awesome things

I picked these little guys (tweezerman mini nail files) up at Sephora a few months ago.  They were in those little bins that always suck you in near the check out.  They are mini little nail files in this tiny little match like box.  They are so handy! And they are only 4 dollars! Everyone should have these in their makeup/travel kit for sure.

Be thankful for breathing

There are two parts to this blog: breathing and butter.  I have sort of steered clear of the breathing part, because I think it's really hard for me to open up about that, but one of the reasons I started this blog was to have a place to open up about that and I place to find support in my second transplant process.  If I want that I need to start blogging about it and sharing this experience with you all.  So let's recap: I had a lung transplant 6.5 years ago, due to end stage cystic fibrosis.  I was diagnosed with chronic rejection in my transplanted lungs awhile ago, maybe a little more than a year ago.  This basically means my body does not want these lungs anymore, and because of this they are slowly turning to scar tissue.  My airways are slowly become scarred and making it harder and harder for me to breathe.  The only way to solve this problem is another transplant.  A few months ago I completed all the testing to get back on the list.  I am not back on the list yet, but I get closer and closer to that point as time goes on.  Right now I have 38% of my lung function left.  This is really starting to make life harder for me.  Doing pretty simple things take a lot more effort and because of the build up of more and more scar tissue I am starting to cough more and more when I do things.  And because my lungs are literally using up every calorie I take in to just function I'm down to 83 lbs.  I have to explain that this time around is much harder physically than the first transplant, because now I know what it is like to go through a day, and do anything I want and not think about breathing.  I never knew that with my old lungs so that made it a lot easier.  I think it's really important during the process for me to explain to all of you readers how lucky you are to literally do the simplest of things: wake up, take a shower, go to work, run errands, literally mindless things and not ever once think about your breathing.  I'm conscious and aware of my lungs pretty much with everything I do now.  Most people really take breathing for granted, and I want you all not to do that.  I want you all to realize how blessed you are to go through a day and not give it a second thought.  This is really important to me for all of you to know that.  I know even when I got these lungs I took for granted how easy it was to breathe and I lived for nineteen years being aware of every breath, so trust me I know how easy it is to take healthy lungs for granted....but for me, please don't!  

Mini Needles

I have been going to acupuncture for awhile now, trying to correct my digestive system, since my stomach wrap for my severe heartburn seemed to screw it up so much.  I think actually it's been helping me so much.  Well yesterday my acupuncturist left these tiny little mini needles in two of my stomach points; I think they are supposed to stay in for like days! Well, I got done with my session around 11:30 and proceeded to go pick up lunch, and let me tell you, after I ate it was not pretty.  All day I was pretty violently ill, coming from every orifice possible, continually.  It was painful and horrible.  I kept the little needles in because I thought well, who knows maybe it was the chicken I had for lunch or something, but this morning I have been violently ill too, so I took them out, because it started right after my session.  Maybe keeping mini needles in my stomach point put me over the edge.  It's amazing that that could happen from two barely visible needles left in my stomach points.  I hope taking them out fixes this problem because I have a golf tournament today, and a bridal shower tomorrow, both of which I can't spend in the bathroom. 

cuteness

frozen coconut lime balls

coconut lime balls for something a little different, with really no baking required (except toasting the coconut)

awesome things

a simple tomato and mozzarella salad.
I make the best, fyi! :)

I especially love when the different colored tomatoes come out! I chop them up, chop up fresh mozzarella (that kind that is in water, not the shrink wrapped kind - that works best for pizza, not fresh mozz!) toss with great quality extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, and basil.  A staple of my summers.  Sometimes I add cut up watermelon, only if the watermelon is perfect though.  The sweet really brings something good to this.

Mario Batali - my hero

I have two really favorite chefs Mario Batali and The Barefoot Contessa I like a lot of other people, don't get me wrong, but I really love love love these two and I cook their recipes all the time! Well, funny thing, I've never even eaten at one of Mario's restaurants and I am in nyc all the time! My friend Jess was visiting from LA, so I took this as the perfect opportunity to eat somewhere in the city at one of Mario's places. I picked otto because I've made this pizza at home (you just get the otto cookbook) and I really wanted to try the real thing, and then somehow I finagled Jess to also eat at babbo, I really wanted to try some of his pasta!

We met at Otto, it's hard to find the door to this place! It's a really nice little place, it reminded me a little bit of Italy (ps, where I want to die) and the table next to us where all older Italian men, which means I was in my glory, hahaha. I loved when I was in Italy how they lingered at lunch, and sipped their coffee for hours. We got a drink first, which was tasty and decided to order the pizza with prosciutto.

The pizza was great.  It was thin and the toppings were perfect  It was all I dreamed it would be!

Next I had really psyched up Jess to go to momofuku milk bar to try the Compost Cookie.  And I really wanted the Crack pie.

 

We entered and it had that very typical village feel to it.  I loved the display case with the different kinds of milk!

Oh they had butter in there too, which of course I bought! And I tried a cereal milk too (very very sweet!)  We got the cookie and I got my crack pie.  Listen, the cookie is good, but I wouldn't go back to this place for the cookie.  It has everything under the sun in it, chips, chocolate, coffee, butterscotch.  It sounds amazing, but I think the coffee threw me off.  I drink coffee everyday, but I don't like it in my baked goods.  The crack pie, on the other hand, I would walk from Egypt to get this little buttery filled piece of heaven.  It's literally like biting into butter turned into the most fabulous sweet creamy pie.   Oh and I loved their packaging! (I am a packaging freak)

After our dessert we found our way to Babbo for dinner.  Okay generally I am a reservation nut.  When I go on vacation I am forever booking reservations for every night and it usually drives my traveling companion mad because it never gives us a chance to be spontaneous, but if there is good food to be had I need to make sure I have it! But for some reason I didn't think to make a reservation at Babbo, so we got sat at the "clearly these people didn't make reservations table."  It was a little like being in time out.  But anyway, this is a cute little place with lots and lots of pasta to choose from! I was originally going to get Chianti stained pasta with wild boar, but the person next to me was having pasta with lobster and I had to have it.  It was literally just pasta with sauce and lobster, but let me tell you the pasta sauce is to die for.  There is something so sweet and savory about it.  It was exactly what I think Mario Batali is.

(All of these were taken with my IPhone so forgive!) All in all it was a great food filled day.  I would tell you to go to any of these places if you are traveling to NYC.