1chicklette

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Sunset

It's Last Call

It’s time. Beyond time. I don’t really blog now and yet I keep paying hosting and registration fees. But each time I google “how to sunset a blog” I get distracted and don’t follow through. Sounds about right. Anyway, here’s your Last Call. It’s Quittin’ Time. My goal is to archive everything in the next few weeks. Thanks for the love and comments through the years! 💓 PS I’d be most grateful…

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Dating While Old

Dating while old is pretty terrible. When it happens at all!

Recently I met a man on a flight back from LA* and it was notable enough that I tweeted about it.

The strangest thing happened on my flight home: I had a handsome seatmate!!

— One Chicklette (@1chicklette) May 1, 2019

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Meeting new people and having the interest be mutual doesn’t happen for me as…

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What's happening?

What’s happening?

I so admire bloggers who manage to post daily. I once was one of them–although the content was sometimes questionable at best. To have fresh ideas and the ability to shape them efficiently…what a gift!

But so much of what I wrote over the last four years has been about life’s trials: experiencing my Dad’s swift decline and then his death; and my own bizarre tumor adventure in particular.

More…

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I have long joked to my friends that if reincarnation ends up being real, I hope I come back as a woman who looks good in shorts.

Right now, I definitely do not. I have always been afflicted with blessed with thighs. My legs are somewhat long but no matter how fit I am (or how fit I am not) at various points in my life, I have always had thighs.

As proof, here are two photos of me when I was fit as hell and still studying dance of various styles at least three days per week. All I see are thighs. Thighs like giant hams.

  My dance studio was involved in a local fashion show

THIGHS like HAMS

  Those tights didn’t do me any favors either.

I recently googled my affliction, looksbadinshortsitis. Apparently I was far from the only one to do so, but get this: the top result was about MEN. Can women have anything just for us?

This is a rhetorical question, men. Don’t give me your mainsplaining comments.

So was the third. What’s that about?!

I remember feeling weird in shorts even in summers during high school. Short shorts looked good but I felt uncomfortable sitting down. To this day, I don’t understand anyone who thinks short shorts are versatile or comfortable or practical. If you are an adult wearing short shorts, I assume it’s because you know you look good in them and don’t care about how it feels. Short shorts are fine if all you plan to do is stand around. But I’m not living like that.

I think what makes shorts extra uncomfortable for me is that I have a long torso and a somewhat short rise. So many trends that I have wanted to wear through the years – crop tops, overalls and jumpsuits most memorably – look weird on me. My body feels like a grotesque optical illusion sometimes. Go shopping with me and prepare to say “it’s not terrible but something isn’t working” repeatedly.

Once in a while, I’ll wear longer shorts (like these), but I feel frumpy. More often, you’ll find me in cropped pants (like these).

But mostly I just wait around counting the days until Fall and hoping against hope for reincarnation.

  Why do I look so bad in shorts? I have long joked to my friends that if reincarnation ends up being real, I hope I come back as a woman who looks good in shorts.

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If you buy just ONE skincare product...

If you buy just ONE skincare product…

Remember when I was striving to become higher maintenance? Mission accomplished, and then some. Part of my, ahem, success came from all of the downtime I had last year after this. I became very, very good at ecommerce. 😁 Recently I was chatting with some lovely Twitter friends about skincare likes and dislikes, spurred by a negative reaction I had to this eye roller, and they suggested a new blog…

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Good Food: Where I like to eat (and drink) in Manhattan

I have posted here and there about some of my favorite restaurants in NYC but never done a full dining guide, per se. This also is not a dining guide – too overwhelming. Plus I’m a somewhat picky eater and not what anyone would call a food expert. It is decidedly not a trendy list–look elsewhere for that. But I do have my favorites so here are some of them. Best square pie GG’s in the East…

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We didn’t go to Italy last year. About a month before we were supposed to depart, the tumor was discovered.

My doctor said I could travel, but Mom was reluctant.

“I’m not traveling with you–you’re a ticking time bomb!” she said.

OK then!

We postponed, lost money* and I had surgery. There was a two month-ish acute recovery period. I survived. We agreed to figure out a new trip for 2017 once I was in the clear health-wise. And I more or less am. Yay.

But when we looked at the Abercrombie & Kent offering for 2017, the Italy tour dates weren’t ideal. Mom wanted to stick with a Fall trip so she could continue her quest to make the LPGA tour win her golf club’s ladies’ league.

Guess what: she and her golf partner actually did win the league so the sacrifice was apparently worthwhile.

I had some Fall work commitments, though, that made scheduling tough. We bickered for a while. Mom put restrictions on places she would go.

She vetoed Croatia. “But it’s like undiscovered Italy, kinda!” I said, but she was unswayed. I feel confident that within the next two or three years. all of her friends will be going to Croatia and she’ll ask me why we haven’t yet gone there.

I advocated for France – wine! cheese! – but Mom still holds a grudge against the country for not supporting George Bush (I KNOW). Meanwhile she still drinks only Grey Goose vodka which is very much French.

In the end, I kind of got my wish: Mom approved a trip that visited Amsterdam, Paris and London. I felt triumphant–at least until Mom said, post-booking, “oh great. Two cities I never wanted to visit!” London was the one that interested her, but recent terrorist activity muted her excitement for that one too.

Time passed. We booked flights but otherwise didn’t give much thought to our trip until Summer 2017 rolled around.

And then the tour company called to tell me that my mother and I were the ONLY TWO TRAVELERS confirmed for the tour.

I felt guilty for being horrified by the idea of traveling with just my mother and a guide for almost two weeks. What in the world would we talk about for all of that time?!

But when I told my mother the news, along with the option we were given to change to another tour, Mom didn’t hide her feelings. She too was looking forward to the company of other travelers.

Whew. Can you imagine?

A&K even sweetened the offer if we were to switch: they offered to waive any price difference if we chose a more expensive tour and refund the price difference if we chose a cheaper tour.

Would it have killed them to have been this flexible and kind when my tumor was found?

I tried to use the latter provision to get Mom to reconsider Croatia–we would have received at least $4000 back–but no dice.

And that’s how we ended up going to Italy after all. Even with a credit toward flight change fees, the trip got even more expensive.

But we had fun, mostly. While we did a lot of mutual eye-rolling, we never had a blow-out fight.

Welcome dinner in Rome

Truffles, obviously

Florence

La Giostra

Eataly (I think?)

We stayed in Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre and Venice, and made stops in Siena, Pisa, Lucca, Modena and Verona (that’s a lot of ground covered).

We walked about 10k steps per day according to the many FitBits on the trip and yet I still somehow gained approximately eight pasta pounds that I am still trying to lose.

I would do it all again if I could.

*To be honest, I’m still angry with Abercrombie & Kent for how they treated us when I shared my news. They put on terrific tours (and our guide Emanuela was FANTASTIC), but if you book with them, you NEED travel insurance in case anything like an incidentaloma shows up.

The world’s most expensive vacation We didn't go to Italy last year. About a month before we were supposed to depart, 

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One of a thousand #MeToo posts I could write

One of a thousand #MeToo posts I could write

This story is gross and upsetting and I have long been embarrassed about it. I could have sworn that I wrote a post about the incident, but searching “Chris” and “gross” didn’t produce any results. Even now, many years later, I feel uncomfortable typing the words. But the story is timely and in sharing it, maybe I can help someone feel less alone while they consider their own #MeToo moments. I…

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Jumpsuit Nation

I had always assumed jumpsuits weren’t for me. This long torso of mine would ruin the look, I figured. My natural waist is at least two inches lower than where clothing wants it to be. Approximately two years ago, I bought a jumpsuit on a whim. It fit, but I fussed with it the whole first wearing, tugging the waist to where I wanted it. Unsurprisingly, said jumpsuit largely languishes in the back…

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29 Things That Enrage New Yorkers

29 Things That Enrage New Yorkers (@buzzfeed said 23)

This post made me say growl YESSSSS. For example, #12. It’s not just the waiting. It’s the heat (often) and the lack of cell service or wifi (always). The lack of available seating (sometimes) and the not-afraid of humans rats, particularly at First Avenue (far too often). I would add: 24. Subway escalators that are broken more often than functioning. Especially at Grand Central. You’re walking…

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A lighthearted post about food

A lighthearted post about food

In an effort to lighten things up from this, that and the other thing around here, let’s talk about food. You like food, right? Of course you do! (Gag) During my time in LA this spring, I had the opportunity to sample some meals from a local private chef. I was staying in an apartment in busy, noisy Hollywood so there wasn’t any room service and I dreaded walking around the tourist-packed…

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I miss him

Tomorrow is Monday. For most people, it will be just another work week starting. But for me, it is the worst anniversary: two years since we lost Dad. July 17 used to be just another summer day, but now it looms like an exam I didn’t study for or a long, painful dental appointment. As this summer approached, I didn’t think about lounging by the pool or trips to the beach. Instead I thought “was…

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Four things I love about LA (and one I don't)

Four things I love about LA (and one I don’t)

This spring, I have had the opportunity to spend lots of time in one of my favorite cities, Los Angeles. My most recent trip, a long one of just over two weeks, is about to wrap up which has me thinking about what I will miss. First, the brightly colored flowers and trees. Even in the scruffiest neighborhood, there are beautiful jacaranda trees and wildflowers. Second, the weird news. A few weeks…

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Good news. And yet...

Good news. And yet…

Yesterday was my most recent CT scan. As I mentioned before, I’m slated to have scans every three months for a year. I prepare myself for the waiting, and yet I still find myself bewildered by the actual experience. In situations like mine, appointments are more suggestion than commitment. It’s the trade-off for accessing a world-class specialist, and for him offering to review your raw test…

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I'm not myself right now

I’m not myself right now

I should do something. But I’m so tired. I should go to the gym or write or something.  It’s Saturday and I’m lying on my bed wearing gym clothes. I didn’t make any plans for the weekend with the exception of Sunday brunch and I’m semi-OK with that. On one hand, I am tired from a lot of recent business travel. On the other, I miss my friends and know I am going to be traveling a ton these next…

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How I spent my President's Day Weekend

How I spent my President’s Day Weekend

Hello friends, I’ll get back to the blog soon – promise! How was your holiday weekend? While I, like seemingly a lot of people, am not celebrating #45, I did have an enjoyable President‘s Day Weekend. I stuck a literal toe into the foot peel realm, using this one from Boscia. Yes, I am nervous about the gross-out potential in the coming week. No, I won’t be sharing pics on social media. I grabbed…

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Before and After

Yesterday was my first abdominal CT scan since the tumor was removed in late September. The results were good: no sign of any tumors elsewhere. Yay! If you’d like to hear more about the scan, there’s more beneath the fold, including not-gross before and after pictures. (the gross pic is here) (more…)