As many of you know, I love to travel. This cancer shit really put a dent in some big 2012 travel plans. I was supposed to go to Montana for Labor Day with my parents to visit my brother, his wife, and my adorable nephews. We were going to rent a cabin, visit hot springs, and have a nice family vacation. (P.S. The fires in the mountains would've canceled our plans)
I was supposed to go to Montreal with my friend, Kristin. She was gonna run a half marathon (show-off) and I was gonna sleep in. We were even toying around with the idea of going to Vermont for a night at a fancy B&B while pretending to be a lesbian couple enjoying the fall colors of New England. Don't ask why I thought it would fun to pretend to be lesbians...something about autumn and Vermont and B&Bs. I was funnier in my head...
Kristin and I were also supposed to go to Puerto Rico for Thanksgiving. The year before we went to NYC and decided to do an annual Thanksgiving trip somewhere. My friend, Ashley, and I were supposed to go to Vegas for her birthday and celebrate her entrance to her Doctorate program (aka last vacation for a while).
But I did manage to get in two trips to San Francisco last year! They were for work, but I got to see a good friend both times, and I loooooooooooooooove the food in that city. It's a life goal to live there at some point in my life. Just waiting for the right time...
So, life sometimes changes your plans - got it, cool, I can handle that. I'm a great planner. I love planning trips, parties, get togethers, happy hours, even hospital visits :) So I planned the shit out of my breaks between chemo and surgery and more chemo.
After recovering from chemo, but before my last surgery, me and three of my girlfriends (who had never met each other), went to Vegas. Yes, Vegas baby. I had been twice before, but for work only. I'd had vendors wine and dine me, but it's just not the same as partying with friends. And we did it up. Got a suite at the Palazzo, which is attached to the Venetian, and upgraded to a club level. Club level includes a private check in (don't have to wait in those awful Vegas check-in lines) with a Champagne welcome (and we brought additional champagne for the room). The club is open for breakfast until 9 am (or 10?), as much bottled water as you can carry, afternoon hors d'ourvres from 5-8pm and open bar from 5-7pm (including champagne), and I think dessert until 10pm, but who's around the hotel at 10pm in Vegas? Plus we have a troupe of concierges available to assist with anything - they'll unpack/pack your bags if you want (and damn it, i didn't have the balls to ask them to unpack me!)
We ate a tons of really good meals - one of which is a top 5 ever meal! I splurged one night when we went to Circo, a new "cirque" restaurant at the Bellagio, overlooking the fountains (of course!). I got the chef's tasting menu, plus the premier wine pairing (which comes with your very own sommelier, the snooty wine guy). It was a three and a half hour meal - just freaking amazing. Afterwards we went to the 10pm Cirque de Soleil show of O. I was so happy in my belly that I fell asleep a half dozen times. Now I've got to see it again.
Oh, and check this out - my friend Morgen, who flew in from Austin, TX, had asked her friend from Vegas for some suggestions of things to do. Told this friend about my "situation" and wanting to have a weekend to relax, eat, drink, see a show, and feel a little sexy. This friend told another friend, who got her church to raised money from a bake sale to give me a great vacation. They sent me to the Canyon Ranch spa at my hotel for a mani-pedi (seriously best mani/pedi ever), sent me a gift package of natural, smell-good lotions and candles and a gift card for dinner. They even wanted to take me to a salon to get my hair and makeup did (I politely declined as we had other plans for the afternoon). How amazing is that? How incredibly sweet, and thoughtful, and kind? The kindness of strangers exists. Good karma coming back at ya!
After recovering from my liver surgery, but before I started chemo again, I fit in a two week traveling bonanza! Four nights in Paris, back home for a night, three nights in SFO, took the red-eye home, crashed for a couple of hours, packed a bag and drove four hours to the beach for the weekend.
Paris was AWESOME! My friend Jenn, who lives in London now, met me in Paris. We rented a flat on airbnb.com (it's like VRBO). It was in the 11th arrondissement (close to the Bastille and the Marais) and on the fifth floor. And in Europe, the first floor is up a floor from the street level. But the flat was great! We rented bikes and rode all around town. Checked out the Eiffel Tour, which still takes my breath away to just hang out in the park, take pics, and people watch with this magnificent piece of art as the backdrop. Went to the Rodin museum and saw some really cool sculptures in the beautiful gardens. Went to a jazz club and turned back the clock to the roaring 20s. And of course ate some fabulous meals and drank way too much good french wine.
Of course San Francisco was fantastic. I went to a conference for two days and hung out with some old colleagues/friends. Funny enough, a colleague in my same group was there too. Our offices are on the same floor in Charlotte - how did we not know each other was attending? We went to one of the newest restaurants in the city - Coqueta, from chef Michael Chiarello. It had been open 35 days and we snagged a table with our east coast dinner times - Senior Specials at 5:30pm baby! First night was Flour & Water, second night was Betlenut, and fourth night was Prospect. It's no wonder that I've gained weight through the chemo. Doctor told me not to loss weight - I'm an overachiever - I gained weight :)
And the beach was relaxing. I went to Litchfield beach to meet up with my aunt and uncle, cousin, aunt's BFF, and her daughter who grew up with my cousin. My aunt and uncle rented a 40 ft sailboat on Saturday so we tooled around the ocean for 8 hours enjoying white wine sangria and sunning on the bow. There was also Sunday tea with fancy place settings, finger sandwiches, and desserts.
And then I started chemo on Thursday. So screw you cancer. I'm keeping my Silver Preferred status on US Airways, bitch!
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