sleep study day!

don't i look excited? my hair is now washed and braided, and i'm looking like a 90s r&b singer. at least that's one less thing to do for tonight's sleep study. i need to throw my pajamas and pillow pet ina a bag, shower, eat, and be ready to go by 6:30p.

it's snowing in new york city. this is strange for october. we have to drive through the slush just to get to the sleep lab.

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last night darrel and i drove-- well, he drove us to nassau county in long island to go to the cheesecake factory. i've heard about them for years and never tried it. the food was average, as in most chain restaurants. the dulce de leche cheesecake was average, too. slight disappointment, but darrel was so excited to take me since i've never been, and he said i had such a long week and needed a date. this week, i was in tons of pain. a lot of soreness in my shoulders and legs, and swelling in my fingers. when i have flares, i get extra bitchy and moody, but he kept his cool. i love him.

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now culture(d). is up on etsy. making bracelets tend to calm me a bit. sales have been going pretty ok, luckily, i'm not depending on this to make a living. here are ten new bracelets i need to take pictures of an post, but of course, the weather's preventing me from doing so. in the mean time, if anyone wants to check out the online shop, it's CisforCultured.etsy.com

i got a bunch of packages in the mail! lately, i've been getting at least one almost every day, and they're always beads, but not this time. one package was a pair of black knockaround. fort knocks sunglasses i ordered a few days ago. darrel bought me these in tortoise when i got out of the emergency room. two days later, i went back to get a black pair and they were sold out. i wear a ton of black, so i'm uber excited to put these to use.

another package was a surprise from my favorite sis, alex. we started making jewelry about the same time, and she sent me her newest creation, duafe earrings. the duafe, or wooden comb, is the west african adinkra symbol for beauty, cleanliness, and desirable feminine qualities. i can't wait to wear these. i've actually been thinking about getting a duafe tattoo..

my square also came in the mail today! i can now take credit cards on site, so if anyone sees me and wants to buy a bracelet, you don't have to go through etsy! that actually wasn't the purpose of me getting this: that will be revealed at a later date.

i'm tired and in need a nap, but of course, i can't take one. i should attempt to get some things done before having to leave. maybe some homework, because i'm definitely behind.

i know i'll have a very emotional post to write once tonight is over.

flaring.

i haven't had a flare in a pretty long time. a week or two maybe?

swollen hands, headache, sore and achy shoulders, not to mention my wrist. my body's throbbing and my stomach is killing me. i'm trying to fight through it. i have a graphic novel draft due on monday, on top of cleaning my basement apartment, making more bracelets, and taking the pics for the etsy site--which will be up by sunday night.

it's hard being in pain when your boyfriend's at a strip club, but that's a whole different story that i can't bare to think about.

dr. sury called. twice. first, she called a few days ago to change my appointment from friday to saturday, and that was fine. i had plans that i was definitely looking forward to, but this is more important. she called again tonight, trying to get me to come in tonight. the first thing that came to mind was having to wash and braid my hair in pain. luckily, my mom wasn't having it. she doesn't deal well with last minute issues.

on a brighter note, i came home to three packages! one was four strands of beads, another was my marc jacobs mini lock necklace, and the other was candles and a wallflower from bath and body works. and i did a little shopping at h&m during lunch.

let me get some cleaning done.

sorry i haven't been updating so frequently, things have been kind of crazy. let's see if i can do a quick recap of the past few days:

• the side effects have been subsiding. the brain fog hasn't been as strong, i'm not as nauseated as i used to be, and my appetite is coming back. unfortunately, the sleep is still what it is.
• friday i went to dc to visit my alex for the weekend. we got facials at the aveda institute and got cupcakes at red velvet cupcakery in china town, and went to a natural hair meet-up at a great italian restaurant, vapiano. they actually have a location in  new york city, so i'll definitely try to check that out. i did a lot of shopping =]
• my medication schedule was thrown off over the weekend. i definitely need to work on getting it back on track.
• today the doctor's office called, which completely pissed me off. if i called you last week to tell you that i'm having heart palpitations because of the medication, why would the nurse call me to see if the doctor called me back? this was four hours ago. the damn doctor still hasn't called me back.
• my mom's begun this extensive research on homeopathic remedies for fibromyalgia. she wants me to go see a chinese herbalist.

that's about it, in a nutshell.

brOOklyn.

so my darling alex came to brooklyn! yay =]

this post has great potential to be really long; let's see how short i can make it..

friday consisted of cupcakes at my favorite place in the world, billy's bakery on ninth and twenty-first street, where i spent $30 on nothing but cupcakes and arnold palmers, then dinner at black swan in bed stuy. great place, great food, horrible mosquito bites from dining in their backyard. we had mussels, calamari, three types of mac and cheese, and fries.

  

we stopped at some random subway station to get her a metro card for the next day.

she was so confused; it was adorable.

saturday was probably the longest day of my life! i made us iced coffee and we ate the night before's cupcakes for breakfast, then we were out for forever. we hit up the new muslim spot on flatbush avenue for shea butter and all types of natural goodness. that was our first detour of the day.

after our natural-ness shopping, we hopped on the train and headed to the brooklyn flea in fort greene, where we bought matching tees for her, char, and i, cute little handmade bracelets, i bought a silk scarf, and she bought a leather ralph lauren belt.

then came the bus ride to thistle hill tavern in park slope for a late brunch. we rode through park slope, and alex fell in love!!

i googled best breakfasts in brooklyn, and thistle hill tavern came up. i must say, they're pretty damn good. alex had the speck and egg sandwich, which has prosciutto, tomatoes, and some kind of special sauce. i had the ham and grueyer sandwich; it's pressed like a panini and it has spicy pickles. i love pickles.

oh, and i had a mimosa =]

after brunch, we took a quick cab ride back to fort greene to meet up with nicky at habana for frozen margaritas. we all hopped on the train-- margaritas in hand-- and proceeded to reed space in the lower east side. nicky and i now have matching knockaround sunglasses.

detour numero dos was at babeland. pure comedy. alex was amazed by this huge rubber dick.

 
 

then came another cab ride to soho. double rL, the designer's market on prince street, scotch and soda, and supreme. we spent so much money!

now nicky and i have matching bracelets, too. swagged out cookin' hands.

and he taught this asian girl that worked at scotch and soda how to cook; she kept trying to vogue.

we split ways; nicky went to la casa de elLos, and alex and i went to bed stuy for her friend's rooftop housewarming party. that was an amazing view of my brOOklyn. 

yummy sangria; third drink of the day.

after about an hour there, my boyfriend, darrel, picked us up, and the four of us (his friend came along) went to buttermilk channel in cobble hill. yummy cheddar waffles and juicy fried chicken!! the bread service wasn't bread, they were popovers drizzled in honey. we got back home around midnight, after a thirteen hour day. 

sunday was her last day. i woke up and cooked, as i do every other sunday: mac and cheese, fried chicken cutlets, crackerjack shrimp, broccoli, and string beans from my mom's garden. darrel came, and we drove her to the megabus stop, the. to penn station to get on the amtrak. long story, don't ask. i was so sad! that was unnecessary though, because she'll be coming back up for the antiAchievers's shindig, then i'm going down to visit in september for that long jewish holiday weekend. 

it was ridiculous how much i was fighting sleep this weekend. the pain from walking and lack of sleep started to kick in while i was at work today. but that's what painkillers are for, right?

i keep saying how i miss my friends and i miss having a social life; alex's visit was very much needed. i love this chick to pieces <3


time for meds. time for bed.