um, blogher pt 2?

guess who never finished her blogher breakdown? (hint: it's me!) too much stuff going on, but not really. things like joining the new rec center ($12.50/month for me & $25/month for s-time to get our butts in shape!), 2nd opinion appointment about my colitis (md told me today he wants more labs because i may have developed autoimmune hepatitis-sweet!) and using extraneous exclamation points! !!
anyway, back to blogher. what i can remember of it, that is. on saturday we hit up breakfast, went to suzanne's panel and i scouted the expo halls again while she did her booksigning. we ended up lunching with another panelist from suzanne's session, which was really an enjoyable lunch. that was when the cranky began because i was really getting sick of so much of everything (perhaps a premature bit of homesickness) & we ended up at dean & deluca so i could bring some chocolates home for s. the afternoon was a big blur and then we met all the cool kids for an indian dinner at vatan, which was amazingly delish. i'm sure i'll forget someone, but liz rizzo, zandria, sassy monkey & her fake husband, suebob, suzanne and a couple fun people i met for the first time were there. appetizer course had so many delightful treats and you could have second helpings of whatever you wanted, then they brought out the main course, which was the same way. a large round tray with like a classy, metal cafeteria tray with space for each item. it was at that point that i realized my gap jeans had decided to part ways with me. either that or the fat on my thighs had finally rubbed together so much that they were near to starting a fire because a small (read substantial) hole developed on my left inner thigh. now admittedly, i wear my long & leans 2-3 times a week, not all day, but quite a bit for the past 18 months since i bought them. and gap material quality has gone downhill in the past few years (much thinner fabric), so it could be a combination of a number of factors. by the time we had our subway adventure, the cheezburgher party, sparklecorn and the paperbag-hatted walk home to await my shuttle, the hole was at an embarrassing point. and lo, it only got bigger as i packed and stayed up with suzanne for my 3am shuttle pick-up.
but i was glad to get home, no matter how much fun i had and i absolutely can't wait until next year or whenever i get together with all the rest of you beautiful people.

wow!

so apparently s arranged with my mom to buy me tickets to blogher '10. i just filed his taxes this afternoon and went to check my e-mail before bed. i saw 2 confirmation e-mails for my tickets with my parents' e-mail address. mom said i'd better ask s about it. pretty much spent his whole tax refund because i do things for him all the time. and so, besides buying the plane ticket, i guess i'm gonna be crashing at suzanne's place. good thing she knows i don't snore.
that explains why he kept asking me when the early bird deadline was. aww....

leper?

a few months ago, i noticed this rash on my left elbow crease. sometimes it was itchy & red and other times it would disappear. then a little over a month ago, i saw it was on both elbows. then it migrated to the backs of my knees, almost like i pushed too hard and gave myself razor burn. you know how that stings?
oh yeah, and the other embarrassing thing is that the top of my bum has also been dry & splotchy for about that same period of time.
so now, in addition to all those locations, it's itchy and painfully red at my armpits. not really the pits, but the back part of my arm & also just to the side of where the bra strap goes.
last week i made an appointment with the dermatologist, but it was for september 21. i asked to be placed on the cancellation list & they called me friday just before 5pm with an opening for monday morning. after talking with both my rheumatologist & gastroenterologist, they don't think it's anything to do with my gi or arthritis stuff. the problem is, i think it's exacerbated after my remicade infusions. i no longer break out in hives while i'm infusing, but this rash seems to show up in more places after i infuse.
last night i asked s to apply calamine to the afflicted areas & asked him what his rash was when we met 3 years ago. as i asked i remembered.
"oh yeah, you had nickelitis from the change in your pockets, right?"
"yep, that's what it was & also behind my ears from my metal glasses," he replied.
"well, i haven't been rubbing change behind my armpits. and despite it being called a coinslot, i haven't been keeping change in my &$$ crack, so i doubt that's what it is," i told him.
he busted up & agreed. we finally settled on leprosy. i'm not melodramatic or anything.

thankful

it's been a while since i last posted. things have been a bit rough, joint-wise. apparently after girls' night out (sushi! wine! dresses!) the ol' arthritis started kickin' in. or rather beating me to a pulp. and my next infusion isn't until wednesday, but i'm getting by with the medication from the gp & it seems to at least let me get around without shrieking at my every step.
anyroad, this is a post in honour of thanksgiving. i was lucky enough to spend my second year at the 'in-laws'. weeks ago i offered to bring sweet potatoes because it's one of my must-haves at both christmas & thanksgiving. last year, i was thwarted as they only had a basket of baked yams on the table. so i rounded up a recipe from the pioneer woman that went over like hotcakes. pecan-crusted sweet potatoes. in fact, i got so much attention that it made me blush. and that was just my first attempt at the recipe. guess it'll have to become a regular feature & i can even make it for my fam (except dad) at christmas.
hope you & yours had a wonderful thanksgiving. i've so much to be thankful for: steady job, great benefits, fantastic friends, amazing family & 'in-laws' & last but not least, s.
now i'm going to avoid anything to do with consumerism & retail that is black friday.

crying at work

this story made me cry at work:

Amazing Holocaust love story lives on

whew!

that was a close one!

arti-choke

last night i attempted to cook an artichoke for the first time. they were on sale at the store, so i picked one up, thinking "i love (spinach) artichoke dip; this should be interesting" a week passed before the opportunity to steam the sucker arose, what with s & the whole moving into a new place business.
i read up on a bunch of cooking sites about the best ways to prepare the scary & spiny-looking thing. clipped off the sharp ends of the leaves, trimmed the stem & the pointy end & threw it in a pot to boil with a little lemon juice. i don't have a steamer big enough or i would've used that method.) boil, boil, boil. remove from water & let cool briefly. then i started plucking away at the leaves(?). dipped the end in a little butter & sucked/teethed them off. okay, s tried it too when he got there.
until we got to the choke. yes, that is what the center, fuzzy part is called. so i cut it off as recommended, waiting to find the good part, the heart... to no avail. seriously, there was nothing underneath that resembled anything edible, unless you're supposed to eat the top of the stem? um yeah, am not so good with odd vegetables.
but we had leftover chinese for the rest of the meal, so it's not like we starved.
ps~i'm pretty sure i gave myself a concussion when i got home from work (after meeting suzanne's sister to procure my very own, signed (thank you, thank you!) copy of her book). yeah, i'm a klutz. thwacked my head into the doorframe while talk to my mom on the phone & bending over to grab something. it brought tears to my eyes & in the next day or two i'm sure to have an enviable black eye. yikes!

sleep better

s had to back out on our standing dinner date night (i was making pad thai!) because his mom wanted him to have dinner with the family. instead, he said that if i wanted to stay over at his place, i could "because i sleep better when you're there."

awwww...

confessions

okay, so this probably isn't something you're expecting me to fess up to or anything. yesterday i worked overtime in the morning & i stopped at the library on the way back home. i had a book waiting on hold for me.
twilight
yeah, yeah. i read my share of vampire novels back in high school. (i wish i could remember the name of that series because the author had a vampire one & then a witch one that we were all enthralled with. found it! the vampire diaries & the secret circle by l.j. smith) and i was fairly warned that i'd get caught up in this one. luckily i didn't have too much to do this weekend. i read the first 300 or so pages yesterday & just polished off the last two hundred this morning. now i guess i'd better get something else accomplished today.

i did put in a hold request for the 2nd book, though, new moon...