I love Spring. It’s probably my favorite season. I love the feeling of rebirth and renewal. Glancing at my garden, I start to ponder what goodies I want to plant this year. I’m anxious to hang paper lanterns and place cushions on patio furniture. I want to put up the large umbrella and drink sweet tea on the cozy swing. I have to continue to be patient since more rain is on the way. Here’s how things are looking so far…

I just spotted this sweet nest.

I’m still loving my new Letraset Aqua Markers! They’re super easy to use and they don’t make a mess. All you have to do is first sketch a drawing with a pencil. Afterwards outline it with a thin black Sharpie and then erase all pencil marks. You then start filling in the image with your colored Letreset markers. Use the thin tip for small areas, and the large tip for bigger areas. You can blend the colors by using watercolor brushes dipped quickly in water (just a tiny bit of water will do the trick). The paper dries super fast, and you have a painting before you know it! I prefer Arches acid free watercolor paper (140# hot pressed). Give it a try, you’ll be surprised how easy it is and I guarantee you’ll have a blast!

Here are two Pretty Girls I recently created:

 

Have a superfantabulous day and remember to:

Emma’s god mother, one of my dearest pals, went on a spur of the moment trip to Napa last week. Sometimes last minute plans turn out to be the best. Emma was on Spring break, and Carey was able to sneak away from work.The time was right!

Emma and I arrived a day early and quickly checked into our room. Emma is a great driver and took the wheel the entire two hours. It’s great to have a kid with a driver’s license….even though I snoozed with one eye open.

We were happy to see a Chevy’s restaurant when we pulled into town, the one near us has closed down. We had a nice lunch and afterwards browsed through all the cute boutiques. We fell in love with bling at an estate jewelry store. Emma tried on a $40,000 diamond ring and we both oooh’d and aaah’d.

Being die-hard Bikram yoginis now, we scouted out a studio nearby and went to the 4:30 class. It was really fun to experience a new studio, new teacher, and new students. After sweating up a storm, we went back to the room, showered and crashed in our big cozy beds. We weren’t too hungry, so we just munched on fruit, peanut butter and pretzels while watching The Big Bang Theory….we love that show!

Sweet Carey arrived early the next day and we headed off for a delicious lunch at a nearby cafe. Afterwards we found a mall, and did some shopping. Have you been in Penney’s lately? They totally revamped the store! Adorable work-out clothes!

In the early evening, we went back to the yoga studio for another 90 minute session in a hot room. That night we had a room service picnic on one of the fluffy beds. We all sat Indian style while we munched on cibatta BLT’s, baby spinach salad, fresh beet salad (utterly amazing!) and crab cakes. We sipped ice teas and chatted non-stop for hours.

It was wonderful to have girl time and laugh from my belly. I came home feeling blessed to have such lovely souled peeps in my life.

Well a of couple weeks ago I finally hit my goal weight of 135lbs. In February 2011 I actually weighed a whopping 235lbs. I’m now in the healthy BMI range….yahoo! I’m not sure how my small 5’3″ frame managed to get up to such a high weight…..a combination of PD drugs, lack of exercise, bad food choices, crazy portions, and gummy worms. My Parkinson’s symptoms were increasing, it was hard to walk, and my liver was showing signs of first stage NASH. I was one sick puppy. This all led me to do something I never thought I would do, have bariatric surgery. I was actually insulted when the gastroenterologist first made this suggestion. The more we talked, the more it made sense. It turned out to be the best decision of my life. I feel better than I have in years….physically, mentally, and spiritually.

I think bariatric surgery is often misunderstood. Here are a few questions that I’ve been asked:

• 1) Do you throw-up all the time? NO! I threw up a few times in the beginning when my tummy was adjusting to new foods. It was short lived and went away very quickly.
• 2) What do you eat now? I now eat very healthy whole food. I try to keep sugar grams under 10 grams at each meal…..I no longer crave sweets. A typical day looks like this: Breakfast~Steel cut oatmeal with walnuts and a few raisins. Lunch~grilled chicken salad with fresh orange slices and more nuts. Mid-Day snack~ Protein shake Dinner~salmon and lots of veggies. I also adore fresh berries mixed with cottage cheese and yogurt. It’s important to keep protein levels between 60 and 80 grams per day. I no longer eat bread, pasta, rice, milk, or ice cream. It’s funny how the body adjusts. I never thought I could do without these things and now I don’t miss them at all. I also try to drink at least 60 ounces of water a day. The Bikram yoga has really helped me bump up my H2o intake.
• Do you ever regret doing the surgery? Never! It was the right decision for me.
• What has been the biggest challenge with the procedure? Hmmm…probably for me is the hair loss. I lost some hair which is actually fairly common. It’s now growing back but it is a different texture, kind of wavy. Love my flat iron these days.
• Have you had any post surgical problems? Two months after the procedure I had a stenosis, which is when the opening to the intestines starts to close up. A simple dilation procedure fixed the problem.
• Can you gain the weight back? You betcha! They call it eating around the pouch. You have to watch high calorie liquids such as Frappacinos and high calorie smoothies. Weight loss surgery is only a tool, you really do have to make life style changes to succeed. Exercise is an important part of success, as well as portion control.
• Did your insurance cover the surgery? Yes. I fell into the morbidly obese category which qualified me as a candidate for the procedure.
• Did it hurt afterwards? Yes. When you wake up from surgery you basically feel like crap. However it’s short lived and I recovered quicker than I anticipated.
• Would you do it again? In a blink of an eye!
• What’s the best part of the surgery? Oh my, the list goes on and on! No more snoring, normal blood counts (my cholesterol went from 237 to 162, and my liver enzymes are perfectly normal now), being able to ride my bike, walk, and talk without getting out of breath, shopping for cute clothes, Fewer PD symptoms, feeling stronger, finding myself again, sleeping soundly, no more joint pain, being able to cross my legs comfortably again, doing hot yoga for 90 minutes straight, feeling feminine and energetic!

That’s just a quick peek into the world of Gastric Bypass Surgery. Feel free to ask me any questions, I’m always willing to share my experience. Here’s to a healthy mind, body and spirit!