after a few months of being in our new home we felt something was missing. we had lots of love to give and wanted to share it but since i don't have a ring yet getting knocked up wasn't an option, so we decided to get a puppy! actually it wasn't that easy, i had to convince jack (and our mothers) that i really wanted a puppy and that i was ready for the responsibility. after much convincing, 100's of links to adorable puppies, and a pet store visit that left me in tears after playing with the sweetest pup ever jack started to take me serious. after doing research we decided that adopting was the best option for us as it allowed us to save a puppy's life and give it a life of love that it wouldn't have otherwise. we spent days searching on petfinder, starring our favorites, reading the background stories, and emailing the adoption agencies...then one day we saw charlie! actually, we saw rumple charlie's brother who had a face full of wrinkles that made us forget about every other dog we looked at! immediately i filled out an application then jack realized rumple and his sisters were going to be at an adoption event at petco that weekend; the only problem we were hosting a lunch party at our house the day of the adoption and the petco was over an hour away so that wasn't an option...or so i thought. that saturday we woke up early to prep the apartment for the get together but we couldn't stop thinking of rumple. i told jack "if he's not adopted by tomorrow, it was meant to be", he said "f that", rented a zipcar, and were off! we got the car at 10am to try and make it by the 11am start time, meanwhile; we had guests arriving at our home at 2pm...it was one crazy morning to say the least. the car ride down to jersey was filled with anxiety and excitement, it was a race to the finish line we had made it this far, coming home without rumple wasn't an option. (*side note we knew we were going to name our puppy charlie from the get) we made it to petco at 11am on the dot and ran inside to get our boy. once we saw rumple and his sisters we melted and it confirmed our feelings and how stinking cute that bunch was; it was time to get aggressive and make our move before someone tried to snag our pup...except it turned out someone beat us to it, rumple was on hold! devastation didn't last long because there was crinkle (soon to be our girl charlie), with her 4 pound body and big wrinkled paws! we filled out the application on site, they called our references, we filled out some papers, paid some fees, then we heard "crinkle meet your parents" ::heart melts:: and we were off! we picked up some puppy necessities (except a cute outfit and bow because my boyfriend vetoed it immediately, jerk!). that saturday our girl charlie was super mellow and very into being cuddled, we thought what a good apartment dog she is, so quiet but were hoping that she'd eventually get used to her new home and start doing puppy activities. on sunday she did just that when she met my little cousins and showed us her playful side as she chased after balls, chewed on ropes, and rolled around on our living room floor with aidan...it was perfect! that night she slept like an angel for about 2 hours then it was chaos she was up every hour crying, so sad but we got through it (we read that was normal for puppies). monday was a different story we got home to diarrhea, that continued the whole night plus vomiting and then we found worms in her stool. so tuesday morning we took her to the vet who after laying eyes on her told us "she's bad, she's really sick!". charlie was severely dehydrated since she was such a tiny thing not holding down anything (we had to force feed her the day before), the vet told us she needed to go to a 24 hour hospital if we wanted to keep her alive. the seriousness in the vets voice and the words that came out of his mouth filled us with fear for so many reasons: what did we do wrong? is she going to make it? how are we going to pay for this? how did petco not see this? at the hospital we got a diagnoses; charlie had parvo and it was killing her, they told us she had a 10% chance of surviving...wtf!? tears, fear, anger, stress, and anxiety took over what was going on? were we about to lose our baby 48 hours after bringing her into our family? i felt a massive amount of guilt, thinking where did we go wrong but the doctor assured me this had nothing to do with us, if anything we were saving her life...charlie was given to us with parvo. 10% chance of living? how could it get any worse? "your total is $3,600" oh please hold while i check my trust fund, oh that's right i don't have one. our only option at that point was to apply for care credit which covered $2,500 just to save her life and hold her over until i could get in touch with petco because something wasn't right. so while jack was in touch and in charge of charlie at the vet it was my job to get in touch with petco and make sure they helped us take care of charlie. a few hours after submitting my initial complaint i got a call from the petco district manager who was kind but told me our main concern should be charlie's health that we'd worry about money later; that made me feel like shit, what a terrible person i was to call about money when we had a dying dog. her tactic worked until 12am on sunday morning when we went to go visit our pup and were hit with "your total is $3,900, your care credit is for $2,500 so we need $1,400"! who has that money just sitting around, not us that's for sure, what is going on!? we love charlie and that's why we are going through all measures to get her back to life but we didn't sign up for this! charlie was supposed to have been in good health not fighting for her life with this deadly disease when we adopted her; now we are stuck clearing out our bank accounts because of petco's negligence! "worry about charlie, then money" we are petco; hence her hospital stay, now us feeding her through tubes, giving her iv treatment in our living room, forcing meds down her throat...we are, but it's not fair we need help! so there is that status with our little princess! thank you everyone for your thoughts, prayers, and love notes for charlie. any puppy of mine is obviously a fighter so we know she'll get through this and once she's all better she'll shower you with slobbery kisses and lots of cuddles!!!
daddy and daughter
prepare yourself for waterworks. while doing my daily wedding research, i found this story about jim zetz and his 11 year old daughter josie. jim was diagnosed was stage 4 pancreatic cancer and josie was heartbroken at the thought of not having her daddy around to create and share memories with down the road...like walking her down the aisle when she grew up. a local photographer got hold of their story and prepared an amazing day for the father and daughter to share with their loved ones; an opportunity for jim to walk josie down the aisle so they could be pronounce "daddy and daughter". here's the video.
the road to recovery...you are what you eat!
“step away from the chocolate” you might as well tell me to die! my sweet tooth is like no other, i’m telling you it’s like i pms for 3 weeks every month with the cravings i get! turns out not only is that sweet tooth ruining my waistline but it’s messing with my health and that’s when i need to reevaluate. i will do anything for love (or at least my love of chocolate) but i won’t do that…that being putting my baby making area at any further risk! no, no, no! for the first week post-surgery i was on a strict diet: jello, apple sauce, ginger ale, and saltine crackers. a week after surgery i was at dinner celebrating my mother’s birthday and ordered a chicken parm with no pasta just salad…it kicked my ass! omg my stomach was in severe pain that whole night and the following day and let's be clear i didn't feast I legit had 1/4 of the chicken (palm size) and it kicked my ass! after that day i tried to be extra careful with what i ate but to my surprise what i thought to be simple and harmless were secret killers: coffee, cheese, certain proteins, and worst of all cookies, cakes and candy (shocker.)! as if the recovery period wasn't tough enough with all the holes in me and my insides all messed up i had to deal with pain from eating, not happening...so i turned for help!
when i first started writing about my battle with endometriosis my inbox was flooded with support. one person in particular, catherine cuello, stood out as her words of support came from experience. catherine constantly offered words of encouragement and more importantly a solution; from the very beginning she stressed the importance of a clean diet. "wait a second is she calling me fat?!" was my initial reaction obviously then i realized by clean diet she meant organic healthy living. to be perfectly honest I didn't that advice seriously until after surgery when certain foods where making me ill, probably because the first week I was on a liquid diet of all things healthy (silver lining: a dropped a few pounds after surgery. don't judge!)
after going through this invasive surgery and having my baby making area at risk it was time to get serious so I reached out to catherine who has recently launched an app greenhopping. the app helps you find your nearest [organic] green juice bar/restaurant and healthy eating options, classified by vegetarian, raw, vegan or gluten free. take a look at my q&a with the freaking amazing and ridiculously helpful and supportive catherine cuello of greenhopping.
1. what exactly is your lifestyle? vegan? vegetarian? just conscious?
i don't like labels but I am a vegan, mostly raw. extremely conscious about what I but in my mouth.... zero processed, packaged, refined sugar or artificial foods. a lot (like everyday, several times a day) smoothies with spinach, veggies at every meal, beans, and quinoa or red rice. eating well is addictive!
2.how long have you been living this lifestyle?
nearly two years... and i've never looked back. almost feel like I was 'missing out' all these years because i've never felt better!
3. why did you decide to change the way you eat and live?
the summer of 2010 i suffered a major health scare. what began as benign ovarian cysts (on both ovaries) ended up in emergency and exploratory surgery. my left cyst was benign on the outside but malignant on the inside, so i ended up losing my left ovary out of precaution. although all tests on 27 of my lymph nodes came back clean, ny doctors still recommended "preventive" rounds of what in my case seemed like, destructive and invasive medicine. at the age of 23, with no present malignancy in my body, doctors wanted me to do 3 months of everyday treatment "just in case" that would potentially mess up my last ovary. luckily, I had some time to think about it because i underwent a fertilization process to freeze eggs. that's when i began to research about other options, and came across kris carr, her story, and the healing power of food. again, i've never looked back.
4. do you feel a difference in your health and the way you live?
COMPLETELY. i feel much more energized and full of life. food affects not only your body (weight, etc) but also your mind. if you feel good in our body, you will also feel good in your mind. this is the most important thing I've learned so far - how powerful the mind body connection can be once you unlock it.
5. how did you do it? i might seem like a brat or like I'm making excuses but as a newbie to this lifestyle change I feel very frustrated.
the diet trend in the usa heavily relies on packaged and processed foods, so at first, you may find yourself a bit lost and confused - what do I eat now? get back to basics - eat simple foods that are filling and nourishing. research the health properties of your favorite veggies or fruits so you know how much good they are doing in your body. i literally changed overnight - my health state was at stake so I went all in, head first. juiced every day, several times a day and just ate raw veggies. avocados with red peppers/onions, carrots, oven baked kale with no salt or oil, broccoli, a ton of fruit (which I love) and some nuts...food in its simplest way. so yes… it may seem difficult at first but it’s either veggies for your health or pills to make it seem like nothing is happening. eventually, it catches up to you… so it’s now or never. take care of yourself!
6. my first shopping trip came out to a lot of money and since it was mostly produce i know i'm going to face that issue again. am I doing something wrong or is it a costly life change?
it’s a costly life change at first until you get yourself settled in and realize what you like. try to buy local – which means eating seasonal. buying organic from another country or state is what ups the price… nonetheless, stick to the extra powerful veggies such as the cruciferous and leafy green family. berries are great for antioxidants, ginger and lemon act as anti-inflammatories and tropical fruits are good for the detox and kidney cleansing. i address these topics on latina magazine’s “the latin Kitchen” through a series called: Mastering The Art Of Being Vegan. i can also be found on people en español talking about the health benefits of certain fruits and vegetables.
7. walk me through your day what do you eat?
morning = my green smoothie!! i've been literally having the same for 2 years straight...i love it! (frozen strawberries, blueberries, 1/2 banana, ginger, 2 handfuls of spinach, raw coconut water, chia seeds). snacks = raw seeds/nuts, oranges, tangerines, grapes etc. lunch = depends on my mood. sometimes i’ll just have 3 or 4 big green juices and a banana… if my body tells me I need it, i’ll have something heavier such as quinoa or sweet potatoes. the app helps you to find great food spots! as a rule of thumb…i try to be raw before dinner. i don’t count calories, quantity, portions or any of that nonsense. if it’s organic, natural and fresh – then have it (fruits, veggies, nuts or seeds). it’s when it comes to whole grains that you may want to be a little wearier of how much you have – but that depends on your weight and health situation. dinner: quinoa with garlic, broccoli and garlic, kale in the oven, red rice, lentils, split pea soup, black beans, red beans, veggie lasagna – no dairy ever (it’s proven to cause inflammation in the body) – buckwheat noodles. for salad dressings: i do not buy anything bottled because it’s full of preservatives; as is everything else that comes in a box or bag. apple cider vinegar is great, olive oil and lemon or white wine vinegar (no sulfites) also works…
8. do you drink coffee?
i don’t drink coffee but only because my parents never drank any while I was growing up. caffeine is equally as bad as alcohol. so try to minimize its intake… coffee and sugar will be the tobacco of our children’s generation.
9. congrats on your app! tell me about!
yes :) thank you! greenhopping’s mission is to make healthy eating and dining easier. the app helps you find your nearest [organic] green juice bar/restaurant and healthy eating options, classified by vegetarian, raw, vegan or gluten free. the condition to be on the app is to serve green juices – and be natural and preservative free. farm fresh to table basically. i launched it because i know how alone and lost i felt when i first started at the age of 23… there’s a beautiful community of like-minded people that lead this kind of lifestyle and make beautiful creations, not to mention raw/healthy desserts that are incredible. it’s not all beer at a bar and chicken wings these days – you don’t have to be what society dictates you to be. In any event, the world is changing as more and more people realize the connection between diet and health or diet and disease. jump on the health wagon!
10. any advice, words of wisdom or encouragement to anyone crossing over to the healthy living world?
if i can do it, anyone can! seriously… I may come across as “health savvy” nowadays, but back in the day i was like everyone else. eating chips and cheddar cheese on everything, and fast food burgers, vodka, etc. i lived to party and get tipsy and flirt with boys. that all stopped when i found myself laying on an operating table and loosing my left ovary. don’t let anyone tell you what and what not to do with your body – diet included. people will be skeptical and annoying, asking you the million “why’s” – why don’t you eat meat, why won’t you drink, why don’t you want pasta? stay true to yourself and answer them to the best of your abilities – it’s none of their business what you eat and don’t eat and it’s your health after all. you know what’s best for you. think of the nutritional value that comes with everything you eat. learn how to listen to your body and feed it what it needs. If one day you want pasta – have pasta. but make sure it’s the best goddamn pasta you’ve ever had. make it yourself or buy it at a health food store to make sure it does not carry any weird preservatives or strange ingredients. oh, and if you can’t read the name of the ingredient, don’t have it!
xoxo catherine
trading in my coffee for some morning greens!
one day at a time i'm going to kick this diseases ass!