MOVING!

Heads up to my readers: I’m starting a BRAND NEW BLOG and once that one is complete (to the point that I’m ready to let go of this one) Vitamin.C Philosophy will be a blog of the past.
Until then I’m posting on the NEW blog at thisdancerslife.wordpress.com! Read/Leave comments there!

Thanks
Chanelle

Filed under: Uncategorized

Chanelle is NOT dead!

Oh goodness… how many times have I posted a post like THIS!
I must announce to you all that no… I am NOT dead and have NOT abandoned my beautiful blog…

I’ve just been SO SO SOOOO superbusy with my taking care of my health, battling with my fickle laptop/internet connection and TRYING to live a somewhat normal life. Of course amazing things like blogging and relaxation get pushed to the side when life gets in the way

So I just had to let my fellow bloggies know that I’m still here and I’m [ ] that close to re-entering the blogosphere full force!

Sorry for being M.I.A. my loves!

Filed under: Uncategorized , blogging

catching up, and a shopping spree!

WOWOWOW I have been QUITE busy the past couple of days TO SAY THE LEAST!!

I wanted SOOO BADLY to blog yesterday and work on the site but the stupid internet was down so I could only function from my iPhone… and I prefer actually blogging over mobile blogging any day!

But ANYWAY I finally got to enjoy the fruits of birthday/post-op donations and went on a COMPLETE AND UTTER COOKING APPLIANCE SHOPPING SPREE LIKE NO OTHER! I mean it was a little excessive

There was a Cuisinart blender/food processor DUET for UNDER 100 BUCKS PEOPLE! A pressure cooker for $15, a mandolin for $10 and this awesome microwave pasta cooker thingys that you see on those cheesy TV commercials for like $20 and A TOASTER OVEN FOR $30! I LOOOVEEEE bargain shopping (alsmost as much as I like healthy cooking and eating) and all these tools will help me so much! Plus these are things I can have and use FOREVER!

I also FINALLY got a new BANGIN Remington Ceramic/Tourmaline Digital flatiron (for this nappy head!) and awesome Conair heated rollers and a SoundSpa Fusion iPod dock/clock/radio (with soothing nature sounds!) coming in the mail from Bed, Bath & Beyond too! (woop woop!!) 

Of course I didn’t get EVERYTHING I wanted (I’m still coveting the Polar F7 Heart Rate monitor for $120, but that can wait a little…I’m trying to exercise my PATIENCE muscles too!). But I have just enough left over from my BB&B rampage for still get the Mary Lou’s Weigh platform that many of my health bloggie comrades have been reviewing/raving/giving away and MAYYYYBE a bit left over for a new igloo travel cooler that I DESPERATELY NEED to tote all my healthy homemade foods around in!

Of course all of my new gadgets and tools are SURE to be featured around here with pretty pictures in a bit… I’m just busybusybusy 25 (YES TWENTY FIVE!) hours a day and I hate rushing through things! So when I can truly FOCUS and devote %100 of myself to doing what I need to do around here at vitamin.c philosophy, you will pleased!

WOO! What a relief to have all the tools I need to make beautiful, fresh, health food that I don’t have to worry about! But it just stresses how much I NEED A JOB to pay for it all (this stuff really adds up!!). But more coming from me soon and I’m sorry if it feels like I’ve abandoned this blog because I HAVEN’T… I’M HERE! I just GOT to make a dent in my to-do list so I can blogblogblog my little head off!

More coming soon! Goodbye for now lovies!

Filed under: Uncategorized , BB&B, blogging, cooking, gadgets & tools, shopping

everybody loves a cleaning spree!

Have you ever just looked at your room, your bathroom, under your bed, and your closet and thought “Oh no… this just WILL NOT do?!”

I am DEFINITELY having one of those moments right now! Call me crazy, but I’ve basically just GUTTED out every element of my living space and have gone on one of my little obsessive-compulsive cleaning sprees and I’m not gonna lie… it feels SOOOO GOOOOD!!

Something about ABSOLUTE ORGANIZATION just gives me goosebumps and I love it!

AHH! So off I go to put things in order in my room and my closet, then to clean my bathroom, straighten up the linen closet and under the bathroom sink and sort out that wonderful space below my bed… then re-do my desk and rearrange the hope chest! 

Haha… this kind of cleanliness CANNOT be healthy!

By the way: I definitely haven’t forgotten about this beloved blog and all the things I have to do to make it perfect! Some recipes, page content and LOTS of pictures and things are coming soon so keep coming back and checking! (As you can see I’m a pretty busy girl and I try to cram it all in as best I can!)

Filed under: Uncategorized , ocpd moment

THE BEST 19TH BIRTHDAY EVER!!!

Hello lovlies!

Let me just tell you: my 19th birthday was BY FAR been the BEST birthday OF MY LIFE SO FAR! Now I know I’m a little late with the birthday post, but I was just SO BUSY on my big day!

Let me just start by saying thank you to all of the bloggers out there who have reached out to me and are supporting me in the start of this blog as something big! You all know who you are and your support of me has been invaluable! YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!

So the birthday wonderfulness actually started the day before yesterday with a nice dinner at Outback Steakhouse with my parents and the most awesome healthy meal that you could create at a sit-down restaurant! I had the 9 oz. Teriyaki steak (I shared a little with my dad), a FEW sliced of the hot, sweet, Pumpernickel bread (with a touch of the whipped butter) and their FABULOUS steamed broccoli on the side (SERIOUSLY: they must put crack cocaine in that stuff!). I also had a NAKED sweet potato on the side even though they brought it out on my plate fully dressed.

NOTE ON THE FULLY DRESSED SWEET POTATOES AT OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE: It is SERIOUSLY scary how much butter, brown sugar and cinnamon they put on that thing! Imagine my chagrin when my sweet potato was literally SWIMMING in butter and extras! Yikes! I promptly fixed that situation my shoving it over to my mom and insisting on an UNDRESSED one.

I also ended up ordering sautéed mushrooms (which I didn’t finish there) and my mom accidentally took them to work and ate them yesterday… but I digress.

And I’ve been really working on NOT drinking my calories, so I stuck with water, LOTS of lemon and Sweet & Low (a.k.a. LEMONADE!… Haha when life gives you lemons right…)

I did let a little loose and let myself have the complementary vanilla ice cream sundae with a TOUCH of chocolate sauce and Oreo Cookie pieces, but IT’S WAS MY BIRTHDAY AND I’LL EAT ICE CREAM IF I WANT TO! Plus, I split it three ways with the parents and removed the extra whipped cream on top.

So that was Sunday… 

YESTERDAY I woke up to awesome cards, a couple magazines (I’m a magazine FIEND) and this adorable mini chocolate cake, balloons and SPARKLING WATER from Bloom! I so very easy to please

That little chocolate cake is the perfect portion (to share without guilt of course). I also woke up to a very VERY sick daddy that I had to nurse all day, which I totally didn’t mind because he NEVER gets sick and I love him. Plus that meant we got to and out all day even though he was coughing and aching the whole time. 

So I relaxed and enjoyed my day until my Mom showed up from work with THE MOST UNEXPECTED GIFTS EVER! 

Since everyone at my mom’s JOB knows about my tumor/surgery situation, they are always asking about how I’m doing and all know that I just got out of Surgery January 20th. Well apparently, some angels at her job were working their magic and raising UNGODLY amounts of money just for me! Altogether from my mom’s work and their church prayer group, I’ve gotten well over $400 CASH! Along with all that money were two very touching cards (which honestly is worth more than the money to me!), but just the thought that people that hardly even know me would give me such an amazing gift just touches me so deeply! I instantly balled my eyes out because I’m such a sentimental crybaby.

To top it off, I FINALLY got to return to my dance studio to watch class since I’m not cleared for vigorous exercise for another 2 weeks or so. But I was ambushed by hugs from everyone and even a gift of Sparkling Red Grape juice and Dove milk chocolate candies from my Lyrical teacher!!

I instantly felt a hundred MILLION times better just BEING at the studio again and I got to see/learn some of our recital dances which are TO DIE FOR they’re that good!

I was planning on doing A LOT more blogging and editing of this site since it’s not QUITE perfect for me yet, but running back and fourth between making hot tea and soup for my sick daddy got in the way. I PROMISE to take pictures of all my fabulous birthday gifts (even my new acoustic guitar that I got last week!) and upload them ASAP! You have GOT to see this adorable little chocolate bake before I devour it with my parents!

AND this morning I was surprised with an EDIBLE ARRANGEMENT from a very close friend and his family!! I’m soooo going to indulge in the fresh fruit with some yogurt and granola later!

Again, thanks to everyone who has wished me a happy birthday (you should SEE my Facebook wall!) and everyone in the healthy blogosphere for giving me so much love and making the transition from the awkward age of 18 to the awkward-ER age of 19 so awesome!

This was truly, TRULY my best birthday since I got my surgery out of the way and am WELL on the way to the storybook recovery! I thank God that I’ve made it to 19 and have so many happier, healthy years to go!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!

P.S. In the spirit of my birthday and CAKE… I’ll also have to post this AMAZING guilt-free cake recipe soon that I got from Eatingwell.com. What a better way to celebrate your birthday than guilt-free cake?!

Filed under: Uncategorized , blogging, dance, dessert, dinner, eating out, surgery

Hallelujah!!!

I don’t think I could describe the way I feel right now ANY better other than in that one simple, sensational word… 

Hallelujah!!! **It feels like a weight has been lifted!!**

Not to get all spiritual up in here, but I’m so so sooo happy to finally have this blog on it’s merry little way to becoming something I can really be proud of!

The past couple of days have been filled with me feverishly planning and designing and perfecting this blog so that it’s actually presentable (to my very high standards), and a place where people will WANT to come for healthy insight, information and a look into my life. Now, by no means is it done… I have SO many ideas for changing the look and feel over time and actually adding CONTENT to most of the pages (alas… most of the pages are BLANK because I have to make sure the content I put in them is EXACTLY the way I want it). But all the pages and things that I want on my page are HERE and all I have to do is finish it off, and all YOU have to do is be a little patient, bear with me and continue to read as everything comes together!

Chalk it up to being a (recovering) perfectionist with OCPD (more on that later), but everything has to be jussssst right!

So all those pages you click that say “blahblahblah coming soon…” will be filled with wonderful words soon enough!

Hopefully, over time, I’ll be able to mess with the style and feel of the site so that it’s the blog of my dreams and a healthy haven for people to come and learn how to (and how I’m) live the best life!

I already have so many supporters out there in the blogosphere: Roni (Roni’s Weigh), Jen (Prior Fat Girl), Jenn (Eating Bender) and Lee (For the Love of Peanut Butter), Jenna (Eat Live Run), Kath (Kath Eats Real Food), Charlie (Back to the Fridge) and Cory (Zesty Cook)… all of whom are TOTAL inspirations and can be found in my bllogroll. It’s HIGHLY flattering to even be categorized in the same league as these healthy bloggers that already have a following so I’m hoping to develop one too!

So keep your eyes peeled for more of me on the web and the blossoming of this site and if you like what you see (and even if you don’t), or would like to offer me some much-needed blogging, web or design advice PLEASEdon’t hesitate to reach out to me (through my contact page) and speak your mind!

Or if you just want to talk… I’m here for that too!

Wish me and my little blog luck and as always…

Eat, Dance and Be Healthy!

Filed under: Uncategorized , blogging, blogs

Major, major MAJOR overhaul!

WOW!

What can I say after about 2 whole weeks of non-blogging?! Of course this is all due to the fact that I had MY SECOND BRAIN SURGERY ON JANUARY 16TH!! There is SOO much to fill you all in on and SOOO much that I have to get out there but I honestly just feel SWAMPED with the recovery process and everything else I have to do!

First of all, I’ve REALLY put my foot down on my desire to become a strong presence in the online healthy blogosphere, which means that this blog is due for a SERIOUS overhaul!

Once I get my plan set, this blog will be much more informative and actually contain all the elements that I dream about it having… and hopefully get a LOT more traffic! So keep your eyes peeled for all the upcoming style changes and new pages and sections and wonderful little add-ons that the best of the blog world typically offers.

Man! This whole process can be so overwhelming: trying to make something EXACTLY the way you want it in your head translate to the web (especially when you’re not exactly the expert of HTML or CSS!!) but I know I can do it.

I just need a little time to get my brain straight (pun intended!) and get it all worked out.

I PROMISE PROMISE I’ll fill you in on the ENTIRE Johns Hopkins/brain surgery/recovery story once I get this blog in order… and that will be MUCH sooner rather than later.

Filed under: Uncategorized , blogging, health, Johns Hopkins, surgery

5 days to go

Surgery is drawing nearer and I’m getting more and more anxious to get it over with and start living again!!

I just can’t believe all of the things that I have to do before my actual surgery! 24-hour urine Cortisol tests, blood work, a pre-op physical, a pre-op MRI… AHHHH!!! This is going to be a CRAZY week, I can feel it!

But a cool thing I got to do today was check out the new Sport & Health Gym that just opened up and it is AMAZING! All this state-of-the-art equipment and it’s SOOOO big! I can’t wait until I can REALLY start working out again! I CAN’T WAIT TO GET BACK IN SHAPEEE!!!

But one step at a time, Chanelle… SURGERY first, WEIGHT-LOSS second!

JOHNS HOPKINS HOSPITAL!!! 5 DAYS!! HERE I COME!!!

Filed under: Uncategorized , exercise & fitness, health, Johns Hopkins, surgery

So much to do!!

GAHH! Have you ever felt so SWAMPED with things you want to accomplish! Well of course that’s what I’m going through right now.

With surgery coming up and me ATTEMPTING to pull together and clean up a few websites I’ve been meaning to get done… AND another super-secret thing I’m working on (for my mom), I feel like I’m running around in circles over here!

The websites I’ve been working on are very important to me because (besides this blog), I wanted some other sites to feature my literature and writing and another to help and educate people on Cushing’s Disease. I’ve recently put the link out for my literature website (although it’s not NEARLY as “done” as I’d like it to be), but at least that one is semi-out-of-the-way. A bit of a relief I guess. 

I’ll have to make sure that new link for that site and THIS blog gets to the people it needs to get to so they can keep track of my in these crazy busy times!

Wish me luck!

Filed under: Uncategorized , blogging, blogs

It’s OFFICIAL!!

Wow! So it’s FINALLY official: My date for pituitary surgery #2 is January 16, 2009 at Johns Hopkins!!

My dad just got the pro-op information faxed to him at work yesterday so I’m all ready to go! Of course I’ll need a pre-op checkup and probably bloodwork and an MRI done but I’m SOOO ready to just get this all over with!

Which brings me to my next concern…

My weight-loss goals for 2009! I know I’ve already taken the inventory of myself for January and set my weight-loss goal at 3 pounds for this month, but with surgery coming up I’m SERIOUSLY scared that I’ll be stuck in “recovery mode” from surgery and not be able to do much about my weight until I’m 100% back on my feet. That’s the ONLY thing that sucks about surgery.

But I’ll try my best not to sabotage myself and still focus on my health, eating right, doing as much exercise and recovering. There’s nothing I want more than to just get this all over with and to just GET BETTER already so I can MOVE ON with my life.

But I will say the THE BEST FEELING OF ALL is having a date set in my head instead of wondering when I’ll finally git this done!

So as of now, the countdown starts at 8 DAYS AWAY!!!

Filed under: Uncategorized , health, Johns Hopkins, surgery