Austin observations

During the middle of my 2 weeks in Dallas, I squeezed in a weekend trip to Austin with my friend Casey.  It was a really fun weekend, much needed!  It helped make my trip to Texas a good one.  Yee-haw!  :)  Here's what I saw:

• Casey and I ventured to Salt Lick, a world famous BBQ place about half an hour outside of Austin.  And it was worth the drive!  I had the sampler that included turkey, ribs, brisket, and sausage, plus sides of potato salad, coleslaw, and beans.  There was also bread and pickles on the table, and we topped it off with a cold Big Red (apparently it's a Texas soda... tasted like candy).

Hungryyyy

Smokin' some meat

Turkey + ribs + potato salad = <3

• On the way to Salt Lick, a few miles out, we drove past a sign for the Wizard Academy.  How awesome!!!  We were driving too fast to get a picture, but next time, I'm taking a detour there!  If there ever was a city in Texas to have a Wizard Academy, it would be Austin!
• We went out Friday night with a bunch of Casey's girlfriends from college (they went to UT in Austin) and had dinner at Uchiko, Paul Qui's restaurant.  He's the winner from the last season of Top Chef: Texas.  YUM!  We also hit up a handful of bars and da club and had a fun night.  My observation here?  Dudes in Austin at the bars all dress the same.  Collared shirts (polo or button-down) in some shade of blue or other pastel are required, with some sort of khaki short.  They all had Texas hair too, which is a little Bieber-ish but sometimes shaggier or preppier.

Uchiko

I tried to be in the front of this pic, since I'm always stuck in the back.  This is what happened.  If only you could see Casey, wrapped around my leg...!

Allison, Mandy, Kinski, Casey, and another Sara(h)

Instant Party Pics!!

• We saw a dead deer on the side of the road, and there were a bunch of vultures eating it.  I guess that isn't just in cartoons!  :(
• There is a quite a bar and nightlife scene.  There are tons of different areas (West 6th, East 6th, Rainey, etc.), all with a different vibe and lots of options.  Most of the places we were were pretty cute, had outdoor space, games, and tasty drinks.  Even a little humor.

Per Casey, Austin had a little rain that week.  Poor Texans.  Loved this!

• Austin seems to be super bike friendly.  We saw lots of people riding around, and even visited Lance Armstrong's bike shop Mellow Johnny's.  It was a pretty cool store, with a coffee shop (Juan Pelote's), Lance's yellow jerseys from the Tours de France he won, and his winning bikes. I picked up a souvenir water bottle for myself to use when I get my new bike.  Makes me want to hop on a bike and ride around Austin!
• There's a place called Czech Stop along the drive from Dallas to Austin.  It's like a truck stop, but with a line practically out the door.  And what are people waiting for?!  Their famous kolaches!  They're little pastries and pockets of meat that are darn tasty.  I tried lemon and cream cheese, blueberry and cream cheese, ham and cheese, and sausage (between our 2 stops at Czech Stop, there and back).  

Who knew?!

Blueberry and cream cheese kolache

• In downtown Austin, there were a few areas that had permanent swings installed, right outside of shops.  Picture walking around downtown Seattle and coming across a swing hanging outside of Niketown, with a kid swinging on it, and another one in front of Macy's.  I thought it was pretty cool!  If we hadn't been on our way to dinner to meet my friend Sean, and if there hadn't already been kids on the ones we saw, I may just have had to stop for a little swing.  :)
• You know how in Washington and on the west coast we have rest stops along the freeway, and they sometimes have a refreshments area with treats for donation, bathrooms, and maybe a couple picnic tables?  In Texas, there are picnic areas along the freeways!  As in, no restrooms, just a huge area with lots of picnic tables and people stopped to eat at them.  Seemed like a good idea... I've just never seen that before!  Makes me want to pack a picnic for long drives...

Overall, Austin is one cool city.  It's definitely not very Texas (it still has tendencies, of course) and I felt very at home there.  It's more alternative than the rest of the state, with so much amazing food to try, things to do, music to listen to, snowcones to eat, and I even saw women with my haircut.  It was a miracle.  :)  I really hope to make it back to Austin for ACL again soon!!!

Happy anniversary to meeee!

May 23rd.  It's a big day for me.  One year ago today, I was at UWMC having brain surgery.  Brain surgery!!!  It still blows my mind, a year later.

The day I officially became badass, aided in part by Coolio braids

I just re-read all of my blog entries from the day of surgery (courtesy of guest blogger Steph) and through my pathology appointment.  What a crazy time.  Sometimes I still feel like things are crazy, and I'm fully of the belief now that life is crazy.  It's nuts.  And I am so, so lucky for all that I have in life.  Yes, there's a little brain tumor hanging out in my head.  But man, I have so much more to be thankful for.  I am a very lucky girl.

With my lovely lady friend Casey in Austin this weekend... life is pretty good

I'm not doing much to celebrate/recognize my anniversary today, as I'm still in Dallas for work (but looking forward to heading home to Seattle day after tomorrow).  However, I am thinking of having an informal happy hour at somewhere in Seattle on the day of my 1-year MRI (Thursday, June 14th).  I'd love to celebrate a year of clean MRIs with friends.  Plan to join me (I'm knocking on wood so as not to jinx myself) after I get the news of a good scan!  :)

Oh, and if you DO want to do something today, please make a donation to the Portland Brain Tumor Walk.  I'm really excited and am still quite a ways from my goal (which is $1 higher than I raised last year).  Thank you!!!

Dallas observations

Howdy, ya'll!  I'm in Dallas for 2 weeks (with a slight hiatus into Austin this weekend) and have had my peepers focused on all of the culture down here.  Here's what I've noted:

• Texas drivers are CRAZY!!!!  I have a rental car, so I've been in the mix of things.  They drive FAST (I'm on board for that), don't signal, cross 5 lanes of traffic like it's nothing diagonally, and do it all in their giant vehicles.  There are freeways and highways everywhere through Dallas, and they're all huge (5 lanes each way or so) with crazy on and off ramps that seem totally inefficient and a little dangerous.  Merging is optional, cutting off other drivers is the norm, freeway lanes aren't painted, and stinking "exit only" lanes are never marked as that.  (I've had some "exit only" close calls.)  I love driving at home but Dallas makes me nervous!
• Luckily I brought my trusty GPS along to accompany me.  But because there are so many freeways (with a TON of road construction going on), my GPS gets confused.  We have driven from the hotel to the office 4 mornings now, and the GPS has literally taken us on a different route every morning.  No joke.  I wonder how it will get us to "Hotels point com" (as it announces) tomorrow...?!
• Are you thirsty?  Luckily when you order "iced tea" or "a coke", they bring you this at some places:

Get thirsty yo.

• Everyone here is SO FRIENDLY!  At the hotel, at work, out and about.  Sooo nice.  It's refreshing.  (Although, they are NOT nice drivers...)
• I went to dinner with my friend Kayla last night, and she told me about a couple common Dallas things that I can't help but notice a lot now.  Everywhere has valet parking!  And it's not optional!  We went to a restaurant last night and they valeted her car into a spot in a lot about 10 feet away.  It's not like they park them in garages down the street; they park them in a lot directly in front of you.  It's silly because it takes more time to valet than just to park yourself, but apparently it's the Texas way of doing things.  It's a little silly, although it was handy tonight when my coworker and I ventured to a busy neighborhood for dinner.  I didn't have to worry about finding parking!  Win!
• The other Dallas-y thing Kayla told me about are the people who work out, go to brunch/drinks/dinner in their workout gear, and then continue their workouts after.  There were people at the restaurant last night in cute workout clothes who clearly had just been working out (but were also all dolled up).  It's bizarre.  My workout clothes are NOT cute enough for such odd things.
• There is a Sprinkles cupcake shop here in Dallas, and I got to try them for the first time today.  Let me tell you, my coconut cupcake totally exceeded my expectations.  YUM.  But not only were there delicious treats to be had, there was also great people watching too.

I am bummed my covert photo did not pick up her shoulder-length purple feather earrings too.

Sooo cute!  And probably tasty...

• There are open toed shoes everywhere.  This is probably not surprising.
• I see women in Seattle with my haircut pretty regularly.  I'm now trained to spot them (kind of like tall guys).  Well, I've been here for 4 days and have not seen a single woman with my haircut nor anything close.  Big, blonde hair: check.  Pixies of any sort: *crickets chirping*  It's okay though, makes me feel even that much more chic!! :)

I'm off to Austin tomorrow with my lady friend Casey and am meeting my man friend Sean for dinner.  I'm really excited for a fun roadtrip and weekend!!

It's not rocket science

I read Gawker on a daily basis during my bus commute, and it keeps me up to date on happenings and snark out there in the world.  This week they posted a fantastic little article about a craniotomy that was live tweeted.  It's like "Brain Surgery for Dummies."  Might I recommend you check out "Brain Surgery: A D.I.Y. Guide"?!?

Borrowed... okay, stolen (allegedly!) from Gawker

Please note: I did NOT click on any of allegedly and potentially graphic links within the article, because I do not care to see live surgery pictures or what have you.  But otherwise, I loved the article.  I think you will too.  ;)  And I don't know who only gets a 2" by 2" square of hair shaved; some of us are much more badass when it comes to that (links to my incision money shot... you've been warned.).

This weekend includes fancy dinner with friends tonight, Breakfast Club tomorrow with an possible pedicure to follow, a Stupid Cancer picnic, a homecooked meal, and a little ol' flight to Dallas for 2 weeks (with a weekend in Austin thrown in for good measure).  I hope you all have a great weekend too!

Two steps forward, zero steps back

I think I'm out of my slump, or nearly there.  Amen!  I went and had a quick meet-and-greet with a counselor tonight after work (recommended by a friend), who has a slightly alternative approach and involves art in her therapy.  She was young and seemed really nice and approachable, with a very soothing and comfortable little office.  I scheduled a full meeting with her for a few weeks from now to try her out.  I'm hoping she'll be a good person for me to talk to, whether I'm feeling slumpy or not.  I can't help but think that talking with a professional will only do good things for my mental health and emotions, even when I'm happy as a clam.  And I'm close.  :)

Cliche-ly stopping to smell the roses (or other flowers that are available)

And in other good progress...  I told a guy about my little tumor friend on a recent 3rd date, and he didn't run away!  Ha!  He said it doesn't change anything or make a difference, asked me a few questions, and mentioned that he thought I'd say something worse (after I prefaced with, "I have something important about myself to tell you.").  I also let it slip that I have 3 kids, but they all live with their respective baby-daddies, so it ain't no thang.  Anyway, it was a big relief and nice to have it out there and not hidden.  Who knows how things will progress, but it feels great to have my fear turn out to be total crap (at least in this case).  Ahhh....  :)

In unrelated news, my tumor-dominating friend Krystal is starting chemotherapy this Friday to try and kick some more tumor cell ass, so please keep her in your thoughts for a successful and smooth treatment!

We invaded Canada

I'm a wee bit behind, what with all the excitement of my waning slump to talk about (I need a "sarcasm" font), but I went to Victoria, British Columbia recently with my seester Amy and cousin Steph and a bunch of friends to celebrate her upcoming nuptials!  We ate, we drank, we walked, we shopped, we tea-d, we danced, we smelled the flowers, we got VIP access to the bar, we got asked to model for a fashion photographer, we got legit food and drink recommendations from Wiley, we learned it's nearly impossible to get a pedicure in Victoria, and all had a pretty fantastic time.  Cheers to Amy!!  (All photos courtesy of Steph!  Woot!  And are in no particular order...)

AMAZING dinner and drinks at Venuto (sp?)

Walking into the Fairmont Empress for high tea

Wind!  Water!  Heart!  Gooo planet!

The bachelorette doing her thang to the country/rock cover band

Butchart Gardens' Sunken Garden (my favorite)

Mid dance photo opp!

Look how fancy and classy we are during high tea

Yup, that seems about right...

Butchart

I heart the china they use at the Fairmont!

It was a really great long weekend and I think everyone had a blast!!  Woo hoo!

Big things

Numero uno: I passed the $1,000 fundraising mark today for the Portland Brain Tumor Walk!!  Woo hoo!!!  I'm making fantastic progress towards my goal.  Thank you to everyone that has donated already!  I love this event so much.  :)

Domination.

Numero dos: I met up tonight with my friend Jess, a fellow tumor dominator, and we caught up and compared notes about our experiences.  It is soooo nice to do that.  We are part of a pretty exclusive club, so it's nice when we're able to get a club meeting organized.  Plus she has something interesting up her sleeve.  To be continued!

Numero tres: My funk is slipping away (I think).  My appetite is back, as are the few pounds that left with it, and I'm feeling more upbeat.  I'm still meeting with a counselor next week but I think that would be a good thing for me to do regardless.  This life stuff is nuts and sometimes it just helps to talk to someone whose job it is to listen.

That's the end of my Spanish list of big things.  Happy Dos de Mayo, amigos!

Sucky sleepy time

I met with Dr. D this morning for my weekly sleep chat, and we talked about my progress, or lack thereof.  We've been extending the amount of time I can be in bed each night and am finally at a length of time similar to when I would normally go to bed before we started all this sleep doc business.  And I feel just as tired and think I'm getting the same quality (read: low) of sleep that I got before.  Things feel no different.

Dr. D finally told me today, "I'm not sure what else we can do."  Awesome.  I'm meeting with him again in 4 weeks, after I get back from Dallas (upcoming work trip).  In the meantime, I don't have to log my sleep each morning like I do now, but I should try and stay on a sleep schedule, adjusting the amount of time I can stay in bed each night as necessary.  He also thinks that since my sleep has been poor for so long (i.e. years, a decade or so) that I can't expect it to improve overnight (pun intended).  Perhaps I need to be more patient and lower my expectations of the process a bit.

He thinks that there are other things in my life that are likely impacting my sleep, like stress from work and my tumor and the love life issues I'm struggling with.  I'm sure he's right but am not sure what can be changed about these things.  He also told me that if a guy rejects me because of my tumor, he's a very shallow man and not someone worth wasting my time on.  Dr. D is in the majority of people I've talked to that thinks I won't be rejected because of my tumor.  I hope everyone is right...!

I'm continuing to feel totally disoriented about time when I wake up in the middle of the night (which I think I've mentioned before and is a new development since surgery).  Like last night, I woke up, saw it was 2:45am on the clock, and I could NOT comprehend if that meant I could go back to sleep or if I needed to get up and shower.  I saw it was really dark out, but that didn't help, as my brain couldn't figure out what that meant either.  It's very confusing and bizarre, and last night it probably took 30 seconds before I realized that I could go back to sleep and that my alarm would wake me up in a few hours and I hadn't slept through work.  It's so weird.

I am feeling pretty exhausted tonight and am hopeful that it means I'll be able to konk out pretty quickly once I get in bed.  Fingers crossed! (Zzzzz....)