Category Archives: friends

black tie event

31 Thursday May 2012

Posted by in friends, sevilla, shoes, shopping

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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

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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

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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”.

girlie afternoon

03 Thursday May 2012

Posted by in food & drink, friends, fun stuff, hair, sevilla

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BIG surprise when I got a text message from Jessica asking if I’d be free for lunch today! Turns out she’s been in town doing research and, with that out of the way, she was free to play for an afternoon. We met early because I had to go to the hospital to get my chemo port flushed out and Jessica offered to come with me – nice! So we taxied there and back and then got caught in a massive downpour, ducking inside a cosy doorway just in time. I have to say it’s not everyone you can actually enjoy being trapped by the rain with. Finally we made it to our lunch destination – a new place called La Brunilda. Very nice kinda gourmet tapas but without the gourmet prices. In fact, I’ll be taking my tapas tour group there this evening for our last stop to see how well it works as another “less traditional” option (Jessica’s suggestion).

After a lovely lunch and lots of catching up we stopped by La Azotea so Jessica could see their new location and we ended up having a nice chat with Juan. Then I stopped by the Bodeguita Romero to take a photo for their blog and reserve a table for the second stop on tonight’s tour. And as Jessica had asked me where I got my hair cut we went by so I could show her where it is and I was surprised to find it open (it was just after 4pm). So we decided on the spot to both get our hair cut . Such a girlie thing to do! I treated myself to a dye job, which I usually do at home, and had a wee trim. But Jessica had about 10 inches cut off! She ended up with a feathery just below chin length bob that looks amazing on her … and I forgot to take her photo! Damn. Because after we were done at the hairdresser we walked a bit until I had to head home and she went to do a few errands before going back to Paris tomorrow, and I got a bit choked up about saying goodbye and so totally forgot about taking a pic. And so you get these cute barrels from La Brunilda instead.

Now I have to quickly change, fluff up my perfectly salon-dyed and blow-dried hair, and go meet my clients for a fun evening out.

Life is good…

supper club

30 Monday Apr 2012

Posted by in books, cooking, food & drink, friends

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I blame my iPhone. Used to be that I would polish off at least a book a week, but ever since I got Pippin that number has dwindled to an embarrassing handful a year (!). Which is why it’s taken me a couple of weeks to get around to enjoying Kerstin Rodger’s Supper Club.

You may recall that Kerstin (aka @MsMarmitelover) visited Sevilla awhile back and was my houseguest for a fun & food filled weekend. Well, she also very generously risked going over her RyanAir baggage weight allowance and brought me a copy her fabulous book Supper Club – my own signed copy!

And it is truly a delightful read.

Sandwiched between an extremely useful step-by-step section on how to start up your own underground restaurant and a fun collection of themed dinner ideas are lots and lots of scrumptious recipes with beautiful photos. Being pretty much vegetarian (the occasional bit of fish is becoming even more occasional) Kerstin invited other “secret supper” chefs to share their favourite meat dishes. It’s a book full of heart and humour and I can’t wait to try out some of the recipes. I am also now extremely envious of all those people on Twitter talking about what an amazing time they had at this or that Supper Club evening…

For more foodie fabulousness check out Kerstin’s blogs:
The English Can Cook
The English Can Eat

Supper Club by Kerstin Rodgers