After my flare last month subsided, I was still brewing and stewing about it, so I decided to make it the topic of my latest post at RACentral.com. Read the The Flare Factor and see the latest comic strip here!
I'm curious to know how others deal with flares, so drop a comment down below or over at RACentral!
Not with a man, silly, but with these shoes and this site that I just discovered. I seriously have no idea how I am only just now finding out about this blog given that it is about comfy AND fashionable, savvy shoes for those with chronic foot pain. Regardless, my swollen toe and I are thrilled to find out about it now, and I felt the need to spread the word just in case anyone else has also been hiding under a blogrock and doesn't know about it.
I just might have to indulge in some post-holiday shopping even though I swore I was all done....
2009 is looking good already!
PS: Charleston post is forthcoming. I basically ate my way through the city and into the new year (diet be damned). Skinny jeans? What are they?
Picture this: 11pm on a Wednesday night. The rest of the city is out celebrating at holiday parties. I, however, am sitting at my kitchen table in the top I wore to work, my knickers, and big, gray, fuzzy slippers. A glass of red wine sits in one hand while the other slowly swirls my unmixed enbrel around until it dissolves so I can give myself a shot and go to bed.
Having RA is so damn hot and exciting I can barely contain myself.
'I must have been crazy. I must have been full-blown, off my rocker,
totally-possessed, post-diagnosis crazy. That’s the only way to
explain why last year for the holidays, though I was in the midst of my
RA at its worst, I thought it would be a good idea to host my very own
Thanksgiving meal for the first time AND throw a holiday party three
weeks later for all my friends. (Warning to the newly diagnosed: do not
try this at home!)'
Click here to see the comic strip by Jane Samborski and read the full post!
Do you have any crazy post-diagnosis stories of your own? Have you attempted to do the ridiculous during the holiday season in spite of your RA? If so, please share, so I know I'm not the only one!
My mother, ever diligent in her search to make things easier on me and my joints, immediately set out last night to research some helpful options after reading my post yesterday. This morning, I was greeted with a few emails in my inbox alerting me to some good finds, including the one above, which is now en route to me thanks to the United States Postal Service.
This handy little cart/bag has several things going for it:
1. It's not ugly, like a lot of other wheely carts out there. I mean, it wouldn't do for me to be lugging around some hideous aluminum atrocity in my cute heels, would it?
2. It folds up to the size of a purse. Now, if this is really true, it will be brilliant since I have a teeny tiny apartment, and storage is a big factor. I don't even have room under my bed or in my closet for anything much bigger than a handbag.
3. It's light. It weighs less than three little pounds (almost as little as me these days....ahem), which means I can even carry it around with me for those occasions when I spontaneously end up needing to run to Whole Foods to get a 15lb turkey on my way home from work.
I guess the lesson here is, if you must have RA, have it in style.
Here's where you can get yours!
We did not meet or even talk to one single guy last night, save the very nice host who got us a table at the Bowery Hotel Bar. What's up with men in New York? I've got to say, when we lived in London, we couldn't walk into a pub, club or bar without being approached by some guys - and many of them were nice! I really don't think we are completely repulsive, so I don't think it's because of that. And we were not standing around in a circle all cut off from people, either. Maybe if we had been walking around with bad highlights and our breasts or knickers hanging out (like some others...), we'd have had better luck. Maybe next time, I'll just leave my skirt at home.
But, that factor aside, it was a really fun night, and I was quite proud that I left my old lady habits of the last year behind (going to bed by 10pm) for the evening. We didn't even leave my place to go out until about 10pm for our ambitious night out! We went to Lure first, where we sat at the bar and drank Bellini martinis (yum!). The dining area was packed, but the lounge was surprisingly sparse (the economy?).
After that, we nabbed a cab (in the rain, no less) and headed to Bubble Lounge, which I must say, was my least favorite spot of the night. My kir royale was fine, but it was wall-to-wall with people (including the aforementioned scantily-clad types). There were some guys there, but they all stood in a tight circle like they were part of a football huddle, so clearly, they weren't very approachable. Last but not least, we headed to the Bowery Hotel Bar, where I snapped the above photo. This was probably my favorite spot of the night, no doubt because after getting our Pimm's cups and wine, the nice host found us at the bar and led us to a table in the main room, which looks like an English hunting lodge. There, we ensconced ourselves in the velvety couches and upholstered high back chairs and wound down. We even saw some celebs, though none of us could remember what we'd seen them in or who they were. Oh well.
At about 2am, we called the first official Ladies night to a close and headed home. Shockingly, I wasn't dead tired, so I ended up watching an episode of The Office on my computer to see my other virtual celebrity boyfriend (I don't believe you have to be faithful when the relationships are figments of your overly bored imagination), John Krasinsky. Lovely.
Isn't being single in New York City so glamorous!
This morning, I got up, listened to my favorite NPR program, made breakfast and swallowed 4 of the 8 pills I'll take today (blah). Then I took a long walk all through Central Park. My left hip and knee were a little grumpy, but it felt good to be out in the fresh air, enjoying the changing leaves and getting some exercise, not to mention perspective. All in all, a pretty great day.
Here are a few photos so you can see for yourself. This is the time of year I love New York the most!
About six months ago, two of my gal pals and I decided we should implement a monthly 'Ladies night' to help us better live out our New York City lives. Pathetically (and rather unfabulously, I must add) it's taken us this long to get our acts together and plan one. In the meantime, of course, Wall St. and the global economy have imploded, but no matter - out we are going, wallets be damned!
What will the night entail? We're not entirely sure, but festivities will commence at my place with plenty of champagne to get things rolling. We'll be dining on some Les Trois Petits Cochons' Mousse Truffee with cornichon, mustard, some green grapes and a small cheese plate to nosh on (complete with the BEST mozzarella I have ever had from a deli in Hoboken that my friend has been charged with bringing - or else). My diet can take a hike tonight.
After that, these are the possibilities: Lure Fish Bar, Flute, The Bubble Lounge and the Bowery Hotel Bar. (Note: if you think having RA has checked my ability to be decadent, see this post.)
And, since I am back into skinny jeans land, should I meet some half-way interesting (and straight, and single, and hopefully gainfully employed) members of the opposite sex, well, maybe that would not be so bad. Of course, with my luck, now that I've decided to ease up on my dating strike, all the decent blokes will have naturally found themselves enraptured in relationships with other women, or will have decided to stay home and save their pennies.
Either way, time to get ready and don my new pair of Marc Jacobs pumps (aquired during my sister's wedding week in San Francisco)! Let the first Ladies Night begin!
Or at least, it didn't make me more virtuous. Maybe some of you have fared better.
Here's the latest comic strip and post!
I woke up on my first day of being 30 in my little studio apartment, wished a happy birthday to myself, and felt infinitely wiser than I had the day before. OK, I'm exaggerating slightly, but god it felt good to turn that mental page over and let everything I went through in the last ten years sail into the past!
I treated myself and took a half day off work, so at 2pm, I walked out of the office and strolled my usual route from Chelsea over to Union Square. The day was crisp and gorgeous- autumn in New York really is storybook wonderful, and I felt good, too. As I approached Union Square, I realized I was hungry and decided to indulge in a nice lunch at Blue Water Grill, where I sat outside and enjoyed the blue sky, people-watching, and some quiet time to myself to mull over my last 30 years. I have to say, all things considered, including the RA, I feel pretty happy with where my life is at the moment, and that feels lucky (even if Wall Street is on the brink of imploding just a few blocks downtown.) I could never have predicted I would end up where I am, but things could be a whole lot worse. It could be last year this time!
After that, I headed uptown and got a pedicure and a manicure in preparation for party #1 that evening
at the Campbell Apartments, which are tucked away in Grand Central. I was all dolled up in my party dress and some three inch heels (aka taxi shoes), and joined by a few friends who would be out of town for party #2, and my sister, who was luckily in town for a business trip! We were promptly sat at a table in the back. The Apartments do make you feel like you are stepping back in time, and their classic and vintage cocktail menu includes drinks called prohibition punch and flapper's delight (both of which I imbibed.) We toasted to the next decade, sat back, and had a grand time. After going to Campbell's, my sister and I continued the evening for a brief drink at Stone Rose Lounge (where they turned the lights on us before we had even gotten near the bottom of our drink- lame) and capped the night off with a little more champagne at my place. It was a damn good night.
And, because one party isn't nearly enough to mark the achievement of making it to 30, this past Saturday, I threw a big party for myself at Flatiron Lounge. This involved party dress #2 and these:
First, though, my sister took me out to a wonderful dinner of oysters, shrimp cocktails and sushi at Lure Fish Bar, then we taxi'd over to Flatiron and headed downstairs to a table. I was sufficiently fete'd all night, and I felt more than grateful to have the kind of friends I do. The whole evening was spent with most of the people I love most in the world. I mean really, besides a healthy, functioning immune system, what more could a girl wish for on her 30th?
So, bring on the next decade! I have no idea what it holds in store, but so far, so good!
So I have officially entered my birthday week, and I am really planning to celebrate for the entire week! Well, much of it, anyway. Work already surprised me on Friday with champagne and a gift certificate for shoes (they know me soooo well!). Next, I am going out here on the actual day with a few close friends who won't be in town this weekend when I celebrate with a big party here. The icing on the cake is that my sister will be in town for a business trip, so she'll be able to come along for both (we hope) and dinner for the two of us here to boot!
I know some people don't necessarily look forward to turning 30, but I can't wait. I've never had much of a hang up about getting older to begin with, but after what my late 20's have put me through, I am raring to get out of this volatile decade, thank you very much. I've been excited about turning 30 since I hit 28, and this last year has only made me want to vacate this decade even more and start a whole new one. Although some good things have surely come out of my 20's (living in London, Prague and New York and traveling tons), the last ten years have also borne total heartbreak, family woes, including the loss of two beloved grandparents, and of course, the loss of my formerly pristine health. After all of that, reaching 30 feels like a goddamn accomplishment! Besides, most people I know in their 30's tell me that the 30's are way better than the 20's.
Here's hoping!
Recent Comments