Status update

Wow, I realized it's been practically a month since I wrote in my blog. So what's new with me? Life is getting back to normal again finally. I'm feeling good. My radiated skin looks totally normal, minus the surgery scars and three faint circles left from the stickers the radiation team placed on my breast. In fact, my radiation oncologist was very impressed with my skin as apparently most of his patients' skin don't look like mine until three of four months after completing treatment. He did, however, warn me that I will need to apply moisturizer to my radiated breast for the rest of my life (yay!). Otherwise it will get dry and flakey. I am still drinking my "green" smoothies and have gone on a diet to shed those winter pounds. I had a wake up call when I had to put shorts on last week (yes, it was 90 degrees one day here recently) and I could just barely button them.

FYI - I will continue to blog but probably not as often as I did before.

Part II - The Screen Actor Guild Awards show

This past Sunday was the big day: I went with my sister to the Screen Actors Guild award show!! Our day started with two young women coming to the hotel room to do our hair and makeup. Their youth and appearance (along with the fact that one of them got sick in our bathroom) should have been a clue that this probably wouldn't end well, but we ignored our instincts and let them do their thing. They were sweet, but clearly inexperienced. My sister hated what they did to her hair and ended up starting all over and styling it herself. Fortunately, there's not too much you can do to mess up very short hair so I was fine with how mine turned out.

We arrived at the Shrine auditorium and from there it was a whirlwind. Being on the red carpet was an exciting and very surreal experience. Unfortunately, I was on and off of it before the mass of celebrities arrived. I spent the rest of the night watching the show and gawking at the celebs. The commercial breaks provided great opportunities; I stood in line for the ladies room right behind Glenn Close, Meryl Streep and Mary Tyler Moore! And yes, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were there, and both are flawlessly beautiful (though maybe a bit too skinny). When they walked through the room, the crowd parted like the Red Sea. Everyone gazed at them longingly, even the other celebrities.

When the award ceremony ended we went right over to the "after party" held by People Magazine. This was where the stars mingle with each other and let down their hair. FYI - most of the actresses were absolute toothpicks. Owen Wilson practically ran into me, and several celebs let us take their pictures with them. What fun!! However, after a couple of hours my feet were killing, my head was throbbing and I was ready to call it a night. I realized that while at first it's exciting to be in such close proximity to the stars, in the end they are just people like you and me (but with beautiful bodies and faces, and a lot more money). I have never been happier to take my shoes off and crawl into bed!

Me on the Red Carpet

My sister (on the far right), Sophia Vergara from Modern Family and I.

Fish lips and big boobs

I can finally cross one thing off my bucket list...attending a celebrity filled event, the Screen Actors Guild Award show! But first, let me tell you all about the days leading up to the show. Last Wednesday, I met my sister in LA to see how the rich live. First off, we stayed at a fabulous, chic hotel in Beverly Hills (the hotel where sometimes the actress, Julianna Margulies, stays). It was really a very nice hotel with big beautiful rooms and an extremely helpful staff. However, my sister and I could not figure out how to work the various digital lights in our room. It was really quite comical. God forbid, you had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night (which we did) or if you were too drunk to figure out how to turn off the bedside lamps.

Beverly Hills is one strange place where EVERYONE is skinny and beautiful. I've never seen so many women with big boobs, tanned skin, botox faces and platypus lips. It really is all about how you look, the clothes you wear, the type of car you drive and how much money you have. Walking down the infamous Rodeo Drive, I went into a store and looked at a pair of shoes that cost a measly $3500! That was where I also saw my first celebrity, Phil Spector, looking very peculiar. My sister and I did some of the usual touristy things, like a tour of the celebrity homes or rather their very tall gates and hedges, and driving down Sunset Blvd and Melrose Ave in West Hollywood. At night, we had great dinners at some of the hottest restaurants in Beverly Hills. Watching the women and men strut their stuff was a hoot! But deciding what to wear and getting all glammed up was very stressful and not my thing. Thank god my sister (who's a fashionista) brought some extra clothing for me. Stay tuned for part II of my exciting weekend in LA.

My sister and I in front of Phil Spector's Rolls Royce.

Bottoms up!

Today I made my first "green" smoothie! Green smoothies contain fruit and vegetables. As someone who grew up thinking vegetables are yucky, these are a great way to get more veggies in my diet without having to really taste them. So following a basic recipe from one of my Pink Ribbon Cowgirls, I put some blueberries, half of a banana, a handful of spinach and a splash of coconut water in the blender and voila...a delicious, healthy drink. To be honest, I didn't believe the fruit would actually mask the taste of the spinach, but they really did. Now that I know how great these green smoothies are, I'll probably try making them with other vegetables, like kale and carrots. I'm feeling healthier already!

So now what?

As I mentioned in my last post, I haven't been sure of what to do with myself since completing my cancer treatments. So after some thought, I decided to volunteer with the Breast Cancer Resource Center, the organization that supported and educated me when I needed it the most during the last nine months. I will be "paying it forward" by visiting with other women during their chemotherapy, hopefully making their time in the infusion room a little easier. I'll also be available if a BCRC client needs some help with gardening, one of my favorite hobbies. And finally, I've joined the planning committee for the wonderful Pink Ribbon Cowgirls, the cancer support and social group that I have been a member of since I was first diagnosed. This great group of women has been a huge source of comfort and sound advice through every stage of my treatment. I'm really looking forward to doing this work, and the opportunity to be there for other women when they're feeling scared, anxious, and sick. I was there, and now I'm here, and I've learned a lot along the way!