Fashion | Chartreuse & Recycling from my Wardrobe

I still haven't bought any clothes other than exercise wear this year and I refuse to! I'm retired and I have tons of cloths that I just don't wear any longer. They're either suits, dresses, skirts, tops, and sweaters that are items that I would either wear to work, church or events like dinner dates with hubby, weddings, funerals, birthday parties or out to lunch with friends.  So my wardrobe is really complete with these clothes and shoes i've been collecting for the last 20 yrs.

Fitness | More Weight Loss Progress Photos

It's something about taking locker room photos.... you have to wait for everyone to pass by and then hurry and take your photos before someone else passes by.  I never want to have anyone in my photos in fear of being sued! I'm happy where I'm at right now in terms of weight, strength and stamina.  I'm slowly increasing the weights on my lower body routine. I carry a lot of fat around my hips and thighs as most women do which takes these areas the longest to develop muscle. Actually i'm lifting pretty heavy and they say that the process for building muscle and replacing fat is a slow and steady one as long as the weightlifting is consistent.  My upper body is constantly showing muscle development which I'm very proud of so I will continue with the same upper body routines that I've been doing to stay on track.

Lifestyle | Why Meal Replacement Shakes Work for Losing Weight

I have been slowly cutting back on meals in an effort to lose some weight so that I could fit into my size 4 jeans. The irony is that I love my selection of jeans and I never wanted to buy anymore in large sizes. Like many of us I have about 15 pairs of jeans mostly stretched in blacks, blues, whites, some ripped and some are capri's and they are all size 4's.  I haven't been able to wear most of them because I could never fit them over my thighs let alone my butt. So instead of buying more in larger sizes I vowed to lose some weight. These were the first pair that I tried on and they fit so I was happy. 

Lifestyle | Why Snacking on Dried Fruits & Nuts Gives me Joy

I never really paid much attention to dried fruits and nuts until my cancer diagnosis. I never really ate them because I always thought that dried fruits contained too much sugar.  Sugar... even natural sugar was my enemy or so I thought.  My snacks of choice was popcorn and pretzels, while I still enjoy a bowl of popcorn & pretzels mixed together, I will only eat it once or twice a week now.

Lifestyle | My Vitamin & Herbal Protocol for Ovarian Cancer

I am currently in remission from my diagnosis of Stage 2 Ovarian Cancer, you can read my initial story here written June 2016. Since then, I've had a hysterectomy and 6mos of chemotherapy. Before chemo, my CA-125 (cancer marker) was 54.9. When my chemo ended in Jan 2017, my CA-125 was at 6.9. The normal range is 0.0 to 0.34 so i'm within range. At the time of this writing, it is currently 6.6.

As we all know, remission doesn't mean that our cancer is completely gone from our system, it just means that there is no cancer activity or that the cancer cells have become inactive.  From the time that I finished chemo which was Jan 2017, I have been doing a huge number of things on my own to keep the cancer from returning. I should note that am not taking any prescribed medications, my body was pretty healthy before the cancer diagnosis so I suspect it will return to it's former state at some point.  All while I was having chemo, I was immersed in reading and research and was determined to put together a protocol that I could take daily to help my body recover from the effects of chemo and to boost my immune system which would ultimately keep the cancer in remission.

Sewing | Victorian Lace Skirt & Sweetheart Top

I'm so happy that the weather is finally warming up so that I can wear this lace skirt and top that I made last winter.  Awhile back I posted a fabric haul  along with a video showing all the beautiful fabric that I purchased from the garment district in downtown LA.  I particularly purchased some pink lace to make a Victorian lace skirt that I had seen a photo of on Pinterest. Well, this is the first of three skirts that I plan on making. I didn't use a pattern for this skirt, rather I used an actual wrapped skirt that I already had hanging in my closet. I just laid the skirt on top of the fabric and cut it out the best I could. However, I didn't want it to be a wrap skirt I just wanted it to have some flare and most of my skirt are pretty straight.  I closed up the seams with a zipper and made it fitted around the hips.