeling the strain/pain of easing up these past couple weeks on my normal eating routine. About 50 of the 52 weeks in the year, I’m pretty focused on what I can and can’t eat…but I can’t lie. Sometimes, I slip up, let my guard down and sneak a bite of a Santa-shaped frosted cookie. And then another bite. And another. Pretty soon, I’ve downed the whole thing and find myself all but licking the plate to enjoy every last crumb. So sue me…I’m human! 😉 The enjoyment is short-lived, though, because not only am I gluten intolerant, I’m also allergic to wheat (the grain itself, in all its entirety), so that yummy treat quickly turns into an awful gut ache with a double dose of pounding headache and crappy mood (the food coloring doesn’t help, either — why does Santa need to wear RED!?!?!). Full disclosure: Sometimes, despite feeling lousy after said cookie, I “may” find myself going back for another one or two (I liken it to giving a toddler a bite of a cupcake, but then sitting it in front of them and telling them, “Hands off!” as they eye it up and drool). It’s sometimes tough to stop when you finally give yourself the green light to take a bite. Even my strong willpower has its breaking point, let me tell ya. Now, it’s time to get back on track and eat the foods that fuel me, not foul me. *Sigh* As must as I’d like a cookie as solace for the hours it’ll take to undecorate my holiday home, I’ll power up my Vitamix instead and relish in the fact that the bloat I received as a holiday gift will be promptly returned. CHEERS TO A HEALTHY, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

December 17, 2015

Celebrated my hubby’s birthday with the most towering homemade lasagna I’ve ever made (seriously, that sucker felt like it was 20 pounds!), plus a divine-looking strawberry mousse cake from AJ’s (the best boulangerie around, in my opinion – and their cakes are surprisingly inexpensive). I served everyone heaping slabs of the pasta and dished an herb and arugala salad onto a plate for moi. It was good, but that lasagna taunted me and the cake sneered at me from its ceramic perch. I didn’t give into temptation, though, and instead brewed myself some green tea with a touch of stevia. The sacrifices we food weirdos have to make to avoid wretched health repercussions. On a positive note, the green tea makes my skin glow and may protect me from cancer. Take THAT strawberry mousse cake!

November 23, 2015

Well, joy to the world. Just dropped hundreds at Whole Foods in preparation of our Thanksgiving feast. Buying all organic produce, free-range, organic turkey, sulfite-free, unprocessed honey ham, etc. comes at a price. In the past, I’d buy regular grub for guests and save the organic/free-range stuff for me and Brian, but now I have guilt for taking the best and serving the rest. I figure if we benefit from it, so will everyone else (at least that’s my giving spirit around the holidays).

I’m grateful for family and friends (and so much more), but NOT for the astronomical grocery receipts we allergy sufferers know all too well. Hmpffft. Oh, and our allergic tabby has now been moved to an all-organic, high-protein/grain-free food that I can only get at – yep, you guessed it! – WHOLE FOODS. Will the fun never end? 😉

October 22, 2015

So, get a load of this: even our cat has allergies. What I thought was a behavioral thing that made her chew the fur off her legs is actually a reaction to…something we still have yet to determine. Per the vet, we’re going to change her food and add some fish oil to her routine to see if that helps. In the meantime, I’ll keep her half-naked body warm and try not to laugh when she looks like she’s wearing boots with no pants. Poor girl. Like mother, like fur kid!

October 14, 2015

Been battling migraines with growing regularity again, which is why I’ve been a bit M.I.A. Also been feeling pretty rough after eating some previously okay foods/beverages (green tea, limes, raspberries, organic potatoes, and a few others). Time for another food sensitivity panel. It’s been a couple years and my food allergies and sensitivities are known to ‘flip’ on me each year or so. I’m still feeling WAY better than I had in the past, so no real complaints. I’ll get to the bottom of whatever’s screwing me up these days and strip that bad guy from my diet.

Haven’t worked on my novel in many moons (four months, at least) and that’s weighing on me now. After the holidays, I’m going to dive back into that headfirst. 2016 will be my year to stick a fork in that big project. It’s been a labor of love, but I’m sure the characters are getting fed up with resting in limbo. Someone? Anyone? Got a match to light under my butt?