Snack Mountain Blog

Ok, so yesterday at the beach I was on fire. I mean, I was on Fire Island after all! Maybe it’s because I meditated before I went to bed on Saturday night and I went to bed with lots of positive feelings and thoughts. I forgot to pack a long dress so I found this weird jumper outfit to wear! I really like this head-wrap style called Miss Knotty that was suggested to me by Charlotte! I’ve been wearing it just about every day with this scarf that my bro and Lisa got me in Hawaii that is so pretty! Thanks for the tip Charlotte! My fam wanted to go on a walk and in order to stay out of the sun, I used this old umbrella as a parasol. My dad said we’ve had that umbrella for 33 years, just a little longer than we’ve had the house at Fire Island! Crazy! I couldn’t help but pose for pictures in my fancy outfit! I felt kinda like a supermodel. Check out this animated GIF I just made!

Who said you can’t jump up and down when you are undergoing chemotherapy treatment?!?!? Here’s another shot of me on the beach that my bro took with my fancy camera.

Then, after our walk I got my crafternoon started! I made a bunch of these shells with googley eyes, pipe-cleaners and pom-poms!

I also painted some shells with gouache so I can do this technique I learned from the Clayton Brothers last fall at Art Center!

The technique is that you paint all these layers of gouache on and then let it dry, then paint more and then you slowly rinse it off and let the pigments meld together and marble. Here the shells are drying in the sun.

I haven’t had the time yet to finish them but maybe tomorrow! Today I went to yoga at Golden Bridge and it was really great to be there. The studio has the same calming feeling as the one in LA and I think I am going to start going there on a regular basis. I just wish it was closer to my house since I don’t wanna ride the subway (because of my compromised immunity) and the bus doesn’t go all the way down there. I also want to check out another Kundalini studio called Yoga East this week. I may even try to go jogging soon. I’ve had a lot more energy since Friday and exercise is supposed to be key for my recovery. Maybe this energy boost is from the acupuncture?

A couple health notes to share with you. First, I didn’t mention it in my last post but the nutritionist gave me a handout about meat (beef, fish and chicken) and how cooking meat at high temps (via grilling, pan-frying, or broiling) can create chemicals that are carcinogenic. It says that slow-cooking the meat by stewing, poaching or oven-roasting (which are at lower temperatures) won’t produce these chemicals. Check out this article. It’s not the exact handout she gave me but its the same source and has similar info. I mean, I think it’s probably ok to eat meat cooked at high temperatures once a week but definitely keep moderation in mind. I love grilled fish!!! Finally, I thought I was the only one who wasn’t supposed to take supplements or vitamins (because it can interact with chemo) but this Op-Ed has a pretty compelling argument.

On my way to acupuncture on Thursday, I ran into this gang of dachshunds! We had one growing up and I still freak out when I see them. This gang was particularly cute. The one in the middle was yapping at me in a kind of unfriendly way but he was still a cutie! Speaking of dachshunds, Steve sent me this funny video the other day of a dachshund licking a lions teeth clean that is so amazing!

Yesterday I met with a nutritionist at Sloan Kettering! I had been waiting for the appointment for almost a month and had prepared tons of questions for her about how I should be eating and things to avoid. One of my burning questions was about whether to eat foods with antioxidants because I had read that they can interact with chemotherapy and prevent it from working! Her answer to this was reassuring and it that its fine to eat those foods but not ok to take supplements. She just said “Eat Food!” She was very funny sometimes because she would get animated when I would ask about certain things and say “No! No! Don’t eat that!” I got that response when I asked about Kombucha!! She said its filled with bacteria and she doesn’t think it’s safe (for anyone not just me). But I may still have to drink it when I get better. I can’t help myself!! Most of her recommendations were things I was already doing and her suggestions on foods to cook and eat around chemo were pureed soups and foods that are easy for the body to digest. It’s basically how I ate and cooked for myself during grad school. Lots of vegetarian soups and stews and legumes. She also talked about how there are so many food trends out there and not to get wrapped up in them. She said that the juicing craze was dangerous and not healthy  because it makes your blood sugar levels drop and then your stomach is empty. (I already had this belief and never had any interest in juicing or juice cleanses). She said its better to get the pulp from the food so to drink smoothies instead. She also said that almond milk is not that great because it has no protein and recommended that I drink actual milk (organic, of course) or yogurt. This morning I had some really good yogurt for breakfast actually! I got that brand Siggi’s in Coconut and added those strawberries I got at the farmers market last week plus banana and Ezekiel’s cereal. And of course, watermelon with salt (for hydration purposes).

The nutritionist recommended 3-5 servings of fruit and 3-5 servings of vegetables in addition to two protein based meals a day. So last night my friend Rosie came over and I made my favorite Kale Salad. Here’s a pic and I list the recipe below. It’s pretty easy and you can mix and match anything you want!

Lauren’s California Style Kale Salad

1 bunch of Kale

1 apple, cored and sliced thin

2 radishes, sliced thin

2 carrots, shredded

1 avocado, cubed

a handful of raw almonds, coarsely chopped

juice from one lemon

apple cider vinegar, 2 tbsp

olive oil, 3 tbsp

Break kale leaves from the stem into a bowl and discard stems. Wash leaves in 2-3 changes of water until the water runs clear (no dirt or bugs). Pour lemon juice over kale and break up the leaves into smaller pieces and massage the leaves. Continue to do this for about 2-3 minutes until the leaves start to look darker and are breaking down. (This helps to make the leaves less coarse and I think easier to digest). Then add the rest of the vegetables along with the apple cider vinegar and oil. (Side note: you can totally add more or less vinegar and oil. I don’t really measure things when I cook so I just guessed those amounts). Mix well and add salt and pepper to taste! I hope you enjoy it!

Finally, I have a surprise for you. On Thursday night, my friend Matt came over and buzzed my head again so that I am now bald! I have been seeing women at Sloan rocking the look and I think they look beautiful. So I’m getting close to rocking it in public myself. For a preview, I thought I’d share it with you!

Steve things I should rock it with nice eye make-up. I may go over to the Benefit store near my parents house and get them to teach me how to make my eyes look nice since I am no expert at wearing make-up. But I think my clear glasses make a nice accessory too! So it looks like we are actually off to Fire Island for the night. I am not excited about the car ride there (traveling is not fun for me) but I am excited to do some yoga and meditation at the beach or on our deck. The nutritionist praised doing yoga and daily meditation practice. She said it’s essential for boosting immunity! Ciao!

Yesterday morning I awoke to the arrival of two different care packages. One was home-made cookies (more on those later) and the other came in this curiously shaped box.

The return address was from my friend Zeynab from grad school who I hadn’t spoken to since my diagnosis. We had emailed briefly back in April when all the crappy doctors kept telling me I had a ruptured cyst because I knew she had one when we were in school. Anyhoo, I was completely overwhelmed with amazingness when I opened the box.

Look familiar??? He’s got my fave cartoon-style eyes!! And he’s hand embroidered!! Now get ready for the back.

OMG! I nearly cried! Snack Mountain is a healer!! Zeynab’s note read “Sending the little mountain to hug the Big Mountain for me.” Wowowowow! I was blown away! Here I am snuggling with my little mountain next to my bedfellows.

I love him so much and I am so touched away that Zeynab made him by hand! I feel so lucky to have so many amazing friends!!! Ahhhhh!!!!

Now onto the cookies! My friend Lauren made these for me when I first got sick and I was psyched to get another delivery of them.

I asked her for the recipe to share with you because they are so good. They are gluten-free, vegan and sugar free if you can believe it. Of course, the recipe comes from one of my favorite food blogs 101 Cookbooks!  Speaking of good blogs and healthy desserts, I wanted to share a link to Matchbox Kitchen. I met Sarah from Matchbox Kitchen at these Women’s Entrepreneurial Group meetings in LA that both Satsuki Shibuya and Erin Dollar from Cotton and Flax have organized. At the last meeting I attended (I think it was January or Feb), I remember Sarah talking about how she felt bad that she made cakes that were not exactly healthy for people. (Her cakes are so beautiful and make me drool everytime I see pictures of them). We reassured her that her cakes were bringing joy to people so even if they weren’t as healthy as spinach and quinoa, it was still bringing a positive outlet for people at celebrations, etc. So I visited her blog the other day and saw that she is doing a month-long series of healthy desserts that are gluten-free, vegan and sugar free! And from the pictures of recipes so far, I am very impressed. First, I am impressed by her goal of making healthy desserts since it was something that she was concerned about. And secondly, I can’t believe how good the desserts look considering they are gluten and dairy free! She is a seriously skilled baker!

I say yesterday was a good day because earlier in the week I accidentally stumbled on some terrifying statistics about advanced cervical cancer while reading the New York Times during breakfast and it brought on an intense bout of fear and anxiety. But yesterday, I feel like I turned a new leaf in terms of staying positive and not focusing on the scary stuff. Steve has been an amazing help in that department too. We were joking that he is my positivity drill sergeant. Hahaha. And he gave me a good new mantra to repeat when I am worrying: “I am getting better everday.” I am thinking that it would be nice to make a typographic illustration of this phrase for myself sorta like this one I made ages ago in grad school.

In an effort to stay positive and have fun I am entering the amazing world of CRAFTS! Yesterday I gesso’ed a bunch of shells that I collected and Fire Island.

And I just returned from craft wonderland (aka Michaels) with a bin of amazing supplies!

It’s a good thing that it’s supposed to rain for the next few days because it’s time for a Crafternoon!!! I want to make some crazy, hairy, poofy shell characters!! Stay tuned!!

Finally, another event that really touched me yesterday was an incredibly sweet comment on my post from Tuesday from a girl named Charlotte . I didn’t know if anyone other than my friends and family read my blog and to hear from her and that my writing inspired her really made me feel great. My friend Aurora and I went for a walk in Central Park yesterday and we were talking about blogs and how sometimes they can be kinda superficial and make you lust after the bloggers glamorous lifestyle instead of bringing positive energy into your day. Aurora said how she appreciated how in my first post about my diagnosis I wrote about how I hoped my writing would help someone going through something similar or inspire people and now I know that it has. I feel really happy about this. So, on that note I’ll sign off. This has been an incredibly long one! Hope you’ve enjoyed it! Xoxoxo, Lauren

Oh! One last thing I wanted to add from yesterday! I was walking in the neighborhood with my brother and his wife around dinner time and we passed a restaurant with people sitting on tables outside. There was an older man sitting at a table of three people. They all looked like they had finished eating except that the man was rubbing his leftover mashed potatoes into his hands. It was so bizarre and we all noticed it because it was such strange behavior! It kept me chuckling until bedtime last night. Are there secret moisturizing properties to mashed potato that most of the world doesn’t know about? Should I try this instead of my Cetaphil? Hahahahahaha.

Ok, so I always thought that my spirit animal was a donkey because they are so freaking adorable and I just love them so much. But maybe my spirit animal is actually a giraffe! After visiting Rachel’s great aunt’s house they are popping up everywhere. Over the weekend, my Dad reminded me that it was time to design the new t-shirts for his law firm for the annual Corporate Challenge race. I was kinda fatigued and out of it on Sunday but somehow I managed to design this wacky t-shirt. I just thought to myself, I want to draw some giraffes! And here they are! They are going to be printed on heather grey t-shirts with florescent orange ink! I’m pretty excited to see them and it reminded me how important it is for me to do creative stuff right now. It really uplifted my mood. I also really need to  get into meditation again. My friend Leah sent me this Mindfulness Meditation CD by Jon Kabat-Zinn and I want to use it ASAP! I’ve been having some anxiety the past few days and I want to nip it in the bud!

My mom and I have continued to do a little retail therapy. On Sunday we went to Joe Fresh where I bought some hot pink pants!

I also got some turquoise ones and some t-shirts. The incredible low retail prices at that store made me a little uneasy but I’m not planning on wearing size zero pants for long so I guess it’s good they only cost 29 bucks! I plan to get back to my regular size 6 as soon as possible!

Finally, my mom arranged all our bedfellows this morning and I couldn’t resist snapping this photo.

The ragged looking teddy is named Junior and I’ve had him since I was born! Pretty crazy, huh? So hopefully next post I will be sharing more creative output!

So I shaved off my hair. It’s taken awhile to get used to it and I’m not fully comfortable rocking it in public just yet. But I have some pictures of me wearing my new wig and other head coverings. On Friday, my mom and I went to a boutique at one of the Sloan Kettering locations. I got this really fun sun hat that I am wearing with the wig I bought last week that I really like.

I also got a bang headband thingamabob that I was wearing yesterday because it was so hot outside and wearing a full wig was too hot. Here I am with my dad yesterday on our way to a nearby farmers market.

And here I am with my mom in the same spot. I have no idea why we were standing in front of the Inwood House. It was a randomly selected location.

I was psyched to get some local New York strawberries at the market. In Los Angeles, all the farmers market sell the bigger strawberries but I always crave these smaller variety that grow in the New York area.

Speaking of strawberries, on Friday my mom and I popped into the Marimekko shop across the street and I scored this amazing strawberry Converse shoes!

The other day my brother was complimenting me on the crazy style I’ve been rocking.  One of my crazy new accessories is this hat that my friend Mylinh sent me that her friend at ALL Knitwear made just for me (!) It’s been my main head covering in air-conditioned spaces like my parents house and at the chemo suite on Thursday. It fits in with my new giraffe theme and I realized that I look like one of the characters from one of my favorite video games Katamari Damacy.

If you are not familiar with the game, you basically roll up this giant ball and as it gets bigger you can roll up bigger objects. You can watch a little gameplay on youtube here. Jump to 2:00 to skip the intro stuff. Here’s a still from the game where the character is wearing a giraffe hat!!!

Finally, yesterday I got a pretty amazing care package from Pygmy Hippo Shoppe in LA. I had posted a comment on the shop’s instagram when I saw these amazing pizza necklaces and she sent me one!

Speaking of charms, my cousin Cathy and her two teenaage sons have been sending me individual charms for this charm bracelet they sent me. Every day or two I get a few new ones! It’s so sweet! I’ll share a photo soon. Thanks again to all the nice care packages and support from everyone. Things have been hitting me a little harder on the emotional side and it’s nice to know people are thinking of me. Another hard transition for me is that I switched to get my chemo at Columbia because there is a third kind of drug that Sloan Kettering couldn’t administer to me but Columbia could. Columbia is a great hospital and I like my doctor very much but I am just obsessed with Sloan and it feels a little unsettling to make the change. But getting this third drug seemed essential and I hope it helps with my recovery. I have a good feeling about it.  I’m still going to specialists at Sloan and can still see my amazing doctor there but it has definitely made me a little uneasy this week. I’m sure I’ll adjust. This feels like a weird note to end on but I’m gonna go start moving around a bit. Ciao!

This weekend we went back to Fire Island for Memorial Day. It wasn’t as warm as anyone would have liked but it was nice to breathe in some sea air. I brought my fancy camera with me again and enjoyed experimenting with it some more. My friends Sam and Aurora came for the weekend which was wonderful and they were very good company. We went on some nice walks, collected more shells, found some rad free stuff that people were throwing away and ate delicious food! Here they are on the upper deck in the magic hour light:

Here is a view of the lower deck from above. I took a pretty sweet nap on the hammock on Sunday afternoon.

Although the produce didn’t seem super fresh at the local store, my parents made a pretty amazing dinner. Here’s a shot of my dad grilling the vegetables I picked out.

And here’s a close up of the veggies cookin!

Here’s the final dinner all together on our amazing plates and woven placemats.

In other food news, the next morning, I must have looked at too many giraffes the other day because then I saw one in my bagel!

I couldn’t stop taking pictures of it trying to capture the best shot! I want to print and frame one of the photographs for Rachel’s great aunt for her collection!!! Speaking of small details, here’s one of the shells we found on the beach. I wonder how those lines along the edge were etched into it.

And I think this is my favorite picture from the weekend. It’s our outdoor bathroom. Aurora commented on how Japanese it looks which is something I never noticed before but I totally agree!

As we were leaving yesterday, I scored some pretty amazing hand-painted rocks from some cute kiddies.

And I took this picture awhile ago but forgot to share it. Here’s my crystal collection!

I bought a wig over the weekend and was going to write about it and post pictures but I am not really in the mood to share. Maybe I’ll post about that a little later. My hair is falling out quite a bit now and tonight my friend Matt is going to buzz it off. So maybe you’ll see me wearing the wig soon. Or maybe I’ll just rock the shaved head/bald look. I’ll have to see how I feel. See ya soon!

Are you ready for this? Do you like Giraffes? Yesterday Rachel and I stopped by her Great Aunt’s house which is 4 blocks from my parents place. She is 95 and is an avid collector of all things Giraffe! I took TONS of photos that I would like to share with you now. As a collector myself, I am fascinated by collectors and how they display their collections. I was feeling a bit tired when we went over and it was about 98 degrees in the apartment so we didn’t stay too long but I think you will enjoy the amazing giraffes! Check out this amazing rug! I don’t exactly understand how the measurement element works with the design but it’s pretty rad.

Most walls were covered with framed giraffe artwork.

Here are a few highlights from the walls that I was particularly fond of.

Here is Rachel holding up a dancing giraffe figurine.

Here are some more cute figurines.

Then there was this amazing wallpapered area with more giraffe treasures.

And this was pretty darn cute too!

Here’s a shot of yours truly looking into a mirrored display case of mini figurines!

Finally, I want this needlepoint giraffe pillow!!! They look so zen and happy in the tall grass. That must be some seriously tall grass! Or maybe they are lounging. Haha.

Then, Rachel and I went to Matter of Health to pick up ingredients to make gluten-free pizza and kale salad!!! Here we are before we put it into the oven.

And here is the finished product!

And we made a very tasty kale salad which I haven’t had in a few weeks!

I had an unbelievable amount of energy yesterday with Rachel. I don’t know if it’s because I am further away from my first chemo treatment or if I was just so excited to be around Rachel. Probably the latter. Rachel is amazing!!! I was cooking, cleaning and moving around tons. Earlier in the week I could barely get off the couch and my mom was doing all the cooking/cleaning (because she is amazing). In other news, yesterday I went to the pain doctor and coincidentally, I didn’t have much pain yesterday. Funny how that happens. Every day is different so I don’t know if the pain will return but I’m hoping that I am getting closer to more consistent pain-free days.

So today Rach and I are going to check out Uniqlo. I’m on a mission to find more long cotton cozy dresses to wear. And then my mom and I are gonna go buy me a wig! Someone at Sloan suggested I get a wig that matches my current haircut to make an easier transition which I thought was a great idea. A family friend told us about this wig shop on 31st street where they cut the wig on the spot for you. So it’s kinda like getting a haircut but its not your hair. It should be interesting!

Also, I’ve decided to sign up for the Institute for Integrative Nutrition online program. Rachel did the program and thinks it would be a great outlet for me during my treatment period. I am very excited about it!