October Begins in Magical Realism

Two Fridays ago…yoga was good (I like the Friday instructor, a curvy actress type with a throaty voice and a slightly twisted sense of humor.) Went home and A had picked up white wine and fresh bread to make bruschetta with the fresh figs, lavender honey, and bleu cheese. The bleu cheese was so strong though, it made the whole thing taste like dirt. (I think it was a particularly pungent cheese, but every since I did that detox last year I’ve been off cheese and tomatoes, which I used to love. Bah.) So had one like that and then the rest were just balsamic, figs, honey and bread, toasted slightly in the panini press. (aka George Foreman grill.)

Saturday we got up pretty late, A asked me to go out looking for a mask for the party that night, so we took a walk downtown. It was hot and I meant to eat more than we did, which was a shared slice of pizza, but we ran out of time before I had to head uptown for a swim, so I snagged an apple and some juice to eat on the way. Big mistake. Huge. Got in the water and was feeling okay, good even, until mile 5 or so. I think it was a combination of not enough calories to support the exercise (bonking) and seeing that darn bridge for the last 2.5 miles. I know intellectually that the bridge never gets closer/further until you are under it, but that doesn’t help when mentally you are going through the depths of hell wondering why you’re not moving, even if you are. Finally I came to the marina and I was done. Back in the land of two-legged monsters. Saw lots of friends, got changed, then got the heck out of there. Had some food, then got showered dressed for an Egypt themed party. Party was okay, very neat venue but I just wasn’t feeling it. I’ve been out of sorts lately. We hung out a bit, shared a bottle of champagne, then went home to sleep. Sunday we woke up late, went to breakfast at our local diner, then went to open houses. Monday woke up early and went to 6am boot camp class. Worked from home, then had an appointment for hair color in early afternoon. Went into the office for a video-conference with Melbourne around 6pm, then met A for dinner.

Tuesday my friend D met me and A at our gym, and we did the battle ropes followed by yoga with my favorite instructor. It was a tough class but he did really well! There was a party with food and drink for gym members, so we showered and met up for wine/crudite/chocolate mousse. Hung out a bit which was so much fun, then walked him back up to his office in Tribeca. He had work to finish up but A and I went to a nearby tavern for some food and a beer. Walked home from there, trying to make the most of summer.

Wednesday was just a regular day at the office, I had to do some phone interviews for a new team member to replace a colleague who took another job internally. Headed to midtown for yoga and then battle ropes class, the instructor let us know the circuit class was being replaced by kickboxing. Um, no. So mad.

Thursday was a nice day with lots of people in the office, we went to lunch at Haru, and afterwards I went to Tabata protocol class then yoga. I don’t like to go to that class by myself since he has us do partner exercises a lot, but there was only one that time and it wasn’t too height or weight dependent so I asked another girl to pair with me and it was fine. (It is completely pathetic how much things like this stress me out.)

Friday was pretty uneventful at work, quite productive actually, then I left early to get a haircut. I did not go to my usual guy because he is pretty basic, does a nice job with highlights/cut I usually get, but wasn’t sure I trusted him to do a completely new style. I went to a girl Haley who I used to get blowouts from, she only does haircuts and I usually like to get color/cut done at once, but thought she’d be perfect for this since she always had cool, creative hairstyles with bangs. I went in, told her what I wanted, she was a little resistant until I told her why I wanted bangs cut. I was really nervous but ended up surprisingly really liking them. Walked out feeling good, came home and saw A, who was happy to see his “new” girlfriend.

Got dressed up and headed out for opening night of the New York Film Festival, the world premiere of “Gone Girl.” Here is the dress and hair:

Movie was good, I know people really loved the book so I don’t want to give anything away but I think fans of book will like it. I love Ben Affleck and it was fun to see Tyler Perry in a “serious” role and NPH in a creepy one. They all looked great in person too. After the movie we took subway home, I think I read for a while and went to bed.

Saturday was early wake up time to head to Coney Island for a swim. Saw lots of friends which was really nice. Did the mile distance, with A for his first standalone open water swim! (He had done open water swims as part of triathlons before.) I did the swim butterfly with a swim friend and it felt really good.

A is behind the large tan man with the beard:

After the swim I got hosed off, dressed, and A came and met me in the waiting area. He got dressed and went back to the beach to watch the longer swims come in. They told us to come in for awards - my friend C called my name and I thought he was joking but I’d gotten 3rd female overall and 1st in my age group. Maybe I should always swim butterfly. A even got first place in his age group - I was so proud! Hung out for a bit, ate a sandwich, then took the subway home. Did some work, took a nap, had my last glass of wine for a long time, then went out for another screening at Lincoln Center. This one was “Map to the Stars” - very weird movie. Not sure I loved it, but it was interesting at least. A hated it. We went home, I read and drank water, went to sleep.

Sunday we woke up pretty early, had diner breakfast, then went to several open houses. There were two places I really loved, but I just don’t have the mental energy to even go through the offer process again right now. We got icecream at 16 Handles, groceries and got ready to start the week. I ended up doing work until very late Sunday night.

Monday I had to go to the hospital at 9am for the very uncomfortable removal of a skin cancer tumor from my forehead. I still am not sure what to say about this, but I probably should write about it, so I am forcing myself. It’s such a freak thing, I am the most careful person ever about the sun, but unfortunately on three of my channel swims I did get burned in a few small areas where suit/cap rubbed off my layer of zinc, and the tumor is right on the capline, so assuming that is what caused it. It took 5 rounds before it was all gone and then they stitched me up. I was thinking once they removed it all that would be the end of things (other than the lovely jagged three inch incision on my forehead, thankfully covered by new bangs) but unfortunately it seems to have gotten too deep close to nerves/lymph system so has risk of traveling. So this is going to be an ongoing thing for a while at least. Was late afternoon by the time they finished with me, so A and I walked to Central Park, sat on a park bench ate a salad, and walked home. It was a nice day, lots of little kids playing soccer on various fields. Lots of dogs out too. Went home and went to sleep.

Tuesday I was hurting but not too swollen/bruised, took Tylenol and worked from home since I couldn’t shower for 24 hours. Around 5pm A got home, I showered and blew out my hair, and we went out to see a screening of the Saint Laurent biopic. It was very good. Somehow every New York Film Festival movie we’ve seen this year has had at least one instance of male full frontal nudity. Last year I think the theme was bathroom sex, this year it’s definitely penises. Went home, went to sleep.

Wednesday I woke up very swollen but mostly on my right side of face (below the incision, I guess the local anesthetic travels down and swells the face as it works itself out) but went into the office. Busy morning, then in the afternoon I had another appointment, this time with an oncologist. He basically said there are tests I need to have done after am recovered from the surgery, so I should have more tests and discuss treatment plan next month. I am trying to put it out of my mind for now. After the appointment we walked through the park again, then went home. I zonked out. Woke up around 9pm and we headed out to a concert at Webster Hall. We got there just in time for the opening band was Linus Young, they were okay but the headliner, Tove Lo, was truly awesome. Sang all of her (wonderful) songs, danced around, had great stage presence. I wasn’t in the mood but I was still completely enchanted. Walked home, Empire State Building a lovely lilac color, then did some work and went to sleep.

Woke up this morning, Thursday, both sides of face swollen now. Showered, blowdried, put on a cute dress and went to work anyway. Today I will go to sleep early but have a work trip I have to fly for tomorrow. Luckily just an in-and-out, but I just don’t wanna. I can’t swim, I can’t drink, I can’t work out, who am I?

Last updated October 02, 2014