Category Archives: friends

lunch in sanlúcar de barrameda

30 Saturday Jun 2012

Posted by in cancer, friends, restaurants, tapas, travel, trips

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, ,

I’ve been wanting to go back to Sanlúcar de Barrameda since I last went with my Sister Sue back in December 2008. For some reason both Susan and I thought it would be a good idea to drive out to Sanlúcar for lunch just ten days after my third cancer op… and well, although it was MUCH better than sitting around the house – and we did have a fabulous lunch on the beach – it turned out that my massive incision and the surrounding innards were not at all happy about the extra moving and shaking. Memories of Susan trying in vain to avoid any sort of pothole or bump in the road (cos man it hurt!) and then me shuffling gingerly to the restaurant and back to the car without seeing much of the town at all. But in spite of all that, very fond memories. I mean, lunch on the beach in December… are you kidding???

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when my twitter friends and neighbours Anna & Jorge offered to take me out for a day trip to Sanlúcar to celebrate my 20th anniversary in Spain. Yes! Peter came too, and we headed out early on a Sunday morning. First stop was a walk along the beach and a tapita and beer starter at Casa Juan, the restaurant Susan and I had gone to 3 1/2 years earlier. Then we drove back into town to try the Very Best Tortillitas de Camarones In The World at Casa Balbino. After that a rather so-so tapa experience elsewhere, redeemed by a visit to the beautiful Hotel del Duques de Media Sedonia with an amazing view over the town, where we enjoyed a nice after-lunch drink in the shade of covered terrace. And then home again. More pics here…

Sanlúcar de Barrameda

6th blog anniversary

16 Saturday Jun 2012

Posted by in birthdays, blogging, friends

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

, , ,

So, this is NOT my 6th blogoversary.

That was on May 1st, but for the first time since I started casa az I completely forgot it. How odd. Though no doubt I was distracted by this beautiful boy that day and posted a pic of him instead.

Anyhow… six years!

We’ve sure been through a lot together, haven’t we? 2178 posts, as well as over 25,000 comments and 630,000 visitors.

Thanks for sticking around guys (and welcome to new visitors!). I couldn’t have done it without you.

f_bubbly.giff_bubbly.giff_bubbly.giff_bubbly.giff_bubbly.giff_bubbly.gif

black tie event

31 Thursday May 2012

Posted by in friends, sevilla, shoes, shopping

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

, , ,

I found out this morning that I am invited to a black tie event starting at 8 pm – the official re-opening party of Sevilla’s “Grande Dame”, the Alfoso XIII Hotel.

Although I’d been trying to wrangle an invitation for the past few days it wasn’t looking too likely until my friend Fiona (aka Scribbler in Seville) checked to see if she could bring me as her “plus 1”. She was invited as press and because she’s been sleeping with the general manager. Kidding!

Anyhow, at first I was quite chuffed when I got Fiona’s message but then I suddenly realised that I had nothing to wear. So after a slight panic I decided that there was no way I could afford to put together any sort of super elegant ensemble and opted for “ethnic chic” instead. I have no idea what that means but it will look like a flowy black top with an embroidered bodice over a long black silky pleated skirt. With accessories. Which I also didn’t have.

So I went out and bought a pair of shoes (woven ballerina flats – just like Prada’s except they only cost 24€) and borrowed some chunky “statement jewellery” from Fourat. But I still had no bag! So instead of buying some cheap knock-off clutch that I know I’d never use again I opted for a small red woven bag, in keeping with the ethnic chic thang (a  bit like Gucci’s but it didn’t cost 2200€). And I guess I’m all set. Except I have no make-up and have no idea what to do with my *HAIR*. Ah well, I still have two hours to… TWO HOURS! I better get cracking.

pat in sevilla

12 Saturday May 2012

Posted by in cancer, friends, hope, sevilla, spain, tapas, travel, trips, video

≈ 14 Comments

Tags

, , , , ,

Dearest Pat,

The other day after reading your very moving post No More Room in the Bucket I kind of fell apart. Even though you had told me that you’d stopped treatment – and although I knew exactly what that meant – I guess a part of me just couldn’t accept it. It was only after reading your blog post (published on the same day I wrote here about still being NED) that it finally struck home. Especially when I read this bit…

“There is no more room in the bucket for big dreams like cross-country train trips. I feel a pang watching tv shows set in NYC, knowing that I’ll likely never visit my favorite city again. It aches to see puppies and kittens and know I’ll never own another one. I’ve never tasted foie gras, or truffles, or uni. I never got to visit the Food Network. I’ll never meet my friend Shawn in person or visit her in Seville, Spain.”

And well, I knew straight away that I had to take you out for tapas!

This video was made on the fly on Thursday with my poky pocket video cam and so my clips turned out pretty rough (one clip showing us having some grilled foie and tuna belly at La Azotea was unsalvageable, but oh well…). Luckily my friend Juan Tarquini not only offered to invite us for tapas at his fabulous Vineria San Telmo, he also very generously edited and polished all my rough cuts into something quite wonderful that I could never have done on my own. I hope it will make you smile.

Everyone really enjoyed meeting you and plying you with fabulous food and drink. It was actually quite an amazing day and I know you touched a lot of hearts here during your brief visit in Sevilla. You will always live in mine.

te quiero Amiga,
Shawn xx

For those of you who don’t already know, I met Pat Steer on the Colon Club forum just after being diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer, when all this was new to me and I was scared and looking for helpful information. Pat had been diagnosed four years before me. She became my sister, my friend, my hero. I love her with all my heart.

no tengo cancer

07 Monday May 2012

Posted by in cancer, change, death & dying, diet & nutrition, friends, health & happiness, hospitals

≈ 14 Comments

Tags

, ,

Four years ago today I wrote this blog post about doubling over in pain and ending up at the hospital, only to be told I had gas and be sent home again. Well, most of you know the story by now. After two more emergency hospital visits they finally admitted me for testing and then raced me over to the general hospital for a life-saving operation that involved removing an obstruction and about half my colon.

And that wasn’t the end of the story as I ended up having two more operations and being on chemo twice, finishing at the end of July 2009. Since then I have been miraculously cancer-free according to the PET scans I’ve been having twice a year. The next one is due in September. And for the most part I feel good, though I still get abdominal discomfort from time to time. Oh, and there was also that freak emergency op last summer, which thankfully didn’t end up being cancer-related.

And so I wonder why I am still okay while my friends Pat and Jed are not. And I wonder how long I’ll be okay. Four years ago I’d gone to the Feria in Jerez the weekend before all this started and saw this graffiti on a wall near the train station that said “I have cancer”. I don’t know what moved me to take a photo of it, but here it is again, slightly – but importantly – modified. I hope I never have to remove the “no”.